DISCLAIMER: Don't own it, but I am seriously considering purchasing some tropical fish to go with my ninety-million pets, heh.
Hey
What better a time to write, when walking outside is like walking into one of those rotating ovens you see the baked chickens rotate around in the grocery store, ugh. Along with sleep deprivation summer's been a real blast XD. Anyhow, as always, thanks for your readership, and I hope everyone is managing to stay cool over the summer, too. Please review, give me input, output, whatnot. I appreciate it all; warms and the cockles of my heart and whatnot. And don't ask me what 'cockles' are, exactly, because I have no clue, myself. Well, maybe warm isn't a good thing right now. Hrm… Maybe do the 'cool' thing and review… Hahaha… O-kay, I'm gonna go work on my next chapter now. Promise.
Fun Fact of Boredom: Jojo left his home in TucsonArizona… Hehe, I'm still a big enough nerd to make Beatles references.
Chapter Twelve: Hong Kong Fireworks
Tucson:
"…This is the first time I've felt like a bad guy in a long time," Leo muttered to himself as he heard the loud exchange between Faye and her adoptive father through the front door. He was reassuring her that it was only for the summer; she was shouting that she already had things to do during the summer, like practice, dances, parties. Leo knew he couldn't guarantee any of that; Dako and Jared took care of most of their schooling through online work, and what they didn't do online either he or a usually very-confused Max helped to provide the answers. Well, it was more of a matter of him looking up the answers and Max making snacks, in most instances. He was a good domestic, Leo thought with the hint of a smile.
"Faye, you're going, and that's final!" he snapped, and made Leo give a shudder. If he had known it would have been such an issue, he would've had Fuji steal her, as much as he hated to think about reverting back to that old trick.
"You just want to get rid of me!" Faye snarled back at her father. "If I'm leaving for the summer, why am I packin' so much of my stuff?!"
Leo heard a slam, followed by another, indistinguishable noise, and afterward Faye fell silent, and the door opened to her surrounded by her luggage and looking down at her sneakers. Leo went to question Faye's 'father', but was quickly pushed out of the way by the man, who walked down to Leo's rental car and swung open the back seat, and stacked several boxes back there, and then turned about, heading back to the house and taking more boxes.
"You… You'll have a great time in France," Leo reassured her as she passed him, a rolling backpack in tow. Faye only looked back at him with a glare, and Leo cleared his throat as she skulked down to the rental. "Ohhhh boy…." He heaved a breath and then followed her down, getting stopped by her father along the way to the car.
"If she starts acting up…. Remember she's your issue to deal with now, not mine," he said in a low, even voice to Leo. "Truth be told, it's my wife that wanted her. So don't go calling here for any advice, 'cause you ain't gonna get it, son."
"After three other kids, I'll be just fine," Leo answered through a fake smile that in reality was his clenched teeth. He had broken three caps while in similar situations, and he thought he felt a forth crack as he stood there.
He looked back to Faye, who had turned the radio up and sat back with a frown heavy upon her face, and then to Leo, "Heh, good luck with that. I'll send the rest of her things through the mail."
"Thanks… I think…." Leo answered, and headed back to his rental car. He slid into the front seat and smiled at Faye, who only rolled her eyes at him and watched her home quickly vanish through the tinted windows of the Lexus, and noticed Leo looking in his rearview at her. "So…. I'll bet you'll like it at my place…. It's really big, and you'll have people to play with…."
"I'm eleven. I don't play," Faye answered as she rested her head against the same window she had been looking out of. "So… You're my real dad?"
"…Yeah…" Leo answered, tilting his head down a bit and flushing lightly. "How'd you know, your father tell you?"
"It was either that or you were someone out to get my dad…"
"What, did you guys have to do that before?"
"Mm-hm… We moved from Texas two years ago 'cause of that…" Faye answered. "….Did you ever have any other kids?"
