Notes: Conversations in bold indicate yelling. I've tried using all caps, but it hurt my eyes. So I decided to use bold font instead.
Ginji was walking along a dark corridor, when he heard the muffled sound of an explosion. He stumbled as the floor shook from underneath him.
"Ban-chan", he said softly. "Please be alright."
Ban found himself lying on his back and staring up at the ceiling. The blurry ceiling. He blinked, then shook his head to clear the fog enveloping his vision. Slowly, the ceiling came into focus. He rolled to his side, then pushed himself up. He groaned as his body protested against the movement.
Dammit, he thought. His whole body is aching, his wrist is itching, and to top it all off, his ears were ringing from the blast. He rubbed the back of his neck, then stared at the scene before him.
A few meters away, the tunnel ceiling had collapsed, causing a mountain of debris to block the way to the rest of the tunnel. He never imagined he would think the thought that was forming in his mind right now, but he hoped Iarra wasn't under that rubble. As much a pain in the butt as she was, he wouldn't have gone far on this hell of a tunnel on his own.
Quickly, he looked around. He spotted her face down farther away from the blast. She wasn't moving. He inhaled sharply.
No way, he thought. She can't be...
He rushed to her, and rolled her to her back. He sighed in relief. She was breathing, but she was staring blankly up at the ceiling, as if in shock.
"Oi! Iarra!", he shouted at her as he shook her hard.
Iarra blinked. The first things she saw as her eyes focused were spiky hair and glasses. She blinked again.
"M-m-mido?", she said shakily.
"Are you okay?", Ban asked her.
Iarra frowned in confusion. "Huh?"
"I said, are you okay?", he repeated.
She stared at him, then slowly shook her head. "What?", she asked.
Good grief, Ban thought. Is she deaf?
"Are you okay?!", he yelled.
Finally, a look of understanding passed over her face. "Yeah, I'm fine. What about you?"
Ban frowned then stared at her. After a long moment, he asked, "Did you say something?"
Ginji slowly opened one of the doors in the long corridor that he had been walking in. He carefully poked his head inside. Once he made sure that there was no one in the room, he got in, and closed the door behind him.
The room had a small table to one side, and several boxes lined up on the walls. Curious, he walked over and lifted the lid on one of boxes and looked inside. His eyes opened wide at what he saw.
"Apples!", he exclaimed. He suddenly turned chibi and devoured the apples as fast as he can.
Iarra and Ban had no choice but to go back. They were both weakened by the blast, and they were both deaf. Well, temporarily, at least. But other than the bruises and scratches on various parts of their bodies, they were both okay.
They reached the point where the tunnel branched out. Ban stepped up to the other branch, but was quickly blocked by Iarra's arm. He glared at her.
"I am NOT letting you lead me into another trap", he said.
Iarra was grateful for the fact that she could not make out a word that he said. This temporary deafness thing has its advantages, she thought.
Judging from the look on his face, she guessed that he was not happy about her being in the lead again after that blast. She raised an eyebrow.
"Can you read the markers?", she asked him loudly, almost yelling so that she can be sure that he heard her.
"Well obviously, the ability to read those markers is not enough to keep us out of those stupid traps!" Ban was definitely yelling. "And a bomb, too! What the hell were you guys thinking using bombs as traps? Haven't you ever thought to use traps that WOULDN'T destroy your own tunnel?"
"We don't use bombs as traps, okay?", Iarra yelled back.
"So what the hell was that?"
"What?", she asked, turning her ear to him.
"I said, what the the hell was that?", Ban repeated, louder this time.
"What the hell was what?"
"THAT!", he yelled as he pointed back to where they came from. "The bomb! What the hell was that bomb if it wasn't one of your traps?!"
She paused, then muttered, "I'm not sure."
"What?"
Iarra glared at him. "I said, I'm not sure, okay?!", she said, yelling again.
"What do you mean you're not sure?!"
"I mean, I'm not sure!" She sighed. All this yelling is making her exhausted. She took several deep breaths and noticed that Ban was doing the same.
"Look", Iarra began to say.
"Huh?"
She frowned at him, then said loudly, "I know it hasn't exactly been safe so far."
Ban snorted. "You think?"
