1. I think we're looking at seven parts altogether.

2. Yes, most of this is one big freakin' flashback.

3. *Soup Nazi voice* You like flashback, or no fic for you!

----------

[Jared slowly comes to a half-sitting position in a hospital bed. His
eyes are shut, and for all the world he's moving like he has a hangover.
Someone has thoughtfully left a cup full of water and a matching pitcher
on a small bed-side table. Gingerly, Jared extends an arm towards the
cup, which obligingly floats up off the table and drifts gently into his
hand.]

[Let's see you figure out _that_ reference, SF fans!]

[Jared takes a sip of the water, then releases the cup to let it float
back onto the table where it belongs. He sighs, stretches, and a split-
second before the door swishes open, he opens his eyes.]

[Ritsuko walks into the room as if entering her own office, commanding
the space. She takes the only seat in the room and takes off her
mini-MAGI, setting it on the table after pressing a few buttons.]

Ritsuko: That was rather pointless. I take it you're back to your
jabber-jawed, perverted, incomprehensible self?

Jared: (glances at his hand) Um... I'm not sure what "jabber-jawed"
means, but yeah, I guess I'm okay.

Ritsuko: Not that I care, but how do you feel?

Jared: (grins gamely) Like someone took a piece of sandpaper to my
brain. And my palms sting.

Ritsuko: You're missing several layers of epidermis. You were sucked
into a fold of space-time.

Jared: ... So, it was the Twelfth?

Ritsuko: At 0720 yesterday, you disappeared into an unclassified spatial
anomaly. Your mini-MAGI's readings flat-lined. The anomaly was coded the
Twelfth Angel at 0800. No emissions were recorded for the next
twenty-five hours. At 0900 this morning, the Angel's form shifted, you
reappeared, and the remains of the Angel collapsed into a limited
singularity which immediately dispersed an enormous amount of energy--

Jared: (nodding) Ending in a big boom. I had a feeling that was going to
happen.

Ritsuko: It made your friend happy.

Jared: Andy?

Ritsuko: He fired a ki attack at the Angel yesterday afternoon.

Jared: Heh. That's Andy for you. So...

Ritsuko: So, how do you feel?

Jared: Not hungry. Not yet, but I'm... I feel weak. I know I'll be
hungry soon, but I don't think I can stomach anything yet. My hands and
head hurt, but both are getting better... You know, I have the lingering
sensation of being... cold.

Ritsuko: ...

Jared: You aren't writing this down.

Ritsuko: Since when have you said anything worth writing down?

Jared: Ouch.

Ritsuko: (sighs) I'm recording this conversation.

Jared: Ah. Then for the record, I'd like to state that your bedside
manner sucks.

Ritsuko: Duly noted. Do you remember anything about what happened inside
the Angel?

Jared: Well, I supposed I went Eva for a while.

Ritsuko: (sighs) I knew this was pointless.

[She prepares to stand, but stops when she sees Jared watching her.]

Jared: A longer way of saying it... is that there's nothing there. It's
like being in a sensory-deprivation tank. You don't feel _anything_.
Your body could be peeled apart and you wouldn't even know it. It was
like being dead. It was just me... and my memories.

Ritsuko: (gets comfortable in her chair) Can you elaborate? What
memories?

Jared: Well, it starts with the things that made the biggest impression
on me. Wrecking my bike... several times. Wrecking my car... several
times. Meeting Her. The Computer Science Building Incident. I was locked
in the deepest of introspections. Shinji would be proud.

Ritsuko: (clearly aware that he's stalling) I'm perfectly aware that
you're stalling, Waddell.

Jared: Ah, well... I remembered one thing. One specific... emotion. Once
sequence of events from my past. I couldn't escape them inside my own
head. For a while, I wondered if re-living it was how the Angel was
trying to do me in.

Ritsuko: The additional stalling aside, you're making it sound like the
Angel failed to kill you and decided to do itself in.

Jared: How pretentious of me. I actually had the idea that one could
warp space-time directly, rather than as a side-effect of a ki
technique. Using ki, or maybe the Eva's AT-Field, to wreck the Angel's
control over space-time. But one man? One with even my skills? No,
that's impossible.

Ritsuko: Let me get this straight. You theorized a ki technique that
would allow you to climb into an Eva and disable the Angel's primary
defensive ability, and you didn't tell anyone about it?

Jared: Hey! I just said it was impossible! Besides, I told John and
Andy, go but lover-boy if you're so upset!

Ritsuko: Pilot Genoni is... indisposed.

Jared: Huh? Since when?

Ritsuko: (glances around nervously) At 0720 yesterday morning, John
Genoni entered a mild catatonic state. The cause is presently unknown.

Jared: Oh.

Ritsuko: "Oh?" That's all you're going to say?

Jared: (sighs) Let me guess, he woke up fifteen minutes later and has
been acting like he's on drugs ever since, right?

Ritsuko: Somehow I knew you would say that.

Jared: Don't worry. Andy's on it.

Ritsuko: Don't worry?!! How did you know--

Jared: We have protocols for this. Weren't you here to ask me about the
Twelfth?

Ritsuko: (glares at Jared) ...

Jared: You wanted to question me, right?

Ritsuko: Procedure says I should have you debriefed by intelligence--

Jared: But I work for intelligence.

Ritsuko: Unfortunately.

Jared: So you're going to question me until you feel there's nothing
more to be learned about my time inside the Twelfth Angel?

Ritsuko: Yes.

[Jared rubs his hands together in glee.]

----------

Author-John: Dude!

Author-Jared: Dude?

Author-John: What. The. FUCK?!

Author-Jared: What the fuck what?

Author-John: Is this going anywhere?

Author-Jared: I'm getting there, I'm getting there. I have to kind of
cover the plot first, you know!

Author-John: You should have covered the plot _instead_ of wasting time
on this stupid "flashback!"

Author-Jared: Shoulda, woulda, coulda. Let's ask the monkey!

Monkey: (I'm terrible at onomatopoeia for monkey noises, so use your
imagination)

Author-John: Get it off! Get it off!

Author-Jared: Success! No, don't come over--oow! (cowering) Watch out!
It bites!

Author-John: Stop it before it pastes your past into--

----------

Jared: Do you hear something?

Ritsuko: (smiles) Only the ravings of madmen.

Jared: Nice. Anyway, do you really want to hear the details?

Ritsuko: Go ahead.

Jared: Well, it all started in the winter of 1998.

Ritsuko: That was seventeen years ago. What were you, three?

Jared: Eighteen, actually. (continues) I grew up in eastern Washington.
Shit-hole of a place to live. Desert and dusty farmland for miles
around. The nearest river was so polluted you could get sick just by
swallowing a mouthful of water from it, and to top things off, the
largest nuclear waste storage site in the entire United States was just
fifty miles upstream. Paradise. After high school, John and Andy went
their separate ways, and I went off to a local college. I dabbled in
their martial arts courses. I was interested in engineering, but by
thanks to a nine-millimeter surprise over the summer, I wound up in
Basic Ninja.

[We see a very young Jared (from now, "Past-Jared") leaving the parking
lot of a grocery store on foot, at night. He just happens to glance at a
pair of suspicious-looking guys loitering in a beat-up slab of Detroit
junk metal, and raises an eyebrow.]

[Cut to several minutes later. This "Past-Jared" bursts into a
convenience store where a distinguished old man is fighting to get some
change out of his pocket to buy a candy bar. An empty gun is in
Past-Jared's hands, and blood is on his clothes. He bodily shoves the
old man over the counter, knocking the clerk to the floor at the same
time. Two massively muscled Mexicans dash into the store a half-second
later, and Past-Jared turns and charges them. By the time the clerk and
old man stand up to see what's going, Past-Jared stands over two
unconscious men, breathing heavily. The look on his face is positively
murderous. The clerk stares in amazement. The old man takes a bite of
his candy bar while depositing his change into the clerk's hand.]

