Disclaimer: The last time I checked, GB is still owned by Aoki and Ayamine, not me.
Notes: I've got three words for this chapter: It's Ginji's turn.
Ginji ran through the dark corridors. He had been running for quite some time now. So far, he had successfully evaded Dark Fleet guards and Chinese-looking soldier types that he had seen.
He wasn't sure what was going on, but he noticed that no more guards seemed to be coming after him. He was glad about that, of course, but it also made him confused. It looked like it had something to do with the appearance of those Chinese fighters. From what he could figure out, there seemed to be some friction going on between them and Dark Fleet. And here he was right in the middle of it.
He reached the end of the corridor and turned right to another hallway. At the far end of the hallway, he could see light coming out of a partially opened door. Something told him that he shouldn't be making so much noise, so he stopped running and started walking briskly instead.
He reached the door and peered cautiously at the room behind. He could see the wooden planks that made up the floor and a mahogany table at the middle of the room. He heard a door at the other end of the room open and a group of armed Chinese men walked in.
He quickly hid behind the door and listened. Maybe he could find out more about what was going on.
The men started talking rapidly in Chinese. Ginji groaned inwardly. So much for eavesdropping. The only Chinese sentence that he knew was a greeting that Ban had taught him when they went to meet a client at the Yokohama Chukagai (1) during the early part of the year.
Wait a minute, why is he hiding anyway? He wasn't part of Dark Fleet. Technically, he was an enemy of Dark Fleet. Maybe if those Chinese men knew that, they wouldn't attack him. They might even tell him how to get out.
He peered at the room again, and at the men's faces. He gulped. He knew bloodthirsty killers when he saw one. And right now, there were a bunch of them. He pulled his head back again and decided that asking them for directions was a bad idea.
He heard the sound of boots on the wooden floor, followed by a door opening, then closing. The next sound he heard was silence. He waited for a few minutes, then peered into the room again. Just as he thought, the men were gone.
He pushed the door open and stepped in. It was a big rectangular room. The mahogany table was very long, reaching almost to both ends of the room. At his right, a circular emblem carved in ebony hung at one wall, behind what he guessed was the head of the table. What struck him about the insignia was not the looming image of a galleon projected on its surface, but the Chinese saber that was plunged right at the center of it. He shuddered. That was definitely symbolic.
He saw four doors at the wall opposite him. He started to walk around the table when he noticed several more doors by the wall where he was. He looked at all the doors and sweatdropped. Which one should he choose?
There was no way of knowing where the doors lead to unless he tried them out, he concluded. And since he already came from this side of the room, he should try one of the doors on the other side.
He walked around the table and stood in front of the first door. Taking a deep breath, he slowly turned the knob and pulled open the door. It was another hallway. And thankfully, it was empty.
Ginji entered the hallway and walked on.
Iarra blew on the blade of one of her daggers and wiped it with her remaining sleeve. She did the same thing with the other side of the blade, then looked at Ban out of the corner of her eye, who was sitting cross-legged beside her.
Ban, who was recovering from the poison introduced into his system via a wrist cut, seemed to be deep in thought. He was leaning his left elbow on his knee and resting his chin on his left fist. He wanted to smoke, but Iarra told him that the nicotine wouldn't react well with the antidote, so he was stuck with drumming his fingernails on the floor.
Damn, he thought. This was why he hated doing nothing. It made him think. It made him worried, actually, though he would never admit that to anyone. Yes, he was worried. About Ginji. Since he wasn't what people would call an optimist, his thoughts always turned to the worst possible scenarios.
"Dammit", he muttered, clenching his fist as he stared at the improvised bandage on his wrist. If something happened to Ginji... he would know, right?, he reassured himself.
"Hey", Iarra said.
Ban turned his head to look at her.
"Your partner", she said, glancing at him as she wiped another dagger. "He's the Raitei, right?"
"WAS the Raitei", he corrected her.
"Oh, right", she said, nodding. "He left the Volts years ago." She paused, then continued. "But even so, he's not exactly defenseless." She smiled at him. "He'll be alright."
