This took a lot longer than I would have liked. Work and a family vacation put it on the back burner. But I'm back and I have an udpate. To those who reviewed last chapter and have since the beginning; Lupine-Eyes, Brensong, ALittleMind, Skyler-A-Teloiv, RagingSapphireStorm, CartoonFire, BonitaChickia, Tennisgal456. You guys are the greatest! Hope you enjoy!

Chapter Ten

Rite of Passage

Kory's supernaturally green eyes locked onto the cup Marika gave her and regarded it with the same welcome as a deadly viper. Marika was of course quick to notice Kory's hesitation. "Something wrong?" There was something in Marika's tone which further frightened Kory; as though she was worried Kory wouldn't take it. All eyes, including Martha's, were drilling into the red head. The first of many surreptitious beads of sweat made itself known on the back of her neck. Before she would allow them to grow even more suspicious, Kory smiled weakly.

"Forgive me, I do wish to join you but if it would not be to offending I would like to serve myself." Marika remained silent, as did the other Geishas. Kory immediately regretted her bravado. Then, surprisingly, Marika chuckled and stowed away the second cup.

"Certainly you may, Kory!" She procured a clean chalice and slowly strode up to her. "After all, the last thing we would want…" Her face was unnervingly calculating. "…Is for you to be uncomfortable." She held up the chalice which Kory gingerly accepted. The two stared quite intently into each other's eyes for a long moment. "Kitchen's in there," Marika suddenly said.

"Right." Kory nodded and immediately ducked out of sight into the kitchen. Marika and the others all stared at her as she quickly disappeared into the other room. One lone Geisha approached Marika from behind and when she was no more than a few inches apart from her Marika spoke in a low whisper,

"The bottles too?"

"Yes Mama-San," replied the Geisha. Marika snickered.

"Bloody marvelous…"

Kory staggered into the kitchen. Her heart was racing at pace which would render a human being utterly neutral. She darted her eyes back at the open doorway, making sure she was not being shadowed. How foolish she felt. Only a few days ago she had snapped at Richard about how much she enjoyed the Geisha's company and that he was being far too overbearing and paranoid. Now it was clear to Kory that one of two things had happened. One; this sisterhood was not prudish in the slightest bit about trying to induct a new asset, or two; Marika has discovered who she really is and still aims to subjugate her on Moira's behalf.

"Kory!" she heard Martha's voice. Her roommate was calling to her. "Is everything alright?"

"Yes," replied Kory as steadily as possible. She found three bottles of the specially catered wine on the counter before her. Taking a leaf out of Richard's book, she chose the one that was unopened and therefore least likely to have been tampered with. Carefully, she poured herself barely a half glass and returned to the rest of the group. They remained in their perfect formation and greeted Kory with renewed smiles.

"That better?" asked Marika sweetly. Kory swallowed and nodded.

"Indeed, thank you."

"Oh…don't mention it," said Marika waving her hand. She took a few steps back and rejoined the half circle of Geishas. "Now, as we were, Kory….this night you begin a series of task at the end of which you will have proven your worth as one who wishes to join us." Marika held up her chalice. Like synchronized swimmers, the rest did the same in a quick wave. "Good luck to you." And they drank. Kory took the tiniest sip from her wine and nodded approvingly.

"We will depart now then?" she asked.

"Yes, oh…well…there is something that we should wait for first." Kory's brow furrowed.

"Wait for what?" Marika smiled and tilted her head slightly. Kory was very much perplexed by the lack of answer she was getting but it was a fleeting thought. Kory was totally unaware that her chalice had slipped from her slackened hand and its contents stained the carpet. Her mouth parted as a strange dizzying feeling swept over her. Her vision became distorted and a small gasp left her.

"I….I am…"

"Doing wonderfully," said Marika sweetly. At once Kory's vision cleared but still it was strange how everyone around her appeared to have strange auras flowing about them. It was a hallucinogenic effect of whatever it was running through her blood stream, and it terrified the poor Tamaranian. The slightest turn of her head rendered the world around her into an indistinguishable fog.