Ritsuko: (VO; sarcastic) The joys of living in the United States.

Jared: (VO) My home town wasn't really that violent, but there were
people you didn't mess with. I was young, then. Foolish. I stuck my nose
where it didn't belong.

[Past-Jared walks up a fairly average house in the suburbs, and knocks
on the door. While he waits for a response, a figure dressed entirely in
black silently drops to the ground behind him. The figure pulls out a
gut-your-horse knife and tries to behead Past-Jared. The Goon ducks
under the death-blow, and after a brief exchange, sends the figure
flying through one of the windows in the house. The domicile promptly
explodes. Past-Jared goes flying from the force of the blast, but gets
up quickly and runs down the block. The next scene shows Past-Jared
sitting in a Institutional Chair in an Institutional Building. Mostly
likely the local college.]

Ritsuko: (VO) Forgive me if I'm having a hard time buying this.

Jared: (VO) Not my problem. Anyway, it wasn't long before the head of
the Ninjitsu Department invited me to do a year of training. Maybe then
I'd be safe. Common criminals didn't mess with Ninja students because of
Basic Ninja graduates.

Ritsuko: (VO) I understand, go ahead.

[Past-Jared doesn't so much as twitch while people walk by him.]

Jared: (VO) So, that's how I met my first instructor. First name:
Professor. Last name: Professor. Title: Professor. The worst part was,
everyone had their own stupid nickname for the man. I was the only one
who called him Prof! But I digress. He taught me Ninjitsu an accelerated
curriculum. I finished Basic in less than a year, and... (takes a deep
breath) Basic Ninja graduates do one thing: Kill people. The next level
up, Intermediate, they can steal almost anything. Top-level ninja...
well, who knows what they get up to, but you don't see many Basic
graduates over thirty, if you catch my drift. But I was good. Too good,
and too blood-thirsty. My security blanket became a 'scorched earth'
policy.

[The Institutional setting fades to black. Open on Past-Jared, but a
year or so older and more heavily muscled. He stands before a giant
mansion, wearing his black uniform. The mansion burns furiously.]

[Back in the recovery room.]

Jared: I thought that if there were only gutless mourners left, I
wouldn't have to pack a Colt just to get some Dew.

Ritsuko: Is this going anywhere?

Jared: You want to know what happened in the Angel or what? I know
you're going to ignore what I have to say and pad your report with lots
of meaningless graphs.

Ritsuko: How--that's--how dare you--

Jared: I'm right, aren't I?

Ritsuko: I'm not going to dignify that with an answer.

Jared: Anyway, I wound up under the wing of Brandon Daylin. Worked for
the biggest crime syndicate on the west coast. Their top man, a
fully-trained fighter who put Basic Ninja under his belt years ago. When
we first met, we were almost a little afraid of each other. Brandon was
worried I was going to draw bullets to him like a magnet, and I was just
starting out in a field I never wanted to be in. We were fast friends
despite everything. Brandon was blunt--he handled things in a blunt way.
That worked fine for me; I didn't want to sugar-coat murder.

[Fade in on Past-Jared. He now has a bandage on one cheek. He's in the
passenger seat of a nicely restored '68 Cadillac El Dorado convertible.
Brandon Daylin is two hundred and eighty pounds of solid muscle that
assaults the driver's seat like a primal force. His knuckles sit atop
the steering wheel like a line of boulders, while he glares at the world
through one green eye. A patch covers the other eye. Both men have a few
days worth of stubble and military-length hair cuts. Rap music fights to
be heard over the car's open pipes.]

Jared: (VO) He was a good man, in his own way.

[The car stops before what is clearly a drug house. Past-Jared, dressed
in a black leather trench coat, exits the car and violently removes the
armored door from its hinges. He spends the next sixty seconds
redecorating the house in a crimson-on-crimson motif. After the wet
screaming ceases, he leaves the house without his coat and sits in the
car. Brandon, meanwhile, has fished a full five-gallon gas can out of
the trunk, and made himself useful around the perimeter of the house.
Once Past-Jared is done, he uses a Zippo to turn the drug house into a
two-story barbecue.]

Jared: (VO) Together, we were unstoppable. He taught me how to have eyes
in the back of my head, how to cultivate the right kind of relationships
with street scum, how to spot a room. He was my shield and I his sword.
I struck, he guarded. My body was bullet-proof thanks to him, but he
could do nothing to protect my mind.

[Shot of Past-Jared sitting up in bed in the darkness of night. He looks
around in a panic and slips off the bed, coming up with a gun in hand. A
small bandage on his cheek is shiny with fresh blood.]

Jared: (VO) Fall came too quickly. I found myself enduring class for
eighty hours a week, then working for Brandon in spare seconds here and
there.

[Shot of Past-Jared scaling a building and slipping into a classroom
full of lab equipment while the teacher lectures on about how to create
the perfect monster. His lab partner, a short boy with black hair and
seven facial piercings, looks up and gives Past-Jared a nod as the Basic
Ninja graduate returns silently to his seat. He still has the small cut
on his cheek, which appears to be very adverse to healing.]

Jared: (VO) I found myself wondering if I really wanted to take
Intermediate Ninja. The Department Head and Prof were pushing me to
complete the whole program. Prof was already teaching me some
Intermediate techniques anyway. I wanted to take a year off. Then I met
her...

[Past-Jared, with dark circles under his eyes that are but shadows of
what he sports in TGE, sits at a normal desk. Several pencils, a
calculator with three hundred buttons, and a kunai sit on the top of his
desk. He's muttering under his breath about missing paper when two girls
walk into the room. They're not unusually pretty, but when Past-Jared's
eyes settle on the blond, flowers bloom, a cheesy love song plays, and
everything gets a pink filter. The pre-Goon only just notices that her
companion is also a girl. Past-Jared watches them with his eyes until
they move to take seats directly behind him. A football player type
quickly moves into the seat next to the girls and begins harassing
them.]

[The professor comes in and the football guy tones down his advances.
After class, he's getting pushy with the girls. Past-Jared strolls up to
him calmly, and says something to the big guy. He shoves Past-Jared
back, then looks at his hand. Past-Jared's holding his shoulder, but the
big guy's hand is speared with the kunai from earlier.]

[Cut to outside the Histories Building. Four of the football player's
friends surround Past-Jared. The guy who started this has his hand
bandaged up. The other four are taunting Past-Jared, shoving him around.
His insomniac eyes on the ground, Past-Jared doesn't seem to even notice
the abuse. Then, he looks up and sees two of the girls from earlier.
They're a good fifty yards away, not really paying attention to the
impromptu huddle.]

Jared: (VO) Big, Stupid, and the three other morons-in-training weren't
really into negotiating, so I declared a cooling off period.

[Cut to black. Cue sounds of violence. Fade in fifty yards out, where
Past-Jared talks in an animated fashion with the two girls. In the
background, five unconscious football players lay in crumpled heaps near
the Histories building.]

[The blond is named Melanie, and has a devastating figure and haunting
green eyes. Her friend, Cherryl, is a tall, mouth-watering black girl
who looks like she's used to getting anything she wants. She gives
Past-Jared a predatory look throughout the whole conversation.]

Melanie: Geez, can you believe that professor?

Past-Jared: The man is suffering from diarrhea of the mouth.

Cherryl: I wouldn't say he _suffers_ from it.

Melanie: You took the words right out of my mouth.

Past-Jared: Sadly, he actually knows his stuff.

Cherryl: How do you know?

