"Paper!" Yomiko could just barely pick out from the darkness. "Miss Paper!" She heard again. Slowly she opened her eyes, and light flowed in flooding her vision. Slowly the light began to fade, and she began to see. First she saw a shadow, which slowly changed to Rail's face. She tried to sit up but her body felt like it was made of lead, and she could not. "Miss Paper, are you alright?" Rail asked.
"I think so...where...where are we?" Yomiko asked. She looked to her side and saw large green walls surrounding her on all sides.
"A dumpster," Rail said. Yomiko still couldn't move, but she heard the faint sound of gunfire in the background. Rail started to say something when the tip of a sword burst through his chest. Yomiko's fright allowed her to regain control of her body and she sat up quickly. She noticed that it was Ghengis Kahn who had stabbed Rail.
Ghengis Kahn laughed evilly, but stopped and stared in horror when Rail spoke, "It's bastards like you who always make my day so much livelier." Ghengis fell back on his rear end in awe when the blade of his sword was ripped out of the pommel and adsorbed into Rail's body. "Forgot to mention that metal can't kill me!" Rail yelled as he spun around on his heels to face Ghengis. The liquid iron flowed from his back to his hand as he shaped it into a gauntlet with spiked knuckles. "Help out Drake," Rail said to Yomiko as he stooped over Ghengis, ready to strike.
"What?" Yomiko asked. She looked over to her right and noticed that Drake was ducking under a dumpster further up the alley reloading his gun. She ran over to him just as he leaned back over the top of the dumpster and began firing again. "What's going on!?" Yomiko yelled, but she was drowned out by the sound of Drake's automatic rifle.
"What?" Drake asked as he crouched back down under cover.
"Who are you firing at!?" Yomiko asked.
"Some crazy guy with a stick and some kid with a bunch of guns and good aim!" Drake yelled.
"Sorry to interrupt!" Genjo said as he appeared over the top of the dumpster.
"Oh shit!" Drake yelled as he started firing wildly. Genjo gracefully leapt over Drake's head, landing behind him. He executed a spinning kick to Drake's back, sending him crashing face first into the side of the dumpster. Yomiko quickly drew some paper out of her pocket and formed it into a chain, which she wrapped around Genjo's ankle. She pulled hard, tripping him onto his back. She quickly threw the other end of the chain up to the railing of an over head fire escape and left Genjo dangling a few feet from the ground. He opened his mouth to breathe fire, but Yomiko was one step ahead of him and she covered his mouth and nose with a sheet of paper.
"That's some crafty work," Rail said as he came up next to her.
"What happened to Ghengis Kahn?" Yomiko asked.
"I don't think he'll be much of a problem," Rail pointed back down the alley. Yomiko looked to where he was pointing and saw Ghengis Kahn laying in the center of the alley with his sword impaled in his chest.
"You killed him," Yomiko stated.
"I've killed a lot of people," Rail said bluntly. "Duck!" he shouted suddenly as he pushed Yomiko down behind the safety of the dumpster. As soon as he had pushed her a hail of bullets pounded into him, knocking him hard to the ground.
"He'll be okay, metal can't hurt him," Yomiko thought aloud as she took some paper from her briefcase. She then sopped as she noticed Drake's motionless body. "Mr. Drake. Mr. Drake wake up!" Yomiko pushed him until he moaned and sat up.
"What the hell is goin' on?" Drake asked with a groan. That's when a second wave of bullets came crashing into the other end of the dumpster, shaking it and making a loud crackling noise. "Jesus!" Drake yelled as he remembered what was going on. He reloaded his rifle and began to return fire. A single bullet crashed into Drake's shoulder and he dropped to the ground.
"Are you ok!? Yomiko asked.
"Yeah, I think I'll be alright," Drake groaned, clutching his shoulder.
"Who is that?" Yomiko asked.
"Some punk called Jesse," Drake moaned.
"Jesse James," Rail said as he staggered behind the dumpster.
"What took you so long? Mr. Drake's been hurt!" Yomiko yelled.
"I said metal can't kill me, but it sure as hell hurts," Rail said as liquid metal from the adsorbed bullets dripped from his fingertips. "Here, this will hurt, but it's better for you," he said as he placed a hand over Drake's wound. He howled in pain as Rail sucked the bullet out of him.