"Kory?" Martha's voice sounded like a deep echo. Slowly, she turned her head to her roommate. "It's time to go." Whether or not Kory felt at all up to going anywhere was irrelevant, for she was soon being ushered out the door. She tried with what little will she had left to pull away and go back up to her room. Marika felt her resisting and tightened her hold.

"Uh ah ah, mustn't go yet sister." Kory tried and tried to activate her powers and take refuge in the sky. She cared not if they saw her suddenly take flight; escape was the only thing on her mind. Yet as adamant as she was about leaving the Geisha's custody her body betrayed her and she moved along at their behest.

REJOINING RICHARD……………

Koma sat outside Richard's house at a table on the large deck facing the forest boarding his yard. Her narrowed eyes irritably followed a mosquito as it buzzed about before her. Whether or not she knew its carnivorous intention was immaterial, that fact is she viewed it with the same contempt as she did any species weaker than her. She carefully extended her right index finger and began moving it about until its course matched the mosquito's. The tiny fly uttered one last buzz before its already short life span was extinguished by a tiny shot from Koma's finger.

From within Richard's kitchen, he, Victor, and Shannon watched through a window atop the sink. Victor swore for the eleventh time in the same minute that he would tear his gaze away.

"I gotta say Dick…..this is the hottest-strangest…" He changed his description upon receiving a whack on the arm from Shannon. "…person you've ever brought back."

"Thank you for not pointing out Kory," mumbled Richard.

"She's your gal," said Richard's partner.

"I don't understand," said Shannon. "Why now? After all this time, why would Kory's sister just show up?"

"She hasn't said much of anything," said Richard. "By the walk and talk of her I doubt she does anything except make demands. Wait here." He took up his cane and began his slow trek outside. Victor stood upright off the counter and semi followed him to the door.

"You sure you wanna go out there alone?" Richard and Shannon exchanged a look. He grinned and nodded.

"Oh yeah, it's been a bit of a dry spell without Kory. Remember we never got to do the conjugal visit thing for my twenty-seventh birthday."

"Barb was in the other room," replied Victor with an ironic chuckle. Richard smirked as he stepped through the backdoor and headed over to Koma. She stood upright at the sight of him and folded her arms.

"There you are. I must say I am highly displeased by the lack of attention as of late."

"That so?"

"Indeed and you know where my sister is, human." Koma narrowed her eyes almost to slits and approached Richard very dangerously. "I demand that you take me to her at once."

Richard nodded and smiled as semi-politely as possible. "Can't do that." Needless to say that Koma was hardly impressed by his bluster. She remained silent. "She's helping us work a case." Still Koma was unmoved. "…Under cover." He spoke with an obvious tone, as though to any sane normal person the reasoning would have bee quite clear. "Look, here's the deal; I represent the law here on earth and Kory's helping me stop some people who are breaking some big no-noes. She's infiltrated what is probably their squeaky-clean-cover and is reporting to me what she finds out." Komand'r appeared confused at first. Richard was on the verge of explaining it in far more irreverently when she began to raise her hand.

"So…let me see if I understand you correctly." Richard folded his arms and waited for her 'analyses'. "You are burdening my sister, a member of Tamaranian royalty, with a task suited to a lowly magistrate?" It was not in Richard's nature to beat around the bush. If that was her question then he felt it necessary to answer it as honestly and as candidly as possible.

"Yeah." Koma was beyond aggravated. Her nostrils faired and her temper rose to new heights.

"This….is AN OUTRAGE!" Richard sarcastically cringed at her enlarged words. "What audacity you boast to coerce my sister into such a menial task!"

"She's a member of my team, you're majesty," replied Richard. "I told her about the job and she took it willingly and eagerly." Koma folded her arms and turned away from him.

"I refuse to believe that she would allow herself to be involved in such uncouth rigmarole. Therefore I demand once again that you take me to see her at once." Richard raised his eyebrows up and down.

"Uh huh, yeah well that's not gonna happen." Koma's stringent look was kept steady for a moment but then she melted it into a chuckling smile. She approached Richard and after running a finger up his arm she looked him in the eyes and offered him a counter proposal.

