Author's Note: Freak'n finally, an Update! Gosh where as all the time gone? I looked behind the couch, but it sure as hell wasn't there. Though, seriously guys, I've been going through a lot of personal issues lately. On that topic,I just want to say on thing. "Fuck you Liquid Animation! Fuck you in the arse with a big rubber dick!" A-hem, now thatI have that out of my system, I can tell you know thatI have my personal life all in order... for now; butI can't promise anything. Appologies to all those who sent me E-mails and i never returned them, butI was SEIROUSLY depressed back then.Also, while I'mon that topic,Minh Toshihiroif you are reading this,I want to thank you again for forgiving me for my childish behaviour. Really, thanks dude, that meant a lot to me.
But enough of my soap opra. ON WITH THE SHOW!!!!!
"You've been looking for days now,"
"Oh, but I'm not around!"
"I've been finding new ways how,"
"To see that I'm never found!"
Theory of a Dead Man- "Invisible Man,"
The sound of a horse trotting along, as it pulled a wooden cart slowly began to fill the air. As it made its way through the forest, the noises seemed to echo all around, causing some of the native wildlife to look up in surprise.
At the helm, a lone woman wearing a long cloak and broad hat sat, hardly moving at all, as the horse travelled along.
She travelled along all alone, except for the horse that pulled her cart. Along the side of the road, an overturned automobile lay burnt black, with a skeleton behind the wheel.
She did not bat an eyelid as she past it, leaving it behind. The asvolt beneath her had at one time carried hundreds of cars, now; it was virtually empty, and eerily quite.
As she came to a top of a small hill, she spotted a bridge up ahead. There was a rather large gauge in the side railing of the bride, and a number of black scorch marks here and there.
She never heard the first explosion. There was a sudden bang, followed by the horse's screams, as it reared up, as the lose stones and gravel, fountained up into the air in front of their path. A second explosion erupted behind them, this one closer to the cart, so that woman received a stone shower, as the debris fell back to the earth below.
There was a loud, sharp whooping cry, as figures jumped up from all around her. Most of them leapt from hiding places within the tall grass on the road side, but three of them appeared from nearby trees, hovering just above him, pulling back their bows, and training their arrows at her head. In front of her, were three figures, covered from head to toe in what looked like paramilitary gear. These had bolt-action rifles, and were keeping the horse from going forward. The ones behind her were carrying large knives.
The woman just smiled from under her straw hat.
"Well, well, well," one of the figures in front of her said, "Lookie what we've got here!"
"I mean you no harm," the woman in the cart said in a calm tone.
"Too bad the same doesn't apply for us," the lead woman said, shouldering her weapon, as she casually walked towards the cart.
"I only wish to cross that bridge," the woman in the cart replied in the same calm tone of voice. "I don't wish to have any business with you!"
"Well, you'll have to," the leader of the gang said, lowering her rifle and pointing it right at the woman in the cart. "You see, this here is our land. With 99 of all the worlds landowners dead, everything's up for grabs these days." She then paused to lick her lips, as she glanced past the woman to eye the contence of her cart. "And if you want passage through our lands, you've got to pay a toll."
"A toll?" She said slowly. "How much?"
"Everything you've got, bitch!" The leader snapped, and pointed the gun at her head. "Now, get out of that cart." All the other women aimed their weapons at her. "Ether you get out voluntarily, or we force you out." She then shouldered her weapon again, as she cocked her head. "Now what'll it be?"
The woman smiled again. She then stood up, her eyes hidden by her straw hat. "Heh," she chuckled. "Taking your weapon off from me was your first mistake!"
"Huh?"
The woman in the cart gave a small shaking motion on her right arm. Something shiny suddenly slid out from her Kimono, and into her hand. It took the leader a split second to realise it was a samurai sword.
Before she could shout an order to kill her, the woman in the cart leapt into the air.
Bullets, arrows, and darts flew through the air, as she somersaulted into the air. As she reached her maximum hight, she raised the sword high above her head.
"Secret Technique: Air Splitting Sword!" She cried out, as she brought her sword down. The women in front of the cart with the guns were suddenly blown head over heals by a wave of pure energy. They landed in the grass quite some distance away.
The woman in the straw hat landed neatly just in front of the cart. She wasn't still for long. She rolled over, swinging her blade in an arching motion towards the tree branches.
"Boulder cutting blade!" She cried out. The tops of the trees disintegrated as the robbers in the trees went sailing into the distance, behind the hill.
The other women behind the cart were busy re-loading their blowpipes, as the straw-hat woman walked around the side of the cart, and looked at them.
She gave them a half smile, and they dropped their weapons and scattered in different directions.
"Humph, pathetic." She then tossed her sword into the back of the cart, then climbing back into the drivers seat, cracked the reigns, and started off towards the bridge once more.
NODA CITY:
"In here," one of the Yakoza women said, as she opened a large steel door. The other woman, shoved Keitaro through, and closed the door behind him.
There was a light in the room, but not enough. But enough to point out that there were two other people in the room with him. They both sat at a table, playing cards. They looked up at him as he entered.
"Well," a males voice said. "Looks like we've got company."
"That means some one intelligent to talk to," the other male replied. His friend threatened to hit him. "Well," the man replied leaning back in his chair. "Welcome friend, take a sea…" The mans voice trailed off, as he leaned forward a bit.
Keitaro couldn't make out their features, because they were out of the light, but they could defiantly make out his, as they seemed to look at him in a strange way.
"Oh my God," the other said. "Keitaro!?! Is that you!?!"
"Huh?" Keitaro said in shock. "How do you know who I am?"
"Sweet Jesus, it IS you!" The two men jumped up and stepped into the light. The tallest of the two was a bit thin, with long hair, tied up into a ponytail. The other was not as thin, but also had his hair tied up into a pony tail.
"Ummm," Keitaro scratched the back of his head. "Do I know you guys?"
Both their mouths fell open in utter disbelief. Then, both turning red with anger, pointed at themselves.
"Don't you recognise your two best friends, you twip!?! It's me, Haitani"
"And Shirai!" Keitaro blinked in surprise. Then nodded.
