A/N – Thanks all for the latest reviews. Judging by the common reaction, it seems like the last chapter caused a bit of a stir. Not surprising really considering how it ended, but I'm guessing you'll prefer the end of this one.

BTW sorry for the delay. Using school/university work is such a tired excuse for bringing out chapters late, but it's a very valid one despite that, so I'll make use of it again here. Believe me, I'd much rather be writing this than some essay about British trade during the nineteenth century, but unfortunately my tutor sees things differently.

This chapter is dedicated to my new cousin once removed, who was born last Wednesday. ^_^

Twenty-Five

            The tenseness brought on by the prospect of finding Ruri was more than sufficient to stretch their nerves to the limit. The shrill siren when it came was enough to shatter them completely, causing both Yurika and Akito to double over as the breath was knocked from them. It was a bolt from the blue – one moment everything was calm and inactive, then suddenly the lights on the consoles started flashing manically and the alarm sounded like the call of the devil. Had they not known better, they would have both sworn a Jovian attack was in progress. 

            "What the hell?!" snorted Yano, immediately pacing over to the nearest console. "Report Lieutenant!" 

            "Something's not right, Sir!" replied the operator, who was frantically hammering the keys at his workstation having recovered from the initial shock. "It's the Nadesico's computer, it's raising the alarm!"

"Impossible!" barked the commander. "The computer was deactivated! There must be another malfunction in the security system!"

"Sir!" called out one of the other men from across the room. "I've just detected two intruders onboard the Nadesico!"

"What!?" roared Yano, angry veins emerging on his scalp.

"Yes, two unidentified persons are on the bridge! Somehow the security system has been masking them until now."

"Ruri!" screamed Yurika, throwing all caution away as she raced over to look at his station. "It has to be!"

"Yeah!" exclaimed Akito, rushing up beside her. "But who's with her?"        

"How in the name of Mars did they get onboard?" snarled Yano. "I want a security team down there immediately! They cannot be allowed to get away!"

            "Yes Sir!"

"Wait!" squealed Yurika. "It's Ruri, it must be! Let us go onboard so…"

"You are going nowhere!" bellowed Yano, shoving a finger at her before striding from the room. Yurika attempted to follow him, but a security guard, previously standing quietly in the corner, stepped forward to block her way. In desperation, Yurika turned around to her boyfriend and stared helplessly at him.

"What do we do Akito!?" she shrieked hysterically.

"Er, I don't know," he blurted, his mind hopelessly blurred all this sudden commotion. "Maybe we should just see how this pads out?"

"It's Ruri, Akito! I know it's her!" Yurika continued, her pretty face animated with exhilaration and panic. "We have to get down there now! If the guards find her, they'll arrest her! Or even worse, they'll scare her away and we'll never find her!"

"Damn!" She was right of course. Chances were that Ruri wouldn't stick around if she knew she'd been discovered. Furthermore, with trespassers detected on the Nadesico, there was no way he and Yurika would be allowed onboard, at least not in the foreseeable future. But if they didn't go to her now, Ruri would flee and they'd lose the one lead they had on her. He grunted in frustration at the impossible predicament. But with the UEAF guards around, what could they possibly do?

"Ruri," he murmured quietly as he stared down at the inactive ship in the hanger.

*          *            *

The sudden invasion of klaxons, sirens and flashing red lights where there had formerly been silence and darkness was nothing less than explosive. Matador, who'd been licking his teeth in satisfaction at the time, had bitten his tongue hard, adding irritation to the jolt of this sudden fireworks display. With a filthy curse, he stepped over the child's body to reach the console and started bashing it with his fists, futilely trying to stop the alarm. He couldn't be discovered now! The girl had to be dead before he could leave!

            "Stop!" he barked, "Shut the fuck up, you piece of crap!" 

            Unsurprisingly, the system didn't concede to his brute strength, responding only to IFS implants. Nevertheless, Matador persevered with a persistence possessed only by the greatest of idiots. Bright sparks fizzled up as he battered the control surface again and again.

"No! I will not let you sour my triumph, you bitch!"

*          *            *

"Please, I'm begging you!" cried Yurika, looking up at the security guard with wide imploring eyes and a ridiculously pitiable expression. "Please let us go!"