Iarra glared, then continued, "But believe me when I say that it would've been worse if I hadn't been able to read the markers. It would be best for you to stay behind me."
He glared at her, still a little unconvinced.
"We can hardly hear each other, and we're both tired", Iarra said. "So can we PLEASE not argue about this right now?"
Ban said nothing. Iarra took that as a sign of acquiescence. She sighed again, then stepped to the other branch of the tunnel.
They walked on in silence, with Iarra once again scrutinizing the walls for any markers. As she scanned the walls, her thoughts turned to the bomb that almost killed them. Dark Fleet had never used bombs as booby traps. Like what Mido said, it would destroy the tunnel. The most logical conclusion would be that the Dragons had set the bomb up. She would've believed that except for two things. One, the Dragons had no idea about the underground tunnels. But then, she surmised, that particular exit is probably not hard to find. So one possibility was that they found the opening to the tunnel, then rigged it with a bomb.
The second thing that kept her from believing that theory was the countdown etched on the wall. Whoever did that knew about the Dark Fleet markers. Not even all Dark Fleet agents knew how to read them, only the ones considered elite. She couldn't imagine how the Dragons managed to obtain that information. And even if they did, she couldn't understand why they would bother carving that countdown. It almost seemed... taunting. Like a pat on the back for somebody's ego. Somebody who knows about the tunnels and the markers.
Does this mean...? She stopped in her tracks. No... She shook her head, then continued walking. Agents became elite only after proving themselves of their skills and most importantly, their loyalty. An elite agent CANNOT just suddenly decide to help the Fleet's most bitter enemy... Right?
Ban watched Iarra as she walked, then stopped, shook her head, then walked again. Something was definitely on her mind. It seemed that the bomb had really shaken her up. She said something about Dark Fleet not using bombs. What did that mean? If Dark Fleet had not set up that bomb, then who had?
Iarra stopped again, then walked over to the right side of the tunnel where a small hole on the wall could be seen. It was at waist height and about a meter wide. She scanned the Dark Fleet markers above it, then looked inside. There was nothing to see but darkness.
"Hey, Mido", she said while still looking into the hole.
Ban didn't reply.
She turned her head to him, wondering what he's up to. She found him looking at her a few feet away, just watching. She frowned for a second, then sighed. "Mido!", she yelled.
"What?", he yelled back.
"Can I borrow your lighter?"
"What for?"
Iarra rolled her eyes. "To light something?"
Ban didn't find her answer amusing, but decided that it was a waste of time to bicker about it. Glaring, he took out his lighter from his pocket then tossed it at her. Iarra caught it, flicked it open, then used it to light the inside of the hole.
The hole was not cemented like the tunnel. Several rocks could be seen jutting out from all sides of the hole. Iarra held the lighter farther into the hole, and poked her head inside. The hole extended farther than what she could see. She then brought her knee up into the hole.
"You have GOT to be kidding me", Ban muttered.
She was about to lift her other knee up when Ban reached inside and grabbed her shoulder. She turned her head to look at him.
"You can't be serious!", Ban said.
"Oh, but I am. This is the quickest way out."
He glowered at her. "I am NOT getting into that hole."
She frowned, then a hint of a smile passed through her lips. "You're not claustrophobic, are you?"
"Hell, no! But the last time you got me into a hole, I almost got impaled!"
She frowned again. "You almost got what?"
Ban scowled at her. "Impaled! And you would've been too if I hadn't gotten us out!" Veins were now coming out of Ban's throat as he yelled. He inhaled deeply to catch his breath.
She gave him a lopsided smile. "That's right."
"Huh?"
"If something bad happens, you can always play hero and get us out."
"What?!" He almost strangled her.
She laughed. "I'm kidding."
He glared at her. "I'm so glad one of us finds this funny."
When her laughter subsided, she grinned at him. "Mido, there are no traps in this hole. Does that make you feel better?"
Ban felt like a child being reassured that there were no monsters under his bed, and it made him more irritated. He looked at her directly in the eye, then answered, "No."
She chuckled. "Well, I'm going in. It's up to you whether you want to follow me or not." She climbed in then proceeded to crawl inside, using the lighter as a mini-torch.