"Either you do as I ask or I shall visit a heavily populated city." She picked a piece of lint off his person and then her hand then settled on his wrist where it gripped his pulse with a painful strength. "And when I leave it will be un-populated."

-----

Richard stepped back into his kitchen in semi-huff and wanting something hard to drink. As soon as the door was snapped shut he threw his cane onto the kitchen table and used the counter space as a support.

"Bitch."

"Now Richard," said Shannon. She looked intently outside the window.

"What'd she say?" asked Victor. Richard was only too happy to elaborate.

"She wants to see Kory." Victor sputtered out a sarcastic chuckle.

"Yeah well, she's gonna find out that that's a 'no-can-do' at the moment."

"Well maybe you can try and convince her?" The two partners in anti-crime locked gazes. "You with all your…..cyborg manliness." Victor was hesitant at first. He shifted his eyes between Richard and the slender alien outside. After some much needed inner deliberation he finally decided to take Richard up on his offer.

"Alright, I will. Let me show you how it's really done." Victor picked himself up off the counter, not knowing that his newly acquired weight had left a dent in it. Shannon moved her eyes over it then looked at Richard. He glanced at the dent and shrugged his shoulders.

"Eh....it'll buff out."

Outside, Koma heard the door closed again and was both surprised as well as irritated that it was not Richard. Instead, it was Victor. She rolled her eyes and sighed tiresomely.

"Another human?"

"Yer half right," he said. He unclipped the watch as he walked and his person changed back into its true self. Koma's arms unfolded and she smiled with a quirked eyebrow.

"Well well…..an interesting amalgamation of artificial and meek, how truly fascinating." It was difficult to tell weather or not she was actually impressed or if her words were utterly derisive. She could see the look in Victor's eyes and relished what was soon to come. "So what is it you want?"

"You've got an attitude problem." Victor made crunching sounds with his metallic knuckles. "And I'm the solution." Koma's eyes were already beginning to glow purple. She smiled maliciously. The dark haired alien removed her dark purple top and after throwing it aside dug her heels into the soil.

"And here I was just wondering when or how I would be receiving my daily laugh." Victor uttered a low growl and charged forward. The bounding mass of metal reared back his fist but when he brought it down he punched nothing but the earth. Koma hand leapt into the air, front flipped clear over his head, and used her exiting momentum to deliver a hard kick to his back. Victor skidded forward, nearly completely losing his footing. He was still not quite acquainted with the full potential of his new body while Koma has had her entire life to know her strengths and limits. The thought occurred to Victor too late for he now felt his weight being lifted up by his ankles. Koma, laughing while she did it, spun around and around until she was satisfied with the amount of force and let go.

"WHOOOOOAAAA! AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Victor flew high over the trees and across the forest like an artillery shell. Koma smirked and took flight. Needless to say this display did not go unnoticed by Richard and Shannon. She ran outside for a better look then dashed back into the kitchen.

"Richard?!" He paused in the middle of eating a sandwich.

"Whaf?" The bewildered agent gestured in the direction Victor had flown.

"Are you just going to let them do this?"

Richard shrugged. "He's a robot; we can put him back together." Shannon growled and rubbed her temples. He watched her begin storming back outside and let his snack fall to the counter. "That was a joke, Shannon. You know…JK?"

-----

His fall through the many branches and trunks had given Victor a trajectory which landed him flat on his back. His shiny and mirror surface was now fogged and smeared with dirt. While his organic eye opened his cybernetic red eye sparked back to life.

"Ohhhhh, yup……that one hurt." He hardly had time to get back on his feet. From out of the sky came Koma, knocking away broken trunks and whole entire trees as she descended. He quickly moved out of sight as she had not really spotted him yet. Her feet touched the ground and a purple spark hovered in her right open palm. Like a surveillance camera, her eyes rotated about in search of her opponent. Koma was not one to remain idle, even while not engaged in battle. She slowly walked about looking around for Victor. Beneath her feet twigs and leave crunched and snapped. Her other hand soon donned a ready ball of energy. She grew to respect his ability to remain out of sight but it was also quickly trying her patience.