"Yeah, three… Hopefully another one, too," Leo admitted. He watched Faye's surprised expression, and gave his own nervous chuckle. 'And wait until you meet your other dad….' he thought with a wave of apprehension.
China:
Yukiko rolled over in the bed and opened her eyes at the sound of an alarm clock she had not remembered setting and stretched, not yet looking around the hotel room but regretting as soon as she did so. Sam was absent from the bed, as were his jacket and shoes vanished from their place on the couch. She quickly pulled the bedsheets around herself as she noticed she was not alone in the room. She could not make out the figure exact, except for the fact that he was dressed in all black and also wore white gloves in addition to his blurry suit.
"You might want to put on your glasses," he instructed, nodding to the dresser. Yukiko reached over, grabbing her glasses then putting them on, and now got a better look at the man. He was older, Chinese, and less than friendly-looking. Yukiko went to move from the bed, but soon had a gun pointed at her; an illegal Brazilian gun with a silencer.
"What'd you do with Sam?" Yukiko snarled.
"Your friend is with us… With the nice man you both met last night, to be more precise. You're free to go," he shrugged, and rose. "We have what we need. You're of no use to us."
"Listen—"
"Chang. Chang Lin Gong," he nodded. "You have a good time in Hong Kong, Miss Jigen."
"It's Ms. Ishikawa!" Yukiko growled. Chang only gave her a grin, and exited the hotel room silently. "Bastard…." she reached into her dresser, and pulled out her gun, just in time to hear the hotel door creak open. Max came to a dead halt, causing Fuji to trip over his crutch and Toshiro to reach forward and pulled her back onto her heels, and Yukiko fell back against her pillow.
"Don't go scaring me like that!" Yukiko shouted. "What the hell are you guys doing here!?"
"Saving you!" Toshiro answered, pushing the other two out of the way and rushing over to her. "Ryo's in the car! Where've you been?!"
"Um, bum frig China," Yukiko answered, blinking.
"You're wrong, but you're right… You're in Hong Kong, dear," Fuji answered, and also walked into the hotel room. "Soooo who was that guy that left just now?"
"Crap! Sam!" Yukiko yelped, rushing out of bed and running to the door. "We've gotta stop that guy, he's got Sam!"
"Wait, who's Sam?" Fuji spun about just as quickly as Yukiko made a run for the door.
"She's starting to sound like you," Max snorted.
"He's my friend, and he's in a lot of trouble, with his luck!" Yukiko shouted as she saw Toshiro run up beside her down the hallway.
"You've been with a friend this whole time?!" Toshiro choked as both slammed into the back wall of the now-opened elevator. The maid, who also occupied the space, looked over the two for a moment, and leisurely attempted to exit the elevator, and was just in time to be pushed back by a bounding Fuji, who was followed by a struggling Max.
"Wait—Your friend's a guy?!" Toshiro realized after the dazed cleaning woman hobbled out, her supplies trailing her path out of the hallway. "And you were in a hotel room with him…"
"It wasn't like that, trust me," Yukiko replied, adjusting her fedora and leaning against the wall of the elevator. "Can't this damn thing go any faster?!"
"Yukiko-chan must really like him," Fuji muttered to Max, who nodded and reached in his pocket for his cell phone.
"Well, Leo's home," he announced quietly, and shoved the phone back in his pocket. "I might be bunking with relatives for a while…"
"He's just this kid I met! He's twenty-four, for God's sakes!" Yukiko huffed, and the ever-headed towards forty Toshiro's teeth clenched, and he looked to the ground. "What, you can't have female friends?!"
"Bing! Premiere Etage!" Fuji announced, hoping out of the elevator and onto the marble floor. "Where to now?"
"The car would be a nice start, genius," Max muttered, and Fuji nodded, hopping onto a passing luggage cart and pointing to the direction of the large glass doors.
"Onward, bus boy!" Fuji bellowed, much to the embarrassment of all left in the elevator.