Ban stared at her. "How do you know so much about us?"
She gave him another glance, then smiled as she continued to wipe her dagger. "Mido, when you're in this business, it's an advantage to know about different gangs in the cities that you're operating in, don't you agree?"
"We're not a gang."
She gave him an amused look. "I was talking about the Volts."
"Oh." Ban glanced at the dagger in her hand, then at the now exposed tattoo on her left wrist. "You know, you remind me of someone", he commented.
"Who?"
"You've probably heard of him", he replied. "Big black hat, black coat, uses scalpels..."
"Oh, please", Iarra said, rolling her eyes. "I am nothing like Dr. Jackal."
"Ah, so you've met him?"
"As whacked up as he is, he's still one of the best transporters around, so we hire him sometimes."
He grinned. "I think you have a lot of things in common."
"Oh yeah?", she turned to look at him. "Like what?"
"Let's see...", he said, looking up at the ceiling and tapping his chin thoughtfully. "You both like wearing black. You both have tattoos. You both like sharp shiny objects, and you both like cutting people up with them.."
"I do NOT like cutting people up!", she protested.
"Okay, that's one difference between you and Dr. Jackal", he said, grinning again. "At least he admits he likes cutting people up."
She turned her attention back to the dagger in her hand. "Just because I'm a smuggler doesn't mean that I'm a homicidal maniac."
Her eyes took on a faraway look, and Ban felt like he had hit a nerve. He decided to change the subject and just find out all that he possibly could while they were sedentary. "Hey, Iarra."
Snapping out of her melancholy, she said, "Yeah?"
"Can I ask you something?"
"You just did."
He scowled, which made Iarra chuckle. "Seriously, can I ask you something?", he repeated.
She saw the earnest look in his eyes, and stopped laughing. "What is it?"
"What exactly happened between Dark Fleet and the Burning Dragons?"
Iarra stared at her dagger for a long moment before replying. "Well, the Dragons have always been very...", she paused, searching for the right word. "... shrewd business partners." She snorted. "It's easier to deal with the Yakuza than with them."
"You deal with the Yakuza?"
She smiled at him. "We're smugglers, Mido. What do you think?" Then she continued, "But to make a long story short, we had several business deals with the Dragons that didn't turn out well. We became rivals instead of allies. And over time, the rivalry has turned personal."
Ban thought about what she said, then remarked, "Don't you think killing each other is a waste of your time and your money?"
"We do", she answered. "But as you can see, the Dragons don't see things that way." She sighed. "After what they've done today, I'm not sure what course of action the Fleet will take."
"Maybe you guys should just let the Silver Claw deal with them", he said, watching her reaction.
She turned her head at him. "That depends on Havoc."
He cocked his head to her. "Does the Silver Claw do everything Havoc says?"
She smiled. "Only Havoc can answer that."
He snorted. "That Silver Claw is one heck of an elusive guy." He looked directly into Iarra's eyes. "Or GIRL."
Iarra raised an eyebrow. "And your point is?"
Still meeting her gaze, Ban asked, "Do you know who the Silver Claw is?"
"Only Havoc knows who the Silver Claw is."
"So he, or SHE, could be anyone."
"Correct."
"For all I know, I could be looking at the Silver Claw right now."
She laughed. "So that's what you're getting at." She looked at him and smiled. "We've been through this before, Mido."
"Well, you haven't exactly denied it, have you?"
She smiled at him again. "If I were the Silver Claw", she said, emphasizing the word 'if'. "Do you think I'd admit it to you?"
Ban's brows furrowed. "No."
"So I guess you'll agree that this line of questioning is futile."
He scowled. "If you're not the Silver Claw, why don't you just deny it?"
"If I deny it, would you believe me?"
Ban didn't reply.
"I rest my case", she said, grinning. "Does your wrist feel itchy?"
Ban glanced at his bandaged wrist. Now that she had mentioned it, it does feel itchy. "A little."
"Good." At Ban's confused look, she added, "It means the antidote is working." She stood up and dusted herself off. "We should get going." Then she looked at Ban. "Whatever you do, do NOT scratch it."