Past-Jared: Uh, inside information.

Melanie: You know, you didn't have to mess with those football players
on our account. They won't really bother us.

Past-Jared: Sorry. Uh, force of habit?

Cherryl: You beat up on people you don't like?

Past-Jared: In my line of work, I meet a lot of people that _deserve_ a
beating.

Melanie: Sounds like a rough job. What do you do?

Past-Jared: Ninja stuff.

Cherryl: What kind of ninja stuff.

Past-Jared: Ninja stuff I'm not allowed to tell people about. Sorry.
Code and honor and secrecy and all that.

Melanie: So you're a ninja? How's that working out?

Cherryl: (adding her $.02) Is it tough beating up so many people?

Past-Jared: (blushes) I finished Basic. And it's a living. I mean, I'm
still deciding if I want to finish and become a Master or what-have-you.
I came here to be an engineer. What about you guys?

Cherryl: I'm thinking fitness instructor. (poses, then laughs) But I'll
probably get a degree in Arms Dealing or something. It'll pay the bills.

Melanie: I don't know yet. I'm just getting a feel for everything, I
guess. Though the Magical Girl Club keeps wanting me to join...

[Picturing Melanie in the requisite uniform robs Past-Jared of higher
thought processes for a few seconds.]

Past-Jared: (imagination hijacking upper brain functions) Uh... ah...

Cherryl: You tease! Don't kill the boy; he's obviously sweet on you.

Past-Jared: I am not! Well, I mean, not that you aren't attractive or
anything-- (Cherryl huffs indignantly) Or that you're the most
attractive--I mean, what I mean to say is you're both terribly beautiful
and I... I... what was I saying?

Cherryl: I like him. Let's take him home with us.

Melanie: (scandalized) Cherryl!

[As Melanie chastises her friend, her books begin to slip out of her
grasp. Past-Jared seems to materialize at her side, calmly taking up the
load and keeping it from falling from her hands.]

Melanie: Thanks.

Past-Jared: Don't mention it.

[They stand there for a moment. When Cherryl clears her throat, they
realize they've been sharing personal space and staring into
one-another's eyes for several minutes. They jerk apart abruptly and
blush bright red.]

Cherryl: (gathering the other two up in a group hug) We're going to have
so much FUN together! Squee!

[The scene freezes there, with Cherryl holding her friends tight (and
groping Past-Jared without a hint of subtlety or shame).]

[Back in the recovery room.]

Jared: And like that, it was the three of us. First girl I could speak
coherently to... Well, the first girl I could speak coherently to that
didn't turn out to be out of her fucking mind.

Ritsuko: What's that mean?

[The scene cuts to Past-Jared nervously trying to talk up a rather
pretty brunette in another classroom. She nods as Past-Jared talks, but
before long, she tires of his banter and waves a hand before him. His
clothes instantly burst into flame.]

Past-Jared: Ahhh! It burns! Aiiieeeee!!!

[Cut to a busy sidewalk that's practically melting under the summer
heat. A woman wearing a bikini top and cut-of jeans is talking with
Past-Jared outside of a convenience store. Both are eating ice cream.
The woman finishes her cone first, then whips out a knife and takes
Past-Jared's ice cream before walking away like she does this all the
time.]

[In the recovery room.

Ritsuko: (amused) Where'd she get the knife?

Jared: See! That's exactly what I'm talking about! Fucking crazy. It was
like I was hitting on CIA agents all the time or something.

[Another shot of Past-Jared trying to talk up a girl. They're outside of
what appears to be a bank, both dressed like they're going in for a job
interview. Right in the middle of their conversation, she whips out a
huge hand-gun and executes a passing suit. Then she puts away the gun
and resumes her conversation with Past-Jared, who begins to sweat
profusely.]

Jared: (VO) Okay, okay! We get the picture! Anyway, we three became
almost inseparable. Well, there was that one day when we were literally
inseparable, but that's another story.

[Freeze-frame of Past-Jared, Melanie, and Cherryl tied together with
what appear to be soba noodles. Past-Jared is in the middle of screaming
at lanky guy in a white lab coat who's face is obscured by a smudge on
the camera lens.]

Jared: (VO) Another. Story.

[The scene fades to black.]

Jared: (VO) Anyway, we did everything together.

[The scene changes to a series of freeze-frames showing Past-Jared,
Cherryl, and Melanie studying in the library, eating at a local
fast-food establishment, attending a hockey game, helping to break up a
huge fight at said hockey game, rescuing people during a bank robbery,
racing go-karts, and walking through a huge park where the flowers are
blooming.]

Jared: (VO) Turns out, Cherryl was a tigress in the sack. She traded
sexual favors for help with homework, and occasionally came around "just
because." Melanie was enduring, a nice girl, but not one with many
friends. She was unbearably honest sometimes. I didn't deserve her, but
she seemed to dig me.

[The freeze-frames change to Past-Jared, Melanie, and Cherryl at the
movies, taking in some local comedy acts, and eating out. Then we see
Past-Jared and Melanie walking through a riverside park. The last shot
is of their hands gently touching.]

Jared: (VO) Distracted as I was with the bouncy duo, I began to feel
like a normal human being.

[The scene cuts to black.]

Jared: (VO) Then we had a string of bad hits.

[Open on another large mansion in flames. A security force wielding
P90's are sweeping the grounds with brutal efficiency. Periodically,
either Past-Jared or Brandon jump out of the shadows and take out a
straggler before using a smoke bomb and retreating again. After a few
minutes of this, the place looks like a war zone and both assassin and
handler are sporting various minor injuries.]

Jared: (VO) Brandon began to pressure me about finishing my training.

[Cut to Past-Jared and Brandon standing at a pool table. Both hold cue
sticks and take turns making near-impossible trick shots. As the view
rotates around, we can see the entire bar around them is trashed,
unconscious bodies everywhere. Past-Jared and Brandon's knuckles are
both a little scuffed.]

Brandon: (apparently just finishing a long speech) ... and that's the
situation.

Past-Jared: (looking at the balls) Heavy.

Brandon: That's why I wanted to talk to you right away.

Past-Jared: (watches Brandon line up a four-bank shot) What I am
supposed to do about it? I'm not able to single-handedly fight World War
III... though that does give me a great story idea...

[Past-Jared lines up his shot.]

Brandon: How about you finish Ninja. Get your Master degree. (watches
Jared send the cue ball over the bar) Once you're in Intermediate, you
can opt-in assignments.

Past-Jared: (checks his ear) _Excuse_ me?

Brandon: (fetching another ball) You're excused. I know it's a big
surprise.

Past-Jared: (now actually thinking over Brandon's words) Why?

[Brandon lines up another shot, but with exaggerated care.]

Brandon: What I'm about to tell you can't leave this building.

[Some pitiful soul at Past-Jared's feet groans. The Goon responds by
hitting him in the head with the pool cue. He then looks around the
silent bar pointedly.]

Brandon: (sinks a ball perfectly) I've never seen anyone with your kind
of skill. You've got ability, you've got brains... you can be a Master.
Once you do that, you're a made man.

Past-Jared: (looking over the table) Do I want to be a made man? If I
refuse, do I wind up at the bottom of the river?

Brandon: Please. It wouldn't be the river. Think about it; you'd be
rich, respected, (smirking) live large, a big house, five cars...

Past-Jared: (not amused) Ripping off bad rap music...

Brandon: (chuckles) You'd have the life you always wanted.

Past-Jared: (lines up his shot) You don't know what I want. Besides,
(sinks the ball perfectly) I'd still have to kill people for a living.

Brandon: You'd be making executive decisions and training recruits, not
jumping into firefights and dismembering broke thieves who crossed the
wrong person. It's better than what you'd have without us.

