Chapter 30 - Iron and Glass
By jakobtheliar12
The figure slinks down one dark alley after another. Where one finds dark alleys in the middle of the day is a mystery, but it just so happens that they are darkened today.
He slides around the corner and sprints towards a warehouse door, which is just wide enough for his to slide into. As he stops to catch his breath, a breathtaking woman slides in behind him. She is one of the most beautiful women in the world, they say.
“Have you received any news?” the gorgeous woman asked in a voice that’s sweet as honey.
“I have, My Lady,” the mysterious man gasps out.
“Good,” she almost purrs. “Go on then, tell me.”
“Either Monday or Tuesday, they will be bringing in a new recruit.” He says with a steadier breath.
“Do you know his specialty?” she asks in that voice that makes you want to tell her anything.
I don’t know it, M’Lady,” he said with a look at his shoes. “It was Father Sadar that recruited him. I’ve had no contact.”
“It matters not, as you will dispatch him when he arrives,” she said coldly with a glance at her nails.
“Won’t that blow my cover?” he asked.
“Wear a mask or something,” she said.
“Yes M’Lady,” he said with a salute.
”Alright, dismissed,” she said, and walked off.
His heart was beating at a speed much higher than normal, but it wasn’t from his run there. No, it was from the encounter he had just had. He just met one of the most beautiful, smart, powerful, and, most of all, evil women in the women in the world. He had also just received his first real assignment. It was enough to rattle anyone.
***
“I’m sorry to have to meet you under these circumstances, Father,” said Nafah.
“It’s no trouble really, I needed to come to the church anyway, said Father Sadar. “Why is it that you’ve called me down here though?”
“I have some rather good, but strange, news to relate to you,” she said in a curious tone.
“By all means, let me know.”
“That rogue, Emiri, came back here, but she passed right over the mark. Something that you said, or maybe did, changed her, and she wants to know what it is you did. She’s looking for you, Father.”
“That’s wonderful news. I’m glad that she has changed her wicked ways. Did she mention when she wanted to meet?”
“Not quite. A couple of ruffians came in here and they started a fight”
“When was this!?”
“A couple of days ago. I would have thought that you would have heard about the fights all over the city.”
“I thought that those were citizen fights. Backlashes from the riots.”
“It was definitely them,” said Nafah. “Maybe you should go look for her.”
“I will, but if she shows up again, call me immediately. I would like to speak to her.”
“That’s no problem. Good luck finding her,” she called after him because he was already running through the church.
***
The beauty was the last to enter the dimly lit room.
“Why do we always meet in this dreary room?” she asked to no one in particular.
“So that no camera’s can work effectively on us, Lady Jagara,” called the voice from her left.
“Oh, whatever. We can’t be brought down by anything said in these meetings. They are always too tame. You know that Il Palazzo,” she remarked.
“Quiet your petty bickering,” commanded Keel. “We have business to attend to.”
Jagara sat down, but she did not look pleased having been shushed.
“Glass has been recruiting,” Keel continued. “So far they have only brought in one member, but I have heard that one more will join soon enough, maybe two.”
“I say we strike now, while they are weakened,” interrupted Il Palazzo.
“An attack now could end it, but that would be no fun,” interjected the man who had not yet spoken. “If we were to kill the weaker members and the new recruits, then we might enjoy it more when the real fight comes.
“I don’t want them all dead yet,” said Keel. “I think we need to worm our way into Glass and learn all we can before we take on our enemy.”
“A mole?” asked Il Palazzo.
“Precisely,” answered Keel.
“I have a jump on that, Lorenz. I have a man on the inside already, and I have instructed him to eliminate the new recruit before he can join Glass,” Jagara said with a nod towards Enel.
That left the other three dumbstruck.
“Great job, Lady Jagara,” said Keel and Enel in a creepy harmony.
“With that out of the way,” Keel continued by himself, “we come to our next item: Ozzal. She has, frankly, become a pest. Glass is trying to oust her by starting a war with Comedia. It won’t come to that though, because she will be out of power before the Comedians could even begin to march on Orly.
“What are you suggesting?” asked Il Palazzo.
“We will have her step down from her position, or take matters into out own hands if worse comes to worse,” answered Keel.
“I think it would be quite fun to threaten her into quitting,” Il Palazzo almost sang.
“I’ll leave it up to you then, but if she won’t quit, make it look as if the Syndicate killed her,” said Keel.
“I’ll get the guy we have close to her to write the letter out,” said Il Palazzo.
“It seems as if we have taken a large leap forward today,” said Keel. “Good work.”
They all got up and exited the dimly lit room.
***
Father Sadar had been scouring Lower Actonia for hours looking for any clues on the whereabouts of Emiri. He had stumbled upon Trunks’ burned out pub and the children inside it. He listened to the story of their plight with sadness in his heart. It always pains you to see children in poverty and without homes, but there was little he could do for them.
He left from there even though it was hard. He had given them all the cash he had on his person though. It should feed them for a couple of days.
He was about to give up on his search for Emiri when his cell phone rang. He picked it up immediately.
“Emiri is here, Father,” said Nafah.
“Good. Ask her when we can meet.”
There was a pause and muffled voices.
“Is Tuesday night alright with you?”
“That’s great. Where?
“She wants to meet at the beach.”
“That’s fine by me. Tell her that I’ll se her there.”