"There's gonna be an aluminum crutch up your ass if you don't stop it now!" Max hissed, reaching up and pulling her down. "I swear, we need a bell for you!"
"Don't think I'm going to be nice just because I'm on your dime, Fuji," Max said with a glare. "I've got a job after this that just wreaks of you… Apparently a bunch of old Yazuka women and wives are getting angry that someone's been breaking into their bank accounts, and most of them can be traced back to a Host Club… There something you want to confess, Lupin?"
"Well, I spat in a baptismal font once…. But that's not the kind of confession you were looking for, is it, Zenigata?" Fuji replied with a wink.
"If you two don't shut up, you're both gonna find a quick way to an early grave!" Yukiko shouted angrily, and hopped into the back seat of the Romeo.
"Honey… Okay, calm down… No, I promise I'll be home soon!" Ryo waved to Yukiko briefly and then turned her attention back to her cell phone call. "Well, I'm sorry you guys aren't getting along… You think you might try to play cards with her? You threw it down the window… Vick, I've got to go work now, but I'll call you back soon… Love you, too… No, love you more… Hehe, I am…." she now noticed the four disgusted looks she had drawn, and shut her phone without taking her eyes off of them. "Oh, what? Like you guys don't have the same conversations…."
"Pet names are strictly banned from my marriage," Max answered as he climbed into the front seat beside Ryo.
"She calls me a bastard," Toshiro answered, nodding to Yukiko. "But that's as close as we get, really…"
"Ryo, floor it," said Yukiko with a nod toward the street, and Ryo placed her arm across the length of the front seat.
"Where to?"
"I…" Yukiko blinked, and sat back against her seat. "….I don't know…."
"Well, fun start we're off to," Max sighed.
"….Yukiko-chan, where's your belt?" Fuji inquired as she noted the gunwoman's usually black leather article of clothing had seemingly transformed into a brown snakeskin belt.
"Crap…. I must've accidentally switched with that little idiot…"
"We're gonna have to talk about this guy later…." Toshiro said as he eyed Yukiko.
"For the last time, nothing happened!" Yukiko cried, clearly frustrated. "Jeeze, I wouldn't get jealous if you had dinner with Fuji, and she's the biggest whore I know!"
"Any other time, I'd be offended, Yukiko-chan," Fuji responded as she began to search through her purse.
"What the heck are you looking for, anyway?"
"The tracking device I use to find all of you," Fuji replied without even faltering as she said so. "Two of my greatest friends are longitude and latitude."
"Heh, I'm glad I know to look for that now… It'll be a huge help tracking all of you down when I have to work against you," Max said with a determined smile.
"That I doubt, Zenigata…" Fuji answered, pulling out a circular disk and watching Max groan.
"What the hell are you doing with birth control, Fuji?"
"…Hell, I barely have anything you could call a uterus anymore, so what's the point of having these?" Fuji slid it open, and much to the surprise of all it shown a screen, with flashing blips upon certain areas.
"See, this is us," Fuji explained, pointing to a flashing blob at the bottom left of the circular screen. "Anddd this is you, Yukiko-chan!"
"You put a bug on me!?"
"Heh, how do you think we found you the first time, Detective Zenigata?" Fuji pointed to Max, who snorted at this and looked away. "Oh, it's okay, Blondie… Every great duo needs a Jerry Lewis!"
"Let's get one thing straight—I'm the straight man," Max said sternly, and then held up a finger to Fuji. "Do not go there…"
"So, where is he?" Yukiko asked intently, leaning in to look at the tracker.
"Ummmm… Can anyone read a map?" Fuji asked, twitching a smirk.
"You're friggin' kidding me…" Yukiko groaned and slapped her forehead.
"Give me that!" Max grabbed the tracker and studied the screen for a moment, "Take a right up at this next traffic light, Ryo."
"On it," she nodded, and Fuji gave a look for mild surprise.
"Where'd you learn to read maps so well, Zenigata?"
"I was a Boy Scout when I was a kid… And again, do not go there."