Past-Jared: ...

Brandon: Jared, I'm being honest with you--

Past-Jared: Don't. Don't tell me why. I don't tell you my reasons.

[Brandon goes quiet for a moment, watching Past-Jared with his one good
eye. Past-Jared ignores him, face unreadable, watching the pool table.]

Brandon: ...

Past-Jared: ...

Brandon: ...

Past-Jared: ...

Brandon: I'm not asking you to trust me. I'm just telling you how it is.

Past-Jared: I'll think about it.

Jared: (VO) I wasn't telling him that I quit, but right then I realized
that's what I meant, and that's exactly what he heard.

Brandon: (quickly pulls off another shot, leaving only the 8-ball on the
table) You do that.

[Past-Jared looks pensively at the two remaining balls; gleaming white
and shining black. We slowly fade to black, then fade in on the recovery
room.]

Ritsuko: So, you _were_ being told to take the job or select a coffin,
right?

Jared: Pretty much. I was still a "free agent," and I could work for
whoever I wanted, but my skills were far above par. They were scared of
me, scared of what I might do to them. I was a liability because of the
_potential_ for me to be a threat to them. What I didn't know then, was
that the entire world--with a few exceptions--saw me like that, and I
would never have a moment of peace.

[Cut to Past-Jared standing in front of a kiosk, violently demanding his
class schedule.]

Past-Jared: (raging; bad pseudo-British accent) Give me your bounty,
bellowing machine of chaos! I care naught for these beeps and errors,
relinquish mine schedule!

Impassive Mechanized Incarnation of Bureaucracy: ...

Past-Jared: (deeply, profoundly offended) Well... Fuck you!

[A laser turret pops out of the top of the machine. Students around
Past-Jared scatter, while a kunai slams into the gun. Past-Jared, his
own kunai still in his hand, pauses and does a double-take. Then he
turns, steeling himself for a fight. And there stands... Melanie. She
wears a short skirt and a criminally tight sweater. Scientific papers
are being written to explain how she can breath without it being torn
apart.]

Melanie: You gotta be careful with those things. (leans past Past-Jared,
_almost_ touching him, to collect his schedule) Very dangerous.

Past-Jared: (almost blushing) I... know a thing or two about danger.
(glances at the smash turret) Did you...

Melanie: (standing _well_ inside of Past-Jared's personal space) Do you
have a thing for danger?

Past-Jared: (smiles) I have nothing to fear.

Jared: (VO) Not as long as I was with her, I didn't.

Melanie: Oh, really?

Past-Jared: (shrugs) I'm a Ninja.

Melanie: (scans Past-Jared's schedule, then points at a particular spot)
Look here, you're free.

Past-Jared: (without checking) Of course.

Melanie: Meet me at the Amish Foot Bridge.

Jared: (VO) The Amish Foot Bridge was a well-known make-out spot. It
wasn't a even a bridge, really. It was a dock. And for the record, it
had nothing to do with the Amish. Anyway, a very nice place. This was a
big step for me. Sure, Cherryl put marks on my calender every time we
hooked up, but--

[Cut to the recovery room, where Ritsuko bursts out laughing. This goes
on for at least ten minutes while she laughs until she almost chokes and
has to spend another five minutes catching her breath and chasing down
rogue giggles.]

Jared: All done, then?

Ritsuko: (slight giggle) Completely. Anyway, you were spinning yarns
bigger than the geofront...

Jared: Yes. Anyway, there was this dock, and I was to meet Melanie.

[Cut back to the college. Melanie sashays away. Past-Jared watches every
movement, captivated. Sensing an opening, the hated kiosk behind him
hatches a gattling gun. Without looking, Past-Jared looses the kunai,
smashing the targeting camera. He smirks, then takes exactly one half of
a step towards the exit before his way is blocked by average-looking guy
who seems to step out of the crowd of extras.]

Past-Jared: (foot in the air) Can I help you?

Guy: You know, she hates guys who aren't faithful.

Past-Jared: What? Who the fuck are you?! Get out of here! I don't even
know you!

[The Average Guy steps back into the crowd of extras, and the eye is
unable to follow him now that he is camouflaged perfectly. Past-Jared
sighs and puts his foot down. Ready to take a second step, he suddenly
pauses when two average-look girls appear before him.]

Past-Jared: (warily) Can I help you?

Girl #1: She's new here, you know.

Girl #2: Cherryl's been great for her, but she doesn't really know her
way around the school, if you know what I mean.

Girl #1: Yeah, and there's rumors she swings both ways--

Past-Jared: Ladies, let me be the first to say... Get out of here! I
don't even know you! GET LOST.

[Past-Jared blinks, and the two are gone. He finally gets to take a
second step. Then a tall undistinguished guy in glasses is standing in
front of him.]

Past-Jared: Damn it... (whips out a katana; grimly) Time to make the six
o'clock news.

[Cut back to the NERV recovery room.]

Ritsuko: What did these people want?

Jared: To spread rumors. Apparently the entire school developed psychic
powers just that one day, and divined that Melanie and I were going from
friends to something more. Then it intervened.

Ritsuko: So, were you falling in love, or being tricked by a master
seductress?

Jared: (sighs) Both. Neither. At the time, I didn't care. Danger was
thrown at me on a daily, personal basis. Brandon and I were still
watching each other's back, I was just having a better time on campus.
The one safe zone.

Ritsuko: So you were dating her now?

Jared: Yes. Within a week, Cherryl referred to us as "destined,
betrothed!" She still occasionally begged us for a threesome, but cie'st
la vie.

Ritsuko: (musing) Melanie was the family's way of controlling you.

Jared: Yes, although I didn't realize it at the time. After that summer,
I signed up for a year of Engineering and Melanie went into Psychology.

[Past-Jared stands in a hallway straight out of a B-movie insane asylum.
Screams of inhuman torture echo down the hallway, while the muffled
mutterings of the insane reach his ears through locked steel doors. The
young Goon wears what appears to be a normal Ninja uniform, sans hood,
and holds a small cooler, apparently containing Melanie's lunch.]

Past-Jared: ... I am NEVER going for a Psych degree.

[Past-Jared presses on, and finds himself at a sort of reception area
slash nurse station. A short, unshaven man covered in a thin layer of
grime turns to greet the student. He has a patch over one eye, seven
fingers, and when he moves, the distinctive scrape of a wooden leg
issues from behind the counter. Past-Jared covertly slips his battered
Casio off his wrist as he approaches.]

Past-Jared: Um, excuse me?

Peg-Leg Receptionist: Aye? Whadda want, 'scoop?

Past-Jared: Well, I--

Peg-Leg Receptionist: Quiet! Let 'scoop finish, I'll get ta ya inna
minute!

[Past-Jared checks over his shoulder, seeing only the empty hallway. The
receptionist takes some instructions, writing them down with impressive
efficiency, then turns to Past-Jared and glances at the lunch box.]

P.L.R.: Class?

Past-Jared: Sophomore.

P.L.R.: Melanie, right?

Past-Jared: Yes.

[The P.L.R. points Past-Jared down a hallway.]

P.L.R.: 'Ere's a jun'ton down there, take tha fourth passage on yer
left, and ya canna miss 'er.

Past-Jared: Thank you, kind sir.

[The P.L.R. nods as a spider the size of a small dog mounts the desk.]

P.L.R.: No problem! (hits the spider on the head, then talks to it)
Down, Herbert!

[Past-Jared scoots away at Mach 2.0.]

[Cut to a short while later. Melanie and Past-Jared sit under a tree
outside of the Psychology building. Plants are just beginning to recover
from a tough winter. Past-Jared wears an Army surplus jacket over his
Ninja duds to ward off the chilly early spring weather. Melanie's figure
is almost pornographic in a tight lab coat. The luckiest black stockings
on earth caress her perfect legs.]