"It figures you two perverts would survive." He said. "Say, didn't you two have glasses?"
Both of them pointed at their eyes. "Contact lenes," Shirai said with a wink. "The girls don't dig glasses, too nerdy for them."
Haitani suddenly appeared from behind Keitaro and leaning over his shoulder, held a small wooden box up to his face. "You oughta try some. You'll get more girls that way!"
"Girls!?!" Keitaro looked puzzled. "Oh, you mean you two…" They both gave gigantic grins and nodded once. "Well, glasses or no glasses, I somehow think that's not going to make a difference these days."
"So Keitaro," Shirai said, "You survived the plague?" He leaned closer to whisper. "Did you do it with any of the Hinata girls after it was gone?"
Kitsune.
She'd tried to whore him out because of the fact he was still a virgin, and possibly the only male virgin left in Japan. He'd come very close to have sex with her. Still, he couldn't help but think, if those Yakoza girls hadn't come for him when they did, he probably would've gone the whole nine yards with her.
"That's none of your business," Keitaro snapped. "Besides, I spent nearly a month in a coma, and by the time I woke up, everybody was gone."
"Oh yeah," Shirai said with a shrug. "I'd forgotten about that."
"What?" Keitaro cried out. "How could you guys forget about something like a coma happening to your best friend?"
"Don't really know," Haitani answered, "Then again, how come every time we've popped up you keep forgetting our names?"
"Touché," Keitaro replied. There was a moment of silence, before Keitaro asked, "So now what do we do?"
"We wait until the girls call upon us," Haitani said, and the both of them, rubbed their hands with glee. They then both fell on their knees in pray. "We'd like to take this opportunity to thank God for putting us in the situation he has."
"What!?!" Keitaro cried out. "How can you guys be thankful for what happened!?! Life's been nothing but hell for me!"
"That's probably because you haven't adapted to the situation, Keitaro," Haitani said, "Are you still trying to stay loyal to Naru?"
Keitaro didn't answer that question. His nervous look and the way he twiddled his fingers was all his friends needed. "Exactly," Shirai said, "You've been so wound up about staying loyal to Naru, that you've seen this great opportunity as a curse!"
"You need to lighten up, man," Haitani said, suddenly popping up from behind Keitaro. "Where is Naru at this point in time?"
"I, I don't know," Keitaro replied. The two friends gave him a death stare.
"If you don't know where she is," Shirai said through his teeth,
"Then how is she going to know weather or not you had sex with another woman for crying out loud!?!" Haitani exploded. He reached over and grabbed Keitaro's head, shoving his roughly. "Man, are you brain dead, or gay!?!"
"Leave me alone, guys!" Keitaro protested, pushing Haitani away. "Maybe you guys never experienced love, true love I mean, but I have! Naru means a lot to me, and after everything we've been through, I'm not going to give her up simply because man kind is an endangered species."
Haitani and Shirai seemed unmoved by his speech. Shirai then leaned over and whispered a question into his ear. Haitani nodded.
"Yep, he's gone gay."
"Oh, for the love of…"
AT THAT VERY MOMENT…
There was only one transport out on the streets that night. Kitsune had suggested that they wait until morning, but Liu wouldn't here of it. She kept insisting that the Yakoza girls might have moved Keitaro to another location, or out of the city by then.
Surprisingly, there were no soldiers out on the streets. Kitsune couldn't help but wounder where they all were. During the day, the streets were crawling with them, now they were nowhere to be seen.
"It's too quite for my like'n," Kitsune said, looking from left to right. "Where the hell is everybody?"
"Probably investigating our little gun fight," Liu replied from the back of the carriage. "How much longer until where at this warehouse?"
"Not long, about ten minutes away," Kitsune said, looking in the direction they were travelling. "But just asking, what exactly are we going to do once we get there? I'm no commando, and you're arm isn't going to help."
"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it, Kitsune," Liu answered. "Say, you've been there, right?" Kitsune nodded once. "What kind of security do they have? How many guards are there?"
Kitsune thought for a moment. "It's only the two of them," she replied. "They just happen to have lots of illegal and very powerful guns."
"Just the two of them, hey?" Liu half smiled, and winced at her arm. "Damn it, if only I was in top condition. I could rescue my beloved Keitaro!" Her face turned serious. "Don't fret my love, Liu will come for you!"
Kitsune just rolled her eyes. "And Keitaro thinks I'M the one with problems," she said under her breath.
They rode the rest of the way in silence. Finally, Kitsune pulled over, and into an ally way, to hide the cart. Liu climbed up to the front, and they both walked to the mouth of the ally.
"That it?" Liu asked without looking at her. Kitsune nodded. "What if they're not in? What if they've taken Keitaro elsewhere?"
"It's our only lead," Kitsune replied. "Someone has to scout it out, find some evidence." Liu nodded, then looked over at Kitsune with sly grin. Kitsune looked at her. "Huh? Why not… Oh, forget it." Shrugging in defeat, Kitsune hunched over, and quickly darted for the shadows of the warehouse.
She reached the wall, and pressed flat against it. Listening to the sounds, and hearing nothing that might have told her that her presence was known, she inched her way along the wall, until she came to a grimy window.
She wiped away the grime, and peered in. Boxes stacked as high as the ceiling blocked out much of the view. Her eyes moved this way and that, looking for anything. Nothing.
She cursed silently, and moved along to another window. The only thing she saw was a huge forklift blocking her view. She then moved along, and found a fire escape. She quickly climbed the ladder, and reached a door. Carefully, she listened against it.
Nothing.
She tried the door, and found it locked. She quickly pulled out one of her many hair pins, which she'd used to pick the locks on Haruka's private fridge, and easily opened the door.
It was dark inside, and hard to see. Outside, she'd had the help of the moonlight, inside, the windows where still covered in grime, and hardly any light shone through. As her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she realised she was in a small hallway. She inched her way along, and came around a corner, and into the warehouse. It was easier to see now.
Across the far side of the room, lay a small office cubical, with a light shining through its window. Bingo.