"You really take the fun out of field trips, Blondie," Fuji heaved a sigh and sat against the leather seat. "Hrm, what's this…. My phone's going off… Hello?"
"Um… Fuji…."
"Ally-chan!" Fuji squealed at the recognition of the gravely voice. "How's working under Heiji, urm, working for you?"
"I…. We're kinda on a flight for Hong Kong…."
"Why? What happened?"
"Heiji's no natural leader, Fuji. The Yakuza…. They kinda… Yeah, they came outta nowhere," Ally cleared his throat. "We're in Chinese airspace now. We've got everyone here."
"That's good… Ally-chan, what aren't you telling me?" Fuji asked suspiciously, alerted at the hesitant tone in Ally's voice.
"They…. Burnt the place to the ground…" Ally answered, and Fuji's mouth twitched. "…Fuji? Fuji?"
She slapped the phone shut, and faked a smile as she turned her attention back to Toshiro and Yukiko, "So! Let's find this competition of Toshiro's and kick some bad guys' asses! Maybe I can even make a buck out of this somehow…"
"He's not any competition! Please, he's only a kid!"
"I'm sure Mia Farrow thought that about Sun Yi, too," Max snorted, and paid no heed to the glares this drew from the others.
"This is it! Stop here, Ryo-san!" Fuji ordered, slapping Ryo roughly on the shoulder as they came to a large mansion. Fuji gave a whistle at the sight and immediately began to assess the yard and home for anything valuable, and Ryo had not even stopped the car completely before Yukiko hopped out and made a run for the gate.
"Oh, yeah, she's into this guy," Fuji chuckled, and Toshiro grit his teeth as he, too, exited the car. "She usually doesn't run that fast unless it's for Saiyuri or Happy Hour!"
"Fuji," Ryo snapped upon reading Toshiro's expression, "Shut up!"
"I—Ohhhh…. Sorry, Toshiro-chan…." Fuji adjusted her jacket, and stepped out of the car. "Well, are you guys ready?"
"As I'll ever be," Toshiro answered sternly, heading to where Yukiko stayed hidden.
"Ohhhh… Game face! Okay, Zenigata-san, you stay here and man the car, okay?"
"If I didn't know you were just watching out for me I'd go off on you for that comment, but I'll keep in contact with you guys, in case something goes wrong," Max answered, tossing Fuji a walkie-talkie.
"Wow…. Are we on Miami Vice?" Fuji chuckled as she held the bulky technology but placed it in her jacket pocket as Max glared at her, clearly unamused. "We'll be fine, Max."
"Yeah, because if something happens to him, you know it'll be Ari on your ass, Fuji," Ryo loaded her gun and the two women walked over to the samurai and the gunman, leaving Max in the car with his crutch and his walkie-talkie.
"Okay, let's see now…" Fuji began to walk about the perimeter of the walls. "We could always use plan G-78…"
"Or you could shoot out the camera and climb the lattice work that's on the wall," Ryo sighed as she watched Yukiko do exactly this. A white hat could be seen disappearing over the red brick, and Toshiro gaped, and was soon to follow her.
"If her middle name wasn't Maria I'd swear it was idiot…"
"That's a laugh, Fuji; you calling someone impulsive. Well, shall we?"
Fuji nodded, and jumped onto Ryo's back, climbing onto the offguard driver's shoulders and lunging over the brick wall, only to crash into Toshiro as she made a landing on the other side.
"We should!" Fuji called from the other side.
"They're gonna get the security out here… Unless they want us to come in… Hrm…"
Fuji waited for Ryo to attempt the same feat, only to jump in surprise as the Jigen girl tapped her on the shoulder, "Ryo-san! How'd you get over here?! Doraemon-like magic? Did Heiji make you something?" she inquired with a tinge of jealousy.
"I used the gate. It was open," Ryo answered bluntly.
"Oh," Fuji blinked. "Well…. I knew that! I was just testing you!"
