Chapter 08

-Talking through headsets...-

*Thoughts*

/flashback/

-Siberian, do you have their location?-

-Northeast of the building, fifth floor.-

-Shit! Balinese and I are still on the first. We'll be right there.-

-No need. Crawford and I should be able to handle this.- Ken reached up and tapped a button on his headset to switch channels. -Bombay, Prodigy. Do you have the explosives in place?-

A cheerful voice came through the set. -Yup! You have 15 minutes to retrieve the disk!-

Ken sighed. Omi still scared him a little. How someone as young as him could manage to stay so... pure and innocent was beyond him. Not only that, but he was so goddamn cheerful that Ken felt like he'd swallowed a spoonful of sugar every time he heard his voice. -Roger. We'll meet again in 15.-

-All right! We'll be heading out to finish up a few things.-

Ken pressed the button on his headset again and signaled to Crawford, who nodded. They slowly crept along the walls, making sure to stay out of view of the cameras.

"My my, if it isn't my feisty little kitten! How nice to see you again so soon."

Ken froze as he saw the figure that had just appeared in front of them. *Ryu.*

Ryu winked at him as he slowly slinked forward. Crawford sighed and notified his teammates of the enemy who had just appeared in front of them. -Oracle! We've found the control room. We'll be disabling all of the cameras soon.-

Crawford gave Ken a glance, letting him know that Wai and Ran had finally reached their destination. Unfortunately, Ken was frozen in place, a mass of fury, eyes trained on the enemy before them.

"Abyssinian, let's get this done with quick. I don't know what Ken will do now that Ryu's shown up." Once Wai had finally been officially inducted into WeiB, Wai had been briefed about how Ken had gotten his injuries. Ken hated losing control and that was exactly what had happened. If they didn't hurry, there was no knowing what would happen.

Ran nodded and proceeded to start typing into the system. "First and second floor down."

Wai paced as he tried to think of a faster way for them to get to the fifth floor from the third floor than the stairs. "Fuck! Why are we doing this mission in such a goddamn tall building!"

Ran paid him no attention as his fingers flew across the keyboard. "Bombay or Prodigy should've been the ones to do this. Why did Manx decide that I should be on the team to disable cameras?!"

"Because of us." Ran and Wai turned quickly, amazed that someone had actually entered the room without being sensed. A tall man stood at the door way, smirking. He had black hair and was dressed all in black - black shoes, black pants, black shirt. Even the bandana he had tied around his head was black. Next to him stood a redheaded girl who appeared to have trouble dressing appropriately. She wore a skirt that was so short she might as well have just come out wearing underwear as well as a shirt that seemed to be mostly tears.

Wai's eyes narrowed. "And who are you?"

"Now, now. Didn't your mommy ever tell you that it's impolite to ask someone's name without giving yours first?"

Wai took a step back when the blackhaired man stepped forward. "Aw, don't worry so much sweetie!! We'll make sure that your deaths are painless!" The girl gave them a smile as she pulled out a spear from a strap she had been wearing on her back.

"Omi!" Omi stumbled as Nagi gently pushed him forward, urging him to run faster. "You okay?"

Omi nodded, a bead of sweat going down the side of his face. "This is bad, Nagi. If they're all as strong as the guys who caught us..."

Nagi nodded, his face grim. "We might have to call Manx for some back up. Omi, we have to keep running, love. We can't get caught here. We have to find a safe place to extend the time of the detonation."

Omi gripped the laptop to his chest, willing himself to continue running, away from the crater that was 10 feet in diameter. *If that's a level one attack, what the hell would level three do?! Guys... be careful.*

"Shiki, you went overboard. We don't want to kill them, remember?"

The little boy pouted. "But it was so much fun, Kanda!"

The man called Kanda laughed, patting Shiki's head. "I know, Shiki. But it will be even more fun when we capture them all."

Even Shiki shivered when he saw the manic look in Kanda's eyes. Shiki loved Kanda, Kanda was the one who'd rescued him from his father. But sometimes... Shiki wondered exactly how much of Kanda was bloodlust and sadism. He shook his head. It didn't matter, Kanda loved him and he had no reason to fear the man.

"Should we chase the little kittens, Kanda?"

"Let them run. I don't think we're meant to capture them today. Remember, Shiki, the chase is almost as exciting as the capture."

Shiki nodded before sitting down and pulling out some candy from his backpack. "Think Ryu will be done first?"

"No... He's up against an oracle. It might take him some time. And that little brown haired kitten might distract him... the one with the sharp claws. Ryoko and Taki will probably finish first. Ice can't win against fire after all."

They sat together, staring at the building, waiting for their comrades to come out. Anyone passing by would have thought they were a cute father and son... if it weren't for the blood splattered on their faces and clothes.

-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

End of Chapter 08

heh. for some reason when i started writing it just.. headed to this direction. Today is just the introduction of their new enemies, once I've written up some profiles on them I'll write some more :]

*NOTE: The previous chapters/stories that have "Leibe" instead of "Liebe." Sorry -_-" I tend to type without thinking!! I'm pretty sure I used to know that :[ Thanks to Sin Angel for pointing it out to me!