New Year Tricks
Chapter Six:
Bandits
Henry stepped out of his car, closing the door. Outside, the air was somewhat chilly, since the afternoon was progressing. It was about three-thirty, and they had missed the tour. Sighing, the eldest Wong sibling consoled himself, with the saying 'you can't win them all'. Henry waited for the guests to come out of the car, seeing that they had a little waking up to do, thanks to the previous morning's events.
Inside Henry's car, the girl shook her younger friend, who was slumbering peacefully beside her. Tommy just yawned, and turned in his sleep, making it harder for the already frustrated Izumi. She groaned, pushing his arm off her lap. Next to Tommy, Takuya stretched awake, blinking his eyes, and greeting the world good morning, once again. His brown eyes met those of his agitated friends, Kouji and Izumi, who were desperately trying to wake Tommy.
"Hey guys, are we here yet?" Asked Takuya, stealing a glance at the window.
"Yes we are, now would you please help us with him?" hissed Izumi, pointing to Tommy.
Takuya snorted. "Okay. It's my duty to help people who cant' even handle an eleven-year-old."
Arrogantly, the goggle head reached over to the younger boy, while Kouji glared daggers at him, from the other side of the seat.
"Here little teddy bear…" cooed Takuya, using a finger to poke at Tommy's ribs. The result was shocking.
Nothing happened.
Kouji just sat back where he was, and smirked. Beside him, Izumi suppressed a wide grin.
"What's wrong, Taki? Can't handle an eleven year old?" asked the loner sarcastically.
Takuya just glared at him, while trying another few times to wake Tommy. All to no avail. Impatient, Izumi pushed Tommy's stray leg out of her way, and tried to get out of the car.
"Takuya, you wake him up. And Junpei, too. I'm—I mean we're going outside." The girl threw the goggle head an impatient look.
"Fine." Was the reply.
Before slamming the car door on Takuya, Kouji looked back, to see if the guy was making any progress. Bad idea. A flailing leg of the eleven-year-old just got out of control, and jabbed Kouji Square on the knee.
"Ouch. Ouch. Ouch." Kouji hopped out of the open door, and into the cold air. Beside him, a quizzical Izumi inquired on his hopping, with an amused expression painted on her features.
"Tommy. Kicked me." Grunted Kouji, avoiding her gaze.
Inside the car, Junpei was already awake. Who wouldn't wake up when there was a battle going on in the car? The first thing he saw was Tommy's muddy shoe. Muttering angrily to himself about inconsiderate seatmates, the plump one got out of the vehicle, hoping to find better company.
"This is it." Breathed Takuya. He had been fighting an uphill battle with Tommy, who was struggling so much, that Takuya didn't know whether he was asleep or awake. The goggle head's gaze fell on the slightly battered, overstuffed Teddy bear that Tommy carried in his arms from time to time. Over the past years, Tommy's bears had lessened considerably in size, making them more efficient to carry around. Laughing silently to himself, Takuya violently yanked the bear out of the sleeping boy's hands, causing uproar.
Outside, Henry worried whether the inside of his car was still intact. Not very likely. The man shook his head. The friends of his niece sure were strange. His glance fell upon the three standing outside: Kouji, Izumi, and Junpei. The latter two were making conversation with each other, while the other one—who was usually aloof from the rest, was rubbing his knee.
Henry walked towards the square, where quite a large number of people were selling their wares. Tourists came, looked, haggled, and bought, while the locals looked on happily.
"Cool. The Wall, finally!" Takuya turned his gaze to the rows and rows of bricks, winding up and down china's countryside. Quite fortunately, the mischievous fourteen-year old had been able to get himself out of the car, and away from vengeful Tommy. Behind him, the slightly shorter boy followed, with a bloodthirsty grin. Junpei laughed out loud, upon seeing the youngest member of their group slink up silently on the unsuspecting goggle head.
"Just what he deserves."
Izumi nodded in agreement. A few seconds later, a shout echoed into the air, prompting the curious looks of some nearby locals. Takuya was dancing, or rather- jerking around ungracefully, while trying to get a big hairy spider out of his shirt. Tommy was laughing and pointing at his prey, enjoying his oh-so-sweet revenge. Izumi felt one of those huge laughing spells about to explode in her. She looked to Kouji, who was rubbing his sore knee. Upon catching her gaze, he stopped.
"What?" a wave of uneasiness swept through the boy, upon looking up at Izumi.
The girl just gave a bright smile in reply.
"Nothing."
Kouji was about to tend to his knee again, when he noticed a cloaked man watching them, from the edge of the wall. Before the boy could observe his features further, the mysterious figure had vanished out of sight.
