In Django's cockpit, Sei's jaw hardened. "I didn't come this far to kill him," she said. "Give me another option."

"Sei," Leo pleaded, "I know how you-"

"Options!" Sei snapped.

There was a pause that seemed to last eternity but was more like a few seconds. Then Jo came on the line: "He's still an amateur. Invisibility is his only advantage. But they can't hide everything."

"Got it," Sei said. She punched a console, changing frequencies. "Hey, Kyo," she said lightly. "I would love to stay and play with you and Mitsuyo, but I have places to go and real men to see. You know, men who can handle a woman like me. Not that I'm sayin' anything about you, Kyo, but Mitsuyo not having a body probably makes satisfying her needs within the range of your abilities. But I have to run. Toodles!"

Sei opened up the throttle and pulled back on the controls, climbing as she put Django through a zig-zagging course, one eye on the screen for the rear infrared camera…

…until she saw it – the heat flare of their cybot's afterburners.

"Gotchya," Sei muttered. She hit the controls and the brakes. The cybot caught up with Django and Sei matched speeds with it. Sei fired one of Django's grapples at a point somewhere just ahead of one of the afterburner flares. The hook at the end of the line disappeared into…something….and metal seemed to blink into existence one square at a time as smoke and flames poured out of the hole in the cybot's engine. Sei opened up the throttle again, peeling off. The grapple line went taught and yanked chunks of the engine away from the purple cybot. It rolled away, out of control, as Sei released the grapple and let the engine fall away. They had gone inland, and Sei watched as Mitsuyo's cybot spiraled towards an abandoned industrial site, smoke trailing from the damaged area.

'Eject, Kyo,' Sei silently implored, 'eject, eject! Your ship is in pieces; the best pilot in the world couldn't land it. You try and land, you'll kill yourself. You have no choice. Eject! Punch out now!'

Eternal seconds dragged by; Sei started to fear Kyo would try to land the doomed cybot. Then with a flare of rockets, the cockpit separated itself from the cybot, and jetted down towards the ground.

"Yes!" Sei hissed. She pulled Django away from the bulk of the cybot as it crashed to Earth. But the cockpit seemed to be spiraling out of control. Her heart leapt into her mouth as the cockpit crashed through the wall of an abandoned factory.

Leo's voice crackled over the com channel: "Sei? Give me an update…Sei?"

"Looks like Kyo ejected, but…" Sei swallowed. "Have lost visual contact. I'm going in."

"No, Sei," Leo said, "wait for back-"

Sei's hand stabbed a panel, turning off the coms. "Sorry, Leo," she muttered, and guided the giant robot towards landing.

8

8

"…Sei," Leo said into his cell phone in the back of the pursuing RAPT vehicle. "Sei!"

No answer.

"Damn it!" His eyes met Jo's. "And yes, Jo, this is what you put us through most of the time."

"Yeah," Jo said, "I was about to ask…"

8

8

Sei climbed down from Django and crept towards the hole in the wall made by the cybot's cockpit. She heard the RAPT vehicle land behind her but paid it no mind as she stepped into the abandoned factory. It was a clear night with a full Moon, and she could make out the cockpit a few yards ahead of her but saw no sign of life.

"Kyo…" she whispered.

Something moved in the shadows to her left. Sei barely dodged his jumping side kick to her head, Mitsuyo drifting a few yards behind him. On landing, Kyo fired off more kicks and punches. Sei deflected them and shoved him away. They circled each other.

'I can't keep this up forever,' Sei thought. 'I have to end this.' But how to do it without killing Kyo?

For the first time, she began to think that wouldn't be possible, and thought was a cold stone in her stomach.

8

8

Jo leapt from the Rapt vehicle as soon as it touched down, other vehicles behind hit. "All units hold your fire," she ordered into her headset as she drew a Desert Eagle and crept forwards, several yards behind Sei. "No one fires on Kyohei Tachibana but me. I say again-"

Sei had gone through the hole in the building and something jumped at her from her left. Jo halted and raised her gun as Kyo and Sei started fighting.

Even at this range, she knew she would not miss Kyo.

