Alarms were going off all over the building by the time Sol rounded the first corner. The corridors would be choked with guards within minutes – assuming they hired people around here with the sense to do more than stand around looking stupid while a jailbreak happened in their midst. What the hell, bring them on. Sol didn't intend to stop for anyone between here and the exit.

Around the next corner a man in a uniform nearly ran straight into his chest. The officer stopped himself just in time, looked up at Sol and stared stupidly while some brand of recognition dawned, leaving the perfect opening for someone to slug him under the chin and send him sprawling. It would have been laughable if it wasn't so pathetic.

There was another T junction at the end of that corridor, and down the way to his left four more uniformed officers were running towards him – these ones at least possessing of enough sense to remember which ends of their weapons they were supposed to hold on to. One good blast of fire had them diving madly left and right to get out of his way. Sol charged on through their midst only to find himself at yet another branch in the corridor – and not even so much as one helpful sign on any of the walls he'd passed to say 'Nearest Exit This Way.'

What had they, built this place like some kind of fucking maze? It was tempting just to pick a wall, bash his way through and keep going – that'd have to get him out one way or another. But – damn it – he did have one stop to make before he busted out of here. All this fighting – even against these sorry louts – was making his fingers itch for the feel of a familiar hilt. Like hell he was leaving the best weapon he'd ever owned behind.
Of course, finding it in this labyrinth would be a whole other kind of fun.

Sol grabbed the nearest half-stunned man, lying against a wall, and lifted him by the front of his shirt until he could stare directly into his face. "Oi," he said, even as the man struggled helplessly to get free, "the Fuuenken – where've they hidden it?"

"The… wh…?" the man stuttered.

"My sword, where is it?" Sol snarled at him, tightening his grip on the man's shirt so that smoke began to waft through his fingers.

"No! It's… the… the dangerous evidence room!" stammered his captive, raising an arm to point. "It's down that way! And around and down…"

"Hm?" murmured Sol, glaring at him.

"It is, I swear! Oh god, please just put me down…"

Sol dropped him back on the floor. Unlikely he'd have the sense to lie if he was blabbering like that. He took off in the indicated direction.

He had to take down another three of those sorry excuses for police before the ones that followed caught enough of a clue to start running the other way when they saw him coming rather than towards him. It was going to get irritating if he had to stop and threaten anyone else for directions, but at least by the time he'd found himself outside a locked double door labelled 'AUTHORISED PERSONNEL ONLY' in giant letters and 'Evidence Storage' in much smaller print, it had to be safe to assume he was going in the right direction. Kicking the doors down set off yet another alarm, barely distinguishable in the cacophony that had already taken over the building.

That brought him to another corridor, shorter and narrower than the ones he'd been in so far, with doors leading to the left and right at short intervals. Guessing they'd be keeping what he was looking for somewhere to the back of the section, Sol pushed on to the junction at the back.

Just around the corner, he heard someone yell and nearly ran headlong into a hurricane. Wind magic, Sol realised, once he'd had a moment to get over his disorientation and duck back around the corner. Made sense the IPF would have a few decent magic users on hand when there were so many Holy Order veterans in its ranks, though it was questionable whether the title 'decent' applied to this one. That spell could've hurt if he'd been a pace or two further around the corner – but then, if he'd been any closer he'd have seen it coming and been ready to counter. Odds were they were just madly trying to hold him back long enough for reinforcements to show up.

No sense wasting time with the likes of them when he knew his goal couldn't be more than a room away. Sol drew back a magically charged fist and Fafnired through a section of the nearest wall, drowning the corridor in the sound of shattering brickwork, joined a moment later by men yelling out in confusion from several directions.

The room beyond was temporarily too choked with dust and debris for much to be visible, just the vague shapes of greyish furniture and rows of storage cabinets. But the next minute, even over all the other yelling, a voice he knew far too well was saying, "I thought I'd find you here, Sol!"