Kouji had the urge to try and follow it, when he felt a tug on his arm. It was Izumi.
"Kouji! Let's go and see the souvenir shops!"
The boy wanted to say that he'd rather stay, but the pleading look in those beautiful green eyes were one of the few things that he just couldn't say no to. So, with a mental kick aimed at himself, Kouji allowed himself to be dragged by the excited girl, to the bazaars.
Junpei greeted them there, with a mouth stuffed with mooncakes, as well as a small plastic bag.
"You guys should try this stuff—delicious!" he motioned to a stall, bedecked with mooncakes, where a man looked at the pair expectantly.
"Ehh, no thanks, Junpei." Said Izumi, casting an apologetic look. She scanned the clusters of stalls, looking for something of interest. Finding one that suited her standards, the girl dashed off, dragging a very annoyed Kouji behind her.
They came to a stop, at a booth stacked with silk blouses, at an affordable price. Izumi's eyes went wide with delight, as she began browsing through the many items of clothing. Kouji meanwhile watched, uninterested. Girls. Always crazy about shopping. He was about to try to get himself and Izumi out of the horrid place, when a delighted yelp cut through the shop's stuffy atmosphere. Kouji spun around, only to see the pretty Italian girl holding up silk lavender blouse, adorned with ornate silver lining. The boy rolled his eyes. All this over a single blouse. He would never understand the female species.
After purchasing the blouse, the pair proceeded to go and look for their other friends. A message on Kouji's cellphone revealed Takuya's location: at a trick shop. Junpei was with him but Tommy was nowhere to be found.
"Okay, how about seeing Takuya? I'll bet he has loads of cool stuff to show us!" suggested Izumi enthusiastically.
"Right." Muttered Kouji, heading in the direction of the said destination.
A few meters away, an old man carried a tall, wobbling stack of hand-woven baskets, to be delivered to another booth. He was muttering things to himself, particularly about today's careless youth. Unaware of where he was going, and whom he was bumping into, the elderly Chinese man accidentally tripped over the shoe of a male tourist.
Kouji was strolling along beside Izumi, who could have sworn that a thundercloud was following the moody boy. They had already spotted Takuya a few shops away, and were heading towards him and Junpei (ooh, that rhymes!), when an old man carrying a load of woven baskets crossed Kouji's path.
A string of rapid curses escaped the old man's mouth, as he, together with the pile of baskets, fell into a heap, along with two very surprised teenagers.
"!@#$%^&*"
"Ouch!"
Muttering to himself, the man got up, picked the baskets off the two heads hurriedly, and went on his way, as if a storm cloud was following. Two very confused fourteen year-olds got themselves up, dusted off their pants, and continued walking towards Takuya.
Higher still, above the busy market-like scene, stood a bunch of bandits, crowding around a single battered photograph. Most of them were not that physically fit; only the youngest, a youth named Ping, and his equally nimble twin brother Pong, were in any good shape, to go raiding the countryside. But alas, these two were as dim-witted as sacks full of rice. Dressed in raggedy but colourful flowered shirts, and cheap, department store sunglasses; these men eyed the snapshot carefully. An old, toothless ex-fisherman, whom everybody else called 'gramps' licked his lips in anticipation.
"They certainly look like they will fetch much money."
"Shut up, gramps." Retorted a plump bandit, waving a fake camera at the man.
"Eh, how bout this one?" asked a thin man, with ratlike features. He pointed a scrawny finger at a person, in the photograph.
"Mmm…yes, he will fetch a fair price indeed." Said a voice.
Surprised, the thieves all turned their heads to the source of the sound. It was their leader. Most bandit leaders in the history of the world were thought to be brave, cunning, swift, and strong. Not this one. Oh yes, he was cunning, and could deliver a good wallop anytime. But swift? brave? This was Rambashi. A short, chubby man in his late forties, this bandit looked like someone who would start a restaurant, rather than lead a group of thieves.
"Sir?" inquired a man.
Rambashi nodded.
"We strike now, fellow bandits, when the prey isn't looking." He declared haughtily, with the air of one who was going to fullfill a very important task.
"Right now? With all those tourists?" asked another, crossing his arms.
"WHO DARES CONTRADICT ME?" fumed Rambashi, pulling himself up to full height, which, unfortunately, wasn't very tall.
"Shhh!" hissed gramps, eyeing the tourists below, who were wandering where the shouting came from.
"Right." Replied the leader, cooling down.
"Remember, men. We ARE tourists. Repeat that to yourself twenty times. We are tourists."
