Weiß kreuz OAV v.1 ~ Verbrechen. trans. and etcetc. by Jey Kama, August 15th, 2000. Version 1.5 August 30th, 2000. ((Note, this translation was written for people who haven't seen the OAVs yet, thus the rather indepth scene descriptions. It is possible to use this script for subtitling, as it is line-for-line, but as I have no idea how to subtitle, I'll leave it up to the ambitious who want to try. Meanwhile, there are a few vocab words I might as well point out, especially for flowers. Balsam flowers are known in Japan as Housenka, Pinks are Nadeshiko, though if you can read the katakana on the signboard, you might catch more Westernized flower names. A saya (you'll be more familiar with this if you've seen the Rurouni Kenshin OAVs) is the scabbard designed for a katana. Meanwhile, Verbrechen is German for "crime", but in the Japanese, translates more as "sin", one and the same, just the former is a social ill, and the latter is a moral one. Pinks and Balsams are flowers which bloom naturally in the fall, and there is snow in that carnival, so theoretically the OAVs take place in late autumn. Humor me.)) ------ [Snow falling around an abandoned carnival, a carousel horse entwined with wire, riddled with bowgun bolts, and smeared with blood. Twisted in those selfsame wires is Omi, coughing blood in agony.] Omi: (Why?! Stop it, all of you! I... I don't...) [The wire taut and trembling from the watch on an arm pierced completely through by one of Omi's arrows, blood streaking down his face, Youji grits his teeth but keeps the boy fast] Youji: (I told you never to show your face again... because the next time, we'd be enemies.) [Not far away, blood dripping onto the newly-fallen snow, Ken and Aya stand off, glaring at each other with weapons ready.] Ken: (This wasn't a mistake. Even if I die here, I'll have no regrets. I've lived doing what I know is right. From yesterday, to today... through tomorrow!) [His muscles coil, twin bugnuks snapping to the fore. Aya watches him with a cool malignance.] Aya: (I cannot sympathize with your choice. You cannot run from Weiß, nor from the blood-stained cross you willingly bore. You own nothing but the sin rotting inside you, that which is Weiß!) [Sliding one foot forwards, Aya breaks the silence, flinging off his full white trenchcoat before bursting into full charge. Ken can do nothing but prepare for the onslaught] ------ [Opening Credits] ------ [A darkened bedroom (in the Army base)] [A pretty callgirl, shoulder-length hair black with a bleached forelock, hums cheerfully into her compact while applying lipstick. She smacks her lips a few times, giggles to herself in satisfaction, and then opens the envelope with her pay, from the muscular nude relaxed on the bed. Her eyes widen in outrage, and she throws the envelope on the bedsheets, the bills spilling out.] Callgirl: What's this crap?! Do you think I'm stupid?! Man (Nichol): Hey now, this is perfectly good money. In Africa, this's enough to buy a car. Callgirl: Then use that fool's money in Africa. This is Japan, so pay up in Japanese yen! Nichol: Don't jump to conclusions. This isn't Japan. [He starts walking over to her, still blatantly buck-naked. She looks up, starting to feel fear.] Callgirl: What? You're not making and sense~ [gasp] [The phone rings a few times. Nichol picks up the receiver in one hand, while hoisting the girl off her feet by the other. She groans and thrashes while he speaks in a perfectly calm voice.] Nichol: [in the phone] This is Nichol... Yes, I understood. We'll dispose of the vermin safely... Yes, you can rest assured. Don't worry... That incident will be erased in a few days. [He dumps her lifeless body to the ground, his arm still out in the air where he had throttled her, a thin smile on his face.] ------ [Deft hands pile flowers with ornamental leaves and cuttings, quickly wrapping them into a bouquet. Aya holds it out for the customer]. Aya: Here. Girl: Thank you! [A throng of fawning schoolgirls in all different uniforms crowd outside of the trailer's rear doors, wide open for business. Aya walks off to deal with another