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Canon: KHR. Yes, I will start moving my ff.net stuff and other things here so there's other things too.
Summary: The early Kokuyo gang, and where Lancia's boss made his mistakes without even knowing.
Warnings: Some blood, homicidal small children, mention of the Estraneo massacre
For all the grand proclamations, there was one problem with setting out to burn the world:
An eight year old body that's not in great condition can only be pushed so far.
They made it outside after their pact, but not to the outer wall of the compound before he started feeling fuzzy, vision blurry and everything a little distant. Two steps further and everything blacked out.
************
He woke back up, muzzy and still weak, to Ken looming over him protectively in lion channel, claws out and snarling; Chikusa was behind Ken, curled up close to the ground uncertainly. There was a group of men nearby, in suits, that didn't look familiar; most of them were staying back, one was kneeling down a few feet from Ken.
"It's okay, kid. We're not going to hurt you." There were just-audible whispers in back - "Is that tail real?" "Looks that way…the Hell were they doing here…"
Ken's only response was to growl louder.
"Listen, your friend there's hurt, right? We'll take care of him, just settle down and let us take a look." The man had both hands raised and empty; the word choice was both poor and familiar, and Ken didn't budge. "I'm just going to come a little closer; we're not going to hurt you."
He shifted weight, moving another foot closer. Ken lunged, leaving a nasty set of clawmarks across the man's face with one hand, sinking fangs and the claws on his other hand into the base of the man's neck and his shoulder; it was clear he'd been intending to aim for the throat, if his aim had been less clumsy and the man hadn't started to try to get out of the way. There was a cry of pain as they both went down in a struggle, then an older, heavyset man in back moved forward fast, the others getting out of his way in bewilderment; the older man managed to catch the back of Ken's collar with one hand. A glint of orange light flickered back over his hand like a candle-flame with an almost tangible pulse, and Ken went half-limp, an unhappy feline noise from the back of his throat; the stranger he'd attacked was already scrambling away, hand over his bloodied shoulder.
Chikusa froze; "69" staggered to his feet with the three-pronged blade, a brief internal dropping sensation as indigo flame wreathed the red eye and the marking changed. Whoever these were, they were a threat, they were daring to try to take control -
And the lunge to attack would've been more intimidating if he wasn't already staggering and collapsing halfway there, the Path of Asura more than he was physically capable of at the time; the blade ended up buried in the ground just short of the man with the flickering ring.
************
He came around again wrapped in blankets; there was the roar of an engine, an odd flicker to the light coming in through the windows of whatever they were in, and occasional shifts to the floor, as if the whole thing were unstable. His blade had been taken away, and there was no sign of where it was; his hands were tied with smooth rope, just snug enough to not really budge off. Everything hurt, and it didn't seem like a good idea to try and move too much yet - stay still, stay quiet, wait for some opportunity, just like always. From where he was curled on the floor, he could just barely see two side-by-side seats in front of a panel of dials and controls, with two people there; they didn't seem to have realized he was awake.
"-some kids from the towns, maybe, but it doesn't sound like there's a lot of disappearances reported…"
"So those were mostly their own kids?" The man in the chair to the right whistled low. "Crazier than we thought… at least whoever did it saved us the trouble."
"I wasn't looking forward to that fight either, Boss." The title raised memories - someone he didn't get a good look at until right there at the end, just an occasional presence, checking in, giving orders, "There's got to be more to show than this"; he knew enough to know that it meant "the one in charge", and that the one in charge of the labs had died just as easily as anyone else there. "There's a few things in what we did manage to find that bother me, though…"
"Those bullets are going in a vault for now - I'm only keeping them to figure out if there's some way to block them, in case someone else figures it out." It was a very final sounding statement.
"Not that. One of the cameras in a lab got a little bit before it got cut off. It was one of the researchers - like they saw what was coming; lady was confused, definitely in shock, but seemed to recognize it, and said something before the feed died… sixty-nine. A lot of the stab wounds on the bodies were in threes, evenly spaced, about the same as that weapon..."