Nodding, the men stalked off, each muttering the phrase to himself quietly.
Quite carelessly, they had forgotten about the photograph, which fluttered away in the wind. If one standing on the ground took a close look at the flying snapshot, one would have seen the smiling faces of five Japanese teenagers.
Admiring the turquoise carpet somewhat half-heartedly, Takuya put it back on the shelf, suddenly remembering the eyes of a person he'd rather forget. Junpei was chatting amiably with the lady who sold the carpets. She could speak a few sentences of broken English. (a/n: yes, they speak Japanese, but they also speak English.)
A noise from behind alerted the goggle-head, revealing his two friends. They seemed flustered, and disoriented. There were several strands of straw, sticking out of Izumi's flaxen hair, and Kouji's bandanna was pulled awkwardly to one side.
"Hey, guys. Where have you been?" asked Takuya, trying to repress a chuckle.
"Under the baskets of some old nut." Replied Kouji gloomily. Izumi shot a sharp glance at him, and rephrased his sentence.
"Uh, we bumped into a man. He was carrying baskets." She said, trying to hide the aggravation from her voice.
Turning around, Junpei just noticed the two arrivals. He waved, and walked towards the three.
"Hey guys, where have you been?"
Izumi had to restrain Kouji from stepping foreword. He glared at Junpei, which was somewhat uncharacteristic of him. The loner, no matter how moody, never tried to upset one of his friends.
Takuya chucked slightly, and answered Junpei's question.
"Under the baskets of some old nut."
The fat bandit leaned over the crate of fish. There he was. Small, weak, and unsuspecting. Chuckling to himself, the bandit, known to most as Mujiin rubbed his hands. In front of him was one of the tourists. Probably the youngest in their group. Mujiin's gold sunken eyes flashed in eager anticipation.
Tommy was wandering around for quite some time. Spotting a merchant who sold ducks, the curious boy stopped to take a look. The booth tender lady in her mid-fifties eyed the eleven-year-old suspiciously. She watched as he gawked at the baby ducks, sometimes trying to poke them.
'Get Away from there, boy!" she barked at him, in Chinese, waving her lit cigarette.
Not understanding, Tommy just looked back at the upset lady questioningly. Then it dawned on her: he was, in fact, a tourist. One of those careless clumsy types, no doubt. Suddenly flashing a less-than-glittering smile of yellowed and missing teeth, she began her tourist act.
"You like duck?" questioned the lady, in broken Japanese.
Tommy nodded eagerly, pointing at a brown one. Smiling to herself, the lady held out her wiry hand.
"Give money. Then I show you duck."
Fishing out a few bills from his pocket, the boy handed her the money, unaware of her real intentions: to take the money, then leave. That was Zhyi Xu for you, the most hated among the merchants.
Cackling like an old hen, the woman turned her back to Tommy, counting the bills and muttering to herself, wondering if she should ask for more. The brown duck was the biggest in her pen, after all.
Turning around to announce her price hike, the woman instead faced a patch of once-occupied air. Her eyes widening in disbelief, Zhyi caught a little scrap of paper, fluttering to the ground. On it was a single symbol: the emblem of Rambashi's bandit group. Once processing this, the mean old lady tore the scrap to bits, and stomped it into the ground, muttering angrily.
"Wanna-be bandits. Humph. My grandmother could beat them up, if she wasn't dead."
Takuya's chocolate eyes blinked in surprise, (another rhyme) seeing the small, black leather case on the ground. Gingerly, he picked it up, finding that Hannah's digital camera was still nestled inside, in between the protective layers of foam. Puzzled, the goggle head wondered why it was there on the ground, nowhere near Tommy.
Izumi tapped her foot impatiently. It was nearing six o'clock, and many of the stalls were already closed. About five tourist busses had unloaded the noisy crowds, and still, Tommy was missing. Beside her, Kouji clutched his stomach. Despite the more-than-filling lunch at the Wong residence a few hours ago, their tummies were as empty as Mrs. Van Harder's motor cortex.
"Awwww… I'm starving.." moaned Junpei, taking a quick glance around, for any food stalls.
Then, Takuya felt an itch creep up his arm. Folding up the sleeve of his shirt, the goggle head realised that he was being feasted on by killer mosquitoes.
"AAARGH!"
Yelping, jumping up and down, and swatting the beastly little things, the others could just watch their leader in sheer astonishment. Takuya looked like some sort of mutated dancing toy monkey that was out on display sometimes, at the malls. Grabbing the camera, Izumi quickly took about five snapshots, before replacing the device in its leather case. A few moments after tucking it safely in her backpack, a terrible itch was felt creeping up her leg, as well.
