Oh man. This has been awhile since I update. But I HAVE good reasons. Okay. Excuse A: I had finals the other week. . Excuse B: Work. I need money. Tis the season and my wallet is empty. . again. And Excuse C (the best one, and VERY true): My mother had back surgery for the second time this year and I really haven't had the time to write. I also don't know how often I'll be able to update once I get this one up. HOPEFULLY at twice a week, if not, at least once I'm shooting for. So bear with me. Oddly enough I though I would have MORE time on vacation. Apparently not. ::sigh:: Oh well. Please stick around. And I'm not going to be looking back and answering questions. Sorry. I'm just too lazy on this chapter. If you had a question and I didn't answer it and need it to be, repost it in a review and NEXT chapter I will start up the review responses again. Thanks for the understanding everyone!
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February 23, 2100
Lexiter walked off the plane and sighed as she looked around the small airport they landed in. On the next runway over the cargo plane with their cars was landing, another car rolling over to meet it. BlackJack looked her group over, grinning as she glanced at Auron, his sword strapped across his back with one arm out of the sleeve and resting in the jacket. Seifer was next and stood next to Auron while Zidane, Vivi, and Dagger formed their own group apart from them. Angel and Chaos Angel were the last off, eyeing the "Outsiders," as the newbies had been dubbed on the flight over by Seifer. Lexiter suppressed a grin as a limo pulled into their area and made a wide circle.
"Well, ladies and gentleman, we now get to meet the Emperor of Japan." She turned to the group. "Be on your best behaviors and don't say a word."
"What's an Emperor?" Vivi asked.
"It's the ruler of Japan from a VERY long line of royalty. Supposedly members from the same family have always held the position of Emperor." BlackJack said. Angel turned to her.
"It's true though. You see, awhile back they shifted the rule from Emperor to Prime Minister, and kept the Emperor for purely symbolic reasons. About fifty years ago there was some sort of decision that caused a change in the Japanese government and the rule was shifted back to the Emperor."
"Oh." Vivi said and they all turned to watch the limo stop. A few guards stepped out first and checked them before aiding a middle-aged man out of the limo. He smiled and bowed to them but stopped short upon seeing BlackJack.
"Oh no. Not you." He said, his accent somewhat heavy. "Why they send you? Why not someone else? Oh no." He muttered, hanging his head.
"Emperor Hoshigawa. What a pleasure to see you again." Lexiter said, her voice as pleasant as possible. Angel grinned and snorted, crossing her arms."
"Not pleasure to see you. Why they send you? Must be a mistake." He said in his broken English."
"Emperor, you must certainly be tired. Your English is very broken this time."
"No respect!" He said, throwing his hands up. "I speak with your surpervisors. Have them send others."
"I'm sorry Emperor, but there is no one else who could come." Hoshigawa frowned. "Forgive my rudeness." She turned to the group. "Outsiders, this is Emperor Ryuji Hoshigawa."
"Pleasure to meet you sir." Dagger said, bowing to the man. He looked down at her and smiled.
"Pleasure to meet you young lady. Such respect. I have not seen you before with Ms. Jackson. Are you a new member?" He asked, recalling that he had seen Angel and Chaos Angel before."
"Yes."
"Wonderful. Maybe someone will be able to curve her delightful blood thirst." He said, glaring at her. She stepped up to the shorter man and was pushed back by one of the guards.
"I thought we had gotten past that."
"You killed half my Elite Guard!" He said in shock.
"It's not my fault! They were working for the Archon Circle and would have killed you! I saved your ungrateful ass!"
"Watch your tone with the Emperor." One of the guards said, flashing the pistol at his side. BlackJack laughed and flicked her nose with her middle finger in his direction. He ignored it.
"You could have done it in a different fashion. Two of the men you killed were allies. You let your. . . your Berserker habits get the best of you." He said, searching for the right words.
"Still saved your ass. You wouldn't be alive if it weren't for me." Hoshigawa sighed and shook his head.
"Shall we move on to the problem at hand? Oni Arashi has been spotted with some creature who goes by the name of Koga around Tokyo."
"Creature?" Chaos Angle asked curiously.
"Really hard to describe. When you run into it, you'll see what I mean. We couldn't even tell you if it was male or female."
"How are we supposed to recognize it when we see it then? Can't you give us a little description?" Angel asked. Hoshigawa turned to one of the men in his group, the tallest and motioned to him.
"Kuru." He said. The man bowed and stepped forward. "This is Toshi. My bodyguard. He was one of the men who came across Arashi and Koga."
"And one of the few to survive." Toshi retorted. Angel smiled at the handsome man who towered over the shorter Emperor.
"Can you give us a description?" BlackJack asked. He nodded and bowed to her briefly.
"I can do better than that Miss BlackJack." He pulled a small envelope out of his jacket pocket and handed it to her. "Photos of Koga we managed to get. We usually have small cameras built into our equipment. The sights on the snipers' guns have them. This is how they were taken."
"Thank you. Have we uh, met before?"
"Yes. I was one of the few that survived when you were going crazy from the blood a few years ago." Lexiter winced.
"Yeah, sorry about that."