request. Ken, looking like a live wire, shouts over to a stressed Omi, similarly hands full - literally.] Ken: You can handle that, Omi? Omi: Yeah yeah, just fin~~ AAAHHH!! [Wide eyes even more wide open in shock, Omi trips, fumbling the two pots of flowers filling his arms. One he manages to rescue, though he lands flat on his back on the pavement, but the other arcs high in the air. Ken catches the heavy pot in a desperate grab. Omi breathes a sigh of relief on the ground as the schoolgirls murmur in admiration.] Omi: Whew! That was close... Youji: Sheesh... Omi: Uh? [The lean man bends down and plucks the pot from Omi's hands. He stands back up amidst the admiring eyes of the girls.] Youji: Omi, you remember the flower word for these Balsams? [he grins] "Scatterbrain". Omi: Whaa? Ken: [cracks up while gripping the other pot] Hah! Sounds perfect for him! Youji: [continuing without a hitch] And those Pinks that Ken's holding mean "Busybody". [Ken blinks cluelessly as Omi stifles a laugh. Noting that no one is helping him, Aya peers over his shoulder at the deliquents, and blandly reminds the three of their location, with a hint of sarcasm.] Aya: We're at work. [A pair of schoolgirls approach the scene from the front of the trailer, one, a gray-haired sparky named Yukie, and the other, a shy brunette with a hair-clip named Kaori.] Yukie: There it is over there, the store where Omi works! Kaori: I really ought to go home... Yukie: [miffed at her friend] Kaori, you promised! You'd do whatever I say if I won that game. Kaori: But that's just a game! And well... [She lowers her gaze embarressedly. Yukie leaps on it right away with a mischievous grin.] Yukie: Oh, who cares? We're here, so let's go! [She drags the hesitating Kaori along and creeps up behind Omi, watering an array of red-flowering plants.] Yukie: Omi-ku~n. [He turns around, surprised. Yukie winks at him while Kaori smiles shyly.] Yukie: We came to play. What a great store! Omi: Yukie! Oh, and Kaori, too! Yukie: I heard all the stories, but I guess they're true! Omi: Huh? Yukie: That you were using a trailer as a mobile flowershop. Omi: Oh, that? Yep, they're true. And it's not just a flowershop. This trailer's our home, too. Yukie: Wow, that's pretty cool! Omi: From places with flowers to places without them, we can ride this baby anywhere in Japan! Kaori: [softly] You'll be leaving? [catching herself] Er, nothing... [Grinning conspiratorily, Yukie pokes Kaori with a stealthy elbow.] Yukie: Whad'you just say, Kaori? I couldn't hear yo~~u. Youji: I just dunno what to do when girls like you come here... [Youji turns to the trio, smiling knowingly] Youji: Compared to you two beauties, the flowers are mere shadows. Yukie: [blushing furiously] Not really... Omi: Youji-ku~n!! These two are my FRIENDS, got it? Youji: Worrywort. I told you, I'm only interested in girls over 18. Yukie: Over 18? Hmm... Well now... Wow, only two more years to go! Almost there! [Youji and the rest of the crowd gape.] Omi: You serious? Maybe you should rethink that... [A fighter jet passes overhead, and unnoticed to the others, Kaori's eyes widen in fear.] Yukie: [coyly] Are you worried about me? Omi: Wha? Don't get the wrong idea! [In Kaori's memories, a girl and boy huddle in the face of blazing wreckage. In the present, Kaori buries her face in her hands, and turns away.] Yukie: Kaori? [Kaori dashes away suddenly.] Yukie: Kaori! Omi: What happened? Yukie: [more reservedly] Nothing. We'll come back later. Omi: W...wait, Yukie! Ken: What's wrong with her? Omi: I don't know... Customer 1: Could I get this please? Omi: Uh? Sure! Customer 2: I'd like to buy this flower... Ken: Gotcha! ------ [In an apartment building, Kaori types furiously away at a magenta iMac. Yukie is busy on the phone.] Yukie: Hallo, Akane! Let's have some fun tonight! Get a trace on the site where Kaori's at. [The computer monitor pops up a window titled "Airborne Weapons of the Earth", further spangled with a large red "Keep Out". Akane, a freckled girl with glasses, fiddles with her own computer in a different room, while her roommate Reina is fresh out of the shower