She smiled, as she crept along the catwalk, and down a set of stairs. She then crouched down as she hurried along, making sure to have a hiding spot close by in case someone opened the door.
Finally, Kitsune reached the office, and crawling over to the window, sat directly below it. Voices were coming from inside the office, and she instantly recognised them as those of the Yakoza girls. They were here, and if they were, so was Keitaro.
"Well, that makes three boys we now have. Business is defiantly booming," one girl said.
"Let's keep it that way, okay," the other replied. "The more males we have, the greater our chances are of being caught. We must remember not to go overboard here. One slip up and we could both we wearing Grey lingerie."
"So, who are you going to line up for our once in a lifetime offer of a virgin Male?"
"There are a lot of government officials who have access to our nations limited recourses in Tokyo," the woman answered. "I've got two in my sights, who whom I know, would pay enough food to last the rest of our lives for Keitaro."
"Set up for life," the other woman said, and there was the sound of someone leaning back in a rocking chair. "I like the sound of that."
Kitsune slowly crept away from the window. Keitaro was here, but not with them. She'd have to find while she knew the Yakoza girls were distracted.
Carefully, she looked around, trying to spot any doors, or something, that might lead to where Keitaro was. She crawled around the warehouse for quite some time. Five minutes ticked by, then ten, fifteen.
Where on earth was Keitaro?
Finally, after twenty minutes of searching, she'd discovered no other doors that lead into any hidden rooms. All doors lead outside, and the only other rooms where the toilet facilities, and the office where the Yakoza girls were.
Frustrated, she turned about and headed back for the exit.
The two guards looked up from their posts, as a lone motorcycle rolled up. The riders face was obscured by the glare of the headlight on the front.
"Stop," the lead guard said, "And turn of your lights!" The rider complied, to reveal herself as a young sergeant. She saluted them, and they her.
"At ease, troops," she said, "What's the latest word? Has the target been found?"
"No ma'am," the lead guard replied, "We've covered all exits, and are…"
"I know, I know," the sergeant said, "You're following new orders, not letting anyone in, or out, what I want to know, is has anyone found anything yet?"
"Not yet, Ma'am," the lead guard answered. "We're waiting for the rest of our promised reinforcements to arrive."
"Very well," the sergeant replied, as she put her head light back on, "I'm going back to headquarters to give my report, Report in any suspicious activities."
"Understood, ma'am," they all saluted each other, before the sergeant drove off. Suddenly, the lead guard narrowed her eyes. "HEY!" she shouted out.
The sergeant stopped her bike, and looked back. "What?" She called out.
The lead guard pointed in the opposite direction she was travelling in. "Headquarters is that way."
The sergeant looked embarrassed. "Oh, I knew that." She said, before turning the bike around, and speeding off.
"What do you mean, he's not in there?" Liu asked.
"That's just it," Kitsune replied, "There's no other rooms in that place, where he could be hidden."
"Damn," Liu snarled. "This is going to be a lot tougher than I first thought." She then hit her fist into her open palm, and winced at the pain from her arm. "Looks like we've got no other choice, but to launch a preventative strike. Then, force them to tell us where they've hidden Keitaro."
"Hello," Kitsune said, "They've got guns? What have WE got? One sword, and a cattle prod!" She reached behind her back and pulled out a thick black stick. She shook it and the end extended outwards. She thumbed a button and it crackled with electricity.
"Where the hell did you get that?" Liu asked.
"Oh, I've had this since before the plague," Kitsune replied with a shrug. "Anyway, back to the topic at hand, how long do you think we're going to last in a full frontal assault, especially with your busted arm?"
"Okay, okay," Liu waved the suggestion away, "Point taken, but what else can we do?"
Kitsune thought for a moment. "What's wrong with a good old fashioned stake out?" She said with a shrug. "And it they're going to move Keitaro anywhere, they've got to go to him, so if we follow them around, when they finally reveal Keitaro… BAM! We jump them!" She tried to hit the palm of her hand with her fist, but forgot she was still holding the cattle prod, so she instead punched the end of it, giving herself a shock. "Ouch." She muttered, shaking her hand.
Liu just shook her head with disgust.
"I'll see your hand, and raise you twenty," Haitani said as he shuffled his cards. Shirai just nodded without looking at him, and fingered his pile of matches.
"I'll see that twenty," he said, "And raise you twenty five." He added his twenty-five matches to the ever-growing pile. "Keitaro?"
Keitaro looked over his cards, and sighed, as a large sweat drop rolled down his face. "I fold."
"You know," Haitani said, as he raised the stakes to thirty matches, "You're full of shit, Keitaro."
"Huh?" Keitaro raised an eyebrow. "About what?"
"About not having sex yet."
"Oh, dear God," Keitaro mumbled as he let his headrest in his hand. "Must you guys keep going on about that subject?"
"Of cause, buddy," Shirai said, taking the opportunity to sneak a look at Haitani's cards while his attention was distracted. "You've at least got to have had sex once. I mean, you've ether got to be brain dead, or gay!"
"Well, could it possibly be that I'm neither, and maybe just a decent guy, trying to stay loyal to the one girl he's ever loved!?!"
"Gezze," Haitani said, as he quickly hid his cards from Shirai's view, "How long are you going to keep milking that excuses."
"Maybe you guys never had a girlfriends, but…"
"Girlfriends and marriage ain't gonna be acceptable for a long, long time, Keitaro," Shirai quickly butted in. "The very existence of the human race is now at stake. Already, it's been what, nearly a year since the plague ended…"
"Dude, it's only been two months," Haitani quickly added.
"Whatever," Shirai said with a shrug. "The point is, in the less developed countries where they don't have proper recourses, and most of the population lives below the poverty line, there's major trouble. Most of those countries have fallen apart, there's no law, no order, and it's almost like the days of the dark ages. No power, no electricity, and hardly any food. It's only in the first world countries have there been any sort of stability."
"And…?" Keitaro asked.