Akito knew that she was wasting her breath. The UEAF men were professionals and wouldn't go against their orders, no matter how much womanly charm she mustered. But he wasn't surprised she was persisting despite the hopeless odds – it just wasn't in her nature to give up. 

"We have to do something. Anything!" he decided. "We can't let Ruri slip through our fingers, not when we're this close!"

He walked over to window again, looking into the hanger for ideas. He looked down at the long white tunnel that connected the building and the cargo bay of the Nadesico. That was the only real way to access the ship. Unfortunately, it bound to be heavily guarded, so they wouldn't be able to use it even if the security guard did let them out of the room. There was no other way of getting onboard without being in plain sight of the UEAF security. As far as he could see it was utterly hopeless. He didn't want to give up on Ruri, but there seemed to be no plausible way he could help her. He slumped down against the window in despondency, then looked up as Yurika, completely exasperated from her failed attempts to negotiate with the security guard, strode up next to him and stared down at the ship she had once commanded.

"There must be a way Akito!" she cried. "Ruri's down there and I'm not going to stand by and let the UEAF take her away from us. There must be a way to reach her before they do!"

"Well, I'm thinking Yurika, but I really don't know what we can do," he replied, scratching his chin solicitously. "There's no way we can get to the Nadesico under the noses of the guards."

"I know, but maybe we could contact her somehow. Or maybe we can reason with Commander Yano. Or maybe…" She suddenly trailed off, her eyes darting back to the ship. As he looked over to her for the rest of her sentence, he saw something rise slowly in her face. She regarded the hanger a moment longer with her mouth parted a fraction, as if she was considering something. Then suddenly inspiration flared up in her eyes and she turned to him, her voice shrill with excitement.

"Akito, I've got it! The computer!"

"What?!" Akito said, giving her a look of puzzlement as she ran forward and took both his hands in hers.

"We can use the computer, Akito!" she cried breathlessly.

"Huh?" Akito couldn't see what she was on about.

She shook his arms frenziedly, urging him to understand. "We can bosun jump!"

Of course. It never ceased to astound him that she could seem so air-headed until the situation required a moment of brilliance. With the Martian computer here, they could jump onto the Nadesico without even needing a CC! It was perfect – they could board the Nadesico in a second, bypassing the guards completely! Having finally grasped her thought, he tightened his grip on her hands.

"Okay Yurika, let's try it! Let's focus on the bridge and see what happens."

"Yes!" Yurika nodded eagerly.

Both of them closed their eyes and cast their thoughts back to that memorable chamber which had been the nerve centre of the Nadesico. Akito thought of the unique tiered layout of the room. Of lovely Yurika, standing at the very top of it all, commanding her tiny kingdom from above. Of reliable Jun, always there by her side come rain or shine. Of virtuous Megumi, down and to the left, her pleasant voice relaying all communications to the captain. Of capable Minato on the right side, operating her controls with the ease of an expert. And there, in the centre of them all, little Ruri. Always in the background, but doing her job with a competence and devotion unrivalled by anyone in the crew.

It was working, Akito could feel it. The familiar light-headed sensation had entered his mind and his skin was tingling as his hairs stood on end. He opened his eyes slightly to see Yurika's body covered in those bizarre bands of light that preceded a jump. No doubt, his own was similarly marked. He allowed himself a grin as he heard the surprised cries of the UEAF men, knowing they were too late to stop them. A second later they jumped, without leaving a trace in their wake.

*          *            *

Every time he bosun-jumped, his senses were drowned out by an overwhelming white light. This time was no exception and because of that it took a few moments for his eyesight to return. After three seconds, he could make out the familiar features of the Nadesico's bridge and knew that their jump had been successful. After five, he noticed a tall dark figure messing around with one of the control surfaces. It took him a full seven seconds before he could really see clearly again and it was then that he noticed the child lying beside the stranger's feet.

Ruri. Prone, unconscious and quite possibly dead.

"Oh my God," His mouth instantly went dry as the shock of actually finding her was overwhelmed by the terror he felt at seeing her like this. What had happened to her? Was she hurt? Was she even alive? He found himself paralysed with dread as he considered the unthinkable possibility that he was staring at Ruri's corpse. Yurika on the other hand, had no problem in expressing her fear. 

