Suddenly / Choices / Beasts Title: Suddenly we weren't in Japan... Character/Pairings: Akira Hibana Team: Schwarz Rating:PG-13. Violence and death, as seen on TV. Word Count: 100 Series: Verbrechen~Strafe (spoilers!)
Destruction surrounded the crying children, abruptly orphaned. Screams competed with the raging fire's roar. Helicopters followed the plane, disgorging goggled aliens who moved like shadows, searching the rubble. How could this happen? Who were these killers, masquerading as heroes?
Garishly lit by the flames, soldiers in khaki surrounded a bound, kneeling prisoner. Body frozen in uncomprehending terror, his frightened eyes tracked the threatening pistol, abandoning hope when the barrel touched his temple. Almost casually, the American officer pulled the trigger.
Dragging his sister to safety, the boy felt cold purpose settle deep into his bones. He would live for vengeance.
--- Comment: The execution in "Strafe" was taken directly from news footage during the Viet Nam war, seen on the evening news across America and the world. Graphic images from the other side of the world, captured by independent reporters, helped fuel antiwar sentiment that eventually brought down a President.
Title: Choices Character/Pairings: Akira Hibana Team: Schwarz Rating: PG-13. Violence and death. Word Count: 100 Series: Verbrechen~Strafe (spoilers!)
Trapped. He huddled with his sister in the merry-go-round's heart. Nowhere to hide; three cartridges left.
Kill her, keeping her death out of enemy hands? Not while hope remained.
Die himself, then, and perhaps she'd live. He wondered whether he'd be both a loving and vengeful ghost, watching over her as he'd tried to do in life.
A last reassurance was good-bye. He exploded out the door with a useless shotgun to meet the enemy. Jerking like a puppet in the hail of bullets, feeling his body's death, he prayed that Weiss would save his sister and complete his revenge.
Title: Beasts Character/Pairings: Kaori Hibana Team: Schwarz Rating: PG-13. Violence and death. Word Count: 100 Series: Verbrechen~Strafe (spoilers!)
I was reborn twice.
Childhood burned to ash with home and our parents' bodies. We lived for revenge.
My closest friends were murdered. I saw my sweet brother torn apart by bullets, Weiss's bloody battle, and Hidaka's maniacal grin as he blew the American general's brains out with my brother's shotgun.
Waking in hospital, I was told to live a lie that dishonored my brother's sacrifice. I chose brutal honesty instead, forcing Manx's complicity in my schooling.
Now I, too, deny beasts their tomorrows. But I know the truth. We are all beasts. Some of us just lie about it.
--- All written in 2004; posted newly to IJ with mod permission.