"The third world countries are nothing but wastelands now, lawless territory, where anything goes. All the first world countries are going to be having a hard time within their own borders, so by the time things get pretty much stabilised, all those third world countries are going to be barren. No people, nothing. Just empty ghost towns."
"That's scary," Keitaro said, his head jerking back a bit.
"The population of Japan has always been large, but this plague has seriously altered that. If we don't repopulate, the country will get smaller and smaller, and there won't be enough doctors, police, engineers, farmers, and so on, and so on. All it takes, is just sector of society to disappear, and the rest will collapse like a house of cards," he leaned back, "Just like the third world."
Keitaro was stunned.
"I… I never looked at things like that before." He said.
"Let's face it, Keitaro," Haitani said. "Women are in charge now. We men are nothing but rear objects to them, now. We probably will never get full and equal rights for quite some time. Probably even after we're all dead of old age, things will still be the same."
"But… that must be something we can do. There's always hope!"
"There's nothing we can do, buddy," Shirai said softly. "But I'll tell you what you can do. You can ether spend the rest of your life moping about it, or find some way to enjoy the best of a worst situation."
"It's better that way, Keitaro," Haitani added. "I mean, what if you went looking for Naru, and discovered she was dead? How would that make you feel? Do you really want to go running all the way across the country for nothing?"
Keitaro was silent.
"I think you over did it, man," Shirai whispered into Haitani's ear, while sneaking another look at his cards.
"I need some time to myself, guys," Keitaro said, standing up. He left Haitani beating up Shirai after catching him looking at his cards.
Keitaro walked over, and sat down in a rocking chair, and sighed. Naru. Was she really dead? Or was she still alive. Was Haitani right, in that he shouldn't go treak'n all over country on a wild goose chase?
Naru.
Damn it! Why was life so unfair to him? Why did he always have to suffer? Both emotional and physical pain, he's experienced them all during his stay at the Hinata house. Life was gradually beginning to fall into place… On top of him.
In the darkness of the corner, Keitaro took of his glasses, and began to cry.
The moon was out full and bright that night, bathing the city in an eerie white glow. Had anyone bothered to look up at the top of the sky line, they would've seen a lone woman, holding what looked like a small satellite dish, and pointing it towards the heavens.
She occasionally turned it this way, and that, while she talked into the rather large satellite phone.
"Ahh, there, can you here me now?" There was a reply from the other line. "Yeah, well most of the satellites are down, and so I'm having to rely on this portable dish in order to communicate." There was a pause. "Oh yeah, the reason I'm calling is that we can't meet up in Noda City. There's been an alarming amount of troops showing up as of recent. My superiors back in Can… Err, HQ, suspect that the Japanese government may be on to us!"
She grunted, and swung the dish in another direction. "Come again?" She pressed the phone closer to her ear. "We'll have to meet some distance away from the city, or in another city all together." She trailed off as the voice on the other line interrupted her. "What!?! Why?" The woman stretched out her arm at bit more towards the heavens. "What do you mean, personal reasons!?! Are you insane!?! I told you before, there's a HUGE army presence in Noda. The chances of beings discovered…" The voice interrupted her again. "At least let us meet outside the city limits? And away from the main roads?"
She swore as she stood up, nearly slipping on the roof tiles, as she aimed the dish on a few more angles. "Can you repeat that?" She listened again. "You're nuts! You're flying in by plane. Into a heavily military presence. What's to worry about!?! Moron! Due to oil shortages in this country the only aircraft in the skies over Japan are military. You don't think that somebody's not going to notice a private plane?"
The woman slapped her forehead with the phone in frustration, as she angled the dish once more. "I missed all that, because our transmition keeps breaking up! What in God's name is wrong with your flying abilities? Can't you fly straight!?!" The voice spoke more clearly this time. "You're looking for who?" The woman asked back in surprise. There was a long pause, as she listened. She slowly sat down.
"Alright, who or what, is Keitaro Urashima?"
The Yakoza woman looked up from her sake bottle, as the door opened and her partner entered the room.
"Well?" She asked.
"The message was sent, and received," the other woman replied. "Our client has agreed to pay any price we want."
"Excellent," the one at the table stood up, "I knew this deal would make us rich! So, what's the arrangements?"
"Well, she's agreed to give us a government pass to get us out of the city. We then make our own way to Tokyo, where she'll meet us to arrange negotiations for our price."
"Hmmmm," the other woman rubbed her chin. "Seems too much like a trap to me. In that case, I say we hide Keitaro once we get there, until we're sure she's not going to pull a fast one on us!"
"You really don't think she'd try to piss US off, do you?"
"Yakoza or not, I wouldn't put it past anyone in this day and age."
"Okay, now what about the other two boys?" Her partner then asked. "Two women travelling with THREE men isn't going to be easy."
"That's because we won't be," the other woman replied. "One of us will be going to Tokyo with Keitaro, while the other stays behind."
"Are you sure it's wise to go to Tokyo without any backup?" Her friend asked.
"At the moment we've got no other choice. There are more soldiers arriving her every day. We could possibly sneak out of the city with one man, but three is pushing it."
"All this fuss over one kid," the other woman muttered. "What the hell is so important about him anyway?"
"Who cares," the other woman said. "He's a hot item. The sooner we get rid of him, the better." She shrugged. "I too would like to know what's so special about him, but like the west always said, 'curiosity killed the cat.' So I think it be best if we don't find out military secrets."
"So now we've got that worked out, how long should I wait, before leaving here myself?"
"Let's wait at least a day, before moving the others out," her friend said. "The longer we wait the more dispirit the army is likely to become. So far, they haven't been smart enough to search or block the sewers, but that may change any day now. We'll have to move fast, or we'll trapped here."
The two guards guarding the entrance of the town jumped up to attention as the horse and cart drew near.
"Halt!" One guard called out, pointing her weapon at the lone driver on the cart. The driver pulled on the reigns and the horse stopped. "This area is quarantined," the guard said. "No civilians allowed in or out! You'll have to go around!"
"Is that so," the driver said from beneath her large wide brimmed straw hat. "I thought the plague didn't effect women."