The priestess hung up the phone shortly after. Sadar had a grin on his face. He was relieved to know that she was alive at least. Then his phone rang again. It was Kaia this time, telling him to come to the meeting.
***
“Schwarzwald has called a meeting,” said Kaia.
“Be right there,” Jakob said as he hopped onto his motorcycle and tore down the street. “Man I love this bike!” he yelled.
As he arrived at the Order’s Orly headquarters, he made sure that he had his glass cross on, and walked into the building.
He greeted a few of the Order members that he was closer to with the little half-wave, half-salute that he frequently used.
“Come on, Jakob,” Aoi called. “The meeting is starting.”
He walked into the meeting expecting to find the same boring things that he had grown indifferent to, but he was surprised to learn a couple of things had changed.
He saw one new face, and one old face. Roxie had returned and had been married from the looks of her left hand. “Why wasn’t I invited to the wedding,” he thought.
The new girl was in her mid-teens, and she looked excited to be at her first Order meeting. He might have to be the one to tell her how droll they will be in the future. Schwarzwald began the meeting by introducing the new girl as Winry Rockbell. He told everyone that didn’t already know that Roxie had brought her in. He also mentioned that soon one, maybe two new recruits should be joining. One kid from the Syndicate, and one escapee from Comdot. Hey should also be scouting for new recruits that didn’t have any ties to either side of the conflict in Actonia.
“Since we want Winry to learn as quickly as possible, we will want one of our members to give her some in-depth training and a lesson on The Iron,” Schwarzwald said.
“I’ll do it,” Jakob volunteered. “I like meeting the new guys.”
“That’s great. Thanks, Jakob. Hey, maybe you can teach her a bit of your trade as well.” Schwarzwald added.
“Sounds like fun,” said Jakob with a smile. “Meet me out front tomorrow morning, and I’ll take you to my classroom.”
“Okay,” Winry said with a puzzled look on her face.
“Okay guys, we might have a couple of new recruits. Samson is expected to come in either tonight or tomorrow night, and who knows if Jake will ever contact us. In any event, we need someone to be at Warehouse 13 in case Samson shows. I think that Sadar should be the one to meet him since he invited him,” Schwarzwald said.
“I can do it tonight, but I have somewhere I need to be tomorrow,” Sadar said.
“Then we will need a volunteer,” said Schwarzwald.
“I’ll do it,” said Band.
“That should be all then,” said Schwarzwald. “You’re dismissed.”
Everyone began to file out of the meeting room. Kaia caught up to Sadar in the hall.
“What is it that you have to do tomorrow?” she asked.
“I have to go meet with Emiri.”
“What? Why?”
“I promised her that I would meet with her tomorrow night.”
“I wouldn’t go see that psycho if you paid me.”
“She’s changed. She’s not the psycho she used to be.”
“Still. I wouldn’t do that.”
“I made a promise, and I intend to keep it,” Sadar said in a convincing tone.
“Fine, I won’t stop you,” Kaia said and walked back to her office.
***
Ozzal returned to her office to find that a letter had been tacked to the door.
“What’s all this about?” she asked to no one in particular.
She examined the letter. It was a plain envelope with naught but one word upon it: Ozzal. She tore it open and read it.
To Michelle Ozzal,
We have kept our eye on you for some time. You have been reckless. You parade your military around for the public to see, and you let your men run around killing peons. We want you to take your carelessness elsewhere. If you don’t comply, we may need to meet.
The Order
“Is this someone’s idea of a joke? If it is, it’s the worst joke I’ve ever seen. Seriously, even I can play better pranks that this,” she said as she tore the letter to pieces. “Who’s ‘The Order’ anyway,” she muttered to herself as she went to her chair.
***
“Ees eet tonight?” questioned Hikki.
“I think so,” said Samson. “Unless Jake doesn’t want to do it.
“Well…uh…I think I’ll be good, but I need to talk to Samson first,” Jake said. “Alone.”
They walked out of earshot of everyone in the café. So far out of earshot that they were on the roof.
“I’m not really afraid,” said Jake after a while. “It’s a strange feeling that I can’t really express.”
“I think I know how you feel. Before Sadar and I raided Comdot, I felt sort of the same thing, I think,” said Samson.
“Did I ever tell you guys what I happened to me?” Jake asked.
“No, but we sort of know. We heard what you did to your team, and we now assume that Ozzal made you do it,” Samson replied.
“Pretty much,” Jake sighed.
After a long enough pause, Samson switched the subject back.
“It’s just nerves that have you feeling like that,” Samson said, trying to cheer Jake up.
“I don’t think it is,” Jake said with a desperate tone. “I feel like I’m going to die.”
“We can always postpone this, Jake,” Samson said. “It’s only Monday. We could go to tomorrow.”
“I guess I’ll call it off tonight then,” Jake said in a half whisper. “I just don’t want Hikki to call me a sissy though.
“Don’t worry about him. He’s just likes to tease,” he said, patting Jake on the back.
***
“Follow me as closely as you can,” said Jakob. Winry just nodded.
Jakob had taken Winry to a nice green stretch of riverbank. It was one of his favorite spots. The river was wide here, so if you fell in, it could be bad for you.
He took a running start at the river, and jumped to a stone about 2 meters in, then proceeded to leap from one invisible (and very slippery) stone to the next until he landed on the large, dry stone in the middle. He turned around to see Winry still on the river bank.