Past-Jared: How's class?

Melanie: (sighs) I feel like my brain's been scooped into a blender
that's been set to "puree."

Past-Jared: (smiles) I know that feeling. The good news is that they'll
pour it back into your head through that hole in a month or so.

[Melanie pulls a "panic" face and claps her hands over the top of her
head.]

Melanie: They were supposed to close that!

[Past-Jared, in the middle of an egg roll, starts laughing in spite of
himself, and begins choking on his food. Melanie grabs him and starts
pounding on his back.]

Melanie: My God! Spit it out! Spit it out!

[Past-Jared gives her a look, then swallows, his eyes watering.]

Past-Jared: Are you kidding? (coughs a bit) I'm not wasting any of my
lunch!

Melanie: (gets in Past-Jared's face) You could have died!

Past-Jared: (likewise) Only because you're so cute and funny!

Melanie: I only play cute and funny because I love you!

Past-Jared: I love you too! (smirk) Well, as long as it doesn't get me
killed.

[Melanie chuckles.]

Melanie: Why the Ninja outfit? I thought you weren't in Ninja any more.

Past-Jared: (nonchalant) Laundry day.

Melanie: (not buying it) I'm not buying it.

Past-Jared: (sets his food down and doesn't meet Melanie's eyes) I'm
still... working. I have a standing offer to finish Ninja... but I...

Melanie: Jared, I want you to know that it doesn't matter to me what you
do for a living as long as you're happy. (squeezes his hand) I'll love
you no matter what.

Past-Jared: (teary) Thanks... I... I don't deserve you...

Melanie: No. Don't you ever say that.

Past-Jared: (tentative smile) Damn. And here I was going to go off that
phrase and kidnap you so I could take you to dinner... (small smile
changes to sly grin) I _am_ a ninja, you know.

Melanie: (fake girlish panic) Oh _no_, who will save me!

Past-Jared: (fake bad guy laugh) No one, my pretty! You're all mine!
HAHAHA--

Unseen Voice: HALT, VILLAIN!

Past-Jared: --HA?!

Unseen Voice: Unhand that maiden!

[Melanie giggles.]

Past-Jared: You have _got_ to be kidding me... (puts on his mask)
NEVER!!!

Jared: (VO) And that would be Luke. The guy was trouble. Big trouble. I
only saw him once every few months... thank God his bones didn't knit
very fast.

[Cut to a shot of Past-Jared exiting a building from a fourth-story
window. Custard spews from the window, chasing Past-Jared down the wall.
Cut to another shot of Past-Jared riding a bicycle across the roofs of a
bunch of cars in a traffic jam. He's heading towards a distant figure
that fires rockets at him rapidly. Cut to a shot of Past-Jared dueling
with a heartbreakingly handsome young man with a bright golden locks and
a complexion women swoon over. Cut to the open yard behind the
depressing Psychology building, where Past-Jared puts on his Ninja Mask,
and turns to face Luke.]

[Luke is wearing a purple velvet suit and holding an elegant rapier with
golden trim. Flocks of passing school girls faint dead away upon spying
him.]

Luke: We have met for that last time, beast!

Past-Jared: Give it up, you Bishonen sleaze!

Luke: How DARE you yap at me, you little dog!

[Swords are raised. Eyes are narrowed. Past-Jared grabs Melanie and
their lunches, and bounds away without another word. Luke stands there
in mute anger for a moment, eye twitching as he watches Past-Jared leap
from roof top to roof top at impossible speeds.]

Luke: (fuming) How the HELL did he get so FAST?!

[Luke snaps his fingers and a black limousine screeches to a halt right
beside him. He ducks inside, and the limousine pulls away.]

[On the other side of the school, Past-Jared lands lightly on the ground
and sets Melanie on another bench, not even out of breath. There's a few
people walking about here and one man we can identify as Brandon, eye
patch and all, hiding behind a newspaper on a bench several dozen yards
away. Past-Jared no sooner sets his lunch down than a black limousine
halts right beside him and Luke steps out, naked steel in his hand and
fury upon his face.]

Luke: Insolence!

[Past-Jared sets his hand on his sheathed weapon. Melanie stands and
loops her arm in his.]

Melanie: Look, I don't know who you are, but I'm--

[Luke looks incredibly confused for a nanosecond, then drops to one
knee. A string quartet sprouts from the earth and begins playing
something classical while Luke offers a huge bouquet of roses to Melanie
while kissing her hand in greeting. Past-Jared is positively beside
himself in rage, but miraculously, there isn't a slaughter underway.]

[Yet.]

Luke: (full charm mode) My lady... I am Luke Agustus Westguard III. It
should be Luke Chivalry Westguard III, but I am a good son and endeavor
to bring happiness to my family.

[As Luke rises, he appears to stumble. Past-Jared's eyes narrow as he
spies the calculated slip, and watches in horror as one of Luke's
out-stretched hands brushes against Melanie's chest. Past-Jared's eyes
narrow, and Luke is suddenly gulping as the point of Past-Jared's sword
rests against his Adam's apple.]

Jared: (VO) They say every criminal's biggest mistake is getting caught.
Luke was an annoyance before, but now I had right where I wanted him.
His mistake was groping Melanie. Ironically, it wouldn't matter who he
had groped, it mattered that I saw him, and saw the pressure point
strike he executed, and could match the placement of his fingers to the
bruising I had seen on two dead bodies. Luke Agustus Westguard III was
my next contract.

[Bodyguards materialize around Past-Jared, who doesn't acknowledge their
presence.]

Past-Jared: (sing-song) Fo~ound you.

Luke: (speaking in a whisper) Waddell, you miscreant--

Past-Jared: (full James Rahn style) Shut. Up.

[One of Past-Jared's hands flashes out, touching Melanie in the side of
the neck. She shakes herself, wipes the dreamy look off her face, and
throws the flowers at Luke's feet. Luke's eyes shift from Melanie to
Past-Jared.]

Luke: (voice carrying the menacing edge of a threat) What's the meaning
of this?

Past-Jared: (with obvious relish) Just business. You're a contract. Two
women are in the hospital, two are in psych wards, and two are pushing
up daisies. Six families want you to be reminded that no-one is above
the law. You are a misogynist, a rapist, and a murderer. And since the
cops won't convince you to behave, I was hired. You have three seconds
to repent and surrender. Three.

Luke: (bad "I am just _shocked_" voice) I--I have no idea what you're
talking about.

Past-Jared: One. Zero.

Luke: What happened to two?!

[In response, Past-Jared removes the bodyguards from the equation. Luke
brings up his sword in a guarding position, but Past-Jared's first
strike cuts through it like it's not even there, and Luke's sword arm is
severed just below the shoulder. More bodyguards jump into action, and
the string quartet draws sub-machine guns. Past-Jared pushes Melanie to
the ground, and proceeds to become a shadowy whirlwind of violence. When
it's over, the place looks like a ninja tore through it... which is
_exactly_ what just happened.]

[Past-Jared stands over Melanie protectively, his sword dripping blood.
The bodyguards and assistants that are still alive are missing various
limbs and moan in pain. Luke is holding his own stump, to afraid to
attack, and rapidly paling from blood loss.]

Past-Jared: Go, and leave your limbs! They belong to me now!

[Brandon smiles behind his newspaper.]

[Cut away to Melanie and Past-Jared sitting at a table at the local Red
Robin.]

Ritsuko: (VO) What the--hold up there!

[Back in the recovery room.]

Jared: What?

Ritsuko: You killed his bodyguards but let him go?