"…That kid?" It was said with disbelief. There was a quiet pause, and he stayed still; no reason to let on that he was awake, although he could feel a moment where there was attention on him. "Can't say I'm surprised one of their projects would bite them…" The Boss shifted back, settling in the chair. "No wonder he's so wiped."
"If it was him, then what're we going to do with him? I mean, is it really safe to keep him around?"
"He's a kid. Kids aren't that hard; you treat them badly and they get upset, you treat them well and they'll warm up to you sooner or later. It's just like any of the other kids we've taken in - some of my best people were orphans from bad backgrounds."
"Yeah, but if he's already capable of something like that…"
"All the more reason to keep him; get him settled and he'll be a damn powerful person to have on our side. I'd have to be stupid to pass up having an ace like that up my sleeve."
Just stay on the leash like a good little weapon and kill what the Boss points you at; just like his creators.
"I don't like this - you saw what that place looked like, and what the other one did to Nico."
"It'll be some extra work, but it's not like we don't have others in the Family who'd killed for the first time when they were little."
There was silence for a few minutes, and then the Boss spoke again - "How many other people know this kid's probably the one that made that mess?"
"Just me and Marco; a couple of the others suspect, I think, after seeing the bodies and that weapon of his."
"That's all that need to know; if everyone's spooked, it'll blow up in our face. You take the records we got from the Estraneo and put it in the vault with those bullets; as far as anyone outside this group knows, it was all wrecked, and these are just kids we rescued from the ruins, just like any other orphan brought into the house. We keep them all close by; make sure they know the other two are around, but keep an eye on them and keep them mostly separate for a little while, just to be sure they're settling in and not just playing on habit. Nico can cycle out to one of the side bases for a while. Marta can look after the quiet one, he doesn't seem like he'll be any trouble; Glauco's used to dealing with the real trouble cases, he'll be in charge of the kitten."
"And sixty-nine back there?" He was afraid; there was a tiny smile, invisibly buried in the blanket. It'd be easier if the other two were nearby, and he didn't need to have them right there to do something about this new Family.
"I'm keeping him myself; Lancia can look after him."
Summary: The early Kokuyo gang, and where Lancia's boss made his mistakes without even knowing.
Warnings: Some blood, homicidal small children, mention of the Estraneo massacre
For all the grand proclamations, there was one problem with setting out to burn the world:
An eight year old body that's not in great condition can only be pushed so far.
They made it outside after their pact, but not to the outer wall of the compound before he started feeling fuzzy, vision blurry and everything a little distant. Two steps further and everything blacked out.
He woke back up, muzzy and still weak, to Ken looming over him protectively in lion channel, claws out and snarling; Chikusa was behind Ken, curled up close to the ground uncertainly. There was a group of men nearby, in suits, that didn't look familiar; most of them were staying back, one was kneeling down a few feet from Ken.
"It's okay, kid. We're not going to hurt you." There were just-audible whispers in back - "Is that tail real?" "Looks that way…the Hell were they doing here…"
Ken's only response was to growl louder.
"Listen, your friend there's hurt, right? We'll take care of him, just settle down and let us take a look." The man had both hands raised and empty; the word choice was both poor and familiar, and Ken didn't budge. "I'm just going to come a little closer; we're not going to hurt you."
He shifted weight, moving another foot closer. Ken lunged, leaving a nasty set of clawmarks across the man's face with one hand, sinking fangs and the claws on his other hand into the base of the man's neck and his shoulder; it was clear he'd been intending to aim for the throat, if his aim had been less clumsy and the man hadn't started to try to get out of the way. There was a cry of pain as they both went down in a struggle, then an older, heavyset man in back moved forward fast, the others getting out of his way in bewilderment; the older man managed to catch the back of Ken's collar with one hand. A glint of orange light flickered back over his hand like a candle-flame with an almost tangible pulse, and Ken went half-limp, an unhappy feline noise from the back of his throat; the stranger he'd attacked was already scrambling away, hand over his bloodied shoulder.