"It's not the plague," the other guard said aiming her weapon. "There's been a chemical spill. We currently have a hazard team cleaning up. We have our orders. No one is allowed in or out!"
The woman driver smiled. "Now, isn't that funny," she replied. "I have not seen one doctor or medic, or clean up crew on my way here. And since this is the only major road into this city, isn't it likely I'd see them on my journey? Are you sure you're telling me everything?"
"That's because they came from the northern highway," the guard said back. "Any more questions?"
"Yes," the driver answered. "I heard on the news radio stations, that the Northern Highway was blocked because of land slides, and that it would take at least two weeks to unblock. Plus, the news about this place stated that help was coming from Tokyo, and that would mean they'd have to use this road."
The guard could only stammer, caught in her own contradiction. Instead, she took aim with her gun. "You're too smart for your own good girl," she snarled. "Dismount and please follow me!"
"Okay!" She raised her hands, and jumped down form the cart. "Please, look after my horse, she's been very helpful to me."
"Fine," the other guard said, walking over to the horse, and moving it off the road. She turned to her partner, and watched as she lead the stranger away into the town by herself. She hated leaving her partner, but the military garrison in the town was short as it was. It wasn't like there were many women in the army to begin with, and with every available soldier out scowering the town for the rouge male, they couldn't radio for back up so she had to do this her self.
The soldier led the stranger down the streets towards the army's HQ. "Tell me," the stranger asked. "Where are you taking me?"
"To my superiors," she replied. "They'll know what to do with people who seem to know more than they should!" She poked the stranger in the back with the muzzle of her gun. "The way you talked, it was obvious that you didn't believe us. Most people don't bother with travelling these days, and a single woman like you wouldn't last very long out there…"
That was about as far as she got, before the stranger suddenly spun around, with lighting speed, grabbing the muzzle of the gun; she pushed hard forcing the butt of the gun backwards and up, smashing into the face of the soldier with a dull crack.
She didn't make a sound as she crumpled to the ground, out cold. She bowed at the guard, before saying, "Thankyou for getting me inside the city. I no longer require your services anymore." She then dragged the soldier into an ally way, and hid her behind a garbage bin, before picking up her weapon, and releasing the magazine clip, she tossed it away, before dropping the gun beside the soldier.
She pulled back her sleave and looked at her watch. She had about thirty minutes before her target would show up. She looked back down at the guard. She'd be out cold for at least two more hours. Her only concern was for her horse. She'd have to move fast in case the soldier guarding her horse got suspicious as to the length of time her partner was taking to get back.
"Then I shall have to move swiftly," she said to herself, and spinning around, moved into the shadows of the ally way and of into the night.
The sound of locks sliding against metal made the three friends look up from their card game. The door opened, and in came the yakoza girls. The lead one looked for Keitaro and pointed directly at him.
"You three," she said, "We're leaving, but you're going first!"
"M-me?" Keitaro stammered. "Why me?"
"We'll explain later," she said, walking over to him and pulling out a set of police issued cuffs. "Right now, we need to get moving before dawn."
"Can I at least ask where we're going?" Keitaro asked, as he was turned around and cuffed.
"Later, kid, later." The woman replied, before spinning him around, and marching him for the door. "The sooner we move, the sooner we can explain everything."
"What about them?" Keitaro asked, looking over at Haitani and Shirai.
"We'll move them later, but right now, you're going first!" And before he could call out any good byes, he was out the door, and the other woman was closing it behind them.
They walked down the dark corridor towards the ladder that led up into the warehouse. The other woman climbed up the ladder, holding Keitaro's hands while he climbed up behind her.
He was pulled out of the hole that was hidden by a large, but completely empty, create, and into the warehouse. The woman behind Keitaro quickly climbed up after him, and closing the hatch, pushed the large create back over the trap door.
"Where are we going now?" Keitaro asked, the moment she'd finished pushing the create.
"We're going to take a sewer rout out of the city," she replied. "Luckily, the army haven't bothered patrolling or guarding that area because they don't have the troops. But we don't know how long before they will, so we move now!"
Up in the darkness of the catwalk, Liu and Kitsune watched the whole scene unfold. She then reached into her pocket with her good arm, and turned to Kitsune.
"How's your throwing arm?" She asked.
"My what?" Kitsune replied. "What do you have in mind?" Liu pulled out a small throwing blade and handed it to her.
"I need to you take out that woman with the gun," she said, pointing at the yakoza girl holding a pistol. "Unfortunately, my throwing arm is in bad shape," she looked at her arm in the crude sling Kitsune had made for her. "I don't know if the other one is armed, but it's better to take out the armed one first, and have just one to deal with."
"You want me to kill her!?!" Kitsune gasped in disbelief.
"And what's wrong with that?" Liu asked with chilling indifference. "In case you haven't noticed, it's a dog-eat-dog world out there. You're going to have to be ruthless in order to survive."
"But… but…!" Kitsune stammered, but Liu just glared at her.
"If you want to save Keitaro, then throw the damn blade you fucking twat!"
"Okay, okay!" Kitsune said holding up her hands in self-defence. Then, taking a deep breath, turned to face the girl with the gun. "Oh boy, here we go."
"It's okay, Kitsune," Liu said, placing a hand on her shoulder. "I'll help you do this, just take a deep breath, and do exactly as I say." Kitsune did just that. "Now, close your eyes and feel the weight of the blade." Kitsune did just that. "Can you feel it?" Kitsune nodded. "Good, now open your eyes, and look at your target." Kitsune did just that. "Now, raise your arm back, and keep your eye on the target." Kitsune did just that. "Can you feel the blade?" Liu whispered into her ear.
"Yes," Kitsune replied silently.
"Can you feel your target?"
"Yes," Kitsune replied automatically.
"Can you feel the blade sailing through the air?"
"Yes," Kitsune replied, sounding more serious than she'd ever sounded before in her whole life.
"Now, throw it!" Liu hissed. Kitsune glared at her target, gritted her teeth, and bringing her arm forward hurled the knife with deadly force.
THUNK!!
