The Assassin's Endgame!

Frantic Search for the Bomb, King, and Rina!

The soldiers were covering every inch of the palace. They covered the prison, dining room, and, even the bedrooms all in search for a bomb. The soldiers were all split up. There was a large group searching the grounds, another gang on the top of the roof, and more people in the actual building.

"How are we supposed to find a bomb?" asked one of the soldiers as he pulled his helmet back. He had a light auburn hair color neatly patted down. "Shouldn't we just evacuate the building? We are searching for a bomb and we don't know what it looks like or where it is located."

"We either find that bomb," said another soldier, "or we find a funeral service. Take your pick." He started to shuffle back through the room once more to locate the bomb. "We got more then fifty soldiers on this case, we'll find it."

"Yeah," said the first soldier, "one bomb. How hard can it be? Does that stupid Taka organization think that they'll be able to pull one over on us." He reached over and picked up some papers and moved them over to the sides. "We aren't new to some rebellious attack."

"Really," said the second, "we know what we are doing." He bent down and knocked on the wooden floors beneath them. It was quiet and solid knock. "Man…Taka? The Taka organization? Are they the ones that decided to pull this stunt? I don't remember them saying that during the debriefing."

The first soldier swallowed his spit. "You don't? You must've missed it. It was about how a couple of warriors they sent in planted a dangerous bomb in this palace. They were both probably taken out already no need to worry. How those IDIOTS could've fouled up such a simply mission like PLANT A FREAKIN' BOMB I'll never know!"

"Are you okay?" asked the second soldier, "you sound like you have some resentment towards these folks." He put his hand lightly on his partner's shoulder.

"I'm sorry, but…" said the first soldier as he wiped his auburn hair out of his eyes, "…you are starting bug me." Within a minute he spun around and brandished his sword. He drove the sharp metal tip into his partner's stomach. A light smirk dashed across his face, "the briefing wasn't complete. Three assassins came from Taka's organization, my two partners were Plan A. Plant a bomb, light a signal, destroy the castle. I am Plan B. Assassinate the king."

The second soldier opened his mouth and some blood spilled out. "Why are you doing this?"

The first soldier shook his head. "Isn't it obvious! I'm from Boyd. I'm their top warrior. You see, how did I know of the Marine's plan to sneak the prince in on a separate ship, simple I was told! They asked me and Mark to come in and protect him, I told them I couldn't make it, I told them that I was sick! I knew of their plans and I plotted against them. We win because we knew of their plans! Lieutenant Chiran, Captain Alexander, fifty of their finest warriors! They are all going to die! Even if…I have to…do it…myself!" The man brought his sword back around and straight through the soldier's neck. He chuckled and left. "This kingdom is going down and you all have me to thank."

(-with Alexander-)

"Crap…crap…crap," said Alexander as he trudged through the woods with both Mark and crispy Emyre on his back. "I hate my job. I REEAALLLY hate me job."

Mark eyes' slowly opened. He pushed himself off of Alexander and onto his own two feet. "Don't treat me like I'm some sort of little child. I got two feet and I can use them." Mark eyes were still halfway closed, his body was still burnt in several places, not to mention bruised.

"If you got two feet can you also use your arms and carry this guy?" asked Alexander motioning to Emyre.

"Why bother?" asked Mark as he fell up against tree, breathing heavily. "I'm pretty sure he is dead. Just drop the guy, we'll arrange a funeral for him if it makes you feel better. Can we slow down a little bit?"

"Maybe you can, but I can't," said Alexander as he surged forward again through the brush of the woods, "I got people to save. I got a kingdom to save." Alexander pushed another wave of branches away from his eyes. He was finally out of the woods. The kingdom opened up in front of him.

"I am jealous of Lieutenant Chiran," said Mark as he got up off of the tree, "she's sitting around chatting with king probably having a feast with him right now and I'm stuck following Alexander through the woods to save the day."

"You know what?" said Alexander as he tossed Emyre off of his back and onto the ground, "this guy's half dead. You stay here and make sure he doesn't suddenly come alive again. I'm going to go on ahead." Alexander dashed forward with increased vigor across the wild plains.

