CHAPTER 14

Night Raid

Author's Note: Sorry for skipping the update last weekend. I've been very busy and distracted. So this weekend I've posted two chapters. Enjoy!

That night, in a foul mood, Knives left the hotel for the fort. He had already planned out how to enter. With the buildings clustered so closely to the fort walls, Knives had found a rooftop tall enough that he might be able to reach the top of the wall. A neighboring building that abutted the one he needed had a covered patio. He climbed onto the overhang, onto the roof, and then onto the neighboring roof he needed. He made a jump for the fort wall and only just managed to get his hands on the top. Then he clambered up and over.

Inside, everything was dark and quiet. Knives crept, crouching, along the top of the wall to the stairs and, once on the ground again, headed for the office.

The door was locked. He guessed it would be. If he still had his angel arm, it wouldn't have been a problem in the least. But after having removed his gate, and knowing that he was now a publicly known outlaw, he decided to take a few precautions, and one was to procure a lock-picking kit and learn how to use it. It was hard, living like a human.

It was dark inside the office, but he didn't dare turn on a light. Instead he closed the door behind him and produced a glow stick so that he had something to see by that wouldn't be bright enough to catch anyone's attention. Then he began creeping through the offices.

As he did so, he noticed his sister seemed to be telepathically "watching" him again. He tried to ignore it.

He found the office of the fort's commanding officer. It was slightly easier to see in the office, due to a window, but he kept the light of the glowstick close as he began quietly shuffling through the contents of desk drawers. There were random office supplies, a book of some kind, a small key, and a photograph. Nothing useful. Then he moved on to the file cabinets. There were documents on the soldiers, on the supplies, on the vehicles and tomases, blank forms ready to be filled out, weapons and equipment manuals... but not what he was looking for.

One drawer of a file cabinet was locked. Knives knelt on the floor a moment while trying to figure out how to get it to open, since it was the wrong kind of lock for his lock-pick. Oh! The key in the desk! He retrieved it and found that it did, indeed open the file drawer. He began searching through it.

Knives was momentarily distracted by his sister again. It seemed as though he could feel her presence very strongly for some reason. Again, he ignored it.

Within the file drawer, he found more paperwork. Among them was a manila envelope and Knives opened it, pulling out a packet of paper and skimming over the contents. This looked promising. It seemed that only enough information was given as was absolutely necessary to give out. But it read in a way that seemed to be referring to some kind of high profile weapon. The problem was that the document made ample use of code names. (Where was Sally's Camp and the Desert's Eye?)

He skimmed the document, but the code names prevented him from gaining the information he wanted.

And, good grief, his sister's presence was weighing on him! It was almost as if she were coming closer...

Knives paused and lifted his head, looking her direction. His stomach twisted as he realized that what he was feeling wasn't coming from the direction of the plant bulb anymore. It had moved while he had been trying to ignore it. And it was closer. In fact, it was an entirely separate presence from his sister in her bulb.

But this second presence must surely be a plant. The feel of it was unmistakable to him. And if he could tell that they were a plant, then they could certainly tell that he was one as well.

Knives hastily shoved the papers back into the envelope, put it away, and closed the drawer. There was no point trying to be quiet. The other knew he was there. There was no hiding it.

Being an outlaw, and having been caught breaking into the fort offices, a part of him wanted to run to avoid the hassle of getting arrested. But a strong curiosity gripped him. This was a plant, either a freed plant angel, or a plant independent, and he wanted to know who it was and why they were there. But there was more present than just curiosity. Deep down, he knew that this plant, whether angel or independent, was family. He knew his relationship with his sisters was rough, but he wouldn't run from family. And if it was a plant independent? He thought that he was the only one on the planet now that Vash was gone. Something very deep down wanted badly for this to be a plant independent. Now that Vash was gone, he didn't want to be alone. So he went into the hallway and stood patiently, waiting for the plant to come to him, or to speak to him.

He heard the front door quietly open and close, and then footsteps come down the hallway. By the dim light of his glow stick, he saw a tall, blonde woman in the uniform of the Earth Federation Peace Force walk toward him.

"Millions Knives," she said quietly. "We meet again. I've spent a long time looking for you."

A plant independent... in a Peace Force uniform. This wasn't the situation he hoped for. "I don't remember ever meeting," Knives grumbled.

"Then let me refresh your memory. My name is Chronica. I came with the space fleet Pieces of Earth. I've come to arrest you."

The events of Octovern were all a blur in Knives's memory, but he was starting to remember now. There had been at least two plant independents among the Earth fleet. He had taken hold of one of them, but then lost her again when Vash interfered. He had forgotten all about them, but she obviously had not forgotten about him. And judging by the uniform, it seemed she was no longer a member of a ship's crew.