"Sure you were, Fuji," Ryo sighed, and loaded her gun. "How far away are we?"
"Not too far…" Fuji muttered, looking down at the screen of her tracking device.
"Not too far at all," they heard, and on instinct alone, both Yukiko and Toshiro drew their weapons, and stood in front of Ryo and Fuji protectively.
"Still got it," Toshiro said out of the side of his mouth to Yukiko.
"Never lost it," Yukiko answered, and surveyed the gang of near-identical thugs; all were dressed in black, and all held automatic weapons, and all were pointed at the small group.
"Ms. Ishikawa," Chang emerged from the solid circle of stoic lackeys, and smiled as he surveyed the sight. "I see you're back with company…."
"God, I pissed so pissed at the cliché sayings you mob bosses use… It's all the friggin' same!" Yukiko snapped, clearly ignoring the wide-eyed frantic looks of her friends.
"Well, sometimes expected is good… You see, you'd expect me to tell my men to lower their firearms… And then we'd go into my mansion, have an altercation, more than likely, and more than likely I would end up at another loss…"
"Another?" Fuji caught onto this word quickly, and looked to Yukiko, whose face did not even register this cryptic phrase.
"But, you know… The unexpected would be for me to shoot you dead right here, and end it all," Chang continued. "Or shoot at least your boyfriend… Husband…. Whoever it is you took to bed over the years."
"Yuki, don't do anything stupid," Ryo whispered as she could see Yukiko shake with anger as Chang grew closer to her.
"….Drop your weapons," Chang said after some calculated thought. "I need them inside."
"You can tell us the plan any time, Fuji," Ryo whispered as their weapons were ripped away from them and they were led into the red Chinese-styled Chang mansion.
"Could I interest you in something to drink?" Chang asked as they were seated on a low table in the living room, Yukiko sitting across from Toshiro and Ryo across from Fuji.
"Nah, I'm on a low-poison diet… It's bad for my cholesterol… And my life," Fuji answered with an apologetic smile.
"Lupin the Fourth…. An ever-present reminder to our failing criminal justice system. I must admit, I'm a fan," Chang said with a smirk as he seated himself a good ways away from the table, at an ornate chair opposite of the front door. Along with expensive vases, an armed guard stood at each side of him as he reclined back. "And Mr. Ishikawa… I saw you in The Producers last summer… Personally, I think you're a bit overrated. I hold nothing against any of you here…. Except for Yukiko, of course."
"What the hell did I ever do to you?" Yukiko snapped.
"Oh, Ms. Jigen—"
"Ishikawa!" Yukiko snapped, much to Toshiro's surprise.
"Whatever your name, you're still the White Devil of Spain. That's where we met, if you recall. You were much younger then, though," Chang leaned forward, and spoke in a low voice. Yukiko grew startled suddenly, as if it had suddenly clicked with her. "Yes… You remember now… Of course, I didn't look like this at the time… It's amazing how much your facial features change when you're shot close-range in the face with a Magnum."
"How… How did you….?"
"Survive? With help from a true talent," Chang explained with a grin. "Now, as to how I found you… You can thank your boss for that. My men had it staked out for a good two weeks."
"I didn't see any men," Ryo said with confusion.
"I said I knew a true talent, didn't I?"
"I… Ohhhhh," Fuji nodded as it dawned on her. "Toshiro, you're lookin' a little green there, pal. So, Chang, when do we get to meet this talent of yours, eh?"
"Here she is right now," Chang waved over a tiny figure hiding in the shadows of one of the corners of the house, and placed a hand on her shoulder as she stood in front of them. She wore a Chinese-styled dress; teal with gold bamboo pattern running all along it. Her red hair was too short to be put up in any style, but it was well-managed. Even through her makeup, however, it was still unmistakable.
"Sam?" Yukiko choked. "But… But I…."
