Disclaimer: All Love Hina characters belong to Ken Akamatsu as their creator. But the ones you've never seen in Love Hina before (Shinsei, ALL talking Mecha-Tama and their Boss, and the cast of TR) are no doubt made up by me.
A dark brown haired young man hurriedly
walked into the sophisticated room. "Well, how's it going?"
A jet-black haired young man, who was sitting on the right
seat of three, turned to him. "Good. She's received our package and is now
exploring the hallways."
"She's very determined." A blonde girl added. She
was sitting on the left seat.
The newly came man nodded. He then sat on the middle chair as
he asked, "And has she read it all?"
The jet-black haired man consulted the pad he was carrying.
"The Box is replying. Ah, she...what the..?"
The two people next to him turned to him with wondering
stares.
"The Box replied that she only read 89% of the
document." the jet-black haired man said.
The middle man grunted. "I knew it. I should've put it before
the hint."
"The warnings?" the blond girl asked.
The middle man nodded. "That hallway is full of traps.
If she didn't know which one's where and how to avoid them..."
"But they've got that special Mecha-Tama with
them." the jet-black haired man reasoned. "And he just made contact
with the Hallway Trap System and have downloaded partial layout."
"Only partial." the middle man reminded. "And
he knew that if he tried to find out more, the Mecha-Tama would find them before
they can blink."
"So...?" the blonde girl asked.
The middle man sighed. "We can no longer help directly.
We can only hope that nothing goes wrong."
"Relax." the girl said, putting a hand on the
middle man's shoulder. "They're quite a team. Like us."
LOVE HINA: Super Duper Special Episode! #8
The Empire Underneath III: CONCLUSION
Chapter 3: Some Things are Better Left Unknown
"You've got to be kidding!" Keitaro
exclaimed.
Shinsei shook his head. "I'm not!" he insisted.
"ALL the orders I received are signed with his digital signature. No one
can duplicate it. He's still alive!"
"But I have vanquished him." Motoko argued.
"Probably nothing. Mechanical creatures are not affected
by normal magic." Shinsei said.
Mitsune slammed a fist onto her palm. "Ah! I saw a shiny
thing flew from that piece of man which was caught by one of the Mecha-Tama
before they ran away."
Shinsei nodded. "That must be his Personal ID Chip. If
that's not destroyed, he can live again and again."
Silence came for a moment.
"And my grandpa?" Nyamo asked.
Keitaro turned to her. "Ah, I almost forgot. Gomen, ne,
Nyamo-chan. Of course. We'll look for them now." he said as he went to take
a step.
"Iie! Don't move!" Shinsei exclaimed, making
everyone stop on their tracks, including Keitaro who had half a step going.
"We have to be careful." said Shinsei. "There're traps all over
this hallway."
"T-Traps?" Shinobu wailed. "Are they
dangerous?"
Shinsei shook his head. "I only got partial layout of
it. Most of it are pitfalls. Not too deep, but some are high enough to terminate any
human." he said.
"T-Terminate..." Keitaro repeated as he cancelled
his half step.
"But my grandpa!" Nyamo insisted.
"We have to watch our step." Shinsei said. "If
we step on any of those pressure sensitive panels..."
"But we've got to hurry!" Nyamo began stomping. One
of her stomps suddenly left a mark on the floor, and a distinct chirp.
Everyone paled. "T-That must be one of the traps."
Shinsei said.
"But what?" Naru asked.
A rumbling sound began to intensify and the vicinity began to
shake. Something began to appear far in the darkness of one end of the
hallway. "What's that?" Keitaro asked.
"Boulder Bash!" Shinsei exclaimed as he saw that
the object was a HUGE boulder rolling towards them, ready to crunch them into
unrecognizable chunks. "HASHIRE!"
Without further words, the Hinata-sou residents, along with
Nyamo, ran towards the darkness of the hallway, trying desperately to get away
from the boulder. Despite their agility, the boulder were gaining on them.
"Into that room!" Shinsei exclaimed, pointing into
a door on the left.
As they came towards the door, Shinsei jumped and bashed
through the door, opening the way. The rest of them followed him into the room,
missing the boulder by a few inches.
