------------------------------
Garden 04: Scraps of Truth
Part A: Digging into the Mystery
------------------------------

       Ran walked threw the sliding doors of the T.E.R.A.D. building, spotting Luna amid the sea of technicians and doctors immediately.

�Ah, there you are.� Luna walked up to him in a brisk manner, a clipboard tucked under his arm.

�What�s going on?� Ran questioned flatly.

�Some dumbfuck managed to spill a canister of Penlazin over a keyboard, which lit the lab on fire. Thankfully, that dumbfuck was burned to death.� The silver haired doctor didn�t seem effected in the least. �I�ll have somebody show you too the file room. Your already cleared for it, all you have to do is slide your cardkey threw the security reader."

The red head nodded and responded, �All right.�

Luna looked over his shoulder. �Yo! Williams! Get your ass over here!�
       A middle-sized man broke from the crowd and jogged towards them. His hair was a dirty blonde color, short and wild, flying in every direction, while his eyes were a dark clear green.

�Show Ran to the Level 5 File Room.� Luna motioned with a slender hand in Ran�s general direction.

�All righty.� Williams mock saluted him and Luna walked off. �This way.� The blonde turned on his heel and lead Ran down an empty hallway. �Man, that guy gives me the creeps.� Williams muttered to himself.

�Why is that?� Ran asked politely, though under his wondering exterior lay a lust for this knowledge. It helped to know the people around you, especially those who knew more than you did.

�He�s weird! Spends too much time in his lab. Doesn�t bat an eyelash when people end up dead.� Williams entered the elevator and Ran stood next to him. As the blonde jabbed the button for the second floor he added, �I think he spilled that shit after he killed Hiro personally.� At Ran�s questioning eyebrow, he said; �Hiro was the head of the next big geek project, something to do with animals.� He shrugged lightly as they got off the elevator.

�And Luna was jealous?� Ran questioned innocently, though lurking deep inside his shadowy interior, Sense slithered as he waited for the answer.

�Nah, not jealous. He just knew that with Hiro alive he couldn�t get the job. Everybody knows he�s a crackpot, especially the higher-ups.� Williams shrugged and stopped outside a door. �Well, this is it. I�ll be down the hall in the last door if you need me. See ya.� With that, Williams turned and walked away.
       Ran silently turned this knew information over in his head as he slid his keycard threw the scanner. A loud click announced the door was open and he entered the room. It was about the size of a basketball court and filled to its high ceiling with shelves of large white boxes that contained files. Pressed against the walls were filing cabinets and stacked on some of those were more boxes.
       The assassin moved towards the beginning of the second row and quickly spotted a box marked �E.A.R.S�. He grabbed it and pulled it out. After lugging it over to a small table set in the center of the room, Ran opened it up and pulled out of the first file folder. It contained a red three-ring notebook, the cover bent and almost falling off.
       He opened to the first page and scanned it quickly. It contained breakdowns of the Crescent device, the Chip and Penlazin. He closed it and set it back into its folder before putting that away as well. He quickly moved threw the other folders, finding nothing but notes on the creation of the project and the files on the first five test subjects. He replaced the lid on the box and walked back over to the second row and shoved it back into its place.        His plum eyes caught a familiar name and he bent at the waist to read it.

       PROJECT: LOUIS
       DIRECTOR: KOWARU LUNA
       DATE: 1999-2000

       He pulled the box from the bottom shelf and opened it, pulling out a file. It was another notebook, this one belonging to Luna himself. He skimmed threw it before putting it away. He ran his fingers along the tops of the folders before finding something that interested him greatly.
       Partially obscured by a ripped folder flap were the beginnings of a name, FARF. He grabbed it and yanked it out, the folder spilling open to reveal a personnel file.