"C'mon, Brother," she hissed, "snap out of it. Don't make me put you down…"

8

8

"Kyo," Sei said, "I don't want to hurt you-"

"Oh, *now* you don't want to hurt me?"

Kyo fired off a kick; Sei avoided it, but not as smoothly as she would have liked.

"Mitsu…Eriko said you have a lot of grievances," Sei said. "If you would tell me what they are, maybe we can work this out. It's not too late, Kyo."

Kyo stopped and gawked at her. "Are you serious? Are you really that thick? All this time I've thought of you as a superbrain, some kind of mastermind, but after all this are you just a brainless bimbo who couldn't take a hint?"

Sei didn't let the insults faze her. "What hints, Kyo?"

"What hints?" Kyo snapped. "Oh, I dunno, how about something like…QUITTING ON MY FIRST DAY! How's that for a hint? Or maybe I was too subtle for you?"

"You…you'd been through a lot. And you blamed yourself for Meg getting kidnapped-"

"I didn't want this!" Kyo shouted. "I didn't want any of this. Mechs, cybots, glowing brains, tits and ass in my face – BAILAN! You think I wouldn't figure it out? Or do you just not know about their rackets in the food wholesale markets? I thought I knew your blue coats from somewhere, and once I figured it out, the safest thing to do was to act dumb. By the way, everyone in your gang wearing a uniform is not a good way to be inconspicuous. But as I was saying, if I could do it all over again, I never would have cooked that damned meal. I was just trying to be nice, but you had to show up at the school the next day, as if you knew where I was the whole time. I was afraid if I said, 'No,' you'd go after my family, or just send Jo to drag me out of there-"

"No, Kyo, I would never-"

"Oh, please! You're a freaking mobster, Sei! Don't tell me what you wouldn't do. But I thought if I just annoyed you enough, I wouldn't be worth killing and you'd just fire me."

Sei frowned. "Annoy?"

"The cookies," Kyo said. "Why do you think I kept bringing cookies? You said you didn't want the girls eating junk food. You said you wanted me to make them something substantial. I thought if I kept indulging Meg and Amy's sweet habits, you'd read me the riot act and fire me. But you never did. I went to Osaka to try and focus on cooking, maybe think about things and get my head on straight. But you guys showed up and trashed the town! What, surprised I recognized Django? I felt trapped, like you would never let me leave. I had to beat the snot out of you to make you mad at me. But you still won't let go, you still keep coming back…" He fidgeted, agitated and then started screaming: "I HATE YOU! I HATE YOUR GIRLS! I HATE YOUR WORLD! I HATE THE THINGS I'VE SEEN AND DONE BECAUSE OF YOU! I WISH I'D NEVER MET YOU! I WANT YOU GONE!"

Sei blinked, stopped in her tracks, and relaxed her guard. She couldn't believe Kyo actually hated her, but that didn't mean everything was perfect, and she saw now it hadn't been. Mitsuyo had been right. The glowing brain may have fanned the flames of Kyo's anger and frustration, but Sei had lit the fires in the first place and had chosen not to see the signs of them.

"Kyo, you're right," she said, lowering her arms to her sides. "I haven't been fare to you. I kept you around for my own selfish reasons and I didn't think of you-"

"Oh, yeah? What reasons are those, Sei?"

"It doesn't matter, Kyo. The important thing is I have been selfish and foolish, and you have paid the price for it. I can't undo the past. But if you want my life in payment…it's yours."

Kyo sprang in. He kicked Sei in the stomach and followed up with a knee to the same point. Sei doubled over and fell to her knees as he stepped back. Then he spotted a 50 centimeter long piece of rebar lying against the wall. He picked it up and turned to advance on Sei.

8

8

Jo could only watch as Kyo fought Sei, noting how other RAPT and NPA officers ringed the building. Then they stopped fighting; she couldn't hear what they were saying, but she heard Kyo raising his voice.

"I HATE YOU!" he screamed. "I HATE YOUR GIRLS! I HATE YOUR WORLD! I HATE THE THINGS I'VE SEEN AND DONE BECAUSE OF YOU! I WISH I'D NEVER MET YOU! I WANT YOU GONE!"