"You idiot! What the hell do you think you were doing!?" Drake yelled.
"I just saved your life!" Rail yelled angrily.
"I would've been fine!" Drake replied.
"Stop fighting!" Yomiko yelled. Rail and Drake turned their backs from each other.
"We have to stop Jesse," Yomiko said.
"Can't, he's too fast to hit with bullets," Drake stated.
"So, don't use bullets then," Rail said.
"I would've thought of that!" Drake shouted. "...Smartass," he mumbled under his breath.
"I'll take care of him!" Yomiko said. She was about to jump out into the alley when Rail stopped her.
"Wait!" he whispered harshly. When the three of them were quiet they noticed that they couldn't here any noises down the alley. Rail took a piece of paper from Yomiko, folded it into a paper airplane, and threw it out into the alley. Almost as soon as it had left the dumpster's area of protection a flurry of bullets fired into the paper, ripping it to shreds.
"Whoa, he sure has an itchy trigger finger," Drake stated.
"We're gonna have to work together to take him down," Rail stated.
"I think I have an idea," said Yomiko. She whispered a plan to them, and they both approved of it. "Okay, on three. 1...2...3!" Yomiko yelled. Rail adsorbed his right forearm and shoulder armor and formed them into a large shield-like slab of metal. He bolted across the alley and knelt down by the opposite wall, drawing the fire away from Yomiko and Drake. Yomiko leapt atop the dumpster and threw a paper rope at Jesse, wrapping him up and immobilizing him. "Go Drake!," She shouted.
"Roger!" Drake shouted as he took aim and fired. The bullet barreled into Jesse's shoulder. "Damn it, I missed!" Drake scorned himself. As Drake was preparing to fire again a bullet grazed his cheek, cutting it. Drake just stared blankly in shock until a figure leapt over his head from behind. It was Genjo. He looked back at Yomiko and smiled as he ripped the paper from his mouth and breathed fire. "Look out!" Drake yelled as he tackled Yomiko out of the way.
The two of them braced themselves for another attack, but none came. They looked up and saw that Genjo and Rail were staring coldly at each other. Without another word Genjo slowly turned his back and walked away. Jesse followed behind him. "Are you just going to stand there and let them get away!?" Drake shouted.
"They're sparing us," Rail said emotionlessly. He turned silently and walked out of the alley, heading back towards the castle.
Back in Joker's office, none of them said a word. The awkward silence lasted for a few minutes before Joker spoke. "It has not yet been confirmed as to why the I-Jin were in Scotland, but I think it is clear that we need to do a more efficient job at defeating them. Team work is the key to our survival, which means that we cannot afford any more arguing. I cannot stress enough how important the three of you are to this organization, and people here look up to you all for support. If they find you arguing, they might start arguing with each other as well, which would cause chaos and quite possibly the end of this organization. That is all I have to say to you, so stand by until you're next assignment." Yomiko, Rail, and Drake silently stood up and walked out of the office.
Rail headed silently to the lounge, and when he got there he sat down and poured himself some coffee. He sat and sipped it for a while until Yomiko came in. "Oh, sorry. I didn't think anyone was in here," she said as she started to turn around.
"It's ok, you can stay. I don't mind," Rail said as he continued to sip his coffee.
"Alright," Yomiko said nervously as she sat down on the couch across from him. She stared at him in silence for a few minutes before she asked, "Did you know that I-Jin?"
"Who, Genjo?" Rail asked back.
"Yeah, Genjo," Yomiko said softly, remembering five months ago when he caused such terrible things.
"Yeah, I know him," he said in between sips.
"How?" Yomiko asked.
"He had a lot to do with my past," he said.
"Back when you worked with Mr. Avalanche?" she asked curiously.
"No, it was before that," he said.
"How long before?" she asked.
"Long," he answered.
"Oh," Yomiko said as she stared at the floor. "What-"Yomiko began to ask.
"Do you always ask so many questions?" Rail interrupted.
"Sorry," She apologized nervously.
"It's ok I guess. It's how people learn new things," Rail stated. "I used to be inquisitive like you...once," He said as he drifted into thought. There was an awkward silence until Rail stood up and wandered out of the lounge. When it occurred to Yomiko that he wasn't coming back she pulled a book out of her pocket and began reading.