       CODENAME: THE BERSERKER
       REAL NAME: FARFARELLO (LAST NAME UNKNOWN)
       ABILITY: INABILITY TO FEEL PYSCHICAL PAIN.
       REASON: UNKNOWN.
       AGE: 18
       HEIGHT: 185 CM
       WEIGHT: 45 K

       Held to the folder by a glinting silver paperclip was a picture of a scarred, yet almost horribly beautiful young man, with a crop of silver hair and two brilliantly amber eyes. It was the same person who had attacked him in the alley.        Ran set the folder aside and closed it before grabbing the second one. This one opened to reveal a frightening sight.

       CODENAME: SENSE
       REAL NAME: RAN FUJIMIYA
       ABILITY: TELEPATHY
       REASON: UNKOWN
       AGE: 17
       HEIGHT: 178 CM
       WEIGHT: 40.1 K

       Again held to the folder with a metal clip was a picture, this one of a broken young man. His hair was a flaming fire engine red, sprinkling down into a pair of plum violet eyes. Ran�s own eyes, twins to the sets in the picture, moved down to read the biography, written by non-other than Professor Luna.

�Sole survivor of the Fujimiya family. His parents refused to give him too us and, unfortunately, they had to be eliminated. This action however, broke Ran to the point of amnesia. His powers retreated back into his mind and are currently only bare empathic powers. Suggested psychiatric treatment, though it is not recommended that the truth ever be revealed to him about his family�s destruction. Such anger released could create a circle of death for miles around; his powers are just that strong.�

       A spur of hatred and anger welled up in the assassin, but he calmed it quickly. Confronting Luna or Persia about it would be suicide. Ran quietly shut the folder with dazed movements. He set it on the ground and picked up the FARFARELLO folder, flipping it open. Again, Luna�s handwriting was scrawled across it.

�Farfarello is insane, pure and simple. He blames the deaths of his adoptive parents and younger sister on God, when in fact; he committed these crimes himself. His exact motive is not known. Kritiker agents found him on the streets of Dublin and recruited him. Suggested he is moved into our Esset branch, raw killing is their style.�

       Ran set the file utop his, swallowing down a dry throat. He pulled up the third and last file, opening it. This time, it was a young man with coppery orange hair; wild and untamed, raining down into two twin beds of melted poison green.

       CODENAME: SCHULDICH
       REAL NAME: UNKNOWN
       ABILITY: HALLUCINPATHY
       REASON: UNKOWN
       AGE: 22
       HEIGHT: 180 CM
       WEIGHT: 40.5 K

�Schuldich is a cruel and merciless fighter and well suited for Esset�s type of work. He suffered a cold childhood, though nobody really knows exactly what he was put threw. He hates the world and is glad to murder. Though, caution is advised. He is smarter than he looks and his motives are not always clear, and usually, always the opposite of what we think.�

       The red headed assassin pulled back the biography to find another page:

       DATE MADE: 1795
CREATOR: UNKNOWN
PLACE OF CREATION: GERMANY (EXACT LOCATION UNKNOWN)

       Ran blinked lightly, wondering with quiet curiosity that didn�t dare reveal its face what this information meant. He set the folder down and grabbed Farfarello�s one, opening it to reveal similar information:

       DATE MADE: 1800
       CREATOR: SORANIS SISSAHBIATCH
       PLACE OF CREATION: DUBLIN, IRELAND

His pale, smooth brow faintly in vague confusion as he put the folder back carefully before setting the box into its original location. He stood with a silent motion, gracing the room with a show of brilliant control. He stalked from the room and it took a carefully trained eye to catch the hitch in his movements, the slight jerk that most wouldn�t have noticed because he moved like everybody else.        It took the carefully trained eye of Professor Kowaru Luna to track the anger in his patient�s stride.

----
Part B: Moonlight Reveals the Killer in the Garden
----

The lone clicks and clacks of a small laptop�s keyboard being slammed down again and again were the only sounds peppering the air on a cold night in Ran�s house. He paused only once in a while, collecting his thoughts with a frightening lucid prowess. His fingers skipped a key as a faint sound sliced the air. He saved the file and set the laptop down on the automan his feet had been resting on.
       He patted across the cold tiles into the kitchen, opening his fridge to yank a carton of pinepeach juice from it. He set the carton upon the counter before opening a cupboard to pull out a dark red cup from it. He opened the carton and watched the yellowy splash down into the cup with fascination pushing against the brims of his unemotional face.
He closed the carton and shoved it back into the fridge. He began walking to the door and opened it just as Setsuna reached the top of the stairs. The brunette jumped back, almost toppling off the steps in his shock.