Jared: As much as I hate scum like him, it was business. Let him go with
a proper lesson. Someone had alerted the school authorities that Luke
was looking for trouble with a price on his head... arm, whatever. They
came in and cleaned up the mess once I was done. Standard fare for my
school.

Ritsuko: Sorry, that's just a really abrupt cut away.

Jared: I don't want to bore you.

Ritsuko: No, I'm afraid that will never happen. Back to the story.

Jared: Right, well, Melanie and I were having a little date one night,
about a week after this incident.

[Back in the past, Past-Jared and Melanie have received their food, but
work their way through it slowly, preferring conversation to nourishment
for the moment. Apparently it's taken them about a quarter of their meal
to get through the small talk.]

Past-Jared: So, you aren't mad at me?

Melanie: No, what would I be mad at your for?

Past-Jared: Well, aside from the blood stains--

Melanie: Hello? Psych department? Those are practically a pre-requisite.

Past-Jared: I killed a whole bunch of people in cold blood! I cut off a
man's arm because I was paid to!

[He quiets down as the other patrons stare.]

Melanie: Look, I know what you do. Besides, I'd been reading about that
case in the newspapers. I had no idea he was the one killing those
girls. I don't even know how you knew.

Past-Jared: (off-hand) He was using a special technique that left a
distinctive mark on his victims. Luke was a monster in human skin...

Melanie: See? That's exactly what I'm talking about. Jared, you and I
both know that the cops wouldn't arrest him, and if they did, he'd get
what? A week in jail? You... you have the ability to resolve the
situation.

Past-Jared: (picking at his food) You make it sound like I'm doing good.

Melanie: (dabs at her eyes) Jared... you are the strangest person I've
ever met, with the biggest heart and the bloodiest hands.

Past-Jared: You mean I'm the biggest hypocrite you've ever met.

Melanie: No! I think you just haven't learned that there will always be
some evil in the world. You can't get rid of it for good. You just keep
the good people safe from the bad. Keeping order in the face of chaos.
Preserving hope when all seems lost... that's just what some people can
do. We call those people heroes, Jared. (looks into his eyes) You're a
hero. You have what it takes.

[Suddenly Past-Jared doesn't look hungry at all.]

Past-Jared: An offer has been made to me.

Melanie: What kind of offer?

Past-Jared: Apparently some people have this crazy idea that I can be a
Ninja Master.

Melanie: Cool. But do you still want to be an engineer?

Past-Jared: While vanishing from boring meetings with Ninja skills would
be incredibly useful... I don't know. I'm no one special.

[Melanie pushes aside her food to take Past-Jared's hands.]

Melanie: Jared, you _are_ special. I believe you can be THE Ninja
Master. I believe that even if you put aside the mask, you'll still want
to save people. You're like Spiderman, or Superman, or something like
Batman, but your parents are still alive.

Past-Jared: You think I should finish the training?

[Melanie bits her lip, and for a moment, looks away from Past-Jared's
eyes. But her gaze returns to caress his, open and honest, before she
answers.]

Melanie: Jared, I think you shouldn't let other people decide your
future for you.

[Past-Jared thinks this over for a while. The pair eats in silence, but
it's a companionable silence, the kind that brings two people closer
together without the exchange of a single word.]

Past-Jared: I'm going to keep working for Brandon.

[Melanie smiles a little smile, and the two hold hands again for a
minute, then Melanie takes a deep breath and opens her mouth to speak.]

[Cut back to the recovery room.]

Jared: Melanie and Brandon were siblings. She confessed everything to me
right then. She didn't know exactly what was wanted from me; she was
told not to direct me or anything, just comfort me. Just make sure I was
as happy as I could be, given the circumstances I was under. She knew
what work I did; she didn't know I was doing it for Brandon. She didn't
know that I was her family's ace in the hole, the murder machine who was
becoming the most feared person in the entire country.

Ritsuko: Why did you decide to take Brandon up on his offer? Did she try
to talk you out of it after confessing?

[Cue a cut of the scene where Past-Jared beat up the football players.
We watch the action from a different angle, and can see that Brandon is
perched in one of the evergreen trees, watching Past-Jared finish off
the weaklings and approach the girls. Then we cut back to the recovery
room.]

Jared: I was happy. A few months later, we were all but married. Then I
got my summer schedule, and on it was special training classes.

[Open on a tiny house, where Melanie is cooking breakfast while
Past-Jared takes care of the laundry. With soap, like a normal person.
The two are smiling and laughing.]

[Cut to Past-Jared reading scrolls and training manuals, and doing forms
in the house's front yard. In the background, children play in the yards
of neighboring houses. Melanie sits on the porch in her lab coat, trying
to read a text book, but watching Past-Jared lovingly.]

Jared: (VO) I had Melanie at my side and she loved me. There were no
secrets between us.

[A picture of Melanie and Past-Jared is shown. They are dressed
casually, giving each other bunny ears. Another picture appears, of
Melanie, Past-Jared, and Brandon sitting on a park bench, the splendid
colors of fall all around them.]

[Cut to the recovery room.]

Jared: I was happy. Melanie was walking on air. Brandon was ecstatic.
Hell, we were all fucking delirious with joy... but I was lying to
myself, and the demons came back to me in the night.

[Shot of Past-Jared wandering the dark house in the middle of the night.
He's wearing some thick flannel pajamas, but he's shivering.]

Jared: (VO) I coasted through class. Half the time it was like I was
disconnected from reality.

[Shot of Melanie and Past-Jared eating lunch inside while the first snow
falls. Melanie is reading a huge text book, and when Past-Jared doesn't
answer one of her questions, she taps him on the nose. Past-Jared looks
startled.]

[In the recovery room.]

Jared: One night, Melanie was up with me, asking me why I was grinding
my teeth in my sleep. I didn't have an answer she would like, so I kept
quiet.

[Fade in on Past-Jared and Melanie sitting up in a bed. A single lamp
lights the room, putting soft edges on everything.]

Melanie: You can't keep doing this, Jared.

Past-Jared: (harshly) It's only the rest of my life.

Melanie: That hurts, you know.

Past-Jared: ... I'm sorry.

Melanie: Did you ever... did you ever think this wasn't what you were
meant to be?

Past-Jared: Lots of times. But I can't just give it all up. Melanie,
there are people out there that--

Melanie: ... People out there that what?

Past-Jared: Jesus Christ! I'm even beginning to think like him!

Melanie: ...

Past-Jared: ...

Melanie: ... I love you.

Past-Jared: I love you too, but...

Melanie: No "buts." What do you want?

Jared: (VO; gritty voice) "The things that I want," by Jared Waddell. A
warm body next to me in bed. A sleep without dreams or nightmares. I
want to be happy, to be whole.

Past-Jared: I want you. I want to do something with my life besides kill
people.

Jared: (VO; still gritty voice) The trouble with wanting something is
the fear of losing it, or never getting it. The thought makes you weak.

Melanie: We can do both.

Jared: (VO) And just like that, she had destroyed everything.

Past-Jared: What? Do you even remember who the hell you are? Who I am?

Melanie: I'm a smart girl, and I can tell you're... well, you're someone
I trust without question. I'd do anything for you.

Past-Jared: (thinking this is insane) You're suggesting we go on the run
from one of the world's biggest crime families.

Melanie: (grins) Kind of "Romeo and Juliet."

Past-Jared: (grimaces) Romeo and Juliet are dead.

Melanie: (pouts) Sorry, honey.

Past-Jared: (chuckles) Hey, listen. Let's sleep on it, okay? We'll talk
to your father and Brandon. Just because I'm tired of being up to my
neck in dead bodies doesn't mean I'm out.