Darn it, he thought. He glared at Iarra's boots as they got into the hole. Aargh. He then hurried to get into the hole before Iarra disappears. As he grudgingly brought his knees up into the hole, he thought, I'm gonna regret this. I just know it.
Iarra heard Ban scuffle behind her. She chuckled again. "Mido!"
They both squirmed as her voice became amplified by the walls of the hole, making it unnecessary for her to yell.
"Sheesh!", Ban protested. "Are you gonna make us both more deaf?"
"Sorry", she said, no longer yelling.
They were both crawling on their forearms and knees, with Ban's lighter as the only light source. Ban had to keep from hitting his shoulders on the sharp rocks that protruded from the sides of the hole. Looking ahead, the only thing he could see was Iarra's rear, which he didn't particularly mind.
"Anyway, glad to see you finally agree with me", Iarra was saying.
"I still don't."
"Oh? Then what are you doing here?"
"You have my lighter."
She chuckled again. "You could've just asked for it, you know."
Ban snorted. "Like you would've given it to me just because I asked."
Iarra rolled her eyes as she continued crawling. "I'm not gonna steal your lighter, Mido."
"Well, you HAVE stolen things before."
Iarra stopped and turned her head to glare at him. "Here", she said, reaching out to hand him the lighter. "Take your precious lighter, and go back. I'm just gonna go ahead without you."
Ban raised his eyebrows. "Even if you can't see a thing?"
"Hasn't stopped me before."
Ban stared at her, not quite sure if she was serious or just bluffing.
"Well?", Iarra said, irritation evident in her eyes. "Take it! What are you waiting for?"
Nope, she's not bluffing, he thought. For some reason, he found that fascinating. "Well, I'm already here, so I might as well just go all the way through."
Iarra rolled her eyes again, then turned her head forward, and started crawling.
"Besides", Ban continued. "I can't really complain about the nice view I have here."
The cramped space left him with no room to dodge the booted heel that went straight at his face.
Ginji laid down on the floor with a satisfied grin on his face. Some of the boxes contained bananas, some of them contained grapes, and some of them contained oranges. He ate all the fruits that he could until his stomach couldn't take it anymore. He stood up and took several fruits and stuck it into the pockets of his vest and his shorts.
He thought happily, Ban-chan's gonna be glad when he sees all this food. Just then, his happiness turned to worry as he remembered his partner. Ban-chan...
Ban groaned as his palm landed on the sharp edge of a rock.
"Be careful", Iarra said. "Some of the rocks are really sharp."
"Gee, thanks. I wouldn't have known that if you hadn't told me."
The hole had several branches, like a labyrinth for moles, Ban thought. Iarra seemed to know which branches to take. There were times when she would sometimes stop and examine some of the rocks before choosing a branch, so he guessed the rocks were some sort of markers. He noticed that the branches that Iarra took sloped upwards, so it looked like there were going the right way.
They had been crawling for several minutes when Iarra suddenly stopped, making Ban almost hit her rear with his head. He could hear Iarra cursing softly.
What now?, he thought.
He let Iarra finish letting out a string of expletives before saying, "Don't tell me. There's another trap that you forgot to tell me about."
She sighed. "No." In frustration, she sat on her heels and buried her face in her arms.
Ban saw what got her upset. A pile of rocks were blocking their way, making it impossible for them to pass through.
"Oh, great", he said. "If you're not leading me to a trap, you're leading me to a dead end."
"It's not supposed to be a dead end", Iarra retorted through gritted teeth.
"Oh, right. Like there's not supposed to be a bomb down here. Why don't you just admit that you took a wrong turn?"
"Because I didn't!", Iarra said, lifting her head and turning it to glare at him.
Ban looked at her for a long moment before saying, "First, the bomb. Now, this. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you're being sabotaged."
There. Ban had said it. The thought that was forming in Iarra's mind that she had been trying to suppress. Yes, she knew that some lower-level agents had betrayed the Fleet in one form or another before, and the Fleet had always taken care of them. The Silver Claw made sure of that. But an elite agent?, Iarra thought, her brows furrowing. This is a first.
Ban expected a sharp retort from Iarra, but none came. Actually, he wasn't serious when he said they were being sabotaged. But looking at her face now, he realized that there might be a truth in what he had just said. In that case, the sooner they got out of this hole, the better. Who knows what other surprises the Dragons had set up?