and fussing in the refrigerator.] Akane: [in her headmic] Yeah, here we are! Ah, Kaori's gotten in pretty deep... Reina's got work today, so I can't be both back-up and clean-up all at onc-- [she looks over her shoulder] AHHH!!! Reina: [sucking down a carton of Fruit Milk] Huh? Akane: YOU DRANK MY FRUIT MILK!!! REINAAA!!! [Meanwhile, now fully dressed, Reina hums cheerfully and prances out and down the stairs. Looming over the stairwell after she passes, though, is an ominous shadow, hatted, trenchcoated, and gasmasked.] [In another place, uniformed men listen to the girls talking in tinny voices through the phone and high-sensitivity bugs.] Akane: [radio] ALL MY FRUIT MILK!!! Yukie: [radio] Geez, enough about your Fruit Milk! Kaori, how're you doing? You're still at the front page, so you don't need me yet. I'm gonna hit the convenience store. You want anything, Kaori? Kaori: [radio] Hmm... Potato chips and Fruit Milk! Yukie: [radio] Don't tell me you want Fruit Milk?! Well, quart or pint-size? Kaori: [radio] A pint is enough for me! And sour cream and onion potato chips. Yukie: [radio] Agh! Okay, I'll be back in a jiffy. [Yukie walks out of the apartment complex, oblivious to the car parked outside. Meanwhile, Kaori eyes a photo standing on a bookcase, a younger Kaori, a boy apparently her brother, and their happy parents, then returns to her hacking. It's not long before a window with large red font splays over her screen. "ESCAPE".] [An aerosol can tip inserts neatly inside of the keyhole in Akane's room, releasing inside a deadly gas. Job done, the trenchcoated, masked man tucks the can in his coat, and walks off. Inside, Akane sprawls back limp in her chair, mouth open and eyes dead.] [A cellular rings uselessly in a pool of blood among bags of milk, potato chips, and Yukie's lifeless body.] Kaori: [listening to her cel phone ring worriedly] Yukie... [From afar, the masked man aims and fires a canister into the window of an upper apartment, and the building explodes into flames.] ------ [In the ER of a nearby hospital, doctors and nurses work tirelessly to revive Kaori. Youji and Omi wait nervously just outside.] Youji: How's Kaori? Omi: She wasn't hurt as badly as could be expected, but she was knocked unconscious. She was pretty lucky to have survived in the heart of that explosion. Youji: So she didn't catch the brunt of the blast perimeter... Omi: [to himself] How could God have let this accident happen? Youji: It wasn't necessarily an accident. Omi: Eh? [Reaching into a breash pocket in his red jacket, Youji pulls out an activates a pocket radio.] Radio: And now for this region's news. Hokusei High School sophomore Yukie Kashiragi, 16, was discovered shot and was rushed to the emergency room, but did not regain consciousness and was declared dead by brain criteria. The police has promised to investigate this vicious act... [Aya and Ken listen to the broadcast from a monitor in the trailer] Ken: Hokusei High School? That's where Omi goes to...Huh? [The monitor displays the faces of the four girls.] Ken: Those're the girls who were talking to Omi! Aya: Not a coincidence, probably. Ken: But, they must've been right in the blast... Aya: They used an experimental nerve gas. After killing them with the gas, they must have neutralized it with some other, then blew up the rooms to destroy the evidence. [Back in the hospital, Youji lights a cigarette and takes a long drag.] Youji: ...And so after killing them, the criminals finally left ... to a place where no police investigation could lay a finger on. [In burning anger, Omi pushes himself off the bench, baring his fists at Youji.] Omi: Who did this? Who could've this to Kaori and the others? [Youji says nothing.] Omi: Don't you know, Youji-kun?! Youji: There's no organization in Japan that's able to use explosives, acquire nerve gases, and still operate unmolested. If any, it's... [The air roars with the whirling blades of combat choppers flying away from the setting sun over artillery cannons. Ken grips the chainlink fence faraway at the perimeter with unbelieving eyes. Aya stands a distance behind, arms