“What happened?” he called out.
Winry just had a (“O.o”) look on her face.
“Oh, come on!” Jakob called. “It’s not that hard.”
She took a running jump at the first stone, landed, and slipped on the moss. She was headed straight for the water.
From her perspective, all direction was lost, and then she was on the stone in the middle of the river. Jakob was sitting next to her, smiling. She figured out that what had happened, and she bowed a small thanks.
“Look’s like we have found a weak point. Don’t worry about it. We’ll work on it later,” said Jakob.
“I guess…,” she began. ”Hey, what was that iron thing that Schwarzwald was talking about.”
“I didn’t want to get in to all this first, but since you asked…It is a tale as old as the Order itself. A long time ago, a few people decided that together they were strong enough to rule the world, as most psychos tend to think every once in a while. So they marched into the capitals of every major company in the world, one after the other, meeting no real resistance along the way. For a while at least.
Then they went to the Land Of The Rising Big Red Dot, where they met Ichigo, the strongest that the RBRD had to offer. He and a few friend had started a resistance movement, much like the situation here, and held them off. That was the beginning of a centuries long battle that led to the creation of two orders, Iron and Glass. Don’t ask about the names. No one knows what they mean anymore.”
Winry looked as if someone had just killed her puppy.
“Oh, and the leaders now are rumored to be the strongest and smartest in Iron’s history,” he threw in as a kicker. “Sorry we didn’t tell you what you were getting into.”
“…gah…” she sputtered.
“It’s a little overwhelming, I know,” he said trying to comfort her.
“I need to train a whole lot harder,” she said with as much confidence as she could muster.
“Well, that’s honorable.” Jakob said with a chuckle.
***
Night was settling on the bleary day that Tuesday was. A few thing would happen that night that might change thins significantly, but more on that later. Now for some hijnks.
Or not. Whatever.
Seriously. I’ve hand-written 10 pages and it all seems lame to me.
Let’s go to the Sadar/Emiri meeting. Yeah. That. >.>
*note: I am copying this straight out of the notebook. This was written at about 2 in the morning. I actually wrote the shifty eyes too. I’m incredibly lame.*
Emiri was sitting on the beach with her knees pulled up to her chin, admiring the simplicity and complexity of the ocean. Kira was, of course, sitting next to her. It was he that saw Sadar first, and he got up to greet him.
“Hello,” Kira said quietly. He motioned toward Emiri, “I haven’t seen her this peaceful in a long time. Maybe never.”
“Well, thank goodness for that,” Sadar whispered. Emiri heard him despite his whispers and she also rose to greet him.
“Hello,” she said plainly.
“Hello, Emiri,” Sadar said. “Why is it that you’ve called me here tonight?”
“I want to know what you did to me,” said Emiri with an accusatory tone.
“I can’t tell you that,” Sadar explained. “I don’t want you using it to harm others.”
“I don’t care how you ghosted me halfway across the bloody city. I care about the crap you rearranged in my head,” she spat.
“I did nothing to you,” Sadar said, remaining calm. “You changed on your own. Maybe because of the defeat, or maybe because you have gained back feeling you lost, like compassion, but I did nothing directly.”
“Don’t feed me that crap,” she said, her voice rising in volume. “I’m sure that you did something. Why else would I have this strange fascination with you?”
“I assure you that I didn’t tamper with your mind. It is a thing that no one can do. Also, the feelings you are having may be respect or admiration for the man that you so completely believe changed you.”
“I doubt that I would like you for making me useless,” she said with an indifferent look on her face. She had realized that Sadar would be of no help.
A wicked scream burst forth into the night from the docks at the other end of the beach. But more on that later. Now, a time-skip backwards.
***
Jakob had been teaching Winry the basics of his art, which was being a confidence man, when the sun began to set on Tuesday.
“Sorry, Winry,” Jakob said. “We’ll have to pick this up later.”
“It’s no problem. I’ve learned plenty today.
They back to the river bank without an incident like before, and headed toward his motorcycle, which he had attached a sidecar to just for her. He was a kind guy, despite the lying for a living thing. When they arrived at headquarters, he let Winry out explaining that he had some urgent business to attend to, and sped off. He was speeding toward the docks with all his bike’s power.
“How could I have let it get so late?” he thought. “If I don’t get there soon, I might fail my mission.
***
“Come on, Jake,” Samson called. “If we don’t leave now, we will have to wait until next week, and who know what could happen by then.”
“I know,” said Jake with a sigh.
“Eet ees for zhe ghreater good, Jake,” Hikki chimed in.
“I know that too,” he said with another sigh. “Let’s just go, Samson. I don’t want to hear all of this over and over again.
They left from the warehouse they had gathered in, and headed toward the docks. It was only a 15 minute walk, but the awkward silence made it seem like so much longer. When they finally arrived, they said a quick goodbye to each other and Samson turned and trudged back up the hill.
Jake walked past the first 12 warehouses, and stopped at number 13. He stood around for about 10 minutes wondering of he would be waiting long, when he heard the sound of a motorcycle in the distance. By the sound of it, it was coming his way fast.
He then felt a presence behind him, and he thought it might be Sadar. He turned to greet him and was greeted with a knife to the gut. Acting solely on instinct, he threw his hands over his head and clasped them together, forming a huge fist, and brought them down upon the attacker. He dropped like a stone beneath Jake’s strength.