Ban stood up as well. "I still think you're the Silver Claw", he told her.
"Think whatever you want." She turned, then started to walk in the direction that they were previously going.
Ban turned to follow her. "I'm not gonna stop pestering you until you deny it."
"Fine. I deny it."
"That's not very convincing."
"Okay. I un-deny it."
He scowled at the back of her head. "This conversation's going nowhere."
"Right. So why don't we just end it?"
Ban scowled even more. "I'm gonna get my answers before this day ends, Dagger Babe. I promise you that..."
Their voices trailed off as they walked deeper into the tunnel.
Ginji found a door at the end of the corridor he was in. He opened the door, entered the room, then sighed. The room was similar to the several other rooms that he had entered in the past twenty minutes.
He was starting to get frustrated. Ban-chan always told him about his skill, or lack thereof, at directions. But he made an effort to keep track of his turns this time. And he was pretty sure that he had not been in this room before. Well, almost sure. The rooms all looked the same.
He made his way to the door that he saw at one walls. He opened it, stepped out, and stopped in his tracks. Right at the center of the room was a long mahogany table that seemed very familiar. Slowly, he turned his head, and just as he thought, there was the Dark Fleet emblem and the Chinese saber at its center, just as he remembered it.
He turned chibi right then. "Waaah! Ban-chan! Where are you???", he cried out, flailing his arms in despair.
He flopped down on the floor and stared forlornly at the doors. I wonder if Ban-chan is also having trouble getting out of this place, he thought. Probably not. He'll be mad if he finds out that I got lost again. He sighed. Well, the only thing to do now is to try another door.
He stood up, changing back into his normal form, then walked to the nearest door.
He was about to open the door when he heard footsteps on the other side. He sweatdropped, and quickly turned to the door beside it. He opened it and stepped out just as more Chinese fighters entered the room.
Thankfully, he was able to close the door just in time. He sighed in relief. He looked around to see where he was and realized that he was again faced with another predicament. There are two flights of stairs in front of him, one going up, and one going down.
The muffled voices of the Chinese fighters urged him to move on, so he randomly chose the stairs that were going down. The stairs led him to another hallway, with a solid wall on the right, and several doors to the left.
His very recent aimless wanderings had led him to a routine of opening a door, entering the room, then looking for another door, so that was exactly what he did. He chose a door and entered. This room looked like a typical jansoh (2), lined with several rows of kotatsus (3) on which rubber mats were placed to convert them into mahjong tables.
As he closed the door behind him, he realized just what a mistake it was to follow a routine at a time like this.
Two Chinese men in cotton kungfu suits, one in black and one in gray, looked up and stared at Ginji as he entered the room. Ginji froze.
"Who are you?", the man wearing black demanded in Chinese.
"Eh?", Ginji said as he turned chibi. "I'm sorry", he whimpered. "I don't speak Chinese."
The other man in gray turned to his companion and said, still in Chinese. "It doesn't look like he's one of us."
Ginji's mind raced. What could he tell them that would make them see that he's not an enemy? Then, like a light bulb suddenly turning on above his head, he got the idea that maybe he could start with the one Chinese greeting that he knew.
"Kung hei fat choy! (4)", he said.
The two men stared at him, then at each other. Then Black said, "He's definitely not one of us."
Gray nodded at him. Then they turned their heads to Ginji with narrowed eyes.
Ginji gulped. Did I say it wrong?, he thought.
Then in perfect unison, they charged at him, yelling, "Ta! (5)" Gray kicked Ginji on the stomach, while Black struck Ginji's face with his fist.
Ginji flew to the side of the room and hit his back on the floor with a thud. Groaning, he rolled to his side and pushed himself up.
Gray lunged at him and aimed to chop at Ginji's throat with the side of his palm. Ginji crossed his arms over his face to block the attack, and sent volts of electricity to his attacker.
Gray screamed in pain and dropped down to his knees.