"Oi", he said, snapping her out of her thoughts. "Shouldn't we go back and find another way?"
"Right", she replied, nodding. "Well, hurry up and crawl backwards so we can get out here."
Ban gave her another glare before complying.
Crawling backwards on sharp rocks are not a fun thing, Ban thought grumpily. Especially if the rocks were sloping downwards. And especially if the boots of the person in front of you would sometimes slip and step on your fingers. She would always apologize sweetly when that happened, but he couldn't help thinking if she was doing that on purpose. And man, he was dying to scratch his wrist. Well, at least his ears were no longer ringing.
They soon reached the end of the branch of the hole that they were in. Iarra paused, then chose another branch. They were both glad to be crawling forwards now. Even their hearing seemed to be back to normal again.
They crawled on, the only sound that could be heard were the soft crunching of small rocks as they crawled, and the sound of their breathing echoing through the walls.
They had already gone far when Ban suddenly heard Iarra mutter, "No, no, no, no, no."
Suddenly, the lighter died, and they were now engulfed in darkness. He then heard her flick the lighter several times, but nothing happened. He heard her curse.
He couldn't help but curse as well. He knew he should've refilled the lighter fluid.
"Mido", she said. "Your stupid lighter's not working."
He glared. "First, you hurl daggers at me. Then, you had thorns rain on my head. And then you made me slide down a rocky hole, only to get caught in a net while metal spikes aimed at me, ready to give me body piercings that I would rather not have! And would I forget to mention that poisoned dart? I don't think so! But wait! That's not all! There's also this small matter of a bomb almost killing me! As if that's not enough, you led me to this freaking mole-hole into a dead end, making me crawl backwards on all fours! And now you're insulting my lighter???!"
"Alright, I'm sorry!", Iarra said. "Geez. What's with you and that lighter?"
"None of your damn business."
"I'm gonna return your lighter as soon as we get out of here, okay? I can't give it you right now since I can't see you. I might accidentally shove it up your nose."
Ban snorted, then muttered, "Let's see you make those smart remarks after I shove your own daggers up YOUR nose."
"I heard that."
"I don't care."
Iarra sighed as she groped around and started to crawl again. No use arguing with Mido right now. She might need the energy for later.
Ban used the sound of Iarra's boots against the rocks to orient himself and to avoid bumping into her. If crawling backwards was bad, crawling in complete darkness was worse. So much worse. Plus, his knees were starting to get numb. As he brought one elbow in front of the other, he wondered how much torture he was gonna have to endure. This mission almost felt like it was one of those jobs HEVN would give them.
Iarra stopped as she felt a wall in front of her. Oh no, she thought. Please don't let this be another dead end.
She quickly scanned her surroundings using her hands. There was nothing remarkable about the side walls. She felt upwards for the ceiling, and stopped. There was no ceiling. She pushed her torso up, and lifted her hand. Still no ceiling. Slowly, she tried standing up, and was surprised to find out that she could.
Ban's thoughts were interrupted when Iarra said, "It looks like we found an exit. Stay there while I check it out."
"You better be sure it's the real one this time. I've just about had enough of your false alarms", Ban said, straightening his knees so he could stretch and lie face down on the rocks.
Iarra held her hand up. She still couldn't feel the ceiling. She jumped as high as she could with her hand up. Still no ceiling. She groaned as she landed. Darn it, she thought. This was one of those rare times when she wished she was taller.
"What are you doing??", Ban asked as he heard her boots land on the ground with a thump.
"I'm trying to get us out. Just stay there."
Ban frowned, but decided to wait and see what she was up to.
Iarra felt around the walls of the hole for any clue on how to climb up. Finding none, she lifted her right knee and took two of her daggers. She brought her knee down, then tapped her right heel twice. A small blade appeared in front of her right boot. She did the same with her left heel, bringing out the blade in her left boot.
She then plunged one of the daggers high up into the wall. Keeping her right hand on the embedded dagger, she jumped up and plunged the other one higher up with her left hand. She lifted her left knee and kicked at the wall, sticking the small blade deep into it. She let her weight fall on her left boot, straightening her knee as she took her right dagger and plunged it higher.
She continued to climb up, using the daggers and the blades to support her. It didn't take long before her head hit something hard.