"No hard feelings. It's understandable. A berserker is never responsible for their actions. It's like saying a volcano purposely erupts." Angel burst out laughing at his ridiculous remarks.
"Yeah, well anyway." Lexiter said opening the envelope and looking at the pictures. "Interesting." She handed them off. The pictures of Koga showed a creature with an almost gray skin color that had hints of some other colors in it. It seemed to almost glow. Its hair was a dull grey color and covered most of its face from that angle, but one eyes was visible, and it looked like that of some sort of bird.
"It doesn't always look like that." Toshi commented. "The camera caught it in its true form, but sometimes you see something else. I can't describe it. I've never seen it but a few have. Those few are the ones that it touched and somehow survived."
"How does it fight?" Chaos Angel asked. Toshi looked at him and shrugged.
"Its bare hands. It just touches the person and they are immobilized. The people who came in contact with it and didn't die are. . . unable to speak as of yet. They may never again, as a matter of fact."
"What?" Auron asked, somewhat confused.
"It seems they lost their minds. They're in a psychiatric hospital right now under going therapy, but no one is allowed to touch them. They start to scream whenever someone does."
"That's horrible!" Dagger shuddered. Zidane put his arm around her comfortingly.
"Yes. It is indeed. But there is nothing we can do for them now."
"Alright. We have all we need. Now lets get out gear and move our asses out." Lexiter said, spinning on her heals and walking back towards the plane. "We're going to search around Tokyo for our guys and any other strange behavior."
"Umm, how exactly are we going to find them in a city that's supposed to be so large." Zidane asked.
"We won't find them. They'll find us. I'm sure they already know we're here, and they can't resist a good fight. It's only a matter of time."
Daniel, Quistis, Ebonie, Tidus, and Yuna walked down a long hallway towards a tall door at the end where guards stood watch. Daniel nodded to them as he approached and they nodded back, opening the door for him. The room was large and very dark, all the walls a dark wood with a large rectangular table in the center of the room. An older man sat in a chair on the opposite side of them room with a few guards flanking him. He motioned for them to step closer and they did, the newer people looking about the room anxiously while Daniel and Ebonie remained composed.
"Guten morgen Daniel."
"Guten morgen. Wie geht's?"
"Danke, gut." The man stood and walked over to them and shook his hand while looking the others over. "This is all of you?"
"Yes, President Abendroth. This is Ebonie. And this is Quistis, Tidus, and Yuna, the new recruits."
"Angenehm." Ebonie said carefully, not completely used to the language. President Abendroth looked pleased.
"Freut mich." The others looked a bit confused, trying to hide it. "It's alright if you do not speak German. I am not insulted." He smiled warmly and beckoned for them all to sit. "First I wish to thank you all for taking the time to come to my country's aid. I'm sure you are aware that Zack Daghar is here."
"Yes." Daniel almost growled.
"Ah. Perhaps you know him from before."
"Indeed I do." He said through gritted teeth. Quistis reached her hand out and touched his arm, smiling. He froze and looked to her, a slight flush reaching his neck very briefly. "I've known him for quite awhile you could say."
"So I assume you know all of his moves and what he thinks."
"Yes, I believe it's safe to say that. Sadly the same can be said for him."
"That is sad. But it's a price that must be paid to know the enemy well. Fortunately I trust in your abilities to outwit him. After all. He works for the Archon Circle. Can't be that smart of a man." President Abendroth laughed but Daniel did not.
"I will never underestimate the Archon Circle. It's not wise to do so. They have nothing to lose and everything to gain. They'll stop at nothing." Abendroth nodded.
"This is where we know Daghar is staying." He handed him a packet with photos. "He's been in Regrenada with that girl. She's been referred to as Roni. We don't know much about her except that she's killed quite a few people and she's usually hanging about Daghar."
"Great."
"You'll be staying here whenever you aren't out. We've rooms arranged for you. We actually thought there would be less though we hoped for more. There's plenty of space and if you need more, just let me know and I will gladly grant it. Is there anything else you are in need of?"
"If we have to kill some people, we aren't going to be taken into custody, correct?"
"As long as it's the bad guys, you're set. But if it's someone we know is decent, you will. But I trust you can tell. If you suspect someone in the government please alert me. Don't take any harsh actions against them until I know if at all possible."
"You do understand that some things may be inevitable."
"Yes. As many things are my dear friend. But I hope for as little casualties as possible. I know it may not work out that way, but a man can wish."
Okay. . . wow. . . I know this is short. And I feel REALLY bad about it. But I have to do it. I'm running low on brain juice right now. I have all these plans that involve Zuzu's group, Jen's, and some other plots that come later. PLEASE!! If you have ANY ideas for your group email me or put it in a review. As for the characters here. I really hope I got them right. If not, I'm SO sorry and let me know (nicely ^_~). I've had tons of fantastic ideas from BAX (and BAZ ^_~) And I've shot a few ideas about with Keily. So if you have one send it along my way. I'm very open. You guys should know this by now!
As for One who does not exist: I'm sorry, but I'm no longer accepting characters. I'm going insane with the amount I have right now. .