"Did you join the Peace Force just to find me?" he asked. If she was as protective of her fellow plants as he was, then she was probably out for blood for what he did to her companion.

"They recruited me," Chronica answered. "Considering how dangerous you are, they thought it wise to use a plant to capture a plant." Her voice grew hard as she added, "I was more than happy to take them up on the offer."

That was what he was afraid of. Knives decided he needed to run from his fellow plant after all. He drew his gun, but there was a white blur, and the gun was jerked from his hand. It moved in an arc over Chronica's shoulder and clattered to the ground behind her. Poised in the air like a pair of serpents were two long, thin feathers that had sprouted from Chronica's arm. She had produced them and taken the gun at impressive speed. Then one of the feathers shot forward and pierced Knives's shoulder like a sword. She let it sit within him rather than drawing it out.

Knives had an incredible threshold for pain, and stood tall, his jaw set, and stared down Chronica while pain raged in his shoulder.

"Why aren't you using your angel arm?" Chronica asked.

Knives gave an annoyed groan. He spoke with his teeth clenched against the pain. "How many times am I going to have to explain this! I don't have one anymore! I removed my gate!"

"You what!? Why would you do that?" She looked disturbed by the news.

"It's complicated," Knives answered. He could feel a tickle against his skin as blood slowly slid down his back and chest. "Please remove your feather."

"You'll try to escape."

"Of course I will!"

"Where is your brother?" Chronica asked.

"He's dead."

She frowned at him for a moment. The feather ripped out of his shoulder, slicing more of the flesh around the wound as it did. Knives gave a grunt, but didn't otherwise react. But what he did do, was to instantly dive for the office again. He knew he was overpowered, and his best chance was to escape out the office's window.

Chronica leaped after him, her feathers whipping out to try and snatch him. Knives managed to get inside and slam the door, putting his back to it. The two feathers came smashing through the door, one on either side of him. If the door was useless as a shield, he needed to get out the window fast. Knives bolted, but as he reached the window, heard the door open behind him. Quick as lightning, feathers were wrapped around him, dragging him backward while he desperately reached for the window.

Knives felt the air being squeezed out of him, and his shoulder wound throbbed horribly. He struggled against it, but as Chronica approached, the feathers lifted him up off of his feet and turned him around to face her.

"Well... that was easier than I thought it would be." Chronica said.

Knives sent her a murderous glare.

"Millions Knives, you are under arrest for mass murder and holding plants against their will." She brought him back to the ground again, placing him in front of her. Although he still remained bound by her feathers, she took hold of the back of his shirt. "Now walk."

For a moment, out of stubborn defiance, Knives didn't move. Then Chronica gave him a shove, and he let her lead him down the hall. Chronica recited his rights to him as they went. When they passed Vash's gun in the hallway, Chronica kicked it aside and continued on.

Livio typically had dreams of the perfectly normal variety: random and nonsensical. On that particular night, he dreamed that he was at the Eye of Michael headquarters. He was very happily eating a large plate of pancakes, although, on further inspection, it was actually one enormous pancake. It was a very special pancake, because every time he looked at it, it was in a different shape. First it had been a sun, then it had just been a heart, and was now a crescent moon as Livio cut off another bite. He thought that was pretty neat.

"Livio?" At the sound of the voice, he looked to see one of the children from the orphanage looking distraught. "Livio," he said, "I gotta pee!"

"Okay, let's go," and he offered the boy his hand.

Livio was unconcerned because, having spent years at the Eye of Michael, he knew where the bathroom was. Only, as he tried to get there, he was met by a series of unfamiliar corridors and realized they must have remodeled since he had been there last.

Fortunately, they met someone they could ask: Razlo. Razlo occasionally appeared in Livio's dreams. He always appeared as his own individual person, and wore a half-shaved head. The eye tattoo was always exaggerated in the dreams, so that it took up nearly the whole half of his face.

"Razlo, do you know where the bathroom is?"

"What? Just pick a wall and let it fly!"

"Oh, but it's not for me," Livio said. "It's for this." Livio lifted the child for Razlo to see, only now it wasn't a small boy, but a black cat with very large yellow-green eyes.

"Oh, that's no problem," Razlo waved it off. "There's an old litterbox in here somewhere."

"Someone in the Eye of Michael owned a cat?"

"No! No! Someone in the Eye of Michael was a cat. Yep, good ol' Rico the Fluffy Fury! One of the greatest assassins the Eye of Michael ever knew! He wore a collar with spikes on it and had a tattoo on one shoulder. They say he was the first ever assassin to use a punisher cross!"

"Woooow," Livio was impressed. "You know, it's really surprising that he was able to accomplish so much, seeing as he was a cat. You wouldn't have expected that."

