Chapter 2
Schuldig emerged rather cautiously from his room, peering around the corners and keeping his ears keen on the sounds of the house. He could hear his teammates in the kitchen, discussing the plot for the new series before they had to start at noon. The redhead contemplated fleeing and rejecting the whole thing, but he knew such a thing would remove him from existence. Finally he accepted that they were going to see him sooner or later and that he had to brave it now. He tried to put on his more familiar confidence. Maybe if he pretended nothing was wrong...
But no. He was wearing suspenders and a beret. Brad was never going to sleep with him again. He cringed at that last thought as he opened the doors to the main room and sauntered in, trying to look indifferent. He had his beret pulled down over his eyes, but even in the slight shadow of the hat his teammates could see he was a shade redder than normal.
Brad looked up from his coffee and paper...
...and burst out laughing. He couldn't help it. He'd never seen anything so ridiculous in his entire career, and that was saying a lot considering who he worked for.
Schuldig bristled. "Shit Brad, shut the hell up!"
The leader turned on him, his expression more serious again. He didn't feel like dealing with his teammate's whining. "Oh just get over it! Look at this," he said, pointing to his eye. "A monocle! A fucking monocle! I can't see out of both my eyes, do you understand? We're all miserable."
"Actually, I'm fine," Nagi calmly interjected.
"SHUT UP!!" Brad and Schuldig yelled at the same time.
Nagi shrugged and got up to go check his email. He came back moments later. "Uh guys, you should come read this..."
Brad looked up at Schuldig, who was still trying to look comfortable in his new outfit. "You gonna handle this like a German or a Frenchman?"
[author's interjection: I'm not saying the French are *all* wusses, but um yeah....*waves an 'I love France' sign and goes back to writing*]
Schuldig pushed back from the wall and shook a fist at his leader. "Shut up already!"
The oracle got up and walked towards Nagi's room to see the message, and Schuldig followed, sulking.
Brad leaned over the desk, planting his palms on the surface as he read out loud. " 'RE: Schwartz, regarding Gluhen: I understand that these designs may have surprised you all a little and I apologize, but the show must go on-' What the Hell?" Brad spat.
"Keep reading," Nagi said, a little bit of irritation in his voice.
Schuldig leaned up behind Brad, placing a hand on his shoulder so he could look at the screen. Brad continued. " 'As I mentioned before, Gluhen is shorter than it's original plot foundation-' oh Christ listen to that wording . 'but as I said before you will all play an important role in eliminating the new villains. As you understand, Farfarello will not be returning. Brad, you will create an image of him in episode twelve to make it up to the fans.' NO! That's so damned contrived!" the American shouted, slamming his hands on the desk angrily and pushing away Schuldig. "I'm not doing that!"
"We don't get a choice, do we?" Schuldig asked, scanning the rest of the message.
Nagi sighed. "Just read the rest of it Crawford."
The tall man raised a hand to adjust his glasses, having to squint out of one eye, and remembered why it was he was having trouble seeing. Angrily he leaned close to the monitor. " 'As always, it is important for you all to allow WeiB to win, but this time you won't actually be fighting them-'" "WHAT!!!" Schuldig yelped, shoving Brad aside to read the message himself. " 'Your importance in this series is merely to eliminate the new villains so that WeiB can win. They can't handle Berger, but they are the protagonists... So this is your mission: wait ten episodes, Nagi save everyone's ass, Schuldig break one of them's neck, Brad get your ass beat, call an image of Farfarello, and then you can figure out how to get out of the exploding building because I don't have to write that in. Over and out. Koyasu Takahito.' " The redhead gritted his teeth. "That son of a bitch!" He slammed his knee into the chair by Nagi's desk angrily and it toppled over onto his foot. "OUCH!! FUCKING GODDAMN PIG SCREWING BASTARD MOTHER KILLERS--"
"Hey!"
"...Oh, sorry Nagi. PIG SCREWING BASTARD DONKEY-RAPING SHIT EATERS!!!"
Crawford leaned against the wall, his head starting to throb. "You know, I know we aren't supposed to care, but I wonder how WeiB is handling this..."
Schuldig was sitting on the floor now, craddling his foot pathetically. "I'm calling Mom."
Nagi glared at him. "You haven't talked to your mom in twelve years. I don't think you know how to contact her."
Finally Schuldig stood, a sparkle of the old light in his still-blue eyes. "I'm gonna go get drunk."
Brad rolled his eyes. "Whatever. I'm going to Kyoto before this officially starts."
Nagi looked up, surprised. "Eh?"
"Maybe WeiB will have something to say about all of this. And know why the settings were changed." He glanced at Schuldig, who was now fighting to hide his upset under the more familiar facade of apathy. "By the way," he said softly. "You're still cute." With that the leader of Schwartz left the room, and all the telepath could do was stand there looking stupid while Nagi continued thinking.
********************By the time Brad Crawford reached the little flowershop in Kyoto it was already 9:55AM. He only had two more hours, and what he saw was a very big surprise. The shop was *gone*. He didn't understand. How could Koyasu have changed the most important aspect of the gayness that was WeiB. He walked over and peered into the window, more than a little concerned. He didn't like it. At all.
"Oi! Who the hell are you!" growled a familiar voice.
Crawford spun around, fists ready by instinct. The man standing in front of him was actually jarring his memory. His hair was a bit longer and his outfit was totally different, with a white jacket and a red cross over the seam, but he was still recognizable. "Hideka?" he asked coolly.
The figure relaxed just a bit, his green eyes squinting slightly. "Who are you?" he repeated sternly. He looked very much on guard.
Brad chuckled at the irony of the situation. "An old... friend?" He laughed again.
Ken frowned. "What the hell?"
The American bowed slightly. "Brad Crawford."
Ken's eyes widened. "Are you guys in this series?" He thought he saw the American's eyebrow twitch just a bit.
"Well, that depends on your definition of 'in this series'. We get to do all the dirty work and you guys come out shining in the end as always. I see your new settings are just fine, unlike this nonsense..."
"Actually," Ken began. "I'm the only one who still looks remotely the same. Yoji... he looks terrible, Omi looks like something out of Gundam Wing."
"And Fujimiya?"
"He's a fucking hottie!" Ken blushed and covered his mouth. "Umm..."
Brad ignored the comment and nodded towards the shop. "And this place is gone?"
Ken nodded. "Apparently. We woke up in the same beds, same rooms, but when we went upstairs... no flowershop."
Brad's eyes narrowed. "Can you come with me, Mr. Hideka?"