crossed.] Ken: It can't be! Aya: Indeed it is. Japanese law does not apply within these fences. This US Army base operates under foreign laws, and the Japanese authorities have no power. Ken: But... Why'd the American army kill high school girls... [Ever alert, Aya senses something on the roads above them, a black-suited motorcyclist, complete with black cycle and helmet, also gazing at the base with uplifted helmet visor. The motorcyclist and he eye each other. Ken, noticing that Aya was looking elsewhere, runs over.] Ken: What's up, Aya? [Ken follows Aya's gaze up to the motorcyclist, who drops the visor and speeds off.] Ken: Who th'hell was that? ------ [At the hospital, Kaori is out of the ER but still unconscious. Omi sits at the bedside in the small hospital room, holding her hand. He picks up a bag from the ground, a smile on his face as he yaps to her.] Omi: Kaori, your friends told me to bring this! [Youji opens the door, a stern look on his face.] Youji: Omi, we've got a mission. [Expression suddenly fierce and determined, Omi nods and follows Youji out.] ------ [Inside of the flowershop trailer is a main "conference" room, replete with the obligatory flowers, sofa, cigarette tray, and computer. A movie projector descends from the roof, displaying the recording of Persia, a severe mauve-suited man they've seen ever since the SS mission, still a man of unknown identity.] Persia: [recording] Members of Weiß. Your target is American Airforce 18th squadron leader Colonel Raymond Nichol. It appears that he has sold weapons to the black market for certainly an enormous profit. In order to preserve his secret, he has surrounded himself with brutal killers. There is no doubt that the recent high school girl deaths was due to their means. However, as they are beyond the reach of the Japanese authorities, their crimes have been left uninvestigated. White hunters of evil, hunt the futures of these dark beasts! [After the recording blacks out, Youji lights the darkened room first with the flame of his lighter, then the glowing butt of the cigarette.] Youji: It woulda been simpler for him to just say we're up against the American army! Manx: [from the computer] You just love to make it hard, don't you? Youji: Huh? [Omi sits next to the computer with a grin, while Manx talks live from a conference window.] Manx: [playfully] I'll bring your black sake, as usual. Youji: [grinning through his cig] Heh, I'm always thankful for you. Omi: Hm? It might just be the monitor, but Manx, you look a little pale... are you well? Manx: Huh? [she laughs knowingly] Ahah, just these damned allergies. Black lilies really do me in. [Aya opens his eyes, sensing something behind those words] Youji: Hayfever? I didn't think you were so delicate. Manx: That's the truth, so will you stop fussing over me? Youji: All right, okay. Aya: [abruptly] Manx, do you know this Colonel Nichol's location? Manx: According to the records, he's resting in a grave in Ireland. Omi: He's dead? Manx: He disappeared in a supporting attack in Bosnia five years ago, but obviously he's still alive. Ken: Why'd he try to kill Kaori and her friends? Manx: Probably because somehow those girls found out something about the Colonel's secret... Youji: If that's so, then since they failed to kill Kaori-chan, they'll probably come after her again. [He pushes his chin off the seat back] Well, I'll leave Kaori-chan in Omi's hands. Ken'n I've another girl to chase after. [He looks over at Aya, who closes his eyes again and nods slightly] Aya: Right. Ken/Omi: [wide-eyed] What other girl? [A seedier portion of town.] Youji: That is, the missing Reina Yuuki. [Youji and Ken blithely walk into a ritzy cabaret club, a smoky purple-lit establishment where girls in daring leotards dancing against iron poles] Ken: Hey Youji, you're tellin' me that a high school girl works at a place like this? Youji: Y'shouldn't need to ask that. This's how the world is. Oily Waiter: [rubbing his hands in obsequious glee] Welcome! Who would you like? Ken: Who? Huh? Youji: [smoothly, complete with grin] Well, is Reina-chan here? Oily Waiter: [suddenly