Ginji turned to the other fighter, who was currently glaring at him. He held his palms up in an effort to calm him down. "Please stop. I don't want to fight."
Black paid no attention to his gesture of peace and charged. He brought his heel up to Ginji's head. Ginji ducked, spinned to move quickly behind Black, and grabbed his shoulder. Before he could electrocute him, Black grasped Ginji's arm and bent down, pulling Ginji and throwing him across the room.
Ginji flew head first towards one of the mahjong tables. He somersaulted to avoid hitting his head, and ended up crashing with his back against the table, splitting the table in half. The impact knocked the wind out of him, causing him to cough involuntarily for air.
He stood up shakily and slowly turned around to face Black. He was surprised to see Gray standing up too. Guess he was going to have to amp up the volts with these two. He stepped out of the remains of the mahjong table underneath him, and let electricity course through his veins. Small sparks danced around his body as he eyed them.
Gray attacked first. With a loud yell, he ran towards Ginji and leaped in the air, his foot intending to strike Ginji on the face. Ginji moved out of the way. Just as he was shooting a jolt of electricity behind Gray's neck, Black lunged at him and brought the bottom part of his palm hard against Ginji's jaw. Using the same hand, Black grabbed his chin, intending to pull him down to the side.
Apparently, Black wasn't aware that maintaining contact with an electric eel was not very wise. He shook violently as electricity passed through his hand into the rest of his body. He dropped down to the ground.
Ginji felt somebody behind him move for another attack. Gray's still standing?, he thought, a little amazed. Quickly spinning around, he hit his attacker on the side of the head with his fist.
A female voice gasped, making Ginji do a double take. It took a while before Ginji realized that Gray was still on the floor, unconscious. And the person that he hit was a girl.
Where did this girl come from?, he wondered, confused. He noticed that the door was open. The girl had probably come in while he was preoccupied with Black and Gray.
The girl was sitting on the floor beside Gray, using her hands to rub the side of her head where Ginji had hit her.
"I'm very sorry!!", Ginji blurted out. He quickly knelt beside her. "Are you alright?", he asked worriedly. He held out his hand to take a look at her head.
She swatted his hand away and glared. She then yelled at him in Chinese.
Ginji sweatdropped. "Uhh.... Kung hei fat choy?", he said, trying out the greeting again.
She stared at him, then glared again. With swift movements, she clawed at Ginji's cheek, rolled to the side away from him, and stood up in a kenpo stance.
Stunned, Ginji touched his left cheek, where he felt a stinging sensation. His fingers told him he had three parallel scratches. He looked at his fingers and saw blood. What did I say?, he thought, more confused than ever. Maybe what Ban-chan had taught him was a curse word, and not a greeting. Yeah, that would explain why it seemed to make them all mad.
He gazed up at the girl. It looked like she was sixteen, with her hair up in two buns at the top part of her head. She was wearing a black silk cheongsam (6) blouse with red dragon patterns, and black tight-fitting pants. She kind of reminded him of Ling Xiaoyu from Tekken.
He stood up, clasped his hands together, and put up his most apologetic face. "I'm very sorry for hitting you. I didn't mean it. I thought you were that guy." He pointed at Gray.
The girl followed his finger with her gaze, then she looked back at Ginji, her face visibly more angry.
"No, no, no", Ginji shook his head, becoming more agitated. "I didn't mean that you look like that guy. You're obviously cuter. I mean..."
His voice trailed off as the girl waved her palms in the air in different kenpo forms, and yelled a battle cry. She did a rapid series of attacks on Ginji, using her palms to chop and strike him in different places. Ginji blocked some and got hit by some. If this was a Tekken game, his life bar was decreasing. He blocked her kick and gave her a few volts, just enough to disable her temporarily.
She fell against another mahjong table. She looked up at Ginji, stunned by the fact that the man standing before her could generate electricity.
Ginji tried once more to pacify her. With big apologetic brown eyes, he said, "I'm sorry. Let's stop fighting. Please." He reached out to help her up.