Yelling a four-letter word, Izumi quickly applied anti-mosquito lotion, while swatting away the vile, bloodsucking creatures. It repulsed anyone, to think of how muck blood was lost annually, thanks to these varmints. Kouji smiled, despite himself. Watching the goggled monkey, and the frantic girl, the usually cool boy could only restrain the laugh that was ballooning inside him.
Footsteps were heard behind them, as the tall form of Henry came into view. Accompanying him was Alice. He was smiling, but upon seeing the glum and anxious faces of his guests, that smile vanished. Stepping up to them the man inquired on why they were so upset. Izumi responded first.
"Henry, it's late, we're being eaten alive by mosquitoes, and Tommy's missing!" worried, the girl threw her hands up into the air, upsetting Kouji.
"Izumi." He sighed, tugging at her wrist.
"Oh. Sorry." She immediately put her hands down.
Upon hearing this, Henry's face grew dark.
"He's missing. That isn't good." The man's tone was grave.
Turning to Takuya, he asked a question.
"How old is Tommy?"
"Eleven." Was the prompt reply.
"Eleven." Repeated Henry, processing the possibilities into his mind. He looked up, almost frantically.
"Quick. We should get help."
"Huh? Why?" asked Junpei.
"Because, there are many bandits and kidnappers here, and it is possible that Tommy has become one of their victims." Replied Alice, raising her voice.
Kouji watched grimly as Henry fumbled for the car keys. The sky was getting darker, as the sun sank into the maze that was Beijing City. Tommy's life was at stake. What were they doing just standing there?
A slight figure clothed in black then caught Kouji's eye. Realising the imminent danger that they were in, his eyes narrowed.
Instinctively, the boy grabbed Izumi's hand, and made a dash for the car. The black figure disappeared, as Kouji felt a tug back. It was Izumi. Her turquoise eyes were deep pools of confusion and anxiety, and for a moment Kouji was taken by them, but was pulled back into real life.
"What?"
"Kouji, we have to look for Tommy." Her voice was stricken with worry.
"Izumi, we are in more trouble than you think."
"But kouji-!"
Frustratedly, he turned to face her.
"Look. We can't help Tommy, if we are also kidnapped by these psychos. If we look for him now, then there's a chance that we'll find him, but also a chance that we'll find them."
Nodding, the girl just followed his lead.
"Let's go!" giving a strong tug on her arm, Kouji made his way towards the silhouette of Henry's Honda Civic. This time the others were with him, too. Their steps on the dry earth made eerie, echoing noises in the nearly empty square.
Stopping to catch his breath, Kouji scanned the walls and the booths for any sign of the mysterious figure. There was none. Relieved, the boy's hand tried to open the car door, but it was locked.
Wondering what was going on, Kouji turned to Izumi, who was gripping his arm with all her might. Her eyes widened in fear, and the boy wandered what was bothering her. Then, he noticed that Henry's tall shadow was missing.
Suddenly looking up, his head came in contact with a blunt object, causing a flood of black to penetrate his vision, as well as the rest of his senses. A cruel laugh rose above the aching silence, as unconsciousness dawned on the boy. Soon, Kouji's mind was a hazy swirl of the blackness, and the last thing he felt was Izumi's hand tighten around his arm…
~~~~~
Skadi:
Well…these strange people certinaly are screwed up. I never doubted that Artemis was twisted. Nope, never did. Of course Ebony's another story…
Ah. Chapter seven. Who are these evil weirdos that kidnapped Tommy? Will the cloth snake ever get off? Who hit Kouji? What happened to the merchant? When will this thing ever end? Will there be a time when Artemis finally gives up trying to make a .hack//sign fiction? (oops…shouldn't have said that. Doesn't matter, anyways.)
Ehhh…the ending…
Is WAAAY overdue. Artemis is coming back tomorrow, from that beastly desert.
To Protoblues: I would have liked to hear your guess at what was going to happen next. And, yea…I won't give away any spoilers… Because im not THAT cruel…
…am I? [laughs]
To everyone else: REVIEWWWWWWW!!!! Yea! Thanks for those who did! Oh yea, and without Artemis' authorization, I hereby stage a guessing game: WHATS GONNA HAPPEN NEXT? Winner gets…umm…dunno…an imaginary chocolate bar? ;b
8 pages and a big headache, the goddess of winter bids you goodbye.
Disclaimer: If I owned Digimon, I would have made the characters' lives miserable. They're lucky that I won't, can't, and don't.