nervous] Aaah... Reina? Unfortunately, she has today off. How about Vanilla-chan? You can have her free of charge. Youji: [mishearing] Levania? Oily Waiter: That's "Vanilla-chan"! Va-nil-la. She'll be free, sure thing! [Ken glances around and sees Reina watching them in terror. His eyes widen as she dashes from her pole and out the back door, and he jumps the stairwell railing after her, sure by her actions that she was Reina.] Ken: Youji! [He leaps down onto a patron's table, and dashes after her through the curtained door.] Oily Waiter: Sir!! Sir!!!! [Outside, Reina looks about for escape, fearing for her life. Nowhere to go but up, she climbs outdoor stairwell clumsily in her clunky dancing heels, gasping for air. Ken easily follows her, but doesn't notice the car slowly easing past the alleyway where the action is. Reina goes for another flight of stairs, only to find Youji comfortably perched in her way.] Youji: So you must be Reina-chan? [gently] What's got you this frightened? Reina: No... [Ken catches up] No! Don't come any closer! Youji: [standing up] Please, calm down, Reina-chan. We're not the enemy! Reina: Li...lies! You're here to kill me... just like Yukie and Kaori... Ken: No! We're Omi's friends. We're here to help. [Ken takes a not-so-comforting step forwards. Reina backs against the railing, no- where left to run.] Reina: No! Don't move! Youji: You gotta tell us what happened! Why's the US Army after you?! Reina: [she gasps in surprise, then reconsiders]... It was a game. It was just supposed to be a game! Ken: A game? Reina: We... we played around on the Internet. We hacked into Kaori's targets, erased data, changed data, inserted viruses. Akane and I backed her up and cleaned the tracks. It was a game! But one day, Kaori hacked into something that she never should've... Youji: The US Army base's computer? Reina: Yes... We picked the wrong data to uncover. The Rats! The Rats are after us! [Meanwhile, the car slowly clears the alleyway, the front window rolling down and a sniper rifle anchored on its edge. The first shot misses Reina, but breaks the railing. It accomplishes the same purpose, and she falls to her death.] Reina: Aaaaaaaaahhh!!!!! [Youji grabs Ken to keep him from falling to the same fate, having ran over and reached out to catch her, far too late. They both fall back after more rapid gunfire peppers the iron stairway around them. Job complete, the barrel retracts, window rolls up, and the car motors away.] Youji: Dammit! Ken: It's them... ------ [Somewhere in the Army base, among looming catwalks and scaffolding, a peculiar conversation takes place.] General (Powell): This fake army you have here certainly redeems all your trafficking in Africa. Nichol: I've only dealt in good money since I retired. Powell: And are those your intentions from now on, Colonel Nichol? Nichol: I had money five years ago, too. It just wasn't worth as much then. [he laughs darkly] ------ [In the hospital, Kaori finally revives, finding Omi asleep at her bedside.] Kaori: Where am I...? Omi-kun? Hospital... I... [she suddenly remembers] Yukie! [Dazed and disoriented, she wonders what happened to her, pulls out the laptop from the bag Omi brought, and connects up to a payphone to read the latest news on the Net.] ------ [Youji and Ken pursue Reina's killers on a high-speed chase in Youji's dynamic Super 7 racecar. Changed to their workclothes, they watch the rear of the Army vehicle with grim bravado.] Youji: (You won't get away!) [Meanwhile, in the Army vehicle, two uniformed men with sunglasses coolly drive and update the base on their situation.] Soldier 1: This is Blue Rats, it's Case D. Nichol: [radio] What's following you? Soldier: Unknown pursuer, sir. Nichol: [radio] Blue Rats, open fire upon reaching point M-3. [Neither car realizes they have a spectator on high, the black-clothed motorcyclist.] [The other soldier in the car pulls out an automatic rifle, pushes back the cloth roof of the vehicle and opens fire on Ken and Youji. With some fancy driving skills, Youji manages to swerve away from the brunt of the bullets, though not without losing