"I don't think that guy's human," said Mark as he sat down with his head in his hands, resting. "I think that guy is some sort of monster."

Alexander's entire body ached as he charged towards the large building. Its ivory walls just barely in front of him. He paused as he looked at the courtyard. Dozens of men dressed in armor were scouring the yards, each with a panicked look on their face. Alexander charged forward and up to the nearest man. "Whatever you are doing stop it!"

"What? Why?" asked the soldier, his hand instinctually going to the hilt of his blade. The only thing stopping him from drawing it was the thought that this guy seemed vaguely familiar.

"There's a bomb located here," said Alexander gripping his side, a new wave of pain surging through his body. "If we don't stop it, this entire palace is going to go up in flames."

"You are little late with the news!" shouted soldier as he twisted back around and began to search through the garden's corn crops. "We've got news of the bomb a long time ago! The king's long lost son told us all about it. He said he overheard two women talking about it, one of them a Marine officer and the other…" Alexander reached forward and lifted the man off of his feet.

"Where is the Marine officer?" asked Alexander, "what happened to her?"

"She's in the castle's infirmary, healing up!" shouted the soldier, panicking, "she was in pretty bad shape. The doctor said she's got some kind of disease in her body! Its an old disease and there is plenty of medicine that will fix it, but it'll take time." Alexander dropped the man and turned and headed into the castle.

"I'm not going to allow another Marine to die on my watch," said Alexander as he busted through the doors and into the castle. Alexander looked around. The castle was barren. He didn't even hear the rushed footsteps of soldiers trying to find the bomb, much less see any of them. He shook those thoughts clear from his head, he had to find Rina, the king, and Sam. The soldiers could find the bomb, he would just evacuate in case of a worst possible scenario.

He charged up through the stairs to the top floor. If he remembered correctly from all the stories he read, kings had a thing for the highest room in the tallest tower. If he happened to pass the infirmary on the way up, this would be a good day. He quickly rounded the stair leading to the third floor, the tallest tower was only six floors high, he was halfway there. He suddenly heard a sharp and pain-filled cry. He turned around busted into one of the rooms nearest to him.

The room was a mess. Overturned tables, destroyed lamps, and a bloody soldier in the far corner. Alexander ran up to the man and picked him up, "are you alright?"

The soldier smiled weakly, "that's the first time anyone has ever asked me that. I'm the general of this country's army, I've only been wounded three times in all four of our wars. Now I'm going to die because of some sneak attack."

"You aren't going to die," said Alexander, "you are still breathing and you are still talking. You can still make it. We have to save the king."

"The king?" asked the soldier with a weak smile, "we evacuated him and his son awhile ago. They should be safely tucked away in some remote location now guarded by fifteen of my best soldiers."

"Okay," said Alexander. That was two less people he had to worry about. That made him feel better. "What about the infirmary? How do I get to the infirmary from here?"

The soldier's mouth opened slightly then closed back up. His arm collapsed to his side and blood spilled from his mouth. Alexander frantically pressed his head to the man's heart. There wasn't the slightest sound emanating from the mans chest. Alexander dropped the man to the ground. "I'll make sure your country arranges you a proper burial." Alexander's legs suddenly felt like collapsing. A small break after a day's worth of running was so refreshing, but now it was over. He had to get a move on, he had to find and save Rina and then find and dismantle the bomb. Alexander took off out of the room. His eyes wide with panic.

He rushed back down to the first floor. If the infirmary was anywhere it wound be down here, right? More air, cooler, less travel from the battlegrounds to get here? Makes sense. Alexander dashed down the hallway trying to find a sign or a post that read 'infirmary'. No luck.

Then he heard a dog barking.

(-A few seconds ago in the infirmary-)

A small man in a white coat was tossed helplessly across the room. A second man pressed towards him, his auburn hair waving in the wind. His glistening sword held high above his head. "The third step in the downfall of a nation, kill the heir. The second, kill the king. But before you do those steps, you must kill the person that can fix them, so you kill the doctor." He plunged his sword deep into the doctor's skull.