            "RURI!" she screamed, her hands rushing to her face in horror.

At her voice the unfamiliar man spun around in shock, revealing a youthful, but scarred face with one eye covered by a black bandana. He saw them instantly and snarled, his hand diving swiftly into his trench coat. Akito's finely honed reflexes came into play as he anticipated what was about to happen. Snapping out of his horrified trance, he threw himself forward just as the man pulled out his gun. The two men collided and fell down against the console, the weapon scattering across the deck away from them. Akito used his momentum advantage to force the dark-haired man down against the control surface, ardent wrath rising in his eyes. Letting the adrenaline rush fuel his burning rage, he drew his fist back and drove it hard into the other man's jaw. 

"What have you done to her, you bastard!" he screamed, as he struck him again and again, rage building with each blow. His victim yelled out as each hit connected and marred his already horrific face even further. 

            "I'll kill you! I'll fucking kill you!" Akito had lost control, now fully absorbed in the state of fury that always possessed him in the heat of a battle. Rational thoughts fled his mind, leaving him as a machine of madness, fixed only on pummelling his victim. His enraged fists drew blood and broke teeth mercilessly, but still he refused to stop, his thoughts focused only on punishing the man who'd threatened the life of his princess.

The fight was one-sided until Akito brought back his fist back to deliver his ultimate punch. It was then that the other man retaliated, pushing him back with a sudden burst of strength. Akito was knocked off balance and couldn't block the kick to his mid-section, nor the punch to the head that followed that. He fell back, rolling with the blow and then stood up straight again only to be downed as the other man lunged at him with a roar. Both man tumbled to the floor, grappling wildly at each other like fighting wolves. Akito suddenly found himself pinned on his back, desperately fending his foe's hands off his neck. 

"AKITO!" screamed Yurika, clasping both hands across her mouth. Ever since the fight had started, she'd down nothing but stand there and gape, her attention torn between the unconscious girl on the floor and the brutal physical contest in which her boyfriend was engaged.

"Yurika, get the gun. Get the gun!" Akito shouted, using all his strength to hold back his opponent's throttling hands. Yurika just stood there, dumbly rooted to the spot with her mouth ajar in fear. With a frustrated oath through gritted teeth, Akito tried to summon more strength. Unfortunately the man on top had gravity on his side and Akito could feel his arms beginning to buckle under the strain.

Brute strength wasn't working, Akito needed another idea. He'd seen action heroes do it in the movies several times and considering it was the only part of his body that he could currently move, it made perfect sense to use it. So, with an animal snarl to give him power, he hurled his forehead forward to strike his oppressor.

Right in his wounded eye socket.

If it had been painful for him, it must have been totally agonising for his adversary. Upon contact, the dark man writhed back with a wretched howl, one hand frenziedly clutching at his face. Akito took advantage of his foe's lost strength and shoved him aside, meeting no resistance as he did so. Without wasting a second, he regained his footing and scrambled frantically over to where the pistol had landed. He hastily snatched it up, turned around and aimed at the stranger, who was gradually and painfully picking himself up.

"Hands in the air, you scumbag!"

The injured man, stood slowly, raising both his hands in surrender. While his body language indicated submission, his face was still contorted with pain and hatred. But his expression was nothing compared to the mess in his right eye socket, hideous with infection, clotted blood and runny fluids, seeping out as a consequence of that head-butt. Akito couldn't stop himself from wincing.

"Akito!" Yurika's cry came from one side. He looked over to see her kneeling beside Ruri's fallen form, cradling the girl's limp head in her arms. "She's dying, Akito! She's…" Words failed her, a desperate gasp coming out instead.

Akito shot her another glance before looking back to the man he was holding at gunpoint. Although he still had his arms up, he was very slowly edging back towards the bridge's lower-level exit, now no more than ten metres behind him.  "Stay where you are!" Akito barked, reaffirming his grip on the pistol. The man grudgingly obeyed, his grim face obscured by the stream of blood and pus coming from his ruined eye. Keeping his aim fixed on him, Akito called out to Yurika.

"Is she breathing?"

Yurika replied between sobs. "Yes, but its very weak."

"What about her pulse, did you check her pulse?"