[The two embrace. After a moment, Melanie slips out of bed.]

Melanie: (yawning) I'm going to get a glass of water. Don't move from
that spot. (kisses Past-Jared on the forehead) I always knew you were a
hero.

[Past-Jared settles back in the bed. Melanie shuts off the lamp as she
leaves, and the room is lit by a single night light.]

[In the recovery room, you could hear a pin drop.]

Jared: (distant look) I could tell you anything about that room. Its
dimensions down to the inch, the locations and sizes of every cobweb. I
know how many cracks were on the ceiling, how many pinholes were in the
walls. Not because I'd been in there many times, but because that moment
I remember with a clarity that I remember nothing else.

Ritsuko: What did Melanie destroy?

Jared: Any chance of happiness, though we didn't realize it at the time.

[Back in the house, Melanie starts shouting. The sounds of objects
hitting the walls and falling to the floor follow. Past-Jared leaps out
of bed as two men in body armor charge into the room with assault
rifles.]

[They see an empty bed. One hits the lights, and both sweep the entire
room.]

Man #1: Nothing!

[Past-Jared drops down behind the second man without a sound. His eyes
are nearly colorless; white with a perfect black circle in the center. A
kunai is in one of his hands.]

Man #2: The ceiling!

[Both men turn and scan the ceiling. Past-Jared calmly maneuvers until
he's exactly between them. Once the men finish their sweep and think the
room is empty, he strikes. All we can see is a blur and blood flying,
then Past-Jared steps over two dead bodies, moving out of the bedroom
with all the noise of a gnat farting.]

[Cut to outside of the house. Screams of terror and bursts of silenced
gun fire are heard from inside. A large gray van without license plates
and a small tan Toyota are parked on the street, their tire tracks fresh
in the newly-fallen snow. Brandon, dressed in a full Ninja get-up,
stands next to the Toyota. Two massive men dressed in combat armor stand
on either side of him, with M249 Squad Automatic Weapons aimed at the
tiny house.]

[The screams rise to a crescendo, then die out. Silence blankets the
house, then a window is kicked in. The M249's open fire, shredding
glass, wood, and brick with awesome power. A fleeting shadow dashes
through the front door, and instantly bullets are pummeling the home's
entrance. A second later, Brandon calmly raises one hand to keep a spray
of blood from hitting him in the face. He doesn't even look as both of
the men wielding the machine guns collapse, the white snow giving way to
spreading pools of blood colored black in the sodium light.]

[Past-Jared stands in the middle of the front yard. Curiously, no foot
prints lead to his feet, either from the street or the house. He's
wearing his full Ninja suit, but without the hood. His face is placid as
an underground lake.]

Past-Jared: Brandon.

Brandon: (pulls his hood off) Jared.

Past-Jared: I'm waiting.

[Brandon lifts his left arm slowly into the air. A small black box with
a single bright red button is in his hand. On cue, the Toyota rocks on
its suspension as a figure inside, bound with rope and covered in
dynamite, sits up. You know who it is.]

Past-Jared: Clever. Bugged the house?

Brandon: Heh. Are you kidding? I remodeled half that place with my own
two hands.

Past-Jared: She knew?

Brandon: Some of it. You kids... you think you really know everything.

[Past-Jared seems to flicker, then looks to his left. Brandon throws a
kunai at the Basic graduate with his free hand, and Past-Jared idly
kicks the projectile out of the air while executing a quick mid-air
dodge. He then pulls a black ball out of his uniform and throws it down
the street. A muffled boom echoes to the two men a moment later.]

Past-Jared: You guys need another sniper.

Brandon: (still holding onto the detonator box) Quit fucking around! I
tried to warn you, Jared. I tried to tell you something important, and
you fucking ignored me.

Past-Jared: Then quit trying and tell me!

Brandon: (sighs) It's open season on Jared. You're too dangerous to be
alive if you aren't with one of the families.

[Inside the car, Melanie lowers her head, tears streaming from her
eyes.]

Brandon: (continuing) I wasn't trying to force you into a job, I was
trying to protect you!

Past-Jared: (eyes flicker briefly to Melanie) How noble.

Brandon: Jared, I will let you go tonight. You can walk away and I won't
lift a finger, but you'll be found. You'll be hunted down and killed.
You have to the potential to be the greatest Master the world has ever
seen, and that'd be a waste.

[Past-Jared gives no indication that he's even heard Brandon's words.
The taller man's eyes remain fixed on Past-Jared's emotionless orbs.]

Brandon: My sister loves you, and I won't let you drag her off to get
killed.

Past-Jared: You want to use dynamite instead?

Brandon: Have you ever heard of bluffing, dude?!

Past-Jared: Dude, you're out of your fucking mind.

Brandon: You can't take her.

[When Past-Jared speaks again, his words are laced with anger like he
has never shown before in this story.]

Past-Jared: Can you really stop me?

Brandon: (hand with the detonator twitches) I already have.

Past-Jared: (looks at Melanie) What do you say, dear?

[Despite her face being wet with tears, Melanie holds her head up high
and looks Past-Jared in the eye.]

Melanie: (calmly) Be the hero, Jared. I know you can do it.

[Past-Jared nods and looks at Brandon. When he speaks again, his voice
is infinitely colder than the snow that falls weightless to the ground
between them.]

Past-Jared: (casual but emotionless tone) You have been a fine mentor,
guide, coworker, and friend. (pulls on his mask) But you've threatened
the woman I love, and you threw a fucking kunai at me. You are now an
enemy. I still love and respect you, Brandon, but I'm going to kill you.

Brandon: Jared, do you understand what you're doing?

Past-Jared: I'm sorry we're on different sides now.

[Brandon doesn't move, but the air around him becomes charged with
tension.]

Past-Jared: (voice perfectly level) Are you going to press that button
or what?

Brandon: (draws a massive nagita) Jared, I'm sorry it comes to this.

Past-Jared: (seems to turn transparent) Indeed.

[Cut to the recover room. Jared smirks.]

Jared: You know, the funny thing is, I can't tell you most of what
actually happened in that fight.

Ritsuko: Ninja secrets?

Jared: Mostly, but also because I don't remember all of the details. I
do remember that I was once again facing an opponent with ten times my
experience but with maybe an eighth of my skill. It's... weird being me,
you know.

Ritsuko: (rolls her eyes. I know. So, now the bucks lock horns?

Jared: Yes, but something got in the way.

Ritsuko: The detonator?

Jared: An RPG round, actually. Third party. I don't know who they were,
I don't know how they got there. They came out of nowhere. Fucked up the
van big-time. Thank God no-one was in there.

[Cut back to the suburban war zone. Past-Jared and Brandon fade out of
the shadows and assault a passing pickup truck, from which the RPG had
been launched. Swords cut through steel like butter. But the vehicle is
just a distraction. More ninja appear, now surrounding the duo. Past-
Jared and Brandon suddenly move to covering each other's backs, slicing
through the attackers with flawless coordination. Eventually, the pair
whittles their opponents down to one man, who decides on a suicide
charge. Past-Jared and Brandon take him at the same time, but from
different angles. The man drops his weapon at the last second and grabs
Brandon, throwing him into Past-Jared. A split-second after the two
former partners collide, the Toyota blows itself into flaming little
bits of metal and other unspeakable stuff.]

[The last attacker has not the chance to even draw a breath of surprise
before his body is unevenly divided into twenty-four separate pieces.]

[And in the next instant, Past-Jared and Brandon stand facing
one-another, swords drawn, breathing heavily, with murder flashing in
their eyes.]

[For a moment, neither moves. Then Brandon glances at the crater where
the Toyota was. Where Melanie was. This seems to break the spell over
Past-Jared, and he takes a shaky step back. Brandon is silent, but
Past-Jared is fighting to get words out, to say something, to apply
reason to feelings that will have nothing to do with it.]