�Holy fuck! You scared the shit out of me man!� Setsuna grabbed the raining for balance and strode up the rest of the stairs. He paused in front of Ran and stared hard into the other�s plum eyes, trying to read every emotion that passed below their surfaces like a sea monster passing under the waters of the ocean.
       After several seconds of absolute silence, Setsuna flung himself at Ran, wrapping his arms around his friend.

�You�ve been gone for three days!� He jumped back, not noticing the barely readable surprise in the red head�s expression in his emotional spur. He scrubbed at the tears welling into his smoky eyes with his sleeves. �I was scared shitless! And there were these stupid dudes stalking me-�

�I did it for you own protection.� Ran broke the sentence with a cold tone. Setsuna winced, reading the harsh words written between the margins.

�Whatever.� Setsuna turned his back to his friend and took the steps two at a time.

The assassin silently watched his friend head to his car. �Why did you come here?� He called lightly, so that Setsuna had to strain to hear it.

The brunette turned to look at the red head over his shoulder. �I don�t know. Maybe I hope you�ll stop whatever it is you�re doing and finally drop your shell.� He shrugged and got into his car. Ran closed the door as the car drove off. He sat down and softly watched his screen saver, pondering these words with a slow, thoughtfully way.
       However, his silent contemplative mood was shattered just like the glass the showered down into the room as a black clad man jumped threw it. Ran was up in a flash, darting across the room to land a fierce kick to the man�s face. The red headed assassin swiftly moved towards his coat and pulled out his Crescent.
       He set it utop his head as more made their way into the house. As he ran up the stairs towards his katana, he slid his finger along the green tube, again starting the liquid into his system. He grabbed his sword and unsheathed it in one fluid movement before vaulting over the staircase railing. He fell to the floor like a raining death, bringing the weapon down to cleave his opponent clean in half.
       He sidestepped a bullet and charged forward, mercilessly driving the blade threw the man�s chest. He yanked out the weapon and pulled it into a wide horizontal arch that hacked off two heads. He stood panting in the circle of death and when he was sure there were no more; he turned the EARS system off.
       He ran up stairs and quickly threw what he needed into a bag before slipping into something more combat worthy: a dark black turtleneck, a pair of navy blue plastic pants and combat boots. He was nearly to his car when six more people in black hunting outfits appeared.
       This time, he was outnumbered and out matched, they were obviously equipped with the EARS program, for they could keep up with his movements when he turned it on. He cursed silently, knowing full well they meant to kill him and he would die. �GET �EM FARF!� A nasal voice slightly accented with German origin broke threw the midst of combat as a high-pitched screech echoed into the night air.
       Two flashes entered the fight, one silver, the other a flaming orange color. A small hand grabbed Ran�s elbow. He turned quickly to find a young man standing before him.
       He was 15 at most, with dark mocha brown hair that framed a small face and two abnormally big midnight eyes. He was short, with a slender build and a painfully pale face. You could almost make out all of the veins. But even so, his features held a startlingly beauty, a look that whispered dark thoughts into the purist mind.

�Come with me if you want to know.� He spoke in a deep, subdued voice. �Know what?� Ran tried to enter the teenager�s mind with his telepathy, but the midnight-eyed boy had shields around his thoughts.

�Everything.� With that he turned and walked calmly away, as if there wasn�t the equivalent of a high-tech gang fight going on a few feet away from him. Ran looked over his shoulder and noted with a slight surprise that the two were more or less playing with their opponents, cackling with a merry glee.
       He turned and followed the teenager.