Jake then pulled the knife out and held it high above his head. He let out a horrific scream as he lapsed into the beast that he was long ago. His eyes rolled back in his head as he let loose his fury upon the body of his attacker. He had abandoned the body and turned toward the city. He was going berserk, and then he received a boot to the head and crumpled to the ground.
Jakob had come just in time to stop Jake before he rampaged on the city. He lifted Jake and took him back to his bike. He hopped on himself, after putting Jake in the sidecar, and was about to drive off when a voice called out to him. Sadar, Emiri, and Kira where running to him. Jakob quickly explained what had just happened and that he needed to get Jake to a hospital immediately.
“I can heal him,” said Kira.
“Really?” asked Sadar.
“Yeah. Just let me see the wound,” Kira answered.
They pulled up his blood-drenched shirt, and Kira got to work healing it. About 20 minutes later, they roused him with some smelling salts. He could only remember attacking the guy and then blackness, so he thought that he might have done something terrible. When he regained his vision, he saw a few guys and a girl standing over him.
“What happened?” he asked, rubbing the swelling knot on his head.
“You were attacked by an agent from Iron,” said Jakob calmly.
“We are about to go see who it is, but we decided that it might be someone who has a vendetta against you for something you did and thought that you might recognize them,” explained Sadar.
Jake nodded in agreement, then clutched his side remembering his wound. He felt no blood flow and when he looked at it, he saw a fresh scar.
“Wha-” he started.
“I healed you,” Kira answered before the question was finished.
“Shall we go see who it is now?” Emiri asked, getting impatient.
***
Kay El and Zeus slunk back into Comdot with a looks of fury on there faces. Zeus was angry in particular because he was called ‘The Angry God’ and he couldn’t even beat a proxy. He was disappointed. He was also looking much older, which was a side effect he hated the most.
“We need to launch a counter attack within the week,” said Kay El.
“We need to do something. I can’t take losing and then do nothing,” retorted Zeus.
“I don’t accept your defeat. How could you have lost to a bunch of villages? You are superior beings! You are strong, better, and faster! There should be no reason why they aren’t strewn across the streets of Orly. Now go and destroy them!” Ozzal yelled at them from the top of the stairs.
“Yes, Ma’am,” they said in unison, and ran off to the gym.
***
Five people were standing over the body of a man that had just bled to death. Things sure could change quickly in this city.
“You got him good, eh Whiney-boy,” jeered Emiri.
“After I got stabbed, my mind went blank. If Jakob hadn’t shown up when he did…come to think of it, how did you know what was going on here?” Jake asked in Jakob’s direction.
“To tell the truth, I know who it is laying there. I have been following him since last week. He was giving orders by two people to come here tonight. One set from Schwarzwald, and one from Lady Jagara. He was given opportunity by the former, and an order to kill whoever showed up by the latter,” he said as he kicked the body over to reveal Band as the traitor. “He was a mole placed in Glass by Iron.”
Sadar was shocked, but the others just looked confused.
“There’s no time to explain,” said Sadar, hurriedly. “We need to go. You are all welcome at our headquarters, that is, if you want to come.”
“I will,” said Jake, remembering his promise to keep the Syndicate in the loop.
“We’ll come on one condition,” said Emiri. “I want you to provide those orphans in the pub with a good house.”
“I was planning on helping them anyway, so this all works out well,” said Sadar. “Let’s go.”
***
Ozzal was returning to her office, and she found another letter on her door.
“This wasn’t funny before, so why would it be funny now?” she asked to no one as she opened the letter.
To Michelle Ozzal,
We have changed our minds. We will support you. Though it pains us to admit this, we might need you to help us. When we accomplish our goals, we will let you share in our spoils. Please let him know what your intentions are.
With all sincerity,
The Order
“Who is this guy I’m supposed to tell?”
“It is I,” said Goda from the shadows.
“What?” she asked with a confused look on her face.
“Isn’t it obvious?” he asked
“I guess not” she said with that look still fixed on her face.
“I have worked for the Order for many years. They assigned me to you when you were still in the army. I’m surprised that you hadn’t realized that I was guiding you all these years. This is what I will continue to do, but in a more obvious way. We just need an installed figurehead for our plans.”
“But…” she couldn’t form the word because she was so angry.
“Don’t try to fight this. We will win,” said Goda with his wicked smile. “You only have to paths. Be a puppet or die. I know which you will choose. Goodbye.” He walked out.
End
Characters
Nafah – InuyashaFan213
Father Sadar – FurionTassadar
Beautiful Woman – Lady Jagara – Wolf’s Rain
LordIl Palazzo – Excel Saga
Enel – One Piece
Lorenz Keel – Neon Genesis Evangelion
Kaia – namek_kaia
Jakob – jakobtheliar12
Band – bandnerdswimfan
Roxie – anime_goddess05
Schwarzwald – Big O
Samson – MasterSamson
Michelle Ozzal – Michael Lazzo
Hikki – Kohikki
Jake – Sportsmaster
Winry – FullMetal Alchemist
Ichigo – Bleach
Emiri - _Boxers_
Kira – Bleach
Zeus – zeustheangrygod a.k.a. Shuya_Nanahara
Kay El – Kagomes_Luver2789
Goda – GitS: SAC 2nd Gig
The figure slinks down one dark alley after another. Where one finds dark alleys in the middle of the day is a mystery, but it just so happens that they are darkened today.
