Disclaimer: I asked Aoki and Ayamine, but they don't want to sell GB to me. (The first part of that sentence is not true. If it were, the second part would most likely be true.)

"This is just great", Ban remarked as the metal spikes grew closer. "Death by impalement while hanging in midair. How creative!"

"Shut up, I'm trying to think!", Iarra snapped at him. The metal spikes were about three feet away from the net and were getting closer with each second.

"You know, when you guys thought of these traps, did you ever think of ways to get out just in case an incompetent fellow smuggler..." He looked pointedly at Iarra. "... happens to be stupid enough to stumble upon them?!"

She looked around frantically, trying to figure out a way to stop the spikes, or get them out of the steel net, or at least get them down low enough out of the reach of those damn spikes. She gazed up, and her eyes fixed on something above. Ban followed her gaze, but all he saw was darkness.

"Give me my daggers!", Iarra suddenly said, still intently looking up.

"What? No way!", Ban retorted. The metal spikes were now about two feet away.

She turned her head to glare at him. "We don't have time to argue about this!", she said. She put her hands on Ban's shoulders and twisted him around hard. The movement sent the net into another swinging spree.

"Owww! What the...?!!", Ban protested.

She reached behind him and felt for his back pocket until her hands found the pouch containing her daggers.

"If you wanted to grab my ass, you could've just said so!", Ban said.

Iarra gave him a deadly glare as she swiftly took out one of her daggers. Ban thought it was wise to shut up right then. The spikes were now about a foot away from them. He watched her as she leaned her head back and looked up. She intently focused on a point near the single thick wire that was holding the net.

Darn it, she thought. The net's swinging motion was making it very difficult to focus.

She narrowed her eyes, aimed her dagger and hurled it upwards. Ban heard the dagger hit something on the ceiling. Then the thick wire that was suspending them up snapped loose, hurling the net and its contents to the side. Ban and Iarra hit the ground and, rolling from the momentum caused by the swaying of the net, landed in a tangled heap near the wall.

The metal spikes continued moving until they reached the point where the net was hanging a few seconds ago. Then the spikes suddenly lunged forward, intending to plunge the sharp tips into their supposed victims. Ban and Iarra stared at the spikes and gulped.

After a long moment of staring at the spikes, Iarra finally gave a sigh of relief.

"We're still inside the net", Ban, who was lying beside her, said.

Iarra closed her eyes in irritation. "I can see that."

She took out another of her daggers and, using the sharp edge of the dagger, started to saw one of the wires of the net. Amused, Ban watched her hand move back and forth in a seemingly futile attempt to slice the wire. He knew what she was trying to do, but he just had to ask.

"What the hell are you doing?", Ban asked.

"I'm imagining this is your neck."

He chuckled. "That's a pretty disturbing imagination. You've got issues, babe. Ever thought about seeing a shrink someday?"

Iarra clenched her fist around her dagger and, with gritted teeth, more furiously tries to cut the wire. "You're one to talk. You've gotta have a pretty disturbing imagination yourself if you could conjure up all those nightmarish hallucinations."

The wire broke with a snap. Iarra relaxed for a moment and tried to catch her breath.

"Wow", Ban commented. "THAT is gonna take a long time."

"I don't see you doing anything, so why don't you just shut up."

"Why would I want to do anything?", Ban said smirking. "Why would I want to get out of here when..." He traced his finger against Iarra's cheek. "... we're just starting to get cozy?"

"That's IT!", Iarra said angrily. She suddenly rolled on top of him and pinned his left hand with her right knee. With her left hand, she grabbed his right wrist and held it against the ground. Then she pointed her dagger at his throat.

In a low voice, she said, "Mido, if you don't stop it, I swear..."

Ban looked her straight in the eye and asked, "You'll do what?"

Iarra said nothing and just glared at him. Ban glared back.

After a long tense moment, Ban said, "You can't disobey your orders, can you?"

Damn, Iarra thought. She knew he would be counting on that. She growled, "Oh, I'm not gonna kill you. I'm just gonna make you suffer."

Ban raised his eyebrows. "I thought you were doing it already."

Iarra gritted her teeth. With her left hand, she made a motion of squeezing his face as she yelled, "Aaaagggh!" Then she rolled back down to his side. "You are driving me crazy!!! I don't know how Amano does it, but he has GOT to be a saint if he can stand being with you for more than five minutes!"

