Yuu 'Kaidan' Kido, C7, Shatter
- It was a pretty nice workbench, if a little bit dusty. There wasn't room for it in the small garage at Kaidan's house, but the addition of a little awning kept it largely protected from the elements. Of course, it was a little more affected by the disuse, but that was to be expected.
"Well, what do you think of the rig? Awesome, right?" Kaidan turned back to his companion with a wide grin, setting a cardboard box down on the bench. Benji quirked his eyebrow a bit as he swept some of the debris off the top of the bench, setting his own bag of tools down.
"Well, considering I made it, I guess I approve." He admitted with a grin, "Going to have things growing on it before too long here, though. Why'd you ask for it if you weren't going to use it?"
"Hey, what can I say? Why use the apprentice when you've got the master a couple of blocks away, eh?" Kaidan opened the box and removed the wood square within it. It was a small box, but one of the corners had been splintered and deformed. Kaidan put on his best serious expression, gripping Benji's shoulder with one hand, "What do you think, Doctor? Do you think she'll ever walk again?"
"I don't know about walk, but we'll see." Benji pulled over the chair and then settled the little wooden box in the center of the desk. He peered at it this way and that, cocking his head to one side. He ran his hand along the side of the box, clicking the secret switch inward. The top with the broken side twitched, but it didn't open, "What's this for, anyway? Put it in some other prop so you can drop something when you want it?"
"Well, I could tell you, but then I'd have to kill you, and I might need you to make me something else." Kaidan bent down over the bench, peering at the broken trick release along with his builder. The damage wasn't that extensive, but it was right along the hinge of the secret compartment. Apparently throwing the prop bottle it was hidden inside off stage when he was done was not the best idea, "So what do you think?"
"Well..." Benji hemmed and hawwed for a moment, and finally leaned back in the chair, "Sorry, Kaidan. Don't think there's much I can do this time."
"Not much you can do?" Kaidan exaggerated his surprise, but he really wasn't expecting that answer, "But you're the wizard of the wardrobe! The king of crafts! The master of mechanics!"
"Well, I'm sorry, Kaidan." Benji shrugged up at him with a helpless expression, "Some things...once they're broken, they can't be fixed. That's just the way things work. I'd have to replace the door, the hinge, and three of the sides. At that point, why don't I just make you a new one so it all fits together right?"
"That's what I like about you, Benji. Just when I'm beginning to lose faith, you make me believe again." Kaidan leaned back against the bench with a thoughtful expression, rubbing his chin slowly, "You know, if we're already building something new, I've had this idea..."
Kaidan enjoyed horror movies. The thrill of fear that ran down his spine, the suddenly twists and jumps of surprise, and the inability to look away from all the gory details, they all exhilarated him. As an avid fan, however, he'd become harder to please over the years. Simple axe murderers or psychopaths with machetes didn't frighten him, unless the director was a genius. No, he now preferred the strange and mystifying. Alien abductions, flesh eating viruses, and monsters from the deepest pits of hell.
As it turns out, a bullet whizzing by his ear was way scarier. But not nearly as fun.
The shot was well over his shoulder, but he ducked back reflexively with a cry of panic, landing on his rear in the dark hallway. Aya was faster, diving forward to wrap her hands around the gun. Shiki's flashlight swung crazily and Kaidan couldn't see anything as her clambered back to his feet just in time for the second shot to light up the hallway, stinging into his eyes. Purple afterimages floated in his vision, and his hearing rang with the echo of the shot. Shiki's flashlight turned downward, pointing down along the stairs. He didn't see Aya anywhere. And where the hell was Taka? Hiding?
No time for that. Worry about yourself, dumbass!
Shiki's flashlight turned toward him again, and Kaidan bolted sideway down the hall toward his room, thrusting his hands desperately into the pocket of his jacket. He had to have something to defend himself with, something to give him a chance. His fingers closed around a few objects.
Deck of cards and a rubber dove finger puppet.
Fantastic.
Shiki's footsteps were behind him, the light from his flashlight swinging around the corner just as Kaidan disappeared into his own room. Through the window, the morning sun was just beginning to light the sky, casting everything in the dimmest sheen of illumination. Just enough light that he couldn't hide anywhere, but not enough to really let him see a damn thing.
Even better.
His foot snagged on something in the doorway and he nearly tripped over it before he realized what it was. It was his bag, still filled with a few odds and ends, none of which would help him in the slightest against the gun that was even now coming down the hall toward him. Aya's bag was beside it, but she never put her crossbow down, so there was no luck there. Then there was Takahashi's bag...
Taka's bag...
What the boy had said right after Aya's near miss...
“I especially kept my weapon inside my bag for this.”
Kaidan practically dove onto the bag, dropping to his knees and scrambling with the zipper until he practically tore the bag in half to get it open and overturned it onto the floor, watching the contents tumble out into a little pile.
Please, Taka, tell me they assigned you a goddamn bazooka.
Bread, water bottle, a map, some kind of netbook...
There!