"Ouch!", she groaned.
"Oi!", Ban called out. Iarra's voice seemed to be farther than what he had expected. "What's going on?"
Iarra left one of her daggers on the wall and used her hand to rub the sore spot on her head. "Stay there! I might fall and land on you."
Land on me??, Ban thought. "Where the hell are you?"
Iarra didn't reply, but used her hand to feel upwards to see what had hit her head. It felt like very thick wood. She pushed upwards and was startled by light as it shone down on her face.
As her eyes adjusted to the brightness, she saw that the thick wood that hit her head was some kind of trapdoor. She sighed in relief. She looked down to see Mido already poking his head out of the hole that she came from, curious about the source of light. She grinned at him as he looked up at her.
"We're finally gonna get out", she said.
"It's about time", Ban replied.
She got her head out the trapdoor and looked around. "Stay here until I make sure the coast is clear", she told him. She squeezed her torso up. As she leaned on the edge, she pulled out her daggers out of the wall, then pushed the rest of her body up.
The trapdoor closed as her feet passed through, and Ban was once again surrounded by darkness. He crawled out of the hole, stood up, and waited for her to open the door.
Ginji closed the door behind him. He was in another room. Unlike the other rooms that he had gone through, this one was empty, with a single window right across from him. He decided to look outside to see where he should be going.
The wooden floorboards creaked as he stepped across the room. Just then, he heard a commotion right outside the window. He stopped, got down on his knees, then crept towards the window.
When he got there, he slowly brought his head up to look at what was causing the noise outside. He gulped as he saw more Chinese fighters running around on the ground below.
Ban stared up at the door. Damn, it was taking her a longer time that he would've preferred. His neck was beginning to ache. Without thinking, his left hand moved to his right wrist and he started to rub the itchy spot. As soon as he realized he was scratching his wrist, he stopped then cursed. When will this damn itch end?, he thought. He then glared upwards. And how long does it really take to make sure that the coast is clear?
Ban sighed. Oh great. Maybe this was what she was planning all along. Leave the tunnel, then trap him in it. Yeah, that must be it. He should've known not to trust her. What the hell was he thinking following a smuggler? Of course, she would only lead him to a trap. He narrowed his eyes. Oh, she would pay. She would realize that making a fool out of the Invincible Mido Ban-sama was a very big mistake.
Just when he was thinking of jumping up and breaking the trapdoor, it suddenly opened, and Iarra peered inside. Ban squinted as light blinded his eyes.
"Sorry it took so long", she said. "I had a little trouble finding the handle to this thing." She pointed her head at the trapdoor.
She looked down at the hole and estimated that it was about fifteen feet deep. She looked at Ban and asked, "Do you think you can jump this high?"
Ban stared up at her. The light behind her made it hard to see her face. So he was mistaken. She really was going to help him get out.
"Hey", she said when Ban didn't answer. "You alright?"
He replied, "Get out of the way."
She smiled, then moved to the side, holding the door open all the way. Then with a giant leap, Ban flew through the door and landed on his knee next to Iarra. She closed the door, which Ban noticed was camouflaged with several leaves. He looked around and realized that they were now outside in some kind of forest, where they were surrounded by tall trees and various kinds of bushes and crawling plants.
"Here", Iarra said, handing him his lighter. "Before you accuse me of stealing it."
Ban just looked at her in the eyes as he took it from her, and said nothing.
Iarra crept closer to the bushes that were hiding them and peered through. The ground sloped downwards a little farther away, where she could see several Dragons. A lot of them were running around, making it seem like they were preparing for something.
What could they be up to now?, she thought. They must've destroyed most of the fortress by now.
She shifted her eyes to the building behind them. She gasped as she spotted a blonde head looking out of one of the windows of the building.
"Well, I'll be damned", she muttered.
Notes: You know you're taking a long to update your fic when it's no longer in the first page :-) I'm so sorry this took so long. I'm gonna try to update faster than this next time.
EffyDurach: Whew! I'm so happy that last chapter isn't as confusing as I was afraid it would be. Thanks!
limelie: You're Chinese? Cool! :-) Glad you found it funny :-)
Rabid Lola: Two smart-alecks having to work together can be quite fun ;-)