She then took a deep breath to calm herself down, then continued to saw another wire.

Ban grinned. He propped his elbow and leaned his head on his hand as he faced Iarra. "Wow, what an outburst. I didn't know I could affect you like that."

"I am ignoring you", Iarra said, still intent on sawing the wire.

He watched her with amusement. "You know, there's a better way of doing that."

She stopped sawing and sighed in frustration. "Oh really", she said as she wiped the sweat from her brow. "I can hardly wait to see it."

He smirked. "Give me that", he said, reaching out for the wires that Iarra was trying to cut. He gave a big yank, and the wires snapped one by one, creating an opening just enough for them to go through.

Iarra stared at the opening. Whoa, she thought. She knew he was strong, but she had no idea he was THIS strong. Then she turned her head to scowl at Ban.

Ban noticed her scowling and asked, "Is that how you thank people?"

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Why didn't you save us the trouble of ending up here when you could've done that WHILE we were still hanging up there?"

He gave her a lopsided grin. "I thought you've already figured everything out."

Iarra shot mental daggers at him with her eyes.

Ban continued, still grinning, "Although I think that that landing could've been better, you straddling me made it all worthwhile."

Iarra's jaw dropped. "I DID NOT STRADDLE YOU, YOU BIG PERVERT!!" And with that, she backhanded him on the nose.

"Aaahh! What's the big idea?!", Ban exclaimed as he turned chibi and held his injured nose. "Geez, being this close to you can be hazardous to one's health."

Iarra just gave him a piercing glare and got out of the net. Moving around in the net had caused wisps of hair to fall and were now framing her face. She looked around at the ground and started picking some of the black beads that fell from her hair.

Ban turned back to his normal form and also stood up out of the net. He put his hands in his pockets and watched Iarra as she picked the beads and attached them back in her hair.

"I didn't know you'd be the type to worry about your hair accessories", Ban commented.

Iarra said nothing as she continued to pick beads up and place them in her hair.

"Hmm... Silence, huh? What happened to your smart comebacks? Did you finally realize that you can't win against the Invincible Mido Ban-sama?", Ban asked.

"Mido", Iarra started to say.

"-sama", Ban interrupted.

Iarra stared at him. "Mido", she repeated, very calmly. "I am in a very bad mood right now. I think it would be for your benefit if you would, for once... just... shut..." Without taking her eyes off him, she reached out and the dagger that she had hurled at the ceiling flew to her hand. "... up."

Ban just looked at her, a hint of a smile on his lips. "Is that a threat?", he asked.

Iarra knelt on one knee and started placing all four of her daggers back into her boots. "No", she replied. "Consider it a friendly piece of advice."

"Friendly?", Ban snorted. "Somehow, a friendly piece of advice coming from you sounds like a threat."

She threw the leather pouch that previously held her daggers on the ground. She then stood up and gave Ban a feral grin. "Are you saying the Invincible Mido Ban-sama feels threatened?", she asked.

"No."

"Good", Iarra said before Ban could say anything more. "So why don't you be a good boy and stay there while I figure out a way out of here." She walked towards the wall that she had been examining before that whole net-and-spike hoo-hah.

"Look, you aichmo-maniac (1)", Ban said as he walked over to her. "I don't care if this is your freaking territory, but I don't take orders from anyone. Ever."

"Yeah, you don't listen even if it makes more sense to do so", Iarra said as she knelt down and traced her fingers against the markings etched on the wall. "It's amazing you're still alive."

Ban narrowed his eyes at her. "You seem to be forgetting that I'M the one who got us out of that net. If it weren't for me, you'd be sawing those wires until your hairs turn gray."

"Yeah, about that", Iarra said, leaning her elbow on her knee. She turned her head and looked up at Ban. "I've never seen anyone break those nets with their bare hands before."

Uhh... Was that a compliment?, he thought. He was prepared for more verbal sparring with her, but not a compliment. Assuming that was a compliment. Was it?

Interesting, Iarra was thinking. He finally shut up.

She smiled, then stood up and walked over to one side of the chamber. Ban watched her as she put her palms against the wall, and pushed. Nothing happened. She then turned around and gave another push, this time, using her back, her face crunching up with the effort. Still, nothing happened.