He slides around the corner and sprints towards a warehouse door, which is just wide enough for his to slide into. As he stops to catch his breath, a breathtaking woman slides in behind him. She is one of the most beautiful women in the world, they say.
“Have you received any news?” the gorgeous woman asked in a voice that’s sweet as honey.
“I have, My Lady,” the mysterious man gasps out.
“Good,” she almost purrs. “Go on then, tell me.”
“Either Monday or Tuesday, they will be bringing in a new recruit.” He says with a steadier breath.
“Do you know his specialty?” she asks in that voice that makes you want to tell her anything.
I don’t know it, M’Lady,” he said with a look at his shoes. “It was Father Sadar that recruited him. I’ve had no contact.”
“It matters not, as you will dispatch him when he arrives,” she said coldly with a glance at her nails.
“Won’t that blow my cover?” he asked.
“Wear a mask or something,” she said.
“Yes M’Lady,” he said with a salute.
”Alright, dismissed,” she said, and walked off.
His heart was beating at a speed much higher than normal, but it wasn’t from his run there. No, it was from the encounter he had just had. He just met one of the most beautiful, smart, powerful, and, most of all, evil women in the women in the world. He had also just received his first real assignment. It was enough to rattle anyone.
***
“I’m sorry to have to meet you under these circumstances, Father,” said Nafah.
“It’s no trouble really, I needed to come to the church anyway, said Father Sadar. “Why is it that you’ve called me down here though?”
“I have some rather good, but strange, news to relate to you,” she said in a curious tone.
“By all means, let me know.”
“That rogue, Emiri, came back here, but she passed right over the mark. Something that you said, or maybe did, changed her, and she wants to know what it is you did. She’s looking for you, Father.”
“That’s wonderful news. I’m glad that she has changed her wicked ways. Did she mention when she wanted to meet?”
“Not quite. A couple of ruffians came in here and they started a fight”
“When was this!?”
“A couple of days ago. I would have thought that you would have heard about the fights all over the city.”
“I thought that those were citizen fights. Backlashes from the riots.”
“It was definitely them,” said Nafah. “Maybe you should go look for her.”
“I will, but if she shows up again, call me immediately. I would like to speak to her.”
“That’s no problem. Good luck finding her,” she called after him because he was already running through the church.
***
The beauty was the last to enter the dimly lit room.
“Why do we always meet in this dreary room?” she asked to no one in particular.
“So that no camera’s can work effectively on us, Lady Jagara,” called the voice from her left.
“Oh, whatever. We can’t be brought down by anything said in these meetings. They are always too tame. You know that Il Palazzo,” she remarked.
“Quiet your petty bickering,” commanded Keel. “We have business to attend to.”
Jagara sat down, but she did not look pleased having been shushed.
“Glass has been recruiting,” Keel continued. “So far they have only brought in one member, but I have heard that one more will join soon enough, maybe two.”
“I say we strike now, while they are weakened,” interrupted Il Palazzo.
“An attack now could end it, but that would be no fun,” interjected the man who had not yet spoken. “If we were to kill the weaker members and the new recruits, then we might enjoy it more when the real fight comes.
“I don’t want them all dead yet,” said Keel. “I think we need to worm our way into Glass and learn all we can before we take on our enemy.”
“A mole?” asked Il Palazzo.
“Precisely,” answered Keel.
“I have a jump on that, Lorenz. I have a man on the inside already, and I have instructed him to eliminate the new recruit before he can join Glass,” Jagara said with a nod towards Enel.
That left the other three dumbstruck.
“Great job, Lady Jagara,” said Keel and Enel in a creepy harmony.
“With that out of the way,” Keel continued by himself, “we come to our next item: Ozzal. She has, frankly, become a pest. Glass is trying to oust her by starting a war with Comedia. It won’t come to that though, because she will be out of power before the Comedians could even begin to march on Orly.
“What are you suggesting?” asked Il Palazzo.
“We will have her step down from her position, or take matters into out own hands if worse comes to worse,” answered Keel.
“I think it would be quite fun to threaten her into quitting,” Il Palazzo almost sang.
“I’ll leave it up to you then, but if she won’t quit, make it look as if the Syndicate killed her,” said Keel.
“I’ll get the guy we have close to her to write the letter out,” said Il Palazzo.
“It seems as if we have taken a large leap forward today,” said Keel. “Good work.”
They all got up and exited the dimly lit room.
***
Father Sadar had been scouring Lower Actonia for hours looking for any clues on the whereabouts of Emiri. He had stumbled upon Trunks’ burned out pub and the children inside it. He listened to the story of their plight with sadness in his heart. It always pains you to see children in poverty and without homes, but there was little he could do for them.
He left from there even though it was hard. He had given them all the cash he had on his person though. It should feed them for a couple of days.
He was about to give up on his search for Emiri when his cell phone rang. He picked it up immediately.
“Emiri is here, Father,” said Nafah.
“Good. Ask her when we can meet.”
There was a pause and muffled voices.
“Is Tuesday night alright with you?”
“That’s great. Where?
“She wants to meet at the beach.”
“That’s fine by me. Tell her that I’ll se her there.”