Chikusa froze; "69" staggered to his feet with the three-pronged blade, a brief internal dropping sensation as indigo flame wreathed the red eye and the marking changed. Whoever these were, they were a threat, they were daring to try to take control -
And the lunge to attack would've been more intimidating if he wasn't already staggering and collapsing halfway there, the Path of Asura more than he was physically capable of at the time; the blade ended up buried in the ground just short of the man with the flickering ring.
He came around again wrapped in blankets; there was the roar of an engine, an odd flicker to the light coming in through the windows of whatever they were in, and occasional shifts to the floor, as if the whole thing were unstable. His blade had been taken away, and there was no sign of where it was; his hands were tied with smooth rope, just snug enough to not really budge off. Everything hurt, and it didn't seem like a good idea to try and move too much yet - stay still, stay quiet, wait for some opportunity, just like always. From where he was curled on the floor, he could just barely see two side-by-side seats in front of a panel of dials and controls, with two people there; they didn't seem to have realized he was awake.
"-some kids from the towns, maybe, but it doesn't sound like there's a lot of disappearances reported…"
"So those were mostly their own kids?" The man in the chair to the right whistled low. "Crazier than we thought… at least whoever did it saved us the trouble."
"I wasn't looking forward to that fight either, Boss." The title raised memories - someone he didn't get a good look at until right there at the end, just an occasional presence, checking in, giving orders, "There's got to be more to show than this"; he knew enough to know that it meant "the one in charge", and that the one in charge of the labs had died just as easily as anyone else there. "There's a few things in what we did manage to find that bother me, though…"
"Those bullets are going in a vault for now - I'm only keeping them to figure out if there's some way to block them, in case someone else figures it out." It was a very final sounding statement.
"Not that. One of the cameras in a lab got a little bit before it got cut off. It was one of the researchers - like they saw what was coming; lady was confused, definitely in shock, but seemed to recognize it, and said something before the feed died… sixty-nine. A lot of the stab wounds on the bodies were in threes, evenly spaced, about the same as that weapon..."
"…That kid?" It was said with disbelief. There was a quiet pause, and he stayed still; no reason to let on that he was awake, although he could feel a moment where there was attention on him. "Can't say I'm surprised one of their projects would bite them…" The Boss shifted back, settling in the chair. "No wonder he's so wiped."
"If it was him, then what're we going to do with him? I mean, is it really safe to keep him around?"
"He's a kid. Kids aren't that hard; you treat them badly and they get upset, you treat them well and they'll warm up to you sooner or later. It's just like any of the other kids we've taken in - some of my best people were orphans from bad backgrounds."
"Yeah, but if he's already capable of something like that…"
"All the more reason to keep him; get him settled and he'll be a damn powerful person to have on our side. I'd have to be stupid to pass up having an ace like that up my sleeve."
Just stay on the leash like a good little weapon and kill what the Boss points you at; just like his creators.
"I don't like this - you saw what that place looked like, and what the other one did to Nico."
"It'll be some extra work, but it's not like we don't have others in the Family who'd killed for the first time when they were little."
There was silence for a few minutes, and then the Boss spoke again - "How many other people know this kid's probably the one that made that mess?"
"Just me and Marco; a couple of the others suspect, I think, after seeing the bodies and that weapon of his."
"That's all that need to know; if everyone's spooked, it'll blow up in our face. You take the records we got from the Estraneo and put it in the vault with those bullets; as far as anyone outside this group knows, it was all wrecked, and these are just kids we rescued from the ruins, just like any other orphan brought into the house. We keep them all close by; make sure they know the other two are around, but keep an eye on them and keep them mostly separate for a little while, just to be sure they're settling in and not just playing on habit. Nico can cycle out to one of the side bases for a while. Marta can look after the quiet one, he doesn't seem like he'll be any trouble; Glauco's used to dealing with the real trouble cases, he'll be in charge of the kitten."
"And sixty-nine back there?" He was afraid; there was a tiny smile, invisibly buried in the blanket. It'd be easier if the other two were nearby, and he didn't need to have them right there to do something about this new Family.
"I'm keeping him myself; Lancia can look after him."