"Samantha Meron. A makeup and cosmetic genius… Takes after her father like that. She built me a new face, and I thought I'd keep her around for a while," Chang explained with a proud smile.
"Yukiko, I… I'm sorry," Sam said meekly.
"Save it!" Yukiko snarled, red-faced in anger, amongst other emotions. "You can keep me, Chang, just let everyone else go."
Chang thought again for a moment, "…Well, I could make use for them. Lupin the Fourth and her thieving abilities, Mr. Ishikawa and his swordsmanship, and Mrs. Lupin for her acute driving skills. I always wanted to learn stick shift. You're asking me to give up quite a lot here. Especially for you."
"…Please… Let them go, and you can have me, okay?" Yukiko sighed, tilting her head downward.
"Fine. While I'm tempted, I have nothing against them. Give them their weapons, lead them out, follow them until they're a good ways away from here," Chang ordered, and his guards nodded, and approached the three.
"No way!" Toshiro snapped, and began to push away the bodyguards. In the end, he met his match with the butt of a gun, and slumped down into the arms of a duo of guards.
"Fuji, you come back for me, I'll shoot at you, too," Yukiko shouted as the two women were led out behind the men carrying Toshiro.
"Then I'll just get a better bullet-proof vest—But I'm no leaving you, Yukiko-chan! No man, woman, or treasure left behind!" Fuji called back as she was pushed out of the house.
"I always thought, out of all of Lupin's children, that she was the stupidest," Chang said with a sigh, and stood. "Well, now what to do with you…. I think I'll have to entertain the possibilities now that I have you… But I can guarantee, you're not going to like any of them…. Take them both away."
"What?! Wait!" Sam yelped. "You said if I helped you, you'd let me go!"
"And you had your opportunity to escape. It's not my fault if you didn't use it," Chang answered, and turned away from the two as they were drug off to the top floor of the mansion, and locked into a barred bedroom. Sam door a seat in one of the ornate chairs by the window, while Yukiko merely stared at a wall with an ancient Chinese wall scroll, and said nothing.
"…Yukiko?" Sam said meekly, looking up from her clasped hands to the gunwoman. "Nothing else was a lie… Just my gender."
"Point bein', you lied, sweetheart," Yukiko replied, and now began to search the walls, occasionally tapping one and listening.
"What are you doing?" Sam inquired, rising from her seat and taking a step forward.
"Feeling for the studs," Yukiko replied, and continued to tap. She remained concentrated on this until the noise of sobbing could not be ignored, and she rose from her crouched position and turned around. "No more friggin' crocodile tears."
"They're not!" Sam yelled, wiping her eyes. "And I'm not crying, anyway!"
"Yes, you are," Yukiko folded her arms. "Heh, if you're trying to pull the pity card, forget it. I don't forgive liars."
"I didn't even want to! I was afraid for my life!"
"…You could've told me," Yukiko sighed with defeat, taking a seat on the edge of the bed. "I could've helped. Well, maybe not me, but Fuji, at least."
"Get help from a Lupin? Jeeze, that's something I would've done if I had really wanted to tarnish my family's legacy," Same sniffed. "God… I don't even like dresses!"
Yukiko gave a small smirk, "Guess that's something we've got in common. Listen, if you always go with your pride, it's all you're gonna be left with after a while. Trust me, I learned that one the hard way."
"So what do we do now?" Sam asked after a silence between the two.
"Well, we think of a way out of here," Yukiko answered, standing and looking around the room. "How'd a nice girl like you get together with Chang, anyway?"
"Nice? I thought you hated me."
"I hate lies, especially when they're done so well," Yukiko twisted the doorknob and found it locked, and bent down, removing her fedora and pulling out a tiny rod.
"I needed the money. Plus, I'd mainly done work for movies, and that… A few small things in the way of government projects, but… Mr. Chang's offer was astounding. I guess I should have known it was too good to be true…."