[What finally escapes his lips is the scream of a soul dying. Brandon
watches him. Past-Jared's shoulders slump, the tip of his bloody sword
touching the snow and staining it black.]

[After a only a few seconds of wailing, Past-Jared closes his mouth
tightly, choking off the scream. He looks at Brandon, and slowly raises
his sword.]

Brandon: Jared...

[Past-Jared says nothing. He just attacks.]

Ritsuko: (VO; derisive) Men.

Jared: (VO; sniffs) I had nothing left but my pain. Brandon was just a
convenient target.

[The two duel on a whole different level now. Strangely, their battle is
silent save for the ringing strikes of steel against steel and the
occasional grunt of exertion. Yet parts of the landscape are torn
asunder in their passing. The street light in front of the house
topples. Nearby cars are sliced into ribbons. There's about a hundred
throwing stars stuck into virtually everything in sight. The scene fades
to black as we see Past-Jared and Brandon clash, sword-to-sword.]

Ritsuko: (VO) You killed him?

Jared: (VO) That's the worst part...

[Flash of Past-Jared bouncing off of the house and charging Brandon so
fast he's just a blur. Brandon blocks and watches in amazement as his
sword is cut apart inches above the hilt. Cut to black.]

Jared: (VO) It wasn't just him that I killed.

[Flash of Past-Jared landing behind Brandon, who stares dumbly at the
stump of his blade. In the polished steel, we also see Past-Jared shift
his stance and grab his sword with his left hand. The stance is
frighteningly familiar to anyone who's watched "Ruroni Kenshin."]

Brandon: Incredible...

[Cut to black.]

Ritsuko: (VO) Melanie?

Jared: (VO; all but sobbing) Yes.

[Cut back to the close-up of the remains of Brandon's sword. A flash of
blond hair obscures the reflection of Past-Jared, who's already
slashing--wait, he's done. We pan around to see that Past-Jared's blade
has all but cut Melanie and her brother in half at the waist.]

Brandon: (gasps) Left-handed battou-jitsu...

[Past-Jared's face is still covered by his mask, but everything he feels
is shown plainly in his eyes--which now look perfectly normal. Melanie
just looks very, very surprised.]

[Past-Jared lets go of the sword, now in shock. Melanie reaches up with
one hand, and Past-Jared quickly pulls his mask off so her hand touches
bare skin and not blood-soaked cloth. Her fingers caress his cheek, then
slides off as the hand falls limp.]

[A moment later, Past-Jared stands, looks at the remains on the ground,
at the bodies in the street, and the smoking wrecks that used to be
cars... He pulls out his sword, and with a cry, rams it halfway into the
ground. He lowers his stance, focusing, and with a cry, suddenly snaps
the blade in two.]

[He throws the hilt of the weapon into the street.]

[He leaves his mask at Melanie's feet.]

[As the sound of police sirens grow louder, he turns and walks away, his
face pale, his shoulders stooped in exhaustion.]

[Cut to the recovery room. Jared has commandeered a box of Kleenex, and
is making good use of them. Ritsuko waits patiently for him to continue,
her expression unreadable.]

Jared: So that was it. I canceled all of my courses and took a
sabbatical. I took my training into my own hands. The first assassin
that came looking for me wound up as the central figure in the Spring
Break Prank of '99. No-one made an attempt on my life after that... and
just between you and me, that guy had actually confused me with somebody
else.

Ritsuko: No-one came after you?

Jared: Leaving the mask and sword broken? That's giving in. Period. I'm
going to be a Master Ninja, not here or in any other plane of existence.
Others understood the symbolism. I'd lost everything dear to me; I
wasn't going to be a tool or a pawn, and if you tried to fuck with me,
you'd better pick out coffins for your entire family beforehand.

Ritsuko: An excellent 'scorched earth' policy.

Jared: (scoffs) It worked for me.

Ritsuko: And then the Angel spit you out?

Jared: Not quite. There was one last thing I remembered... something I
think I had almost forgotten about. A point of closure, if you will.

[Cut to a lonely headstone. June heat hits the graveyard's visitors like
a fist of flame. A massive bouquet of flowers virtually hides one
particular headstone. All but the person's first name is covered by
flower petals.]

[Melanie.]

[Past-Jared stands before the grave, eyes permanently insomniac, and
half-crazed. His pressed dress shirt and kahki's look stiflingly hot. He
is full of manic energy, but as he looks at the grave, it slowly fades
away. One has the impression that the man standing here now is but a
shadow of who he should be, a man who has seen rough years and endured
many hardships, even though mere months have passed since this headstone
was raised.]

Past-Jared: (whispers) I'm sorry. God I'm sorry... I still don't know
how to even make it up to you... but I promised. (steadies himself) I
don't know how I'll ever...

[He closes his eyes tightly for a moment, then sets a large bouquet of
roses on the headstone. His eyes open, filled with a determination
impossible to measure with mere words.]

Past-Jared: Never again.

[Behind him, another young man comes forward. It is none other than
Past-John, clad in a white T-shirt and black shorts, his shirt
displaying the logo of the state college he apparently attends.]

Past-John: (from behind Past-Jared) Should I ask?

Past-Jared: (quiet for a few minutes, but finally) No.

[Past-Jared gestures to the neighboring headstone where the name
"Brandon" can be seen.]

Past-Jared: An old friend there.

[Past-John looks at the graves.]

Past-John: If you don't mind me asking, (points at Melanie's headstone)
when did she die?

Past-Jared: About six months ago.

Past-John: (gears are obviously turning within his head) About the same
time you--

Past-Jared: (cutting him off) Yes. Let's go babe-watching.

[Past-Jared turns to leave. Past-John glances at the grave, curiosity on
his face.]

Past-John: I'll meet you at the mall.

Past-Jared: Of course you will; I'm driving us there.

Past-John: ("Superman" voice) No need for that, citizen. Up, up, and
away!

[Past-Jared is suddenly silent. Blinking, he resumes the march to his
car with a shrug, leaving Past-John to pose and shout in the graveyard.]

Past-John: Up, up, and away! ... Up, up, and away! ... Oh to Hell with
this. Jared, wait up!

[Fade out, then fade in on the recovery room. Jared is, oddly enough,
smiling.]

Jared: That... You know, I never realized it, but that was the first
time in my life that I had ever felt like I'd be all right. Like the
world would be all right. I forget that feeling too easily sometimes.

Ritsuko: (after a moment of silence) I take it your referring to every
time the JSSDF has jumped you?

Jared: Pretty much. Look, Ritsuko, I'm a fucking violent bastard. I
can't stand myself when I'm like that, but push the right buttons and
that's just what I become. I deal with it. If the JSSDF won't learn,
that's their problem.

Ritsuko: ... So after you remembered something happy, the Angel spit you
out?

Jared: (shrugs) ... Maybe it was afraid of me being happy.

Ritsuko: (thinking) You don't make one damn bit of sense, you little
lying bastard. (out loud) Maybe it saw how fucked up you were and
decided we weren't worth destroying.

Jared: (shrugging) We'll never know now. (cocky) Either way, I saved the
day.

Ritsuko: (snaps off the recorder) You're under orders to remain here
until the doctor's clear you. Not that you've ever listened to anything
I say...

[Jared poses dramatically. Without clothes.]

Jared: You wound me!

[Ritsuko curses her lack of a camera before Jared drops back onto the
bed and under the covers.]

Jared: (too chipper) Well, see ya around, doc.

Ritsuko: Yes. I'll see you too, Waddell.

[She slips out without another word.]

----------

-TbC...





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