"What the hell…!?!" The yakoza woman with the gun looked over at what looked like a small knife that had just imbedded it's self in a wooden create about twenty-feet away from her.
"YOU IDIOT!!!" The shout came from somewhere up among the catwalks that ran along the ceiling of the warehouse.
"We've got company!" The woman with the gun said, as she took aim and fired three shots into the darkness from the spot where the voice had come from.
The sparks the bullets made as they slammed into the surrounding structure light up the area enough to make out two figures standing up there.
"Hey," the woman with the gun said, "I thought I saw the fox-woman up there."
"And who told you to stop shooting?" The other woman snapped, grabbing Keitaro.
"Sorry," she replied, and continued shooting at the fleeing shadows.
Up in the catwalks, Kitsune and Liu ran crouched down, along the catwalk while bullets 'panged' all around them, showering them with sparks.
"If I somehow manage to survive this, I'm going to strangle you with my bear hands!" Liu snarled at Kitsune.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Kitsuen repeated over and over again as she ran. The bullet's stopped and Liu looked down to see the woman reloading her gun.
"Come on!" She shouted, standing up straight and bolting for cover. They barely made it to the door, when a shoot shattered the glass window on the door that read 'EXIT.' Liu yanked it open, and pulled Kitsune through.
"Oh, that's just great," the woman holding Keitaro snarled. "That's just bound to bring unwanted attention now!"
"We're in the middle of an abandoned district, declared off limits by the town council" the woman with the gun shot back. "Who the hell is going to here us!?!"
Suddenly, the doors to the front entrance of the warehouse were suddenly thrown open, and the two women found themselves in the glair of the spot light. Holding up a hand in front of her face, the woman guarding Keitaro realised it was the headlight of a motorcycle, as she recognised the hum of it's engine.
The rider dismounted from the bike, kicking out the stand, and walked slowly towards them, before stopping about forty-feet away. The other yakoza woman aimed her gun at the new comer, and shouted, "Who the hell are you!?!"
Keitaro squinted through the glair of the headlight at the silhouette of the figure standing there. He couldn't make out much, but he could identify a rather long strand of hair sticking up from her head. He narrowed his eyes.
"Nah," he said silently, "It couldn't be."
"I do believe that doesn't belong you yo two," the stranger said, pointing at Keitaro.
"Oh really?" The woman with the gun said, cocking the trigger. "And what are you going to do about it?" The woman made a fist, then, to every body's surprise, it began to glow.
"What the…!?!" the woman holding Keitaro managed to get out, before the stranger suddenly leapt into the air. The woman with the gun open fired on her, but the stranger just twisted through the air, and landed just behind her.
There was a low thwack, as lighting fast roundhouse kick sent her spinning through the air, to smash headlong into a wooden create. Her left leg twitched once, and lay still.
The woman holding Keitaro pushed him roughly to the ground and pulled out a small handgun. But she never got a chance to take aim as suddenly, the stranger shifted quickly and with her other leg, struck out knocking the gun from her hand, before following through with a well placed punch that sent her tumbling head over heals into the wall. She slammed face first into the wall, before slowly sliding down and landing on her head.
The stranger smiled at her handy work, and walked over to Keitaro. Keitaro had lost his glasses when he was shoved to the floor. He squinted at the stranger before him, and smiled.
"It's good to see you again, Kanako," he said. "Thanks for saving me."
"Anytime, my dear Oniichan," she replied, reaching down with her still glowing fist, and with a quick thrust of her palm, snapped the cuffs.
Keitaro then got up, shaking the remains of the cuffs off his wrists, while Kanako handed him his glasses. "How on earth did you find me?" He asked. "I mean, it's not like a left a trail of bread crumbs or anything."
"Aunt Haruka sent me to go look for you after she discovered a government agent was spying on her, looking for any signs of you." Kanako replied. After taking a radio from the military, it was only a matter of listening for talk about you, and following those leads." She looked back at her bike. "Once I got here, It was simply a matter of going through military records of where they'd searched and where they hadn't."
"But how did you…?" He paused and smiled. "Oh that's right, you're a master of disguise."
"It was shear luck that I was searching this sector and heard the gun shoots. I decided to investigate and here I am."
"Thanks again, Kanako," Keitaro replied, hugging her. "Who knows what…" He stopped, as he realised that Kanako was hugging him back a little TOO enthusiastically. His eyes widened, as his mind floated back to those wacky days before the plague hit. "Uhh, Kanako," he said, pushing her away gently, "Before you try to come onto me again, I want you to know, I'm going to go look for Naru, and Naru only!"
"But Oniichan," Kanako whined, "Why bother going to find that stupid girl?" She cuddled up much closer to him, "Especially since I'm here."
"All right you two!" Liu shouted, stepping in between them and pushes Kanako aside. "Break it up!"
Kanako glared at the new comer. "And who exactly are you?"
"I'm Liu, Liu Han!" She snapped, sticking her face within inches of Kanako's. "I'm Keitaro's true love! And who exactly might YOU be!?!"
"Now hold on a second there, Liu," Keitaro said, but she ignored him.
"What do you mean, he's YOUR true love!?!" Kanako snapped back at her. "I've known him practically all my life, and I'm his true love!"
"So, you're this Naru person?" Liu asked.
"No, but she can be," Kitsune said from the doorway. "That's Kanako Urashima, Keitaro's younger sister." Trying to ignore Keitaro's death stares aimed at her, she gave a small wave. "Hows things, Goth girl?"
Kanako just gave a small nod in Kitsune's direction. "His SISTER!?!" Liu cried out. "What kind of sick individual are you!?!"
"There's nothing sick about it, you freak!" Kanako hissed back. "I was adopted by the Urashima family. Therefore, I'm NOT related by blood to Keitaro, so technically, we're not brother and sister!"
"You've got one twisted sister here, Keitaro," Liu said.
"Who are you calling twisted, you psycho!?!" Kanako spat back, her hand glowing again.