"It's okay, we all fall for it. If we make it out of here, I'll tell you about a guy I meant in Spain once," Yukiko continued to work away at the lock, and felt Sam's eyes upon her. She turned around, and brushed her bangs out of her eyes. "I'm guessing you want to know how I know Chang, right?"
"Well…."
"It was years ago, I went to steal a Qin warrior statue from him, and… We got into it, I didn't wanna shoot the bastard, but he tackled me, and my finger slipped, and… Bang. Hamburger face. It was the first time I was ever involved in anything that bloody. I was even younger than you are. Hell, I wasn't even with Fuji, yet."
"You two are…. Together?"
Yukiko's pin slipped, this caused a rather large gash in the door, and her face flushed red, "No. I'm proud to say I'm one of the few people who hasn't been with Fuji."
" Oh. I just thought you might…."
"I dress like this because it's practical, and I see what Fuji wears and exactly how seriously she gets taken because of it. And trust me, I don't think Al Capone would've gotten as much respect as he had if he had worn a friggin' denim jacket."
Sam gave a chuckle, and sat down next to Yukiko, "Do you need help with that?"
"Well, if it looks like anyone's gonna attack me, you give me the heads up, okay?"
"That, I can manage," Sam answered. "….Yukiko?"
"Ya know, man or woman, you're equally annoying," Yukiko sighed, setting her tools down. "What now?"
"Do you think we could be friends after all this?"
"Yeah, sure. We'll do one another's hair, we can get our nails done, you can sit for my kid. We'll even gossip about boys," Yukiko answered vaguely as she went back to work on the lock.
"That's good… Because I really like you," Sam said with a smile.
"Yeah, I…" then Yukiko stopped in mid-sentence, and glanced at Sam. 'Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh, boy….'
"Hrm?"
"You're not bad either… For a whiner, that is," Yukiko answered in her usual gruff manner. "Almost got it…."
"Good! Then we can get out of here and—" Sam yelped as the door swung open, and Yukiko flew back from the force.
Chang looked over the scene; the fedora on the floor, the small tools spread out, and the two women looking up at him; one with contempt, and the other with fear, "Good to know you haven't been bored. Well, Ms. Ishikawa…. You've had your playtime, now it's mine."
About thirty miles away:
"Now what?" Ryo poked at the fired and tilted her head down as she sat on a cooler from the car, Max beside her atop a crate of weapons.
"I wish I knew… I'm trying to get ahold of Leo, but that's proving friggin' impossible," Max sighed, exasperated, and looked to the worried Ryo. "….Fuji will get your sister back. She's a lot of things, mainly a tramp, a thief, and a crook, but she's also good on her word."
"You almost sound like you're defending her, Max."
"Don't get the wrong impression… She just keeps business steady, is all."
"Just five more minutes, Toshiro-chan!" Fuji begged as the samurai fastened his swords to his back and pulled up the black mask over his mouth. He worked at tying back his hair after this, and continued to ignore Fuji's pleas. "Our backup will be here, and we'll get Yukiko, and everything will be just fine!"
"I did solo jobs for years, Fuji," Toshiro made small adjustments to his ninja attire as he said this, and took count of what weapons he had on him, ready for use if need-be. "I do these group gigs for the money, mainly. You know that."
"Toshiro," Ryo turned around, and looked at the samurai sternly. "If something happens to both you and Yukiko, think about which family member Saiyuri would go to. Think about it. She could end up calling Victor 'dad'."
"….All right. I'll wait. But for five more minutes, only."
"Looks like we don't even need that!" Fuji replied happily as she watched a set of headlights eased down the hill of the rural farming area. The horn blared, and Fuji waved down the Chrysler.
Ally hopped out of the backseat with Odori, while Jordan climbed out of the driver's side and Heiji out of the passenger side.
"So it's in New Zealand?" Heiji muttered.
"Yeah, next month," Jordan answered. "If you bring your board, I'll bet you could still sign up!"