"Is it in a human's nature to cower and hide?!" She said aloud. She snorted a snobby laugh. "It amazes me that your species has lasted so long." Suddenly Koma heard loud cracking sounds behind her. Spinning in place, her eyes gradually crawled up the enormous tree which was beginning to fall where she stood. The Tamaranian quickly clapped her hands over her head and focused her powers into a steady stream. The quick burst cut the through the trunk and left her unharmed when the two pieces fell on either side of her. Victor shot up from the mass of leaves and hoisted Koma over his head.

"Your turn to fly! HaaaAH!" While not utilizing his full strength, Victor managed to toss Koma a fair distance away. He happened to throw her into a thicket of smaller trees, thus she bounced about between them like a living pinball before falling to the ground. Victor moved his neck about with a rather smug look. Koma picked her head off the ground, spitting out some bits of grass. She said nothing but only jumped back to her feet and swung at fervently at Victor with her charged fists. Now that he had his bearings and some idea of how his foe acted, Victor was able to dodge most of her punches. Unfortunately Koma was also a quick thinker. She brought her foot up which managed to hit him with a stunning side blow. At the same time she clasped both her hands together and swung the powered up ball into Victor's face.

"YAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" She cried. Victor lifted off the ground and tumbled backward. He finally stopped moving and oddly enough felt a painful sensation in his metallic region. He moved his mouth about and spit out a loosened tooth.

"Ouch…" Koma pompously strode up to him and with a snap of her fingers brought to life another sizzling starbolt.

"I believe the fight is mine."

"Believing….isn't seeing!" Victor brought his arm up and before Koma's eyes his hand shrank away to reveal the gaping barrel of a ready cannon. Koma and Victor stared directly into each other's eyes. It was an energy-based game of chicken from here on out. One waited to see if the other would pull push from the table and call game. Neither had any intention of allowing the other to walk off the field with their shoulders held high in victory. Komand'r desired nothing less than the total dominion over this impudent challenger. Victor, on the other hand, sought only to teach her some basic manners. Both of them were poised to fire at a moment's notice.

"HEY!" Both Victor and Koma looked down the path they had made to see Richard and Shannon climbing out of Shannon's car. She was the first to reach them. "That's enough." Koma steadily maneuvered her eyes from Shannon and back down to Victor.

"Hmph, to be saved by one of your females…tsk tsk tsk." Victor glared up at her. "How crippling." The haughty ex-princess died away her starbolt and began strutting back toward the house. Shannon shook her head as she watched her leave then offered Victor a helping hand. He however stood up all on his own accord and roughly brushed a pieces of moss off his shoulder.

"I got it." He walked past Shannon, though he was careful not to hit her. The oriental agent stared after him dejectedly. After a short pause she too ran to catch up with the group.

Kory's fear had long ago died away into euphoria. She knew she must have some sort of smile on her face. The fog in her head was resting comfortably on her mind and any prior thoughts pertaining to escape had melted away. In her current state, she enjoyed watching the world whizz by while she rode with her fellow Geishas. 'Is this the feeling Rachael spoke of?' she thought. She wondered why her friend was so fearful of it. How could anything that made one feel so good be dangerous? She had been so foolish to be afraid. Marika was her friend, and her friend would never hurt her. The entire ride Martha kept her arm slung over Kory's shoulder, as trying to keep her company for as long as possible. From Kory's dulled perspective the ride lasted for so much longer than it actually was. Their journey took them only a few miles away from the Geisha's sorority house. Their destination was a garden which was kept protected by a tall iron gate. The small caravan of black Lincolns came to a slow but somewhat immediate stop, an action which amused Kory enough to elicit a bubbly giggle.

Kory's door opened and with Martha's help she stepped out of their car and joined by the others. Marika drew a brass polished key and unlocked the large pad lock holding the gate shut. At her order to Geishas pushed open each barred door and the proceeded inside. Kory's dilated eyes took in the high hedge formations and even in her stoned state of mind deduced that it was a hedge maze. However, navigating the maze was not to be Kory's task this night, nor possibly any night. Instead they took her to a much more secluded spot and sat her down on an ivory bench. While Martha remained at her side, Marika and the others stood before Kory.