Ban walked over to her and chuckled. "Now what are you doing?"

To his surprise, Iarra chuckled as well. Then she leaned her head against the wall, panting. "This...", she said, pointing a thumb behind her. "... is actually a door leading to our way out. I was trying to push it open, but as you can see, it's a lot like you."

Ban gave her a confused look. "It's... very strong?"

She chuckled. "It's very stubborn."

Ban mimicked her chuckle. "Funny. Now get of the way and let me at it."

She grinned. "Now that's what I'm talking about." She stepped away from the wall.

Ban pressed his palms against the wall.

"Yeah", Iarra said. "Make that great strength of yours useful. Move those powerful muscles. Bend the door to your iron will. Make them..." Iarra stopped as she saw Ban glare at her. "What? I just thought I'd give you moral support."

"Well, cut it out. I don't need your freaking moral support."

"Oh, right. Because you're the Invincible Mido Ban-sama!"

"Oh, shut up!"

Iarra grinned. "Now YOU'RE telling ME to shut up?"

"Oh, I get it", Ban said. He pushed at the concrete door, but the door didn't budge. "This is your idea of revenge."

"Revenge? Nahh. If I wanted revenge, it'll be much worse", she said with a mischevious glint in her eyes.

Ban mustered up all his strength, and pushed at the door. Sweat began to form on his forehead, but the door still wouldn't budge. He stopped and looked at Iarra. "How much worse? Like making me push at a solid wall?"

"It may look like a solid wall, but it's a door."

"How do you know that? Did those stupid markers tell you?"

"Yes", Iarra replied. "Plus, if you look closely enough here..." She traced her fingers on a vertical ridge on the wall "... you'll see the edges of the door."

Ban peered over his sunglasses. With the black wall and the dim light, it was almost impossible to see the vertical ridge. But it was there. He scanned the rest of the wall with his fingers, and sure enough, about three feet across was another ridge parallel to the one he found earlier. He couldn't see farther up to find out how high the supposed door was. He looked at the ridges and, he hated to admit it, but it looked like Iarra was right.

"Are you sure we're supposed to push it?", he asked, looking at the door doubtfully.

It took a long time before Iarra answered, "Umm... Not really."

Ban glared at her. "What?!"

"Hehe", she laughed nervously. "The markers said 'push', but..." Her voice trailed off as she saw Ban's murderous eyes. Then she grinned sheepishly "... I'll go check again." She made her way to the wall where the markings were.

"Yeah. You go do that", Ban said through gritted teeth. "And this time, make sure you know exactly HOW to open this damn door before you make me do something ridiculous."

When Iarra reached the wall, she pressed her right palm on the markings.

Ban leaned back against the door and called out, "Yo, Iarra."

"Yeah?"

"This place doesn't happen to have any more flammable liquids nearby, does it?"

Iarra thought for a moment. "No. Why?" She turned her head to look at him.

Ban didn't answer. He just took out his cigarette pack, pulled a stick with his mouth, and lighted it up.

Iarra sighed as she turned back to the wall. She sweeped the wall with her hand, moving her palm farther to the right and feeling the etchings on the surface for more clues.

Ban took a puff from his cigarette and exhaled. Damn, that felt good, he thought. He took another drag, and let the intake of nicotine calm him down. While he smoked, he observed Iarra as she placed her hand lower on the wall and slid her palm across the surface.

This job turned out to be more complicated than he thought. He had never met any of the Dark Fleet agents before, at least not with his knowing about it. He knew they were formidable opponents. But it was one thing to know about it, and another thing to actually know it in his gut. He shook his head and added Dark Fleet to his mental list of 'Things to Consider Before Taking a Job'.

Iarra continued to scan two more rows of markings with her palm, then stopped. She crossed her arms over her chest, thinking.

Finally, she muttered, "Oh, I get it."

She then turned and walked back to the door. She stopped in front of the left edge of the door, and again swept it with her hands. She felt her left hand brush on something. She took a closer look and found a small slot on the wall. Keeping her eyes on the slot, she lifted her right knee and picked up one of her daggers. She then dropped her foot back down and inserted the dagger in the slot. It fit perfectly. Then, like a key inside a keyhole, she turned the dagger to the right.