Shinsei stood up and went to the door. He turned and saw the
boulder went on its way. Sounds of puffing breaths were behind him. He turned
around. "We did it." he said. Then he frowned. "Chotto!
Where's Keitaro-san and Naru-san?"
Everyone in the room looked at each other. In the room were
Mitsune, Motoko, Nyamo, Shinobu and Shinsei. "Where are they?" Motoko
asked.
"Masaka...they didn't manage to..." Mitsune said.
"Then that means...they're still...!"
Just then, a series of clicks were heard. The source was
intelligible. "What's that?!" Mitsune exclaimed.
The series of clicks repeated again. Shinobu jumped to hug
Shinsei's arm, Motoko went on guard, while Mitsune and Nyamo looked around.
The clicks repeated again. Shinsei tensed. "That's Morse
code. Fast forward. Let's see...'please come, under rug, I help'." Shinsei deciphered
the code.
"Ah! Sore wa...!" Mitsune pointed to the corner of
the room.
A figure clearly visible under an old, dusty rug. Shinsei
went to it and pulled the rug, showing an almost fully destroyed doll.
"Moe-chan!" Shinobu, Mitsune, and Motoko exclaimed.
"What the hell happened to her!?" Mitsune asked.
Moe looked terrible. Parts of her hands, legs, body and even
head was taken away. Her expression was a mix of sadness and anger. She pulled her stare up towards Shinsei with staggering
movements.
"Kyaa! Oni!!" Shinobu cried as she clutched at
Shinsei's arm..
"She can still move!" Motoko was alerted, but
Shinsei extended an arm, stopping her from doing anything.
Then the clicks began again.
"I'll translate." said Shinsei. "'I was
dismantled for parts useful for their growth.'"
"Their growth?" Mitsune asked. "You mean, the
Mecha-Tama?!"
Moe nodded staggeringly. It seemed that her movement
mechanism was also broken. She then clicked again.
"'I have revenge if I out of body.'" Shinsei
translated.
Motoko's eyes twitched. "Revenge, you said?"
Moe then suddenly fell limp. A second later, before anyone
got a chance to do anything, Motoko's sword shook.
Motoko quickly pulled out her blade and was astonished to see
the blade had changed color. Red, brown. Blood-red? No. It was sepia colored.
"N-Nani...? She chose to reside in my sword?!"
"Anoo, what about Urashima-sensei and Naru-sensei?"
Shinobu asked.
"Ah!" Mitsune exclaimed. "That's right! We've
got to find them! Let's go!"
"But my sword!" Motoko insisted.
"Let her be in there for a while, Motoko-chan."
Mitsune said. "We've got to find them!"
"And my grandpa!" Nyamo exclaimed.
"Yes, he too, Nyamo-chan."
"Come on!" Shinsei went outside, followed by the
others.
After a few second of running, they found a huge hole on the
floor. Not big enough for the boulder, but big enough for two people to fall
into. "Y-You don't say they fell, do you?" Mitsune asked.
"They couldn't have jumped over it." Shinsei
reasoned. "And their chance of survival is better if they fall rather than
continue being chased by that boulder.
Shinobu went to the edge of the hole. "Sensei! Are you
there?"
"There? There? There?" Shinobu's echo returned the
question.
"We should find another way." said Shinsei.
Just then, Motoko felt her sword pulling her towards a wall
like a metal towards a magnet.
"N-Nani...?"
"Maybe Moe-chan wanted to tell us something?"
Shinobu asked.
"Perhaps a secret passage." Shinsei said.
"Let's try to find it!"
Love Hina: The Empire Underneath III: CONCLUSION - Not For Sale or Rent :)
SHORT FLASHBACK
"Into that room!" Shinsei
exclaimed.
But Keitaro was running too far from the side where the room
was. He couldn't get there on time. He missed the room. The boulder was still
behind him, and he was still running as fast as he can. "Rats!" he
exclaimed.
"Rats too!" Naru exclaimed next to him. Apparently
she didn't succeed either.
"Naru! If this is the end...!" Keitaro began to
say, but suddenly he didn't feel the ground under his feet.
A millisecond later, "Naruuuu...!" he exclaimed as
he dropped into a seemingly endless pit.