For several dangerously unbalanced moments, Sol was left wondering just what the hell was going on while the white and blue uniform of an army that had disbanded more than five years ago emerged from the debris and cleared up any lingering suspicion that he'd gone crazy in his old age and started hearing things. Hadn't he had every good reason to assume Ky would be well out of the way for once? It was only when the dust had had time to clear a fair bit further (revealing another couple of those useless police peering nervously through a far doorway, amongst other details) that the reality of the situation clicked into place. Pin another one on his own stupid assumptions, of course he should've guessed Ky would have to be here – would've headed this way as soon as the alarms went off. It didn't take a genius to guess Sol wouldn't leave without the Fuuenken – and no-one who knew that kid at all would ever believe he'd sit idly by while his self-proclaimed rival walked out. Predictable bastard. It was all so perfectly obvious Sol could've laughed out loud. 'Least he knew he'd found the right room.

"Going to attack an unarmed man?" Sol asked, jeering at him.

Ky's expression never even flickered. "An escaping criminal scarcely deserves such considerations." He swung his sword from its customary hold over his head, forcing Sol to dodge backwards out of his way, static dancing outwards from the edge of the blade. His second swipe took an edge off a nearby table. Ky wasn't holding back at all in here – but then, against Sol he'd never had any reason to. Hell, they'd done this scene in so many variations over the last few years that Ky must have known the script by heart without even thinking about it. Funny how he always seemed so shocked by how it ended.

Still, between the reach of his sword and his skill with projectiles, it was going to be unusually hard for Sol to get through his guard here. The enclosed space worked to Ky's advantage – it was far better suited to someone as habitually anal about watching his footwork than someone like Sol. Fortunately, Sol didn't give a shit what he broke getting out of here. He jumped an extra step back on his first good opening and threw a sizable blast of fire into the end of a row of wall cabinets, sending the whole line toppling out and forward in a mess of splinters and twisted metal. Ky danced backwards out of the way, but found himself forced into a corner – and from there, all it took was one good leap over the debris and a well-aimed kick to bring the battle to an end. Caught off guard and off balance, Ky crashed back into the wall and slumped downwards, the Fuuraiken hanging limply from his fingers.

With that much done, all that remained was for Sol to find the Fuuenken and get out of there. This was easier said than done – they hadn't been stupid enough to leave it on display, and the lockers in here were no better labelled than the corridors outside had been, unless 'case 175-C-12-2181' meant anything to you. Sol was just about prepared to torch the whole room and pick through the ash if he had to. Fortunately, finding what he wanted turned out to be as simple as locating the largest locked safe the room boasted and busting it open, rewarding him with the sight of the red and white shape of the Jinki lying inside. A darkened blotch on the flat of one side revived some unpleasant recent memories, but it was nothing he wouldn't be able to scrape off and repair.

On his way out, a momentary flash of conscience made Sol pause just long enough to check how much damage he'd done. Ky didn't even flinch when he knelt down, eyes defocused and breathing shallow. He was stunned and barely conscious, but it was nothing that would keep him down for long. Knowing Ky, it was a small miracle he wasn't already struggling back to his feet to insist on continuing the fight.

Served him right after all his complaints about opponents who were always holding back over the years.

The far corridor was empty when Sol stepped out into it – those flunkies he'd seen peering through before must've thought better of getting involved. Out of any useful ideas where to go next, Sol picked a likely direction and ran. There was another double set of locked doors not far ahead, though the building had no new sirens left for him to trigger by busting through them, even though they blew off their hinges with the force of a small explosion. Sure, there'd been no real need to use the Fuuenken on a job like that, but he was so ridiculously satisfied to have it back that the IPF were probably lucky they didn't take any worse damage.

The main corridor beyond was wider and fairly straight, so Sol stuck to it until it ended at a stairway leading upwards, which would've been more reassuring if he'd had the faintest idea what floor he was on. However, the light was brighter at the top, which was a good sign; the texture of the walls soon replaced by old stonework in the traditional style that suited the public face the organisation generally tried to present. Looked like he was on the right track to the exit at last.

The wider halls of the ground level floor had a more administrative theme, but the rows of desks he passed were empty – recently evacuated at a guess, probably as soon as the alarms went off down below. Sol hadn't met with any serious resistance since he left the evidence room. He could've taken that to mean he finally had them all too scared to go near him, but since he wasn't actually that stupid, he slowed down when he saw the wide archway of the entryway appear ahead and looked for the ambush that had to be coming.

