TOKYO
Chapter 5
Agressive Negotiation
"What was that!?" exclaimed Zelgadis.
Soma frowned. "It looked like that ..." Synonyms (or at least better words) failed him. "... girl used some kind of fire spell -- an instantaneous-target one like the Firaga spells Seifer uses -- but these magic readings ..." He looked at a smaller crystal ball next to the Orb. "It isn't reading like any kind of spellcasting. Look, she wasn't even drawing any mystic energy from anything. And that battle aura ... it looks like there's a bigger version of her there!"
Zelgadis thought for a moment. "Where's Seifer?"
"He went outside," said Soma. "He needed some fresh air after he saw Ranma kick the President ..."
Zelgadis rolled his eyes. "Go have him join them. I've a feeling we'll need his Guardian Forces ..."
What had broken loose can only be described as "all hell." Ranma could work well against armed and/or clawed opponents, and Zero had fought against Reploids that towered over buildings -- and gods knew Rufus and Vash could defend themselves -- but Neifirst was a monster. She countered Ranma's "Anything-Goes" martial arts and Zero's "Unbeatable Swordsman" techniques with "indiscriminate slashing", and her random movements made it impossible for Vash and Rufus to aim.
"I never thought I'd be fighting alongside you," commented Rufus as Neifirst slashed at both Zero, leaving claw marks in his armor, and Ranma, who managed to dodge at the last instant. "Oh, well ... I guess we'll have to use magic." He touched a green orb that seemed to be embedded in the side of his shotgun. It glowed, and then a bolt of lightning seemed to strike Neifirst from the ceiling. She snarled, apparently unhurt, and leaped at him, clawes outstretched ...
... and there was a loud BANG as Vash fired a shot straight into her right shoulder.
Neifirst let loose a bloodcurdling scream as her aim was thrown off, and she only managed to run Rufus through in his arm before she slammed into the ground. She got up, even more murder in her eyes than before, but she obviously knew that it's much harder to dodge a bullet when you're leaping straight at the target.
"I'm only gonna say this once," said Vash, a cold anger in his eyes. "Leave. Now."
Neifirst grinned. "What, and spoil my fun?" She placed a hand on her wounded shoulder. There was a glow, and the shoulder wasn't wounded anymore. "You can't keep shooting-to-wound forever."
Vash said, "I'm against killing," he said. And then he took aim at her eyes. "But ... I can kill a monster."
"A monster?" said Neifirst sweetly. "Yes ... I suppose I am. But can you really kill me in cold blood?"
There was a pause. Vash appeared to be calling her bluff for a second ... and then he looked up.
The others looked up, too. Above them, instead of a ceiling, there was a starry night sky.
High up in orbit, a strange, blue-faced draconic figure with golden wings appeared. No, they weren't wings -- it looked like a bizzare golden structure. There appeared to be several holographic screens around it.
Then, back in the subway-under-the-stars, there was a light from above, in the middle of the starfield. Neifirst seemed to be engulfed in a black haze for a moment ...
And then she was standing on a multicolored grid, with the draconic creature in front of her. The grid bent and spun around it, so that Neifirst was moved above it. There was a blue circle on top of the "structure", and when she was directly above it, it began to glow, and a column of light rose up towards her.
And then there was the planet. Or at least, it looked like a planet. Most planets don't spontaneously transform into a glowing, multicolored sphere with arcane symbols, spinning around ...
...and then suddenly blasted Neifirst away, into what looked like the heart of a galaxy, which then exploded in a huge expanding black cloud of debris ...
And then, the subway was back to normal, and Neifirst hit the ground where she'd stood before, grunted, and vanished in a shimmer of light.
"Holy shit," said Zero when the dust had settled. "Seifer, when you summon a Guardian Force, you don't screw around! Doesn't even look like there's anything left ..."
"Was I the only one who saw that thing as if I was watching a movie?" said Ranma, slightly nervous.
"Nah, Guardian Forces like to give people a good view," said Seifer. "But she must've teleported somewhere. That last flash of light isn't usually there when I summon Eden ... How's the President?"
"I'll mend," said Rufus, who was rummaging through a pocket with his uninjured hand. "I know I have some Cure materia in here somewhere ... Ah." He pulled a small green orb that looked identical to the orb already embedded in his shotgun, and then switched the two. He was surrounded by a greenish-yellow aura for a few seconds, and then a sparkling green haze healed his arm. "That was certainly interesting. I wonder what world she's from ..."
"Are we still under arrest?" asked Vash plaintively.
Rufus, who had not seen Vash go between his "see the happy moron" mode and the "you're nicked, buddy" form before, so he paused a moment before replying, "I'm sure that, once I have an explanation for your activities, such actions will not be necessary. Although you did kick me in the face," he added to Ranma. "People don't usually succeed in that and survive."