"Keitarooo...!" Naru exclaimed beside him as she
fell into the same pit.
"Ugh! Ack!" Keitaro landed on his back on the hard
floor. Then another thing landed on him, making him fall into unconsciousness.
END FLASHBACK
Keitaro opened his eyes. 'Huh?' he
thought. He then tried to open it wider, but he still couldn't see anything. He
then felt something heavy on his stomach. He tried to move.
"Ah! Keitaro...you're still alive!" Naru's
concerned voice was heard. It was sore, as if she's been crying.
Keitaro then felt her arms around him. He hugged her back.
"I won't die that easily." he said.
Naru stifled a cry. "When I felt you limp and I couldn't
see you, I was so worried!" she cried.
Keitaro patted her back as he tried to calm her down.
Naru took a few deep breaths. She then let her hug go, but
never let Keitaro out of her reach. "Gomen, ne, Keitaro. I guess I survived
because I fell onto you." she said.
Keitaro chuckled. "That's alright. I wish I could do
more than just saving your life." he said. "Like getting us out of
here."
Naru sighed. "Where is here, actually?"
"This must be one of the pitfalls Shinsei-kun told us
about." Keitaro said. "We're lucky it's not too deep. Or we might be
'terminated'."
"Oh, don't say such terrible things!" Naru pouted.
Keitaro chuckled. He then tried to stand up. A tug was on his
shirt.
"Where're you going, Keitaro?" Naru asked.
"I'm trying to find out if we can climb ourselves out of
this." Keitaro replied, pulling Naru up to stand as well.
Nyamo ran her hand along the boarded wall.
Suddenly, a piece of board was pressed in. "Here!" she exclaimed.
Everyone turned to her. A door opened up next to the panel
she had pressed. After the door was a stair going down. It was too dark to see
the end of the stair.
"S-Should we g-go in there?" Shinobu asked,
clutching on Shinsei's arm all the time.
Motoko's sword glowed as if replying.
"H-Hey...!" Motoko couldn't resist herself from moving as the spirit
in her sword took over her feet. She descended the stairs.
"Oy! Matte!" Mitsune went to follow her, Nyamo
right behind her.
"Come on." Shinsei said to Shinobu.
"I'm scared, Shinsei-kun." Shinobu said with a timid
expression.
"Daijobu." Shinsei held her arm tight. "I'm
here with you."
Shinobu blushed a bit. She then went down the stairs, Shinsei
exactly next to her.
"They are descending the main stairs,
Boss." a Mecha reported. "It seemed that the old doll's leading them
to us, right as planned."
"Very good." the Boss replied. "I'll soon have
enough flesh and blood to create my human body. Capture them. Alive."
"Understood." the Mecha replied before disappearing
into the darkness.
"You are my ultimate creation." A mechanical sound
was heard. It seemed that it was the panel again. "I am proud that you have
acquired 'The Attribute'."
"I am proud to be able to acquire it from you, Supreme
Computer." the Boss bowed.
Keitaro sat on the darkness with a sigh.
"I can't see at thing. How can I find an exit?" he asked himself. He
felt a presence next to him, then a hug on his arm, then a head on his shoulder.
"Ne, Keitaro. If we can't find a way out of
here..."
"Don't say that, Naru." Keitaro cut. "We will
find a way."
Naru smiled in the darkness. "Are you always this
optimistic?"
"To the point of stubbornness." Keitaro chuckled.
"Or I might quit after the third failure into Todai."
Silence fell for a moment. "Ne, Keitaro. You do
realize that we're alone in the dark, right?"
"...So?" Keitaro asked back.
Her reply wasn't of words, but action. She pushed Keitaro to
lie down on the clod stone floor and snuggled herself to his side.
"H-Hey, Naru, this really isn't the time for this."
Keitaro said. But he couldn't do more than just returning the kisses Naru gave
him.
"How far do these stairs go?"
Mitsune grunted as she began to feel tired. They have been going down the stairs
for about 10 minutes and there haven't been any sign of it ending. "If we
continue like this, we'll end up in Iraq."
Shinsei hummed. "You're right." he said.
"Calculating the latitude and longitude and also our angle of descend, if
we continue, we will turn up in Iraq."