A few second passed as Yurika complied. "I…I can't feel it Akito!" she wailed eventually. "I think she's…she's…" she trailed off, burying her face in Ruri's white hair and weeping.

"Fuck," Akito gritted his teeth and narrowed his eyes as his concentrated on his captive again. Ruri needed him, but he wouldn't be able to help her until he'd dealt with her oppressor. Off the top his head, there were two ways to go about that - pulling the trigger or letting him off scot-free. All or nothing. 

Inside of him, his yearning to avenge Ruri waged a war with some of his own principles. The man before him had harmed one of the most important people in his life and by all rights deserved to die. But all the same he was unarmed, wounded and completely defenceless. How could a righteous man pull the trigger under such circumstances? But he had hurt Ruri…Akito swore under his breath at the dilemma.

In the end, decency prevailed.

"Aw hell, just beat it!" he shouted, lowering the gun and waving him off.

The other man stared at him with incredulity for a second, then took a hesitant step back. Then, seeing that Akito wasn't going to shoot him, he turned and bolted though the door. His sprinting footsteps echoed back into the room as he departed. Akito grunted in frustration – that had been one of the hardest things he'd ever had to do. But at least the distraction was out of the way now, leaving him free to address the priority.

"Ruri!"

Wasting no more time, he darted over to where Yurika was holding Ruri in her arms and crouched down by her. "Let me take a look at her," he murmured, softly as he could manage.

Yurika relaxed her hold on the girl, so Akito could see her properly. His first reaction was to cringe – Ruri looked like hell. Her skin was even paler than it normally was, having taken on a more sickly shade of white. A long cut ran across one cheek and her mouth was slightly parted, short, shallow breaths drifting from her pallid lips. Akito's hand was quivering as he pressed two forefingers against her neck, his own pulse quickening as he checked for hers.

"Please don't die on me Ruri."

There. After what seemed like an eternity he felt a tiny beat. Another came a second later, bringing a sigh of relief from Akito. Ruri was alive, but barely. She needed help and fast.   

            "Come on, I feel a heartbeat!" he found himself shouting, as he swept up the unconscious girl in his arms. "She's still alive, but we need to get her to a hospital ASAP!"

            Yurika nodded wanly and stood up next to him. Her cheeks were flushed with deep worry and her eyes were brimful with fresh tears.

"She can't die, Akito. Not now that we've found her."

            "Don't worry, she's going to be fine Yurika," he said, though he did not feel as confident as his words. The pasty girl in his arms looked dead already, with only her sporadic breathing to suggest the contrary. She was fading fast and unless they acted soon, they would lose their precious girl wonder forever.

"Don't worry, Ruri," he whispered, looking down at her. "There's no way in hell I'm going to let you die. Just hold on for us a little longer, okay?"

*          *            *

            Now with a severely bruised jaw to add to his battered body, broken ribs and sightless eye, Matador felt like he was disintegrating. After that brawl with the scrawny guy, even running was painful now and he found himself stopping at the end of each corridor to double over and gasp as sharp pains pierced through his chest.

            "That whoreson! He's vulture food if we meet again."

            He forced himself forward, trying to press on through the hurt. He'd have time to sit and lick his wounds later, right now he was still in very real danger. The alarms were still blaring out loud and he was certain that a security team would be on their way to investigate. Soon this place would be crawling with guards, but with the tunnel entrance bound to be secured, escape was practically impossible. Fortunately, Matador had a back-up plan. If he could lie low for a while on the ship, he could make his escape later on, when their guard was down. All he needed was a good hiding place, and there were more than enough of those on a ship of this size. He just hoped he found one before the security guards found him.       

At the corner, he halted briefly to wipe the blood off his split lip. He felt completely trashed. No denying that this trip had come with costs, but at least he'd completed what he'd come to do. The girl would die, there was no question of that. With the Matador's Cocktail toxin in her veins, she had the survival odds of a snowball in hell. That was the whole beauty of his masterpiece. It was incurable – once in the victim's system there was no way of treating it, medical help or otherwise. He was confident that it wouldn't take more than an hour to kill a child. She would grow weaker with every minute that passed until she eventually just ceased to live, like a dwindling campfire finally running out of fuel. It annoyed him that he wouldn't be present for the exact moment of her death. He'd wanted to savour her dying breath, knowing that it finally marked his conquest over the troublesome brat who'd brought his life to ruins. Furthermore, he'd wanted to chop off and keep the head – it would have looked good, stuffed and mounted on his wall.