Ranma thought fast. "Um ... self defense?"
Rufus smirked. "I suppose I'll accept that. Now ... It's obvious to me that you are working for someone, and before I can make any judgements, I'll have to speak with whoever he or she is."
Neifirst felt as if every single inch of her body was bruised. She didn't know a thing about blacksmiths, but if she had, she would have compared it to being between the hammer and the anvil, which had then fallen on her. She used her NaRes technique, and promptly felt better.
She looked around at her surroundings; she'd teleported randomly, and had no idea where she was now. If there was anyone else here, she would have to kill them. The room she was in was dark, but she saw the outline of a doorway in one wall. There was a voice on the other side, and it sounded as though it came from some sort of monitor or communicator.
"... individuals, but they fled after an encounter with a humanoid who called herself 'Neifirst.'"
She blinked. It sounded like a newscast, but hadn't she just teleported away from that?
"She apparently escaped using a teleport spell after being hit with a summon by one of --"
"Bah! That was no spell," said another voice.
Neifirst felt the hairs on the back of her neck standing on end. That voice sounded cold, and finely calculated to send chills up someone's spine. It had a fundamental deadliness to it that she had only ever heard of in her own voice.
"'Ryuka' is, of course, a Technique," the voice continued. There was a click, and the voice of the newscaster went silent. "Rather different from actual magic. Oh, and by the way, you were unconscious after you materialized, so I decided to bring you here. Do come out of that closet, would you?"
Neifirst cautiously opened the door. "Interesting that you'd want to help me," she said.
"Yes," said Zio.
What didn't make it to the news was the interview Rufus Shinra had with Zelgadis shortly thereafter, in the back room of the Ars Magica shop on opposite sides of a table.
"So, Mr. ... Zelgadis," said Rufus. "Perhaps it would be best if you were to explain exactly what the purpose of your organization is, and why you've made every effort to evade detection by us."
"Simply put," said Zelgadis, "the purpose of the League to defend against such threats as your military division is unable to handle. After all," he added, "a sixteen-year-old boy was currently a sixteen-year-old girl -- and therefore slightly smaller -- was able to singlehandedly take down several of your H.O.L.D. troops, and you."
Rufus smirked. "I'll grant you that," he said. "And the reason for the secrecy?"
"Well, for one thing, our group may contain several individuals who, for one reason or another, don't want to be known," said Zelgadis. "Vash the Stampede, for one. As for you personally, your government would probably want to be in charge of us, and information on our activities would be passed along who knows where, and your system is frankly notorious for its leaks."
Rufus nodded. "I understand that," he said. "But what the real problem is how much of your words I should trust."
"Yes, I thought that might become a problem," said Zelgadis. "And that is the third reason."
Rufus smirked. "Indeed," he said. "I know about your confrontation with Zio, however."
Zelgadis blinked. True, they hadn't exactly been undercover, but he was sure there hadn't been anyone --
"We discovered the magical signal between your Orb and the crystal it was focused on, and were able to get our own view," continued Rufus. "And what's more, we were able to get the sound to work as well."
"Congratulations," said Zelgadis. "I suppose having a team of scientist who weren't working under cover of darkness helped in getting more features."
"Indeed," said Rufus. "But what we saw was interesting, to say the least. What we heard was even more interesting. Even if you aren't exactly being truthful about your fundamental purpose, you certainly have a reason to want to defeat this Zio."
"Of course," said Zelgadis. "If I may ask ... If you knew all this, why did you try to arrest Vash and Ranma?"
"I wanted to see how you'd react," said Rufus. "You can learn a lot about a person by their reaction to being arrested."
"I see," said Zelgadis slowly. "So ... truce?"
Rufus smirked, and extended his hand. "At least for now." They shook hands. "I won't need to ask for a list of names and abilities of your members -- I've already gotten a list through ... less conventional means than our intelligence agency."
Zelgadis arched an eyebrow. "Means which are less likely to be leaked?"
"Precisely," said Rufus. "I even have a photographic image of each member, although in every single photograph of Ranma Saotome, he or she appears to be posing for the camera." He leaned in closer. "And if it turns out that if you are not working for the so-called good of the city," he said quietly, looking Zelgadis straight in the eye, "then your organization will be, shall we say, liquidated."
Zelgadis matched his gaze. "If you succeed in 'liquidating' all of us, then a small rebellioin will be the least of your worries," he said.
"Is that a threat?" asked Rufus levelly.
"Not at all," said Zelgadis. "Merely a warning of what might happen if we're unable to defend the city."
"I see," said Rufus. He stood up. "Well, it's been pleasant meeting you. I hope you fully recover from your injuries soon."