The priestess hung up the phone shortly after. Sadar had a grin on his face. He was relieved to know that she was alive at least. Then his phone rang again. It was Kaia this time, telling him to come to the meeting.
***
“Schwarzwald has called a meeting,” said Kaia.
“Be right there,” Jakob said as he hopped onto his motorcycle and tore down the street. “Man I love this bike!” he yelled.
As he arrived at the Order’s Orly headquarters, he made sure that he had his glass cross on, and walked into the building.
He greeted a few of the Order members that he was closer to with the little half-wave, half-salute that he frequently used.
“Come on, Jakob,” Aoi called. “The meeting is starting.”
He walked into the meeting expecting to find the same boring things that he had grown indifferent to, but he was surprised to learn a couple of things had changed.
He saw one new face, and one old face. Roxie had returned and had been married from the looks of her left hand. “Why wasn’t I invited to the wedding,” he thought.
The new girl was in her mid-teens, and she looked excited to be at her first Order meeting. He might have to be the one to tell her how droll they will be in the future. Schwarzwald began the meeting by introducing the new girl as Winry Rockbell. He told everyone that didn’t already know that Roxie had brought her in. He also mentioned that soon one, maybe two new recruits should be joining. One kid from the Syndicate, and one escapee from Comdot. Hey should also be scouting for new recruits that didn’t have any ties to either side of the conflict in Actonia.
“Since we want Winry to learn as quickly as possible, we will want one of our members to give her some in-depth training and a lesson on The Iron,” Schwarzwald said.
“I’ll do it,” Jakob volunteered. “I like meeting the new guys.”
“That’s great. Thanks, Jakob. Hey, maybe you can teach her a bit of your trade as well.” Schwarzwald added.
“Sounds like fun,” said Jakob with a smile. “Meet me out front tomorrow morning, and I’ll take you to my classroom.”
“Okay,” Winry said with a puzzled look on her face.
“Okay guys, we might have a couple of new recruits. Samson is expected to come in either tonight or tomorrow night, and who knows if Jake will ever contact us. In any event, we need someone to be at Warehouse 13 in case Samson shows. I think that Sadar should be the one to meet him since he invited him,” Schwarzwald said.
“I can do it tonight, but I have somewhere I need to be tomorrow,” Sadar said.
“Then we will need a volunteer,” said Schwarzwald.
“I’ll do it,” said Band.
“That should be all then,” said Schwarzwald. “You’re dismissed.”
Everyone began to file out of the meeting room. Kaia caught up to Sadar in the hall.
“What is it that you have to do tomorrow?” she asked.
“I have to go meet with Emiri.”
“What? Why?”
“I promised her that I would meet with her tomorrow night.”
“I wouldn’t go see that psycho if you paid me.”
“She’s changed. She’s not the psycho she used to be.”
“Still. I wouldn’t do that.”
“I made a promise, and I intend to keep it,” Sadar said in a convincing tone.
“Fine, I won’t stop you,” Kaia said and walked back to her office.
***
Ozzal returned to her office to find that a letter had been tacked to the door.
“What’s all this about?” she asked to no one in particular.
She examined the letter. It was a plain envelope with naught but one word upon it: Ozzal. She tore it open and read it.
To Michelle Ozzal,
We have kept our eye on you for some time. You have been reckless. You parade your military around for the public to see, and you let your men run around killing peons. We want you to take your carelessness elsewhere. If you don’t comply, we may need to meet.
The Order
“Is this someone’s idea of a joke? If it is, it’s the worst joke I’ve ever seen. Seriously, even I can play better pranks that this,” she said as she tore the letter to pieces. “Who’s ‘The Order’ anyway,” she muttered to herself as she went to her chair.
***
“Ees eet tonight?” questioned Hikki.
“I think so,” said Samson. “Unless Jake doesn’t want to do it.
“Well…uh…I think I’ll be good, but I need to talk to Samson first,” Jake said. “Alone.”
They walked out of earshot of everyone in the café. So far out of earshot that they were on the roof.
“I’m not really afraid,” said Jake after a while. “It’s a strange feeling that I can’t really express.”
“I think I know how you feel. Before Sadar and I raided Comdot, I felt sort of the same thing, I think,” said Samson.
“Did I ever tell you guys what I happened to me?” Jake asked.
“No, but we sort of know. We heard what you did to your team, and we now assume that Ozzal made you do it,” Samson replied.
“Pretty much,” Jake sighed.
After a long enough pause, Samson switched the subject back.
“It’s just nerves that have you feeling like that,” Samson said, trying to cheer Jake up.
“I don’t think it is,” Jake said with a desperate tone. “I feel like I’m going to die.”
“We can always postpone this, Jake,” Samson said. “It’s only Monday. We could go to tomorrow.”
“I guess I’ll call it off tonight then,” Jake said in a half whisper. “I just don’t want Hikki to call me a sissy though.
“Don’t worry about him. He’s just likes to tease,” he said, patting Jake on the back.
***
“Follow me as closely as you can,” said Jakob. Winry just nodded.
Jakob had taken Winry to a nice green stretch of riverbank. It was one of his favorite spots. The river was wide here, so if you fell in, it could be bad for you.
He took a running start at the river, and jumped to a stone about 2 meters in, then proceeded to leap from one invisible (and very slippery) stone to the next until he landed on the large, dry stone in the middle. He turned around to see Winry still on the river bank.