The man shook his head and walked over to the bed the doctor was just stationed at. In it laid a young girl, her raven-black hair stretched peacefully behind her. She was dressed in a white sailor uniform, or the remains of one. Her shirt had several tears in it underneath each one was a bandage to keep her from bleeding.

The man wiped her hair out of her eyes. "Tis this the Marine that did you in, Pura Pupuran?" He lifted his blade up and laid it next to her neck. "I'm not a completely heartless man. I am still a comrade to my fallen companions, no matter how weak they are." He picked his sword back up and nicked the woman's neck, drawing a small stream of blood.

"You look familiar," said the man as he bent down onto his knees and looked over the woman's face. "A childhood friend, maybe?" He inspected the woman's face, "impossible. My ship was destroyed when I was young, all of its inhabitants were killed, except for me. Tis sad then that I should meet and kill a woman who reminds me so much of my ole' friend. Oh, well, a job tis a job!" He lifted his sword up high above Rina's head.

A small black and white blur dashed off and smashed into the man's face. The man's grip loosened up causing his sword to clatter to the ground. The man immediately sprang back up to his feet. He eyed the annoying beast that interrupted his job. It was a small black and white Shiba Inu. The dog barked loudly at the man. He ran his hand through his hair and narrowed his eyes on the dog.

"I don't enjoy killing dumb animals," he said as he re-gripped his sword, "but it tis my job to kill anyone or anything that gets in my way." The man gripped his sword and aimed it at Hayate, the dog. The man suddenly brought his sword down, "I'll just let the bomb kill you. I'd rather not have your pathetic blood stain my perfect blade." He sheathed his sword. "I have a king to kill anyways." The man jumped out of the window and disappeared.

Hayate quickly jumped on top of Rina's bed and began to paw away the blankets. Once Rina was uncovered Hayate quickly grabbed a hold of Rina's collar and began to pull her off of the bed and towards the door. He was just at the door when Alexander came bursting in.

"Good boy, Hayate," said Alexander as he looked down at the little dog and patted him on the head. He quickly picked Rina up in his arms, lifted her off of the ground, and slung her over his shoulder. Alexander looked at the open window, they were on the first floor after all. He made a startling fast leap for it. He leapt out of the window and onto the courtyard.

The courtyard was massive and a large amount of guards were still around looking for the bomb. A few of them noticed Alexander and dashed over him, their guns and swords at the ready. Soon three men had surrounded Alexander each of them with their guns all aimed at his head.

"What are you doing with that young lady, sir?" asked one of the guards his finger balancing on the trigger of the gun.

"Oh, sorry," said Alexander, "I just found her lying unconscious in the infirmary and I was just going to take her to my ship."

"You 'found' an unconscious girl in the infirmary and you are going to take her to 'your' ship?" asked the guard his finger still on the trigger of the gun.

"Man, when you say it, it sounds like you are accusing me of kidnapping her," said Alexander.

"Do you admit that you took her without permission?" asked the guard.

"She's my partner," said Alexander, "she wants to go to my ship. Look I'll even let her sleep in my bed if it makes you feel any better."

"She's your partner? She wants to go to your ship?" said the guard, "do you honestly expect me to believe that this young beauty is your girlfriend?"

"Ye…" began Alexander before he stopped himself short, "what was that? You think that I'm with…wait, you don't think I could be with…HEY! I could be with this if I wanted to!" Alexander grimaced as he heard a quick growl from Hayate.

"Attention, trash!" shouted a voice.

Alexander and the guards whisked their heads around in a flurry of motions looking for the source. Finally their eyes rested on the top of the building. A young man with auburn hair stood atop the palace. A sword on his waist. "ATTENTION! I have horrible news for you!"


Hayate-Kun to the rescue! Hayate has bravely fought away an assassin about to his harm his master! Now if only Alexander could have the same heroic ship, but sadly he still has a problem with knowing what to say and when to say it. When you are carrying an unconscious good-looking girl it is a bad idea to say you are taking her to YOUR ship. The end of the arc is next! The auburn haired assassin is the true mastermind behind this plan.