"Now, cut it out, you two!" Keitaro said, stepping in between the two of them before anything could happen. The two girls growled at each other. "We have more important things to worry about, like the fact that we have to get out of this place, and I mean right now!" Suddenly he paused. "Oh wait, I forgot about…"
Just then, multiple bright lights flooded the warehouse, forcing everyone to squint.
"Stop where you are, all of you!" A female voice boomed out over a megaphone.
"Damn it," Kitsune swore, "It's the army!"
Squinting into the bright spotlights, they could make out three humm-vee's and two female soldiers standing in front of the vehicles. "By order of the government of Japan, I place all of you under arrest! Drop your weapons and place your hands behind your heads!"
Emphasising their point, the soldiers manning the heavy machine guns atop the humm-vee's cocked their levers and took aim at the group. With no other choice the group slowly complied.
The lead soldier walked forward, until they could make her out. She had the markings of a Lieutenant, and she crossed her arms, as she came to a stop, a few feet from the group.
"Keitaro, Urashima," she said, "At least we meet. You've been causing us more problems than necessary, young man." She snapped her fingers, and the other soldier that was beside her hurried forward with cuffs.
She then looked at the motorcycle, and then to Kanako. "I suppose I should thank you for leading me to Keitaro, young miss," she said with a smile. "I knew you weren't what you said you were when you came over to HQ." Kanako growled. "I just let you do all the hard work, and follow you at a distance."
"And you called your self his true love?" Liu snarled.
"Aww, shuddup!" Kanako snapped back at her.
As cuffs were once again slapped on Keitaro he called out. "Wait!"
"Yes?" The Lt. asked.
"There are… two other males in this place. Down there." He nodded at the empty crate that covered the trap door.
"Two other males!?!" The Lt. asked in disbelief.
"Yeah," Keitaro confessed. "My captors were planing on moving them out later, please, don't lave them in there!"
"We need all the men we can lay our hands on, kid," the Lt. replied, signalling for some soldiers, "We won't leave them, or you behind!"
Some time later, all of the group, including Haitani and Shirai, were cuffed and lead out to the waiting vehicles.
"You lair," Haitani whispered to Keitaro as they put lead into a different Humm vee from the girls, "You said you weren't getting with anyone but Naru," he looked over at the others, "And yet, you're in the company of three babelishes girls, man!"
"Yeah," Shirai said as he was pushed in next. "So why would you lie to us, your two best and closest friends?"
"First of all, I didn't lie to you," Keitaro said through his teeth. "And second…" He paused, sighed, and slumped back into the seat of the Hum vee. "Just forget it."
The soldier closed the door behind them and nodded at the Lt. who turned on her radio. "This is Lt. Chian. I have the fugitives in custody, and three rouge males. I am proceeding back to HQ. Over."
"Rodger that, Lt." The voice on the other end said. "See you soon. Over."
"Rodger that, HQ. Over and out."
She then climbed into the front of the humm vee, and the convoy started back for base.
"Uhh, excuses me," Keitaro said to the Lt. up front. "But, what's going to happen to the my friends?"
"Well, those gangsters, when they wake up from the mini comma they've been put into, are going away someplace nasty," she said, without turning around to face him. "As for the others, they're going to jail."
"But why?" Keitaro cried out. "They never kidnapped me! They've done nothing wrong!"
"According to the new sets of laws we passed kid, they have." She turned around to face him this time. "Anybody caught in the possession of rouge males are breaking the new repopulation laws!"
But… that's not fare!"
"Life ain't fare kid, get used to it." The Lt. said as she turned around to face the front again. "Those are the laws. I don't make them, I just follow them."
"That's just not fair on them!" Keitaro shot back. "They're just in the wrong place at the wrong time! You're not being just!"
"Just!?!" The Lt. snarled spinning around to face him. "You want to talk just!?! Hows this for just! I lost my husband, my two brothers, my father, my uncle, three cousins and my two month old son!" She glared at him through narrow eyes. "Now you tell me, is that just!?! Why are they dead when you aren't!?! Is that just!?!"
Keitaro's eyes widened in horror. He just lowered his head. "Now you see things the way I do." She snapped back at him. "So until now and the time you leave my sight, just shut the fuck up!" She then spun around to face the front.
"Way to go, dude!" Haitani hissed at him, smacking his in the head with his cuffed hands. "Piss her off why don't you!"
"I didn't…" Keitaro started when suddenly, the girl manning the heavy machine gun on the roof of the humm vee cried out in alarm. Everybody inside looked up as they heard a loud thud on the roof, then suddenly; a figure was thrown from the roof to land on the side of the road. Bullets zipped past from the machine gun of the humm vee from behind.
"We're under attack!" The Lt. cried out, drawing her pistol. Suddenly, there was a bright flash of metal, as something stuck down from the roof, and just as quickly, withdrew. "What the…!?!" The Lt. muttered, before her eye's widened. Her pistol had been severed in two.
The driver slammed on the breaks, causing all the passengers to lurch forward. A figure was thrown from the roof of the humm vee, but somersaulted in the air, to land on both feet, a short distance in front of the humm vee. The humm vee from behind made a sudden swerve in order to avoid the humm vee in front, and slammed into a wall, smashing it.
"Run her over! Run her over!" The Lt. screamed at the driver, who gunned the vehicle straight at the attacker. The attacker did not leap out of the way, but merely stood up, straight and tall. As the humm vee drew closer, she just gave a shake of her arm, and a sword fell from the sleave of her kimono.
She drew back her arm, and let fly with a wide slash. "Oh, shi---!!" The driver screamed out, before the humm vee was suddenly split clean in two. All the occupants screamed out loud as they were thrown clean from the vehicle, to land in the streets. The two halves of the humm vee sailed into the air, before exploding.
"What in God's name was that!?!" Haitani shouted as he lay on his back, moaning.
"That was… That was…" Keitaro stammered. "That was the Cutting Evil Strike: Second Form!" He gasped out loud. "The only person I know who can do that technique is…!"
He rolled over to see the figure walking towards the Lt. and the driver. The humm vee in front had pulled over, and its soldiers were running towards them, along with the soldiers from the crashed humm vee.