Even as the weapon clattered to the ground, Kaidan grabbed it up and turned it over in his hands, feeling his heart sink in his chest. It was a thick, heavy club with a squared top. He could feel that it had heft, enough to do some serious damage. A better weapon than he had been assigned.
But not enough. Not against a gun. He couldn't win a fight. He had to escape.
But he didn't have the time.
Even as Kaidan sprang back to his feet and took two steps to his window, intending the smash it out with his new found weapon, the room was suddenly bathed in light. He squinted reflexively, raising his free hand to shield his eyes as the flashlight ran over him. He could barely see Minoru's outline past the brilliant circle of the light, but he knew the gun must be pointed his way. With a faint sigh, he let the heavy weight slip through his fingers to disappear into the clutter at his feet, and turned to face his opponent.
"Going somewhere, Kaidan?" Shiki's voice sprang from the darkness somewhere above that light, and Kaidan thought he could just make out the boy's eyes as his own began to adjust. He was surprised by his opponent's tone, though. He wasn't gloating, or even particularly happy. He sounded...
Bitter.
"Well, I've never been good with...um...crowds." Kaidan tried to turn on his smile, but it inexplicably wouldn't come. His voice quavered and broke, and he swallowed hard, "...Y-You know...Thought maybe I'd stretch my legs a little..."
"Why? It sounded like you, Taka, and Aya had it all planned out." Minoru's voice tightened, and the light moved closer to him, forcing him to shield his eyes again, "Protect each other and to hell with everyone else. Isn't that what she was saying?"
"Shiki, you don't understand. She wasn-"
"Enough!" Minoru didn't shout the word but Kaidan found himself flinching reflexively. He could see the other boy much more clearly now as he adapted to the light, and he could see the boy's face tightened with anger and betrayal. But he could also see past the flashlight beam to Minoru's other hand.
His empty hand.
No Gun.
In the hall, Minoru had been panicked as Aya shouted at him. He'd been terrified even as the gun went off. But he'd obviously conquered that fear when he'd come after Kaidan. He'd made the decision that he couldn't just escape and save himself, that he couldn't even risk the time it would take to retrieve his weapon, but that he had to end the threat that Kaidan represented to his classmates. He came after Kaidan with nothing but his flashlight, because he couldn't just let him go.
Minoru had refused to play the game, just as Kaidan had done himself, but the magician now knew that there was a difference between them. Minoru would not only have restrained himself, but he would also have refused to let someone else play on his behalf. He would never have let Aya talk herself into some crusade against her own classmates. He would have stood up to her, instead of cracking jokes and digging around for ways to lighten the mood. He would have done what Kaidan couldn't. He would have done the right thing.
Minoru was a better man.
He was the hero.
And now...
"You gonna kill me, Shiki?" Kaidan's voice was still trembling, and he sounded like he was going to cry. He realized with surprise that this wasn't too far from the truth. Moisture prickled around his eyes, and he seemed just as helpless to stop the forming tears as he was his coming fate. He could always control the tears before. As a little boy, he'd practiced and practiced and practiced. No matter what they called him, he would just smile.
The more it hurt, the bigger you smile.
God damnit, think of something.
"I thought you were better than this, Kaidan." Minoru said slowly, and he actually seemed to mean it as he squared his shoulders. When he spoke again, his voice was cold, and all the anger in it had vanished, subsumed beneath the icy depths of his eyes "I'm sorry. There are too many dead already...I'm not going to let you and Aya kill more of them. I can't do it. That's just the way it is."
Out of time.
Say something!
Anything!
"Shiki, I'm not-." He started, but his time was up. The light abruptly swung upward as Minoru lunged forward, bringing the flashlight down as he went. Kaidan raised his hands to defend himself, and cried out in pain as the makeshift weapon came down hard on his forearm.
Holy shit, he's really going to do it!
The shadows on the walls writhed as Minoru raised the flashlight again, and Kaidan threw himself backward, only to crash hard against the wall a step behind him. He felt his elbow snap backward against cool glass, and an impossibly loud crack echoed through the room as the window developed a brand new series of fractures.
Try NOT diving into a wall? It might help.
Minoru stepped forward to swing again and Kaidan ducked away from the flashlight once more, but this time he threw himself over the pile of junk beside the window, clawing for his own weapon. A club was no match for a gun, but he would put it up against a flashlight any day of the week. As his hands found the metal grip he spun around, swinging the club wildly and missing Minoru's surprised expression by mere inches. The other boy stumbled back, and suddenly Kaidan was on the offensive, bringing the club back around in a second attack.
Minoru barely managed to duck away from that one too, but he didn't retreat again. Instead, he lunged forward and tackled Kaidan, the two of them bouncing off the wall before tumbling onto the floor in a rain of glass as the overstressed window finally gave way entirely. Kaidan lost his grip on the club as he bounced off the floor and he could no longer tell where the flashlight was, but he was beyond caring. His heart thundered in his chest, and he knew Minoru must see the same desperation in his eyes as he had seen in Takashi's.
He didn't want to die.