The stonework in the entryway became even more ornate as you went outwards. Pillars on the outer hall stretched up to a ceiling so high there was no mystery as to why they'd opted to dig downwards when they needed more room rather than try to build up. Circles of pastel-coloured tiles on the floor traced out some pretentious Latin phrase that Sol couldn't be bothered sounding out. Large stone statues lined walls on both sides. Sol stared suspiciously at the nearest one on his left – some sort of angel-looking creature – and half-imagined he could feel the thing looking back.

With a snort, Sol charged out towards it, and as soon as he was in range, he swung the Fuuenken down to send tongues of flame shooting across the floor. The man who'd been hiding behind it was diving for cover almost before he'd finished the motion, and panicked yelling immediately broke out from both sides of the hallway. Most were yelling variants of, "It's no good!" or "It's over…", but someone else was calling, "Now! Hurry!" and then men were leaping from behind every other statue in the room, arms outstretched for spellcasting.

The spell hit Sol like a physical weight. Sealing magic, he registered. Loath as he was to give them any credit, Sol grudgingly had to admit this wasn't a bad move – a seal like this had kept even Justice herself out of action for five years after the end of the war. But without the man Sol had sent running, the circle that should have surrounded him wasn't complete, and in any case, he was so far from the centre of the hall that several of the casters were almost out of range. As it was, the seal was barely enough to slow him down. With a couple more of those pests out of the way, it shouldn't even give him that much trouble. Sol set his sights on the two officers who'd been sheltering behind the next couple of statues in line, hefted the Fuuenken and enjoyed a moment of wondering how close he'd have to get before they realised just what was coming.

The IPF headquarters were in Paris, though the requirement of space for a giant airship dock around the back had meant it had to be built a good distance from the city centre. The main entrance delivered Sol on to a paved court surrounded by comparatively quiet streets. Pedestrian traffic was fairly sparse at that time of day, though a few people turned to stare stupidly at him as he ran out. Breakouts had to be rare enough that locals didn't know what to make of them.

Between his explosive exit and the smoke still clearing in the entryway, Sol had probably bought himself at least a minute or so before anyone back there organised themselves well enough to launch a pursuit, and that would be more than he needed to get out of sight. Sol rounded a couple of corners and settled down in a quiet alleyway to wait for them to give up. They were probably expecting him to charge through the city as madly as he'd charged out of the compound, but it was unlikely they'd make more than a token attempt at this stage anyway. It wasn't like they'd know what to do if they did find him.

He'd been waiting about ten minutes when there was the sound of footsteps from around the corner and Ky pulled into view at the alleyway entrance. He was holding something in his free hand that Sol couldn't immediately identify, and he looked furious – though that was so much the norm whenever he was dealing with Sol that it wasn't particularly notable.

"Twenty-two men injured!" he hissed, before he'd even come to a stop in front of Sol. "To say nothing of damage to our headquarters, evidence destroyed…!"

"Whadya complaining about?" said Sol. "Didn't kill anyone. Nothin' they won't fix."

"I dare say it would have defeated the whole purpose of this if you had!" Ky snapped back. He looked so serious Sol almost wanted to laugh at him.

"So?" he asked, relaxing a bit now Ky had his initial barrage out of the way. "You gonna be in any trouble over this?"

"I hardly think anyone will be able to claim I could have done more to stop you escaping," Ky replied, straightening his back and composing himself slightly. "The source of the containment field failure will be recorded as a minor power surge if they notice it at all. They're more likely to assume it somehow your own doing than mine."

"Hah," Sol muttered, letting himself grin properly this time. "Not bad. You're better at this than I woulda thought." 'Could have done more to stop you escaping', his arse. Could've given a guy some warning he was planning that little public stunt with a lot less effort, but hell, what would his life have been without a few surprises?

Ky narrowed his eyes. "Don't imagine I enjoy having to resort to these methods, Sol. What alternative did I have? To think my superiors would have scheduled you for execution without trial…" he shook himself, as if this fact was no more believable to him now than it had been hours ago when he'd first discovered it. "It's as I told you before – if not even the authority I serve can be trusted to uphold justice, I have no remaining option but to take matters into my own…."