They heard the sound of gears squeaking, and Ban felt the door vibrate slightly against his back. He quickly turned around to face the door. Iarra then pulled her dagger out and lifted her knee again to place it back in her boot.

Ban stared at the still closed door, and asked, "Now what?"

Iarra smiled at him. "Now we push."

Ban turned to look at her then raised an eyebrow.

"I'm sure this time", Iarra told him.

As if to prove her point, she pressed her palms against the door and pushed. The door swung open with a high-pitched squeak, revealing another tunnel similar to the one they dropped down from, with the rough cement walls and the dim light bulbs.

"Not again", Ban groaned.

Iarra gave him a lopsided smile and said, "You can stay here if you want."

"And miss out on all the fun?", Ban said. "I don't think so."

He started to walk forward. Iarra blocked his way with her arm.

"Get behind me", Iarra told him. "And stay behind me."

Ban glowered at her.

"It's for your own good", she said. She stepped forward and stopped. "And mine", she added as an afterthought.

They had walked only a few meters when Iarra suddenly stopped and stared at some markings on the left wall of the tunnel. Ban couldn't help but a feel a sense of dread. No doubt she spotted something again that would support his theory that Dark Fleet is made up of a bunch of psychos.

"What is it this time?", he asked wearily.

Instead of replying, Iarra stepped forward, and a small object from the right wall immediately flew to her head. She swiftly leaned back and caught the object as it passed by her face.

She stepped back and opened her palm to see what she had caught. It was a dart. She scrutinized the dart for a few seconds, then held it near her nose to sniff the tip.

Ban looked at the right wall for the source of the dart, but could not find one. Where in the world did that dart come from?, he wondered.

Seeing Ban's puzzled expression, Iarra walked over to the right wall. Careful not to trigger more darts, she placed her forefinger on the wall, pointing at a very tiny hole. "It came from here", she said.

Ban looked at the hole, then at the dart in Iarra's hand, then back at the hole. There's no way that dart could have fit in there, he thought.

Noticing the cynicism on Ban's face, Iarra held the dart up and twisted the tail part. The dart fins disappeared within tiny slots at the dart's tail. Without the fins, the dart could easily fit into the hole. She released her hold on the tail, and the fins immediately reappeared.

"Pretty cool, huh?", Iarra said, smiling smugly.

He had to admit, the design of the dart was pretty ingenious. He tried to look unimpressed as he looked at Iarra. "I've seen better."

She raised her eyebrows. Then she turned her attention back to the tunnel.

"There are hundreds of holes like this on both walls of the tunnel. And it goes on for about...", she glanced at the markings on the left wall. "... twenty meters. The good news is, this trap can be disabled. The bad news is..." She looked at Ban. "... the controls are on the other side."

They're definitely a bunch of psychos, Ban concluded.

"So I'm gonna go over there and disable the trap. You stay here until I give the go signal, alright?", she told him.

Ban just looked at her and said nothing.

"Alright?", Iarra repeated, more firmly this time.

Ban shrugged. "Whatever you say."

Iarra sighed, then turned back to the tunnel. She closed her eyes and took a slow deep breath. She exhaled slowly, stepped her right foot back, and slowly opened her eyes.

The fierce look in Iarra's eyes when she opened them made Ban almost gasp. She seemed to transform into a completely different person. If those darts were alive, they'd probably think twice before attacking her.

Iarra bent her knees, then took off. Darts started to fly from both sides of the tunnel. She did a front flip to avoid them. While in midair, she twisted her body to dodge a dart that was headed for her shoulder. She dropped on the floor in a crouching position. Then she quickly leaped up and did a somersault, avoiding more darts. As she landed, several more darts flew to her face. She ducked, then rolled forward. She continued to do a series of similar maneuvers until she reached the end of the twenty meters, where she landed on one knee.

Panting, she turned her head and saw Ban staring at the floor. She followed his gaze and dropped her jaw at all the darts laying on the floor behind her. She didn't realize there were that many. She breathed a sigh of relief.

Ban watched her as she stood up, walked over to the left side of the tunnel, and stared at something on the wall. She stood motionless for what seemed like an eternity. Ban shifted his leg.

Man, she's really taking her time on this one, he thought.

Iarra was staring at the outline of a small panel on the wall. The controls to disable the trap were inside the panel. The problem was, she couldn't find the button to open it.