Apparently, big apologetic brown eyes did not work on this girl. She glared at Ginji and shoved his hand aside with her palm. Then standing up with her hands, she hurled her feet against his head. Ginji ducked and sent veins of lightning at her, which were blocked by the rubber mat that she had quickly picked up from a mahjong table.
Ginji stared at her in awe. She was pretty good. Now that she had a shield, he would have a harder time shooting volts at her. But then, that also meant that she wouldn't be able to hit him as long as the rubber mat was in her hands. He was immediately corrected of that assumption when her foot shot up from under the mat and hit him on the stomach.
He stumbled back and ended up seated on a mahjong table behind him. The girl gave him another kick on the head, which sent him rolling to his side.
Ginji gasped to catch his breath. He gazed up at the girl in front of him, at her eyes peering over the rubber mat. It looked like he couldn't talk his way out of this one.
He held his palm out and sent pulses of electricity at her legs, the only parts of her body that were not being protected by the mat. She easily leaped up to avoid his attacks. While in midair, she threw the rubber mat at Ginji's face.
Ginji caught the mat. As he removed it from his face, he found himself looking up at the girl's heel. He rolled to the side just in time, feeling the wind from the girl's feet brush against his face as she landed next to his head. He grabbed her ankle and conducted waves of current at her ankle. She screamed as she dropped to the ground. Ginji sat up and watched her with concern in his eyes.
She recovered quickly. Rolling away from Ginji, she stood up, and charged at him. Ginji caught her fist as it flew to his face. Then he grabbed her shoulder with his other hand.
Looking directly into her eyes, Ginji said one last time, "I'm very sorry."
She gasped as volts of electricity flowed from Ginji's hands and into her body. She gave Ginji a look of astonishment before she passed out.
Ginji caught her as she fell, cushioning her head with his chest. Supporting her head with his hand, he carefully laid her down on the floor. Then he stood up, and surveyed the damage in the room.
Several tables had been overturned. His three former opponents were down on the floor, unconscious, but otherwise okay. He touched his cheek where he felt the stinging pain from the scratch that the girl had given him. He should be more careful about entering strange rooms next time. With a sigh, he turned and walked out the door.
"Mido, don't you ever get tired of asking the same questions again and again?", Iarra asked exasperatedly.
They had been walking in the tunnel for some time now, and thankfully, they had not encountered more traps so far.
"No", Ban replied. "I can be very persistent." Like this very irritating itch, he thought, glancing at his wrist.
"Look", she said, sighing. "I'm the only Dark Fleet agent that you've met so far. How can you be so sure that I'm the Silver Claw?"
"I have information that the Silver Claw is after the Mikazuki Munechika. As far as I know, you're the only Dark Fleet agent assigned to get the sword."
"Haven't you ever considered that your information could be incorrect?"
"No. Our information has been correct in all aspects of the mission, so far."
"So far", she repeated. "That's not proof that everything you know is correct, is it?"
He glowered at her.
"Besides, I'm not even considered the best fighter in Dark Fleet."
He stared at her. "You're not?"
"That look of surprise is very flattering, Mido", she said, grinning. "But the truth is, if you ask around as to who's the best fighter here, they're not gonna give you my name as an answer."
He raised his eyebrows. Is that so, he thought. Then aloud, he said, "Then who is?"
She replied. "A man named Gitsu. We hold friendly competitions here every now and then to test our skills. And he always wins."
Ban thought about what she said. "Sounds like an interesting guy."
She snorted. "He's one arrogant bastard. He's pretty good and he knows it." Then she turned to look at Ban. "You'd like him."
He glared at her. "And what is that supposed to mean?"
She laughed. "Nothing", she said.
Before Ban could say come up with a retort, Iarra suddenly stopped. Before her, the tunnel divided into two branches. Ban noticed some markings on both the left and right walls of the tunnel.
Iarra stared at the markings then pointed at the right branch. "This one leads to an exit, so I guess we're going this way." She turned to the right tunnel.
"Finally", Ban remarked. "I thought this tunnel of misery would never end."