"This way, the bridge is just up ahead,"

            Matador instinctively flattened himself against the wall as he heard human voices in the next corridor. The security team had arrived which was bad news for him. There was no way in hell he could outrun them, not in his condition. In desperation, he ran to the nearest door and tried to force it open, but it was locked fast and wouldn't budge. He was about to give up and make a run for it when suddenly he heard a chime from behind him. Turning around he saw his way out – an elevator had arrived across the corridor, its doors sliding open invitingly.

            "Ha! My luck's in!"

            He darted inside and immediately punched the button for the lowest level possible, figuring that there had to be a cargo bay around here somewhere where he could secrete himself until the heat cooled off. As the lift doors closed, he slumped against the wall, exhaling in relief. He was safe for now. At least that's what he thought until the lift went into motion.

            Something was wrong. The lift was moving upwards.

            Immediately taunt with panic, Matador reached over and pressed the button again. When the lift didn't respond, he began hitting it repeatedly but still nothing happened.

            "What the fuck?! This damn thing's broken!"

            He frantically stabbed the stop button, the 'open-doors' button and a few others. When they had no affect either, he bashed his palm against the control panel in angry desperation, but there was no reaction to that either. It was as if the elevator had suddenly acquired a mind of its own and was consciously defying him. Murmuring in anger, he conceded that he would have to ride this one out.

Eventually the lift came to a stop on the top level and Matador prepared to disembark, not wanting to stay in this fucked-up elevator any longer. However, almost inevitably, the doors refused to open for him. He tried the keypad again but it still wouldn't respond to his presses. With a quick curse, he applied his strength to the door, pulling against it with all his might. There was no way he was going to be shut in here, trapped like a rabbit in a snare for the UEAF to find!

It was no good. Human strength couldn't pull those doors apart. As frustration killed off his remaining self-control, he began to pummel the doors with an insane flurry of kicks and punches. His energy ran out within a minute, after which he just stood, breathing heavily and glaring at the metal door that opposed him.

Just as he was about to try his muscle against the door again, a communication screen rushed up before him. All his anger paled to horror as he read the message it displayed.

"Those Unforgivable Sins. For Them You Die."

He barely had time to register the words before the lift went into freefall and Omoikane plunged him screaming into oblivion.

*          *            *

The man who grants no mercy deserves none in return.

As he lay amid the wreckage at the bottom of the lift shaft, his body broken and his shoulder skewered by a thin metal girder, Matador felt a strange sense of calm descend on him. Maybe it was the promise of inevitable death, or simply the fact he was too weak to feel otherwise but whatever it was it had lifted the rage that normally clouded his thoughts. For the first time in a long time he was able to see things clearly, despite the fact the hour of his death was upon him.

Had he earned this fate for his sins over the past year? It certainly felt as if he deserved this, as if this destiny had been waiting for him ever since he'd devoted his life to ending those of others. He'd never really believed in any justice outside of his own selfish aims, but despite that everything seemed so right now. He had lived his life by making others suffer for his own gain. Never once had he felt remorse or sympathy for those whose lives he'd destroyed, in fact he'd delighted in their misery. That made him evil and a man better off dead.

So had he lived his life wrongly? Should he have chosen a different path, one more compassionate and less self-serving? A life that embraced the existence of others? Would that have made him a better man? Well, one thing was for sure. Had he adopted different values, he certainly wouldn't be here now, dying amid the debris. He dismissed those thoughts with a flicker of his mind. Now was not the time for regret.

Blood ran into his good eye as his breathing gradually ceased. Dropping his head in final defeat, he surrendered his ghost to whatever powers of judgement awaited it. His life of sin was over. The Matador had finally been gored.

A/N – Well, the bastard's dead. But I wouldn't crack open the bubbly just yet since Ruri's life is still hanging by a thread. Will Akito and Yurika be able to save her? 0_0

I'm afraid the next chapter may take a while since, like I said, I've still got a whole load of work to do. But since my term ends soon, I should have the whole thing finished before Christmas. ^_^

Two chapters to go…