The two boys struggled with each other, a mess of arms and legs until Kaidan finally managed to roll onto his opponent. He straddled Minoru's chest and pinned him down with the weight of his body, leaving his hand free to rain blows down on Shiki's face. There was nothing artistic or thought out about his assault, Kaidan simply drove his fist down into Minoru's face again and again, feeling but ignoring the burn in his arm and the pain in his fist, adrenaline fueling a machine like rhythm to his blows. The sixth or seventh punch crunched squarely against Shiki's noise, and Kaidan could feel it break beneath his fingers as blood spurted across the other boys mouth. That broke through the haze that seemed to engulf him, and he hesitated with his fist cocked back, staring down at Minoru's bloodied face.
- There's nothing special about a cardboard tube. They practically melt in water, they bend at the slightest provocation, and any weight more serious than some paper towels snaps them like twigs.
However, when you're a kid, they make wonderful magic swords.
Kaidan, Lord High Paladin of Aiur, swung his graceful blade down against that of the evil Minoru of Mordor. The beach rang with the sounds of their blades, and the crash of waves could not drown out their battle cries. It was a mighty duel that would repeat through many ages until the horrible plague that was Elementary School was again descended on the land and plunged it into darkness.
However, as it must always come to pass, the forces of evil were no match for the might of good, and the evil king's blade was broken in twain, leaving him on his knees before the hero and defenseless against the blow, but the Paladin was merciful, and he turned away.
"Hey, what're you doing?" Minoru seemed surprised as he stood up again, and Kaidan turned to blink at him.
"What do you mean?"
"I'm the bad guy! You're supposed to be like...'Final Justice Slice!' or something, you know?" Minoru grinned, sweeping the air with the remains of his tube in demonstration. Kaidan grinned right back, but shook his head.
"Nah, the hero never kills people like that. He's always like 'No, I won't kill you' and then the bad guys are all like 'Ha ha, I'm gonna stab you' and then the heros like 'woah!' and the bad guys like "Ahh, I fell off a cliff! Kersplat"
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah! Trust me. The hero never kills anyone. The bad guys always do it to themselves! Watch." The Paladin raised his sword, and in a moment was corrupted by the evil of the world...which mostly manifested as lowering his voice a few octaves.
"This time I'll be the bad guy."
A split second of memory was far too long.
Minoru abruptly heaved his body upward, and Kaidan lost his balance, falling over to one side. In a moment, Shiki had rolled himself over, reversing their positions. He didn't return the blows that Kaidan had rained down on him, but instead wrapped both hands tightly around the magician's neck and squeezed hard.
Kaidan thrashed as Minoru began to choke the life out of him, unable to draw in a breath. He rolled and squirmed, trying to throw Shiki off him to one side or the other. He clawed his fingers across the back of Minoru's hands drawing deep red scratches, but the boy hung on tenaciously, his bloody expression curiously blank. There was no hatred and there was no anger.
Just a cold determination as he strangled his former friend to death.
A circle of black seemed to encroach at the corner of Kaidan's vision, and his head spun with dizziness. His chest burned with the need for air, and he looked left and right with desperation. The club was nowhere to be seen, and the flashlight as on its side in the corner of the room, far out of reach. He could see a glint of something nearby, however, and realized it was a shard of jagged glass from the broken window.
Almost on instinct, he released one of his hands from Minoru's own and swung his arm out for the glass, stretching as far as he could toward the ragged weapon. The darkness around his vision continued to grow, and spots appeared before his eyes as he gurgled and stretched after the weapon, his fingertips barely able to brush against the tip of the shard. Desperately, he worked it slowly into the palm of his hand until he could finally grip his fist around the slice of glass. Abruptly, Minoru pulled one of his hands away from Kaidan's neck, and he draw a sharp, surprised breath as the single hand grip failed to completely close off his windpipe.
Then Minoru brought his fist down on top of Kaidan's hand.
The glass shattered in his grip, driving shards into the skin of his palm and filling his fist with blood. He tried to scream and inhale at the same time, and ended up coughing and hacking even as Minoru ground the glass into the wound, pain burning up his arm. His coughing fit was so loud, he almost didn't hear the gasp from the direction of the doorway.
It was Aya. There was blood down the front of her clothes, but he couldn't tell if it was hers or not. He couldn't even tell if she was wounded in the darkness. He could only see the fear and apprehension in her eyes as she stopped in the doorway.
And he could see the gun in her hand. Shiki's gun.
Trust me. The hero never kills anyone
"Aya..please..." Kaidan croaked, his voice sounding strange and distorted to his own ears. He closed his eyes, and this time he welcomed the darkness. He didn't want to see.
"K-Kill him!"
The thunder of the gunshots was impossibly loud, but the silence that followed was worse. Minoru's hand slackened against his neck, and his weight fell to one side, rolling onto his back in the pile of glass. For a long moment, nothing happened. The only sounds in the room was his labored breathing. Finally, Kaidan reluctantly forced himself to look.
Shiki's eyes were closed, and Kaidan was grateful for that. If not for the bullet holes that had drilled through his sides, he would have looked peaceful.
But he didn't look peaceful.
He looked dead.
He was dead.
Some things...once they're broken...
They can't be fixed.