He then turned to the right tunnel to follow Iarra. They walked on in silence, with Iarra carefully scrutinizing the walls and ceiling for more markers. Ban followed behind with his hands in his pockets, trying very hard to keep from scratching his damn wrist.
They had walked a few meters when Ban suddenly grabbed Iarra's arm. Iarra turned her head to look at him questioningly.
"I smell gunpowder", Ban said.
Iarra took a good sniff. The scent of gunpowder was very faint, but it was there, alright. She looked at Ban, a little amazed at his keen sense of smell. "You're right." She frowned. "But we don't store gunpowder down here. It's too dangerous."
Her gaze fell upon Ban's hand on her arm. Ban quickly let go and put his hands back in his pockets. "Are you sure this is the right way?", he asked.
Iarra turned her head to look at the passage before her. "Well, the signs say the exit's this way." She looked back at Ban. "Do you think we should go back?"
Ban raised his eyebrows. "You're the pathfinder. Not me."
"You're a lot of help, do you know that?"
"Well, if something goes wrong, there's only you to blame", Ban said, grinning.
Iarra glowered at him, then stared back into the passage again, trying to decide whether to go forward or to go back. Making up her mind, she took a few steps forward, then stopped. She looked back at Ban again. "Keep your eyes open, okay?"
"They're always open, Dagger Babe."
Iarra started to walk ahead. A few feet away, she saw the Dark Fleet marker for the number 'five' on the right wall.
Five? Five what?, she wondered.
As she continued to walk, she saw another marker, this time for the number 'four'.
She stopped and scanned the walls for any more markers. But that was all she saw. That's strange, she thought.
A few feet away, she spotted the marker for 'three'. Then it was 'two'. She started feeling a little queasy. When she got to the marker for 'one', she stopped.
Five, four, three, two, one..., she thought. Then her eyes widened as a horrifying thought dawned on her. Oh, shit. It's a countdown.
She suddenly turned around and yelled, "Go back! Now!"
Ban stopped and stared at her, a little puzzled. The look in her eyes told him to obey now and ask questions later. They ran.
They had only run a few steps when a loud explosion boomed from behind them, throwing both of them up in the air.
Notes: I think it's only fair that Ginji gets some action for a change :-) Let me just say that this has been the most difficult chapter to write so far. Man, it was really hard to find words to describe those kungfu moves. So if you don't get what I'm trying to describe, I'm so sorry. I tried my best.
limelie: There are a lot of things in the real world that can tickle one's imagination :-) Hey, did I really torture you? :D
yuhi-thedoerofevildeeds: Umm.. okay. Well, I'm trying to keep it shorter. I really am! But then I might cut out some details that would make the plot confusing, so... this is as short as I can get it to be.
Effy: Wow, thanks! You just made my heart melt :-)
blackangel123: Nice? Nahh... Getting on each other's nerves is more like it :D Actually, their seeming concern for each other is out of necessity. They need to keep each other alive :-) If you see hints, well, go ahead and see them :P
lyfforreal: Awww... That's so sweet. Thanks! :-) You know, if this were an episode of GB, 'The Silver Claw' would be said like this: Da Si-ru-va Ku-ro.
rabid lola: Actually, yes. I have a LOT of ideas for the traps. Mayumi-san is eeeevil. But, I'm trying to make the story shorter, so there isn't enough room for all of them :-s
Neko-san: Thanks! Apparently, I'm good at torturing people. Just ask Ban ;-)
(1) Yokohama Chukagai is the largest chinatown in Japan, located in central Yokohama at the south of Tokyo.
(2) Jansoh is a mahjong parlour.
(3) A kotatsu is a low table with a built-in electric heater.
(4) This is the greeting used during the Chinese New Year, which is held around the beginning of February.
(5) "Ta" means to strike first. This is one of the principles in Northern Praying Mantis Kungfu. I'm not sure if real kungfu fighters yell out their attacks, but hey, this is based on anime. So the fighters in this fic do ;-)
(6) The cheongsam is a traditional Chinese dress for women, with a high collar, and button or frog closures near the shoulder. Himiko's top is similar to this.