Mitsune raised an eyebrow. "I was right? Well, that's
seldom happening."
Just about then, they arrived on the end of the flight of
stairs. "Finally..." Mitsune sighed.
A figure suddenly appeared out of the darkness surrounding
the end of the stairs. It was the Mecha Boss, in his first full metal
human-shaped body. Shinsei could feel his processor creating Fear inside him. If
only he knew how to turn it off...
"S-Sore wa..." Shinobu gulped.
Motoko gritted her teeth as her sword began to tremble. The
spirit within it was agitated by the Mecha Boss' presence.
The Mecha Boss walked calmly towards them. "5H1N-531! I finally found you!" he said. "I'm going to DESTROY
you!"
"Not if I can destroy you first!" Shinsei replied
bravely. Partly because he's sick of him, and another part was because Shinobu
was clinging to his arm.
"I have no use of you, but I need your friends to make a
human body. So, no hard feelings, okay?" The Mecha Boss raised his hand.
Keitaro broke his kiss as he felt the
vicinity rumbled. "What was that?" he asked.
"I don't know." Naru replied. "Sounds like an
explosion."
Just then, very faint light passed through into the dark
room. "Look! An exit!" Keitaro rose towards it and found that it was a
thin rock wall. He gathered his power and pulled the rest of it, revealing a
flight of stairs.
"Stairs?" Naru asked as she arrived behind him.
"Where should we go, Keitaro?" she asked.
Suddenly, another explosion was heard from below, along with
a lady's scream. It was..."S-Shinobu-chan!" Keitaro was, undoubtedly,
shocked.
'We've got to help her!" Naru exclaimed.
Without further ado, they ran down the stairs.
Shinsei slammed onto the rock wall, followed
by Shinobu's scream. "Onegai! Yamete kudasai!" she exclaimed as she
ran towards the flickering Shinsei. "Daijobu desu ka, Shinsei-kun?"
she asked.
Shinsei flickered uncontrollably. "M-My outer skeleton
is damaged. P-Power management unstable." he replied flatly.
"S-Shinsei-kun!" Shinobu exclaimed.
Shinsei flickered again. His eyes flashed before they closed.
"Iie! Shinsei-kun! Don't die on me again!"
Shinobu exclaimed.
"R-Relax, Shinobu-chan...M-My reserved power is enough
t-to keep me on backup. S-Su-chan should be a-able to fix me w-with ease."
Shinsei said before losing his power, thus his projection dissolved, leaving a
half burnt Mecha-Tama on Shinobu's hands.
Shinobu held the Mecha-Tama to her chest, crying.
"Please be alright, Shinsei-kun..."
"And now..." the Mecha Boss grinned wickedly. He
right palm was gone, replaced by a smoking pulse cannon, which had been fired
twice. "The rest of you should be a piece of cake."
TO BE CONTINUED...
Trailer for next chapter: "You've got to be kidding!" Mitsune exclaimed. "That...thing...is your grandfather?!" snip "Have you a wish?"/"Yes." Shinsei replied firmly. "I would like to be a human." snip "So...Shinsei-kun...you're now a...?" Shinobu stuttered./Shinsei nodded. "Yes, Shinobu-chan. We can finally be together." end
Author's Note: I can't believe this part got to its 4th chapter!
I was afraid that this chapter would never be finished, but I was wrong! Enjoy
the finale on the last chapter, along with the epilogue for the trilogy. Anyway, here's even more translations. Anything
that had been explained in the first and second chapter won't be here, so be sure to check
the previous chapters too. If I miss some, or you felt (or have proof) that I'm wrong, or you
need more explanation, or anything at all, do
mail me at my current address storymasterq@icqmail.com.
Sorry if it's somehow a mess. ^_~
Hashiru : to run
(V)
(Changing the Japanese letter 'ru' to 're' makes this verb a strong imperative.)
Oni : Demon (N)
Onegai :
Please
(Usually used in single word sentences or beginning of begging/soft imperative
sentences.)
Yameru : to stop
(V) (Changing
the letter 'ru' to 'te' makes this verb a soft imperative. Added with 'kudasai'
makes it a
kind of a beg.)