the left headlight. The motorcyclist veers in from behind. Ken sees him first in the rear-view mirror, then can only gape as he swerves right in front of the Super 7, pulling out a heavy shotgun and mashing the motorcycle windshield for leverage, and blows the offending soldier out of existance.] Ken: Who the hell is THAT?! [The other soldier, able to free his hands from the car on the M-3 point straightaway, stands up and tosses a live grenade at his two pursuers. Both the cyclist and Youji swerve out of the way, but the explosion knocks the cyclist off of his vehicle. Youji has to mash his right tire iron in the side-railing to avoid running the man over.] Youji: [breathing a sigh of relief] That was damn hazardous. [Without ceremony, the cyclist cocks his shotgun again, aiming it at Youji and Ken (mostly Ken)] Cyclist (Akira): That car was pretty fast. You two, get out! [They glare at him, but without much fight in their eyes.] ------ [At the hospital, Kaori's tries to discover what happened to her friends, and sits in frightened silence, hands tapping feverishly on laptop keyboard.] Kaori: Yukie... Akane... Reina... ------ [The Super 7 lets out a few obligatory puffs of exhaust smoke as Akira revs up the engine. Ken and Youji stand behind, cutting a rather forlorn sight. Akira, having now removed his helmet, reveals his shock of bristly white hair that doesn't quite match his dark brown eyebrows.] Akira: I'm sorry. [He zooms away from the two, single headlight leading the way.] Youji: What on earth's with him? [With an angry grunt, Ken runs over to check if Akira's bike is still functioning. Hauling it upright, he finds it so as he turns on the headlight and jams on the accelerator. Rearing the bike up like an furious horse, he zips right after Akira without a thought for Youji, left standing in the middle of the street and doubting the sanity of all men Ken's age.] Youji: That dumbass... ------ [Back in the flowershop trailer, Aya continues his own research, digging through personal database files on the four girls targeted by Nichol. He zooms in on Kaori's files, her full name being Kaori Hibana, and finds, in addition to her deceased mother and father, that she has a brother, Akira Hibana. Eyeing the black-haired photo of him, he recalls the motorcyclist who had stood above them at the base] Aya: Was that him...? [However, the descending projector interrupts his thoughts, and the image of the nonchalant Manx appears on the video screen.] Manx: [on projector] We know where Nichol is. In addition, we've an emergency mission for you. [Aya listens attentively, face betraying nothing.] Manx: [on projector] Here it is... ------ [Popping awake, Omi first notices the sheets now draped over his shoulders.] Omi: ... huh...? I must've fallen asleep... [...And then the empty bed. Whirling around all the sudden, the sheets flutter to the floor.] Omi: Kaori! [He runs out the room in search of her.] ------ [The Super 7 speeds along, even in the offroad of the forest. However, a gunshot to the front right tire sends it spinning wildly, braking itself in a thick tree. Akira, who wasn't wearing his seatbelts (tsk), mashes his forehead into the shattered dashboard, dazed and bruised, but unhurt. From inside of the Army vehicle, four men, assumably from the back of the car, exit, fully armed and drawing beads on their ex-pursuer. Unwilling to die without a fight, Akira slowly inches his hand to the shotgun beside him, extra bullets, sitting on the cushioning. He doesn't need to, however. Eyes widening in shock as he hears a shot go off and not kill him, he turns around to look, and sees Ken's bugnuks piercing through the hands and fingers of the front two men, diverting their shots. Raging like a tiger, Ken rips his hands free, attacking the others, using the bulletproof vests of his enemies to protect him from enemy fire, and finally downs them all, only to find Akira standing with the shotfun aimed at his head.] Akira: Just who are you? Ken: And you, why're you after Colonel Nichol? Akira: You know of Nichol? I'm after him for my parents' revenge! Ken: Revenge, for your