"Oi!", Ban called out to her. "If you wanted to do an impersonation of a stone statue, you could've at least done that graceful pose of the Venus de Milo or something. I could help you come up with ideas on what the arms should look like. Actually, I've already thought of several interesting ones. Wanna know what they are?"

"Why don't YOU just do the David (2) pose and be quiet?", Iarra shot back.

"You wanna see me do the David pose?", Ban said, grinning. "You're pretty fast, babe. And I thought you were coy."

"That's not what I meant", she turned her head to him and made a face. "Ewww."

Ban chuckled.

"Yuck", she muttered. She shook her head to clear her mind of the disturbing mental image brought about by that recent conversation.

She looked back at the holes where the darts came from, and noticed that the outermost hole was bigger than the rest. That's wierd, she thought. She looked closer at it. Inside was the button that she was looking for. She felt like kicking herself. She should've spotted that earlier. She cursed. Stay focused, she commanded herself.

Ban saw her press her finger on the wall, and a panel suddenly swung open from the wall's surface. You mean she hasn't started disabling the stupid trap?, he thought.

He watched her stare at the controls inside, and groaned. And it looks like she doesn't even know how to start. He scowled. He hated having to wait for her to figure things out.

He looked at the holes at the tunnel walls, then surveyed the darts on the floor. It's not that bad, he thought. He could move faster than Iarra, he was sure of that. So if she survived that, he didn't see why he couldn't.

Iarra sensed a different aura coming from Ban's direction. She glanced at him and caught him staring at the darts intently.

He couldn't possibly be thinking... Seeing the look on Ban's eyes, she inhaled sharply. Oh, shit. He is.

Ban suddenly lunged forward. Iarra gasped. She had to restrain herself to keep from yelling at him. The slightest distraction could make things turn ugly. She'd just yell at him later. She bit her lip as she watched him somersault forward to avoid the several darts flying at him.

Yes, he was fast. But to survive this trap, one could not rely on speed alone. The only reason she got through it safely was that she had been trained for this. Ban hadn't.

Ban ducked and dodged so swiftly that Iarra sometimes couldn't keep track of him. She couldn't help but be amazed at his impressive speed. Maybe speed was all this guy needed, she considered.

Ban reached the end of the twenty meters and stopped beside Iarra. He grinned smugly at her.

Iarra didn't realize that she was holding her breath. She exhaled, then glared at Ban. Now was the time to yell.

"ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR FREAKING MIND??!", she exploded.

"I told you before, patience is NOT one of my strengths", Ban retorted. He felt something on his right wrist. Without moving his head, he dropped his eyes at his wrist and saw a fresh cut. He didn't realize he got grazed.

Iarra followed his gaze. "Let me see that", she said. She reached out to grab his wrist.

He pulled his wrist away from her grasp. "It's nothing", he said.

"Just let me take a look at it", she insisted.

"I'm fine", Ban said, frowning at her. "It's just another stupid graze, okay? It's not much different from the ones that YOU gave me."

Iarra took a step closer to him and tilted her chin up to directly look him in the eye. "Mido", she said in a low voice. "Those darts have poisons that can rot your flesh from the inside out. If you want to keep that hand, I suggest that you forget about your ego for a minute and show it to me."

Ban glared at her, but said nothing. Without taking his eyes off hers, he held his wrist up. "There. You happy now?"

Iarra took a look at his wrist, then sighed. "Sit down", she said.

"Why?"

"Because", she replied exasperatedly. "Sitting down will slow the poison down while I give you the antidote. And it's about time we rest, anyway." She moved away from the wall to make way for him. "Here, sit here so you can lean on the wall."

Thankfully, Ban obliged. He sat down on the floor, crossing his legs. "What antidote?"

Iarra sat down in front him and also crossed her legs. She took his wrist with her left hand. With her right hand, she picked one of the black beads in her hair and held it above the cut on Ban's wrist. She then squeezed the bead and drops of clear liquid fell on the wound.

Ban watched her curiously. "What exactly is that?"

She answered, "This would neutralize the poisons that are attacking your cells right now."

"Why were you so worried about getting hit by the darts if you have the antidote?"

"I have enough for just one or two darts", she replied. Then she looked at Ban sternly. "You're lucky this is just a graze. If you got hit directly by more darts, you could've become a vegetable."