"Knock it off," said Sol, rolling his eyes. "Can't you guess what's behind this?"

That made Ky hesitate. "You mean… the Post War Administration Bureau? Their influence could have advanced even to corrupt the command of the IPF?"

"Don't act so surprised," Sol grumbled. "You knew they had their hands in the bounty system."

"But simply changing a few entries in the official bounty lists – that kind of tampering could have been possible from any number of sources. Influence direct enough to have a prisoner executed is a whole other matter. I'm no stranger to your contempt for the law, but…you seriously think I should have expected this?"

"Expect worse," said Sol.

Ky shook his head in disbelief, probably still unconvinced on some level that went back to years of habit that this trouble wasn't all somehow Sol's fault. "Not even the Blacktech incident ever implied such a level of corruption." He sighed, then grudgingly admitted, "But you're right, I should have realised from the outset something was afoot. I couldn't even get answers regarding how you came to be captured in the first place, not…"

"The Outrage."

Ky halted, as surprised to be getting an answer at all as by the answer he'd gotten. "You mean… one of the remaining Jinki was used against you? But they should be…"

"Not one. All five. Hell if I know how they got it working with three missing – patched in replicas or somethin'. Didn't get a good look. But they got it to fire."

There were several seconds where Ky gaped at him silently in disbelief.

"The completed Outrage…" he murmured, clutching the Fuuraiken nervously. "It was never supposed to have even been tested, let alone used for such a purpose. And those Jinki should be under the care of the U.N. It's unthinkable that their theft could have gone unnoticed… but there's been no report of anything like this… not unless… unless what the U.N. are now guarding are no better than fakes…"

"What, you think they check what they're keeping in there?" said Sol with a snort, getting rapidly tired of Ky's habit of thinking aloud, even if he was at least finding most of the right lines to think on for once.

"No, that's true," said Ky, too deep in thought even to take offence. "The Jinki are regarded as relics too valuable to be used. If the Bureau could infiltrate as far as the command of the IPF, then discovering means to obtain the pieces of the Outrage may not be beyond them. And with five pieces in their possession…" Ky looked up at Sol sharply as the next thought struck him, "…surely their next move will be to go after the other three! No wonder you were targeted!"

"Might wanna watch where you leave that," said Sol, indicating the Fuuraiken with a jerk of his head, prompting Ky to adjust his grip on it again nervously.

"I'll have to track down Mito Anji too – they're certain to go after him," said Ky, shaking himself. He winced slightly, and raised his other hand up to his head, the mystery object from before turning out to be an ice pack. Sol raised an eyebrow at him.

"It's nothing!" Ky insisted. "I had one of our medical division look at it inside – it only stings a bit now. You've done me far worse damage than this before."

"I'll bet," said Sol, only too happy to let the matter drop. "So, we done here?"

Ky looked like he had something else on his mind, but he didn't object. Sol was just turning to go when he heard Ky say, "Just… what exactly did you mean back in there?"

"Hah?" said Sol, looking back over his shoulder. Ky looked faintly embarrassed to be raising this new subject at all, clutching the ice pack to his head at an angle that hid more of his face than he needed to.

"I mean… before you left the evidence room, when you knelt down – didn't you whisper something? I wasn't so concussed I don't remember."

"Like what?" said Sol, which got him a faint blush in addition to all the rest. "Sure you weren't imagining things?" There was no response from Ky. "Well…"

" 'I like it when you misbehave,' " Ky interrupted suddenly, the quotation marks around the statement far too audible. "That was it, wasn't it?"

The question was left to hang awkwardly in the air for a moment.

"Who knows?" Sol grinned. "You done anything like that lately?"

"You're determined to be as impossible as always," Ky complained, though he sounded like he was starting to find his feet again. Complaining about Sol's behaviour was far more familiar territory.

"Still got some growing up to do, huh boy?" said Sol, still grinning, which sent Ky spluttering.

"E…exactly what did you mean by…!"

"See you 'round, kid," Sol called, cutting Ky off before he could get any further, as he headed for the far end of the alley. He could still hear the boy muttering bitterly from somewhere behind when he reached the other end.

He'd had far worse days than this.