"Yo, could you two surfer nerds stop making out and get over here?" Ally snapped as he stood by the fire beside Fuji. "Carmen's at Toshiro's mom's place with the kids."
"Good, we wouldn't want Chang to have anything else he could use against us," Ryo helped Max to stand and they formed a circle, with Fuji the obvious lead.
"You're in your Rat Clan outfit," Odori commented as she stood next to Toshiro. "Should I ask?"
"Eh, let's get one of yours famous guesses, Dori…"
"I say you went to go get Yukiko yourself, and then someone, more than likely Fuji, helped you to realized that if something were to happen to the both of you that she would either go to myself, Heiji, Ryoko, or Ally. That's just my guess, though."
"…You should really look into being a detective, Dori," Toshiro said with a sigh and a shake of his head.
"Okay, Fuji, what's the plan?" Jordan asked, and then blinked as he looked across the fire. "And what's Max doing here?"
"I'm hiking. It's for my therapy."
"Which kind?" Heiji snorted.
"Woah, woah!" Fuji quickly hopped in between Max and Heiji as Max moved toward Heiji, and held out her hands to block both men. "Enough with the quips for the night, guys. If you wanna duke it out, try rock, paper, scissors. Just… We need to work as one if we're going to get this plan off the ground."
"What's the plan?" asked Ryo, who then read Fuji's face. "…You have no freakin' idea, do you?"
"Well… It's not the first time I'll have winged it!" Fuji waved over to them, and she hurried to her car. "Ryo-san, do you know where I could find another new Alfa Romeo?"
"What's so wrong with this one?" Ryo inquired, hopping into the driver's side.
"I just got a flash of genius, is all," Fuji replied with a smile.
"You're going to kill my car," Ryo moaned.
"It's either that or Chang gets ahold of your sister. Ally-chan, Toshiro-chan, you ride with Ryo-san and me. Jordan, you, Dori-chan, Zenigata, and Heiji-chan take the Chrysler. I have a walkie-talkie, and Zenigata has the other one."
"You still use a walkie-talkie?" Heiji snorted.
"You want to start something?!" Max snapped as he hobbled to the Chrysler. "I'll stick this crutch right up your—"
"You guys behave, or we'll turn this car around," Jordan said, mildly chiding the two as they climbed into the back seat.
"If you don't use a walkie-talkie, what the heck do you use to communicate, wise ass?" Max countered as he pulled out the bulky device from his coat pocket.
"Um, hello," Heiji tapped the small bud in his left ear. "This is what people this century like to use."
"My sister should've just traded you for Odori," Max mumbled darkly as the car started up behind Fuji. "I don't need this, between Leo in Arizona, now this crap."
"What's Leo doing in Arizona?" Jordan inquired. "One of those… Pride things?..."
"What makes you think we go to those?"
"Just asking!" Jordan answered. "I don't know how the gay thing works, all right?"
"Gay thing?"
"Everyone! Silence!" Odori yelled suddenly, before Jordan could answer. "The next man to say anything receives a meeting with my blade, and I guarantee he will lose something precious!"
There was a period of silence in the car, followed by Heiji's uttering, "If it's Max, you must mean his crutch, 'cause I couldn't imagine him using anything else more than that, really."
Jordan calmly grabbed hold of the back of Dori's pants as she lunged over the seat for Heiji, and continued to drive like this all the way down the road.
"Max, can you hear me?" Fuji's crackling voice came over his walkie-talkie suddenly, and at this Odori seated herself once more.
"Yeah, we can. Please tell me you have a plan, Fuji," Max asked, clearly begging for her to come up with a solution.
"Yup!" Fuji answered cheerfully. "Ally-chan just finished setting up the explosives, so you guys meet us around the back and don't come in sight until you see a big boom! We're gonna have a party in here tonight!"
"…Your sister is a lunatic," Odori said with a sigh.
"Yeah, but it's a better plan than any of us came up with… So I guess we have to go with it," Jordan said with defeat, and turned as Ryo's car did so.