folks? Akira: Yes. And now for my little sister's, too. Ken: Little sister... you don't mean Kaori and the others? Akira: [he falters, expression changing to befuddlement] Why do you know Kaori? [They gaze upwards, hearing the vibrating hum of choppers flying nearby. When the chopper floodlights bathe the area, only the soldiers' fallen bodies and the parked cars can be seen. Ken and Akira crouch in the bushes.] ------ [Youji is still waiting in the middle of the street as Aya drives the trailer down the road. Plopping in the side seat, Youji eyes Aya questioningly.] Aya: What happened to Ken? Youji: He blew up'n chased after him. Aya: I see... [Youji eyes him curiously, sensing from Aya's tone that he had already guessed that might have happened.] ------ [Kaori's hands tremble over the keyboard, the news report still upon the tiny monitor. Omi dashes into the corridor, looking around for her, and sees her shaking under the phonebooth.] Omi: Kaori...! Kaori: It's all my fault... Yukie, Akane... even Reina... If it weren't for him they'd still be alive... ------ [Running through the night on Akira's bike, Ken listens as Akira tells some his story.] Akira: (Five years ago, a US Army plane crashed into our home. Kaori and I were saved only because we were at school at the time, but both of our parents...) [Young Kaori and Akira watch their home completely erased on the conflagration. Nothing is left except for sticks of lumber upright like bleached ribs, the raging fire, and a demolished bit of airplane armor with the US Army star-and-stripes emblem clearly visible. Akira keeps the desperate girl from hurling herself into the flames.] Young Kaori: Father!! Mother!! Young Akira: Kaori!! Young Kaori: Nooooo!!!!! Akira: (It was Colonel Nichol who'd contrived this 'accident.' To keep his black- market weapons sales from being exposed, he arranged for one of his own fellow pilots to be killed.) ------ [At the hospital lobby, Kaori, wearing Omi's padded vest, tells Omi the same story.] Omi: So Colonel Nichol... Kaori: Yes. Then with the help of Yukie and the rest, I infiltrated the US Army computers. It was just a game to them, something they could boast about on their homepages, but I... Omi: [comforting] Kaori... Kaori: Omi-kun...! [They both look up, startled as the front down bursts open. It's not who they feared, though. Ken and Akira stand at the glass doors.] Akira: Kaori!!! [With Ken looking on with a smile, Akira dashes over to his sister.] Kaori: Big brother!! [They both run to each other in a slapdash embrace, Kaori sobbing into her brother's chest.] Omi: [standing up happily] Kaori... Kaori: Big brother... [But Ken, senses keen on danger, hears something almost inaudible outside. From levity to grim determination, he focuses his attention on the new threat.] Ken: Hnn? ------ [Outside of the hospital, men in green-lensed gas masks, riot gear and heavy rifles line up in formation.] Soldier 3: White Rats are at point D-2, confirmed! [In the Army base, Nichol supervises the operation.] Soldier 4: [radio] Red Rats are at point D-1, confirmed! Nichol: [smugly] Begin. ------ [Outside of the Army base, a lone figure in black, draped in a voluminous white trenchcoat, eyes his target's location with a steelly calm, coat hems and eartails (cough) flapping in the wind] ------ [Nerve gas fills the interior of the small hospital. All humans the Rats come across are already dead, doctors, nurses, aides, and patients. However, when they bash into Kaori Hibana's room, the only one they really need dead isn't anywhere to be found.] [Ken, Omi, Kaori, and Akira wait in nervous tension beside the sewer ladder leading up to the hospital, listening carefully for the pounding footsteps of the heavily armed and armored soldiers above. As they fade away, Ken looks over to the other three with a fierce grin.] Ken: Looks like the coast's clear. [But from the distance... actually the next corner] Youji: You're not paying attention, Ken... [They all look over in Youji's direction, who has already set his watch, ready to spin out his lethal web.] Youji: Get outta the way...Ken. Ken: The hell's going on, Youji? Omi: [peeping from behind Ken] Youji-kun! Youji: I've got another mission. The target is... Akira Hibana. Ken: Huhh?! [Ken and Omi both look in confusion at Akira, holding his sister close.] ------ [At the base, Aya darts from concealment, nailing an unsuspecting attendant's gut with the blunt edge of his saya. The man collapses into a noiseless crumple.] ------ [Ken tries to argue in Akira's defense.] Ken: W...wait a sec! There musta been some kinda mistake, Youji! Akira's not... [Youji's expression softens, as if her were expecting that out of Ken. He speaks in reasonable tones.] Youji: Ken... his hands are soaked in blood. You saw it too, how he took that guy out with his shotgun. He's Hibana, originally a motorized Police officer. For revenge, he got his own sister to hack information from the US military computers. He stole sidearms and munitions by pulling his rank as a commanding officer, all just to expose Nichol's doings and finally kill him... [Akira pushes his sister away from him, bring his shotgun to bear against Youji.] Akira: Just what the hell're you guys?! Ken: [putting out a calming hand] Akira, don't! Youji: A lamb who's tasted blood becomes a wolf. It cannot return to the flock. ------ [Blood trickles down the katana's groove and blade. Nichol watches in stifling fear in the red-bathed room as Aya kills his subordinates, one by one.] Nichol: Wh...what ARE you?! [Aya frees his sword from his latest kill with one succinct sweep.] Aya: I've no name to tell to the dead. Your sin will drag you to the depths of hell! ------ [Youji's wires draw blood, but not Akira's. The end wraps tightly around one of Ken's bugnuk'd fists. Gritting his teeth in pain, he draws Youji's wire away, and screams at the others to run.] Youji: [shocked] Ken! Ken: Omi! Get them outta here!! Omi: What?! But Ken-kun...!! Ken: Just get outta here! I'll be right behind ya!!! Omi: [softly] Ken-kun... Ken: Get out NOW!!! [Omi closes his eyes, steeling himself, then turns to the siblings.] Omi: Come'n! Follow me! [Ken still tugs on Youji's wires in a stalemate.] Youji: Ken! You know what it means right? to interfere in a mission! Ken: I know... But I can't just stand back! I'm no different from Akira! Without Persia, I'd've been just like him!! Youji: Ken... ------ [Aya stands with his blade lowered, waiting for his apparently unarmed target to make the first mistake. Suddenly, Nichol pops a holdout gun from his wrist and fires several shots at Aya's head, who merely shifts position slightly to evade every single one. Before Nichol can see the miss of the third bullet, Aya has turned and thrust the blade underarm into Nichol's belly. Standing up, the strength of the blade dragging the dying man upright with him, he eyes Nichol with a sudden flash of intensity.] Aya: Die... in agony. [Twisting the blade 180 degrees, he ignores the wave of blood Nichol spits out onto his face and coat, and swipes his blade free. Coolly surveying the massacre as he turns to the door, he leaves without looking back.] ------ [Youji, left behind again in the sewers, looks silently in the direction where Ken and the rest disappeared to.] Youji: I hope you know what you're doing... Ken. [Wounded and weary, Ken walks slowly, leaning his good hand on the wall for balance, and finally comes upon Omi and the siblings about to climb up the ladder to their freedom.] Ken: (Up until now, I'd fantasized that accomplishing these missions would cleanse my sins. Whatever...) Omi: [relieved] Ken-kun! Ken: (Even if I never take another mission... I'll bear that cross of sin...) ------ [Walking away unscathed though with the blood wiped away, a heli touching down on the aircraft carrier in the distance, the expression in Aya's eyes are no different under the open air than inside of the Army base.] Persia: It is unfortunate, but traitors have appeared within Weiß. If they will not comply with the mission, they are naught but ordinary murderers. These traitors have willfully taken of blood and sin for others. White hunters of evil, hunt the futures of these dark beasts! ------ [Ending Credits]