"Sister…"

"Uhhhh….y-yes?"

"In just a moment you will begin your rites, are you prepared to see them through without fail?"

"Yes," replied Kory immediately. She was not in any mind or mood to disobey. Marika appeared positively delighted but in a most sinister way.

"I'm glad to hear it. Your first task will embody our trust in one another, and ultimately, the trust you must have in us." She nodded to Martha and Kory's roommate immediately covered Kory's eyes with a blindfold. And that was it. All euphoria was utterly destroyed to be replaced by rushing fear and apprehension. The sudden claustrophobia caused Kory's breath to catch in her throat. She might have burst into tears had Martha not sensed her feelings and began rubbing her hand.

"Don't worry, you're okay…….you're doing great."

"Kory," said Marika sternly. Kory turned her head in the direction of the voice. "This is what you must do: we are going to leave you, and no matter what you hear or feel you must not move from this spot. If you violate this law then your future as a Geisha will be forfeit." Already beads of sweat moved down her head. "Do you understand?" Kory felt her mouth opening and words climbing out on their own.

"I….un-understand."

"Then we'll be back and we'll see you in the morning." And just like that their presence disappeared from around her and Kory was alone. She need not have heard any real sounds or felt any real sensations. Her inebriated mind filled in the gaps of her imagination with ease and with gusto. All around her she began to hear quite wisps of air and the sounds of something scratching against metal. She heard the wind being disturbed by enormous pairs of wings. Kory uttered a terrified squeal at the feeling of something crawling down the back of her neck. The urge to reach back and slap away whatever insect she was imagining was almost overwhelming, but she remembered her orders and did not budge an inch. Soon after, following the sounds and sensations, Kory began to hear voices. They were not prodding or humiliating; but foreboding. They reminded of her of the Silent. They took her back to the day when they shared a fairly quiet conversation while she precariously held a bomb in her lap; a bomb which he had fooled her into accepting.

"Do you not regret your actions?"

"I regret everything, dear. Its part of the burden I carry."

She was not necessarily consumed by fear but the longer she sat there by herself the closer she came to completely breaking down. Kory hated the cold shoulder of loneliness and grew exponentially nervous whenever she was unable to escape it. All around her now the wild seemed to come alive and encircle her. Kory turned her head about and her hands gripped the edges of her stone seat so tightly her knuckles turned white. Richard had taken her to a haunted house not too long ago. A regrettable choice on his part perhaps but his company was enough to get her through it unscathed. Her influenced thoughts conjured all manner of disturbing sounds and feelings. Kory could have sworn that she began to feel the sensation of an army ants slowly crawling up her legs. Still Marika's order to stay put kept her shackled in place. She had to trust that her friends would not allow anything ominous to befall her; such was the purpose of this test. But Kory could not help her feelings. She tried to imagine Richard was sitting next to her, possibly even making fun of someone just to add to the authenticity. Sadly all thoughts of her earthbound love were blocked entirely by the compound still pulsing through her blood stream. She wanted it to end. She pleaded with whatever omnipotent being who was listening to bring it to an end.

-----

The next thing Kory new she was hearing the twitter of birds greeting the morning. She felt the new sun beating down on her and a gentle breeze rustling the trees and flowing through her hair. It was the next day and she was now free to remove her blindfold. Upon doing so Kory was met with a sight then made her jaw hang open. Marika, Martha, and everyone else who had accompanied Kory were still standing before her just as they had the night before. Kory's hands let the blind fold fall to the ground.

"Morning," said Martha. Kory felt her eyes beginning to moisten.

"Y-You…..never left me…"

Marika smiled broadly. "Of course not, Kory. Trust has to go both ways. Just we had to know we could trust you, so you had to know you could trust us."

"Believe me every time you cried I wanted to yank off that damn blind fold and tell you it was nothing," pleaded Martha. Kory felt her shoulders sagging and her will to dislike them fading away. "I love you, Kory." Martha sat down beside Kory and threw her arms around her. Marika then did so on Kory's other side.