�Keep up.� With that, the small brunette broke into a swift run, tearing down the street. Ran went after him, pulling his speed to the limit, moving so swiftly everything was a blur and his feet barely touched the ground.
       The two ran threw the streets of Tokyo, vaulting buildings and cars like they were nothing, moving in a chaotic dance of superhuman abilities and skills. Finally, they stopped and the boy was barely out of breath. Ran was sweating and breathing hard, feeling his heart thumping in his chest.

The teenager turned to him. �I have to go now, but don�t worry. We�ll meet again when you finally realize.� He turned and jumped, landing on the flat roof of a ten-story building. Ran wanted to yell out to him, but knew it was useless. He was already leaping from roof to roof, becoming a speak in the distance.
       The red head turned off the EARS system and slipped the device into his inside pocket. He stole a look at his surroundings a noticed the boy had left him in front of an all night diner and a small hotel. He checked in quickly and was lead to room 20.
       He dumped his stuff on the worn carpet and flopped down onto the bed. Luna had sent the team after him; he knew it. The silver haired professor was the only one with easy access to the EARS Squad. It would have taken many pulled strings for anybody else to get them and Luna was the only one after him. Ran was sure of it. He was also sure it had to do with the files he had found in the Kritiker file room.
       He sat up; staring across the room as a droplet of water splashed down upon his shoulder. He looked up and found a ceiling of ocean above him, the water creating ringlets and waves as it swashed in its gravity defying bed. It quietly rained down in a soft fog, dancing and swirling with invisible winds around the red head.
       Ran looked around, piercing plum eyes distant. Suddenly, the black marble floor shattered and he fell into a hard stone chair. He stared out at the marvelous court laid out before him, gazing at all the colors and people looking at him with respect and silent fear.
       A soft velvet enclosed hand curled around his own and he looked at his owner, meeting a pair of poison green eyes gazing at him with shy love and adoration. It was the same man from before, except his skin was inhumanly pale, veins shooting under it. But like the teenage boy, he was startling beautiful, his flaming orange hair falling to frame his face in a soft fall of gentleness.
       And then, the rain came. It toppled down from the sky, washing everything away, drenching Ran with a cascade of depression and pain. Suffering reached into his heart and embedded itself into his very soul as flashes of death passed across his vision.
       A distant humming broke the horrid scene from his eyes, causing him to look across the field of waist height grass to the large sakura tree in bloom. The pink flower petals were lazily dancing past him on the wind�s dance floor, jumping threw the breeze. Sitting on a small porch in the trees trunk was his adoptive sister Serry, a large hat capping her hair, bright yellow sun dress fluttering in the air, tiptoeing across it with her long auburn hair. She held a reef of flowers in her hand, the blue blossoms matching her baby blue fingernail polish.
       She turned to him and smiled, but the smile was torn from her lips as a shadow descended upon the field. Ran turned quickly and saw the figure of Sense standing on the other side of the field, dressed for a mission, ominous plum eyes holding Ran with a dark glare. The red headed young man reached out a caught one of the pink sakura blossoms in his hand, staring at his fist for a moment before opening his fingers to release the small petal. Sense watched this action with a frown planted on his handsome features. A petal near Ran ignited into flames as Sense move forward, unsheathing his katana.
       Ran jumped from his seat on the edge of the bed; a chill passing threw his ivory body. He stared out the small window at the clouds that darkened the sky as rain began to fall.

----
Part C: Liar of the Beast
----

       Sense pulled the shadows about him like a cloak as a nighttime guard passed by him. Security had been nearly tripled at the T.E.R.A.D facility and it was testing the assassin�s skills to the limits. He moved threw and quietly stole into the security entrance, where a power outage had killed the scanner. He slipped off a glove and slid his fingernail between the doors. He pulled the doors open and slipped inside before closing them.
       He quickly set his pace to an all out run; the bottoms of his shoes lighting grazed the carpet, creating sounds inaudible to the human ear. He took the steps two at a time and peered into the second level�s main hallway. Sense darted across the hallway and quickly slid a new keycard threw the security reader for the Level 5 File Room.

~End of Garden 04~

Garden 05
Habitual Thinking
Main Fics Page