“What happened?” he called out.
Winry just had a (“O.o”) look on her face.
“Oh, come on!” Jakob called. “It’s not that hard.”
She took a running jump at the first stone, landed, and slipped on the moss. She was headed straight for the water.
From her perspective, all direction was lost, and then she was on the stone in the middle of the river. Jakob was sitting next to her, smiling. She figured out that what had happened, and she bowed a small thanks.
“Look’s like we have found a weak point. Don’t worry about it. We’ll work on it later,” said Jakob.
“I guess…,” she began. ”Hey, what was that iron thing that Schwarzwald was talking about.”
“I didn’t want to get in to all this first, but since you asked…It is a tale as old as the Order itself. A long time ago, a few people decided that together they were strong enough to rule the world, as most psychos tend to think every once in a while. So they marched into the capitals of every major company in the world, one after the other, meeting no real resistance along the way. For a while at least.
Then they went to the Land Of The Rising Big Red Dot, where they met Ichigo, the strongest that the RBRD had to offer. He and a few friend had started a resistance movement, much like the situation here, and held them off. That was the beginning of a centuries long battle that led to the creation of two orders, Iron and Glass. Don’t ask about the names. No one knows what they mean anymore.”
Winry looked as if someone had just killed her puppy.
“Oh, and the leaders now are rumored to be the strongest and smartest in Iron’s history,” he threw in as a kicker. “Sorry we didn’t tell you what you were getting into.”
“…gah…” she sputtered.
“It’s a little overwhelming, I know,” he said trying to comfort her.
“I need to train a whole lot harder,” she said with as much confidence as she could muster.
“Well, that’s honorable.” Jakob said with a chuckle.
***
Night was settling on the bleary day that Tuesday was. A few thing would happen that night that might change thins significantly, but more on that later. Now for some hijnks.
Or not. Whatever.
Seriously. I’ve hand-written 10 pages and it all seems lame to me.
Let’s go to the Sadar/Emiri meeting. Yeah. That. >.>
*note: I am copying this straight out of the notebook. This was written at about 2 in the morning. I actually wrote the shifty eyes too. I’m incredibly lame.*
Emiri was sitting on the beach with her knees pulled up to her chin, admiring the simplicity and complexity of the ocean. Kira was, of course, sitting next to her. It was he that saw Sadar first, and he got up to greet him.
“Hello,” Kira said quietly. He motioned toward Emiri, “I haven’t seen her this peaceful in a long time. Maybe never.”
“Well, thank goodness for that,” Sadar whispered. Emiri heard him despite his whispers and she also rose to greet him.
“Hello,” she said plainly.
“Hello, Emiri,” Sadar said. “Why is it that you’ve called me here tonight?”
“I want to know what you did to me,” said Emiri with an accusatory tone.
“I can’t tell you that,” Sadar explained. “I don’t want you using it to harm others.”
“I don’t care how you ghosted me halfway across the bloody city. I care about the crap you rearranged in my head,” she spat.
“I did nothing to you,” Sadar said, remaining calm. “You changed on your own. Maybe because of the defeat, or maybe because you have gained back feeling you lost, like compassion, but I did nothing directly.”
“Don’t feed me that crap,” she said, her voice rising in volume. “I’m sure that you did something. Why else would I have this strange fascination with you?”
“I assure you that I didn’t tamper with your mind. It is a thing that no one can do. Also, the feelings you are having may be respect or admiration for the man that you so completely believe changed you.”
“I doubt that I would like you for making me useless,” she said with an indifferent look on her face. She had realized that Sadar would be of no help.
A wicked scream burst forth into the night from the docks at the other end of the beach. But more on that later. Now, a time-skip backwards.
***
Jakob had been teaching Winry the basics of his art, which was being a confidence man, when the sun began to set on Tuesday.
“Sorry, Winry,” Jakob said. “We’ll have to pick this up later.”
“It’s no problem. I’ve learned plenty today.
They back to the river bank without an incident like before, and headed toward his motorcycle, which he had attached a sidecar to just for her. He was a kind guy, despite the lying for a living thing. When they arrived at headquarters, he let Winry out explaining that he had some urgent business to attend to, and sped off. He was speeding toward the docks with all his bike’s power.
“How could I have let it get so late?” he thought. “If I don’t get there soon, I might fail my mission.
***
“Come on, Jake,” Samson called. “If we don’t leave now, we will have to wait until next week, and who know what could happen by then.”
“I know,” said Jake with a sigh.
“Eet ees for zhe ghreater good, Jake,” Hikki chimed in.
“I know that too,” he said with another sigh. “Let’s just go, Samson. I don’t want to hear all of this over and over again.
They left from the warehouse they had gathered in, and headed toward the docks. It was only a 15 minute walk, but the awkward silence made it seem like so much longer. When they finally arrived, they said a quick goodbye to each other and Samson turned and trudged back up the hill.
Jake walked past the first 12 warehouses, and stopped at number 13. He stood around for about 10 minutes wondering of he would be waiting long, when he heard the sound of a motorcycle in the distance. By the sound of it, it was coming his way fast.
He then felt a presence behind him, and he thought it might be Sadar. He turned to greet him and was greeted with a knife to the gut. Acting solely on instinct, he threw his hands over his head and clasped them together, forming a huge fist, and brought them down upon the attacker. He dropped like a stone beneath Jake’s strength.