"We all love you…"

Richard sat among his friends and, now their constant company, Koma. While Victor and Shannon zipped about the office making calls and matching up photos, Richard sat staring a peg board with a pyramid tree of their current suspects and persons of interest. Every now and then he and Koma would exchange a look of resentment. It was obvious as to why Koma disliked Richard; he was a human. For Richard, it was a simple matter of perhaps meeting his match in the ancient and age old ways of 'pompous'. Koma smirked at him with a calculating wink. Richard shook his head and returned his attention to the board.

With his lips semi-pursed together he whispered, "God damned she alien." No sooner had this barely audible whisper escaped him than his cell phone began buzzing in his pocket. He drew it forth, flipped it open and answered it. "Yeah…?"

"Richard, its Danielle."

"So it is," he mumbled. "What've you got?"

-----

Within her lab Danielle was once again pouring over her table top computer. The whole of the horizontal display was taken up by her latest analysis.

"I've been going through the sample of substance 86 and uh…uhhh…um-"

"Come on Dani get the shit out, what do you have to say?" She leaned back slightly and put a finger to her earpiece.

"Someone's a little cranky."

"Danielle…"

"Right, it turns out this stuff was looked at by several major players in the UN for its possibilities in biological warfare."

"Right, you mean the highly illegal way to fight."

"Exactly, and that's not the only new thing I've dug up on this stuff." She tapped an area on the table just as Richard curtly asked her to elaborate. The whole view of the table switched to a display of an undersea floor. "The final product has to be fermented, like wine. It's derived from a micro-organism, usually found in an exotic form of algae."

-----

Richard was watching Koma again, only this time she was keeping her steady gaze on Victor. He noticed the fingers on her right hand were playing with her hair. He then asked the question that was currently preying on his mind.

"What kind of organism."

"The parasitic kind, I'm afraid. A refinement process is supposed to strip the finished product of any impurities but for your everyday bad guy-"

"Making sure a highly addictive hallucinogen is perfectly safe isn't a number one priority."

"No its not. It's been rumored that with every case of ten vials there's at least one or two that still have an amount of the parasite mixed in."

Richard took his eyes away from Koma and looked down toward the floor. "And all of this means……what?"

"Well, as you know, a parasite needs a host in order to survive. And sometimes……it doesn't want to let go." Richard made no reply or noise. He closed his eyes and snapped his phone shut.

"Ah!" Kory woke with a sudden start uttered the gasp that normally accompanies it. She was so shocked by her sudden rousing that for a few moments she failed to notice where she was. It was her in her bed, within her dorm room. Martha was lying in own bed, sound asleep and snoring. She lay on her stomach. Her breathing was still coming in rapid breaths, almost uncontrollable. Eventually she did manage to calm her beating heart and overworked lungs. With a glance at the clock on her nightstand she saw that it was nearly midnight. A pain, which had been dormant during her slumber, crept its way from the back of her head to the front. She closed her eyes and rubbed her forehead with a low whimper. It was the worst headache she had ever been forced to endure.

"Ohhh….this must be the 'hung over' feeling…" Richard had described it to her several times as she has helped him through it often. She still saw slight blurs as she walked out of her dorm and toward the bathroom. The poor pained alien stumbled as she entered but was able to catch herself on the sink. It sat against the wall just below a window overlooking the rest of the campus' dorms.

Kory cupped her hands and splashed the pooled water onto her face. A single rinsing proved to be insufficient thus she repeated this process three more times. Finally she was satisfied and she shut off the water. She blindly reached for a sky blue towel and dried her face. The pain was still present but she at least felt a little cleaner. After taking several breaths she stood up straight. What she saw next made her forget entirely about her pounding headache.

Kory's eyes grew to the size of saucers at the sight of none other than Komand'r standing atop a spire of one of the other dorms. She swallowed and gazed out the window. Koma titled her head then merely waved at her sister.

Well they were bound to meet up sooner or later. The question is what will happen! Until next update......Laters!