"Oh yeah, he was awesome! I only hope that some day, I'll be as awesome as Rico the Fluffy Fury!"

"Rico the Fluffy Fury? Really?" The two looked to see Nicholas D. Wolfwood strolling toward them. He was giving Razlo a look. Then he caught sight of the cat Livio was holding and said, "Oh, hey there little buddy!" He scratched the cat, who seemed to enjoy it. "Hey, this cat looks really familiar. Have I seen it somewhere before?"

Razlo folded his arms across his chest, swelling with pride. "It probably looks familiar because it's a direct descendant of Rico."

"I swear, Crybaby Livio, you have the strangest dreams," Wolfwood said.

As soon as Wolfwood said it, Livio realized that yes, actually, this was a dream. That was a relief, as it meant he didn't need to actually find a bathroom... or litter box.

"Hey, Nicholas," Livio said, "If this is a dream, and I know I'm dreaming, does that mean I could fly if I wanted to? People always talk about flying in dreams, but I've never done it."

"Rico could fly," Razlo butted in.

Wolfwood ignored him. "Actually, there's more important things to worry about right now than flying."

"Really? What's wrong?"

Wolfwood looked at him levelly. As Livio looked back, looking into Wolfwood's eyes, he began to have the surreal feeling that Wolfwood was too... real. That his eyes were too detailed and clear and alive for something that was in a dream.

"You need to get down to the fort as soon as you can. There's trouble. So you need to wake up. Now."

Livio woke up.

It was still dark in his room. For a moment, his mind was full of the mental image of Wolfwood's face, and the thought of how incredibly vivid the final moments of the dream had been.

Then he leaped out of bed and began throwing his clothes on.

When he reached the fort all seemed quiet. That was odd. Given the experience he had just had, he half expected to find the place on fire.

Parked across the street from the Fort, sitting alongside the curb, was some sort of delivery truck with the driver sitting idly inside. Livio approached him. The window was rolled down, and the driver was a man who looked to be wearing some kind of uniform under an open jacket.

"Hey, has anything been going on around here?" Livio asked.

"Uh... no?" The man looked a little surprised. "It's the middle of the night. Everyone's asleep."

"Oh... you haven't... heard any kind of commotion from the fort or anything?"

He gave Livio a blank look. "What kind of commotion?"

Livio sighed. "Never mind." He looked at the fort, scratching his head. Maybe it had only been a dream. Dreams were weird and random, and Livio supposed it was possible for a dream to, by chance, appear to be more than a dream when it wasn't. But...

"Weird," Livio said.

"Look, can I... help you with anything?" the man asked.

Livio turned to him again. His eyes happened to land on some kind of ID tag just visible under his jacket. It claimed he was part of the Earth Federation. Livio must have given himself away by a look of surprise, because the man pulled his jacket over his front and folded his arm.

Livio quickly tried to pretend he hadn't noticed anything. "Okay... well... uh... I thought maybe there was something going on down here, but maybe there's not. I'm going to take a little look around, and then head back. Have a good night."

"You, too."

Livio left him and went across the street to the fort. He wasn't sure what else to do except take a walk around the outside and see if he noticed anything odd. If Knives was involved, perhaps the corner with the plant bulb might be a good start.

He walked down that way, keeping his eyes and ears open in the dim light and the quiet. When he reached the SEEDS ship, he stood a moment, looking up at the bulb. He had asked the soldiers in the fort if there was a plant inside, and they said yes. Livio wished she would snake down a long feather so they could talk.

"Have you seen anything weird going on?" he asked aloud.

The plant was silent.

Then he sighed and shrugged and headed back to the front.

He rounded the corner in time to see a woman and a man entering the back of the truck. The door shut behind them and the truck began moving.

Livio stared, wide eyed, his mouth hanging open a little. Then panic set in.

"Oh no! Oh no! Oh crap! Oh no! I think maybe that was Knives! I think maybe he just got kidnapped! No, wait! The driver was with the government! He's been arrested! Oh no! Oh crap! Oh no!"

He suddenly bolted for the fort doors. They were open just a crack, he noticed, and hadn't been before. He ran inside and cried, "Who just got arrested!?"

The fort lawn was empty. Livio noticed the door to the offices was open. He ran for them and nearly plowed into someone stepping out. He was one of the soldiers, and was carrying Vash's gun.

"What? Someone got arrested?" he asked.

"What? I don't know! Maybe! Did something happen in here?"

"Well, I was in the barracks and heard someone banging around in the offices. So I got up to see what was going on. The door was open, and this gun and a glow stick were on the floor."

Livio snatched the gun away from him and bolted back to the door shouting, "I need my car! I need my car, now!"

The soldier stared after him, bewildered.