Sei lowered her arms and said something quietly; more words were exchanged. Then Kyo kicked and kneed Sei in the stomach. She doubled over as Kyo stepped back. Then he picked up a piece of rebar.

Jo aimed at his head as her finger slipped inside the trigger guard, and for the first time in her life, found herself hoping she wouldn't have to shoot.

8

8

Kyo took a step forward, then stopped. His whole body shook.

Sei dared to hope. "K-Kyo?" she rasped.

Kyo vomited some green goo. Then he turned and threw the rebar at Mitsuyo; she dodged easily.

Holding his stomach and retching, Kyo collapsed in a heap.

8

8

Jo snapped her weapon skyward as her finger left the trigged. "Medic!" She started running.

8

8

"Kyo!" Sei fought the pain in her stomach and started to crawl to him as fast as she could. She heard Jo shout "Medic!" and pounding feet.

Sei got to Kyo and rolled him into her lap, holding one of his hands. Kyo was shaking like a leaf, his eyes rolled back into his head.

"C'mon, Kyo," she said, "stay with me…"

Jo fell to Sei's side with a RAPT medic, Meg coming close behind.

"Sei," Jo said, "you need to get out of the medic's way…"

"Ma'am…" the medic pleaded.

"Sei," Jo said, "you have to let go."

Sei glared at Jo, but reluctantly let go. Then she saw Mitsuyo drifting farther into the shadows.

The medic spied the glowing brain. "What the hell is that?"

Meg was at the medic's elbow. "Focus on your patient. Let us worry about the weird crap."

Sei climbed to her feet, more or less able to stand up straight. "Mitsuyo…wait…" She shambled after the brain, Jo a pace behind. She started to catch up to it on the far side of the cockpit. "Mitsuyo!"

The brain stopped and turned to 'face' her.

"Please wait," Sei said, coming to within two meters of it. "Please…It's over, Mitsuyo. You couldn't turn Kyo into a cold blooded killer no matter how hard you tried-"

"And you want to gloat now?"

"No. Just say this…You really were my best friend. I loved you very much. I would have spent a lifetime as Tamiko if I could have. But I couldn't. I had obligations. I…" Sei trailed off. She took some deep breaths, then went on: "I can't undo the past, Mitsuyo. But I can make a better future…for both of us." She took a step closer to what was left of her old playmate, her old victim. "Come back to Bailan with me. Help us find out who did this to you. We can take down the enemy together. And then…maybe, somehow, we can help you."

Mitsuyo didn't move; she seemed to be weighing Sei's words. Then she drifted a little closer. "Can you give me back the years I've lost, Tamiko?" she asked sadly. "Can you give me the wind in my hair or the sun on my face? Or the feeling of a boy's first kiss?"

A tear shot down Sei's cheek. "No. I wish to God I could."

"And I wish this little victory over me could give you a happily ever after, but it won't."

"What…?" Sei turned and looked over her shoulder. "You mean..?"

"No, Sei," Mitsuyo said, "Kyo will be all right as soon as my drugs drain out of his system. That's not what I meant. You were right, Sei. I do know what you're up against, and you don't have a prayer. You and your girls were doomed before you even started, and you had no idea. Even now, you're too proud to believe it's already over for you, but it's true. Whether or not you admit your feelings for Kyo, steal whatever little moments you can with him, because it'll be over before you know it."

"I will," Sei croaked. "I swear it."

Mitsuyo brushed a tentacle against Sei's cheek. "Goodbye, Tamiko. I'll save a place for you in hell."

Mitsuyo wrapped her tentacles around Sei and Jo's throats and flung them away from her, sending the two women sprawling. Then Mitsuyo flew towards a high window, glowing brightly with her tentacles extended.

Sei and Jo got to their feet. They both realized what Mitsuyo had in mind.

Sei started after her. "No, Mitsuyo-"

Jo grabbed Sei's shoulders and forced them both face first to the ground as Mitsuyo went out the high window. They heard the gunshots instants later – startled troopers opening up with automatic weapons fire.

The night sky outside was lit by a brilliant arc light.

The explosion – Mitsuyo's detonation – rocked the building.

Sei's tears streamed down her cheeks and into the dirt by her face.