He looked at the other beads in her hair. "Do they all contain the same stuff?", he asked, pointing at the beads.

"No. They're different kinds of chemicals."

"Like what?"

"I'm not really in the mood for an inventory right now, Mido", she replied. She held Ban's injured wrist closer to her face, and blew at it.

Ban raised his eyebrow. "You seem to know a lot about cuts", he commented.

She looked at him and smiled. "I should", she said. She then took a dagger out of her boot.

"Whoa", Ban said, quickly pulling his wrist from her. "What are you gonna do with that?"

She chuckled, amused. She then used the dagger to cut her left sleeve off from her suit. She placed the dagger back in her boot, and reached for Ban's wrist. Then she proceeded to wrap his wound with the cut sleeve.

"Oh, okay", Ban said. "For a moment there, I thought you were psycho enough to cut off my hand, Dagger Babe." He chuckled.

She chuckled as well. "You know", she said as she continued to wrap her sleeve around his wrist. "The nicknames are really cute." Still smiling at him, she tied the ends of the sleeve in a knot, a little too tightly. "But I prefer Iarra."

Ban winced, then glared at her.

"Oh, I'm sorry", Iarra said, looking at him innocently. "Is it too tight?"

"Too tight? No", Ban answered sarcastically. "It's not tight enough to completely cut off my circulation, IARRA", he continued, stressing her name.

Iarra smiled. "That's more like it", she said, loosening the knot on his wrist.

She then moved to sit beside him, and leaned her head on the wall. "Let's just wait for a few minutes for the antidote to take effect before we get moving."

Ban turned his head to her. "Are you saying that we should sit here and do nothing for the next few minutes?"

"Yes."

He sighed. "Patience is not one of my strengths, and I'm being punished for it."

Iarra smiled.

Notes: Yeah, yeah, Ginji's not in this chapter. Sorry about that. He was supposed to be here, but after looking at what I've written so far, I realized that the chapter's already quite long. So I just decided to stop and write the next scenes on the next chapter. Again, my apologies...

limelie: Glad I'm not the only one :-)

yuhi-thedoerofevildeeds: A sequel? Hmmm... Well, who knows? I just might!

the PIEROTT: Hey, a smart-ass reviewer! Cool! hehe :-) Thanks for the comment. To tell you the truth, I didn't know it was common knowledge. Guess I wasn't paying attention when I was in third grade. Mayumi-san has an unretentive (3) memory. You know, now that you've mentioned it, Iarra does seem a bit like Gogo. Sorry if the story's kind of confusing. Would you believe that I actually simplified it already? Oh well, I'll try to make it simpler next time. Oh, and about Iarra's profile... Ummm... Like I told Rabid Lola, her background is a mystery hehe :-) I'm gonna reveal stuff about Iarra every now and then, so a profile might spoil it, you know what I mean? ;-) Heck, I haven't even written my own profile yet...

Atropos' Knife: Twisted, eh? Well, you might be surprised to know that I based it on something real. I stumbled upon websites about the Yamashita treasure when I thought about this plot. Here's some more nerdy trivia for you: During World War II, the Japanese had buried the treasure on several locations and booby trapped them. They had also created complicated markers so they could come back for the treasure one day. I don't know exactly what sort of booby traps they had. The ones in this story are just products of Mayumi-san's twisted imagination :-) And I think I confused you a bit. Karekawa had nothing to do with Dark Fleet. He was just a private collector who obtained the sword from the thief. Iarra infiltrated his mansion for the same reason Ban and Ginji did - to get the sword from him. Hmm.. Guess I wasn't very clear about that. Sorry (sheepish grin).

EffyDurach: Hey, Effy! Actually, the character Iarra stemmed from my desire to see more female fighters in GB, so here she is. Glad you like her :-)

lyfforreal: Here's another chapter for ya! But I think it's far from being finished...

(1) Aichmo-maniac. I just invented this word. It came from the word aichmophobia, which is the fear of needles, knives, and other pointed objects. So I bet you can guess what aichmo-maniac means :-)

(2) Yes, I'm referring to Michelangelo's nude marble statue.

(3) Unretentive - not having the power, property, or capacity of retaining. I'm just teasing the PIEROTT hehe :-)