Jake then pulled the knife out and held it high above his head. He let out a horrific scream as he lapsed into the beast that he was long ago. His eyes rolled back in his head as he let loose his fury upon the body of his attacker. He had abandoned the body and turned toward the city. He was going berserk, and then he received a boot to the head and crumpled to the ground.
Jakob had come just in time to stop Jake before he rampaged on the city. He lifted Jake and took him back to his bike. He hopped on himself, after putting Jake in the sidecar, and was about to drive off when a voice called out to him. Sadar, Emiri, and Kira where running to him. Jakob quickly explained what had just happened and that he needed to get Jake to a hospital immediately.
“I can heal him,” said Kira.
“Really?” asked Sadar.
“Yeah. Just let me see the wound,” Kira answered.
They pulled up his blood-drenched shirt, and Kira got to work healing it. About 20 minutes later, they roused him with some smelling salts. He could only remember attacking the guy and then blackness, so he thought that he might have done something terrible. When he regained his vision, he saw a few guys and a girl standing over him.
“What happened?” he asked, rubbing the swelling knot on his head.
“You were attacked by an agent from Iron,” said Jakob calmly.
“We are about to go see who it is, but we decided that it might be someone who has a vendetta against you for something you did and thought that you might recognize them,” explained Sadar.
Jake nodded in agreement, then clutched his side remembering his wound. He felt no blood flow and when he looked at it, he saw a fresh scar.
“Wha-” he started.
“I healed you,” Kira answered before the question was finished.
“Shall we go see who it is now?” Emiri asked, getting impatient.
***
Kay El and Zeus slunk back into Comdot with a looks of fury on there faces. Zeus was angry in particular because he was called ‘The Angry God’ and he couldn’t even beat a proxy. He was disappointed. He was also looking much older, which was a side effect he hated the most.
“We need to launch a counter attack within the week,” said Kay El.
“We need to do something. I can’t take losing and then do nothing,” retorted Zeus.
“I don’t accept your defeat. How could you have lost to a bunch of villages? You are superior beings! You are strong, better, and faster! There should be no reason why they aren’t strewn across the streets of Orly. Now go and destroy them!” Ozzal yelled at them from the top of the stairs.
“Yes, Ma’am,” they said in unison, and ran off to the gym.
***
Five people were standing over the body of a man that had just bled to death. Things sure could change quickly in this city.
“You got him good, eh Whiney-boy,” jeered Emiri.
“After I got stabbed, my mind went blank. If Jakob hadn’t shown up when he did…come to think of it, how did you know what was going on here?” Jake asked in Jakob’s direction.
“To tell the truth, I know who it is laying there. I have been following him since last week. He was giving orders by two people to come here tonight. One set from Schwarzwald, and one from Lady Jagara. He was given opportunity by the former, and an order to kill whoever showed up by the latter,” he said as he kicked the body over to reveal Band as the traitor. “He was a mole placed in Glass by Iron.”
Sadar was shocked, but the others just looked confused.
“There’s no time to explain,” said Sadar, hurriedly. “We need to go. You are all welcome at our headquarters, that is, if you want to come.”
“I will,” said Jake, remembering his promise to keep the Syndicate in the loop.
“We’ll come on one condition,” said Emiri. “I want you to provide those orphans in the pub with a good house.”
“I was planning on helping them anyway, so this all works out well,” said Sadar. “Let’s go.”
***
Ozzal was returning to her office, and she found another letter on her door.
“This wasn’t funny before, so why would it be funny now?” she asked to no one as she opened the letter.
To Michelle Ozzal,
We have changed our minds. We will support you. Though it pains us to admit this, we might need you to help us. When we accomplish our goals, we will let you share in our spoils. Please let him know what your intentions are.
With all sincerity,
The Order
“Who is this guy I’m supposed to tell?”
“It is I,” said Goda from the shadows.
“What?” she asked with a confused look on her face.
“Isn’t it obvious?” he asked
“I guess not” she said with that look still fixed on her face.
“I have worked for the Order for many years. They assigned me to you when you were still in the army. I’m surprised that you hadn’t realized that I was guiding you all these years. This is what I will continue to do, but in a more obvious way. We just need an installed figurehead for our plans.”
“But…” she couldn’t form the word because she was so angry.
“Don’t try to fight this. We will win,” said Goda with his wicked smile. “You only have to paths. Be a puppet or die. I know which you will choose. Goodbye.” He walked out.
End
Characters
Nafah – InuyashaFan213
Father Sadar – FurionTassadar
Beautiful Woman – Lady Jagara – Wolf’s Rain
LordIl Palazzo – Excel Saga
Enel – One Piece
Lorenz Keel – Neon Genesis Evangelion
Kaia – namek_kaia
Jakob – jakobtheliar12
Band – bandnerdswimfan
Roxie – anime_goddess05
Schwarzwald – Big O
Samson – MasterSamson
Michelle Ozzal – Michael Lazzo
Hikki – Kohikki
Jake – Sportsmaster
Winry – FullMetal Alchemist
Ichigo – Bleach
Emiri - _Boxers_
Kira – Bleach
Zeus – zeustheangrygod a.k.a. Shuya_Nanahara
Kay El – Kagomes_Luver2789
Goda – GitS: SAC 2nd Gig