"Shoot her!" The Lt. cried out. "Just shoot her!" They all took aim, and fired. The girl leapt into the air twisted around, and slashed her blade in three different directions. Waves on energy blasted the area sending the soldiers sailing off into the distance, leaving only Keitaro, Haitani, and Shiria, cowering on the ground.
"Huh?" Shirai said, looking up. "Hey look guys, it's…"
"MOTOKO!?!" Kitsune cried out as she and Liu, and Kanako climbed out of the back of the crashed Humm vee. "What are you doing here!?!"
"I came here looking for someone, Kitsune," Motoko said, sheathing her sword. "They'll be arriving here in the next five minutes, when I happened to see an army patrol following Kanako." She smiled at the Goth girl. "I figured she might need some help, but I never thought I'd run into you again, Kitsune. It's good to see you again." She then nodded at Kanako. "Even you."
"Looking for someone?" Kanako said. "Now wait just a minute, Kendo girl, how did you know my brother was here?"
Motoko froze, and nearly dropped her sword. "Wait! Stop right there! Did you just say, your brother?"
"Yes she did, Motoko," Keitaro moaned, getting up. "How on earth did you know I would be here?"
Motoko stared at Keitaro for just a few seconds, her expression was blank. He was prepared for anything, but the reaction that followed. She did a double take, dropping her sword this time and screaming. She ran backwards impossibly fast, and slammed up against the back of the humm vee that had been in front.
Keitaro was confused. He hadn't seen her react that way since the time her big sister showed up. "Wh-what are you doing here!?!" She screamed out loud, pointing a shaking finger at him. "You're dead! You died! How can you be here!?!" She tried to shrink back even further. "Are you some sort of demon, sent to torment me!?!"
"Motoko…" Keitaro said, but she took a fighting stance.
"Don't come any closer, demon!" She shouted at him. She was acting like she used to do, when Tama always got too close to her.
"Motoko, I'm real!" Keitaro cried out. "Tell her, guys!" He said, turning to face the other girls.
"Motoko," Kitsune said, "That's the real Keitaro! He didn't die during the plague. In fact, he never died."
"Huh?" Motoko kept switching her view between Kitsune and Keitaro.
"It's true, Kendo girl," Kanako said. "That guy there, really is my brother. He's not dead, and he's not a demon!"
"Really?" Hesitant, she slowly stood up, and walked towards Keitaro, and reaching out with a trembling hand, touched his arm. Her eyes nearly popped from their socks as she realised he was the real McCoy.
"See," Keitaro said with a warm smile. "It really is me!" She pulled her hand back, as if she'd touch a hot plate. "It's great to see you again, Motoko." He said. Then, her eyes began to water over, and she suddenly bawled out crying, before lunching herself at him, knocking him to the ground.
"Motoko," he cried out, "It's oka…" His words were suddenly cut off as Motoko kissed him. Rather forcefully too. Haitani and Shiria both nodded at each other.
"Yep," Haitani said. "Lair."
"Motoko," Keitaro said in a muffle voice, "W-what are you…!?"
"Oh Keitaro," she said in between kisses. "I'm so sorry for what I did to you the last day we saw each other." Her arms were around him, and she was kissing him the same way Naru had kissed him on that beach, when she'd accepted his ring. "I so wanted to kill myself after I thought you were dead." Kiss, kiss. "I was in such a deep depression." Kiss, kiss. "I'm so glad that you're alive." Kiss, kiss. She then broke off her kisses, and stared lustfully into his eyes.
"Take me, right here and now, Keitaro."
BAMM!!!!
Motoko was suddenly sent spiralling into a wall, from a fly kick to the head, by a VERY enraged Liu. Her face was blood red, and her rapid breathing sounded like a gorilla, and the silent flames that covered her made her look like a creature from hell.
"NOT SO CLOSE!!!" She snarled at Motoko. Motoko rose from the rubble, and glared at her attacker.
"If you're looking for a death wish, you've found one, Ms!" She snarled, unsheathing her sword. Suddenly, she got a look of surprise on her face. "Liu? Liu Han?"
"I'm glad you remember me, Motoko," she said. "I've never forgotten you!"
"You two know each other?" Keitaro said, looking between the both of them.
"Liu was a student at the God's Cry School," Motoko replied, crouching with her sword drawn. "She studied in the same class as did I. We were to face each other one day, for the title of master swordsman…" She trailed off.
"So what happened?" He asked.
Liu chuckled silently to herself. "Well, we were very young back then, and well you see…" She broke out into giggles.
"She dropped a damn, slimy turtle down my back before the bout!" Motoko shouted.
"Yeah," Liu said. "You see, the school had a pet turtle, that was brought in Tsuruko Aoyama's future husband. It was the biggest, ugliest turtle you'd ever seen. And I dropped it right down Motoko's back when she wasn't looking." She broke out into laughter. "And it bit her butt! AHA HA HA HA!!!"
"I was so traumatised by the whole event I couldn't fight in the tournament!" Motoko hissed. "And so the title went to Liu!"
"So that's why she never liked her sisters husband, and turtles!" Keitaro said.
"She cheated, and sabotaged me!" Motoko shouted.
"I didn't mean to sabotage you," Liu said back in defence. "I only did that because you pushed me in the mud!"
"I only did that because you…" It went on like that for five full minutes, each girl accusing the other of starting the whole thing.
"Girls, girls, girls!" Keitaro quickly stepped in between them. "Can't we discus this later? Right now, let's just get out of here, before more soldiers arrive!"
"Huh?" Motoko suddenly remember something. "Oh wait! I can't leave yet, I'm still waiting for someone."
"You mentioned that before Motoko," Keitaro said. "Who are you waiting for?"
"Most likely the same thing I'M waiting for." Everybody turned their heads at the sound of a new voice. Out of the shadow's, stepped a woman dressed completely in black camouflage gear. She looked Asian, but her accent was rather off. Keitaro couldn't quite place it. Was she Chines? Korean? Vietnamese?
"Who the devil are you?" Liu demanded. "You're not after my Keitaro, are you!?!" She warned, quickly rushing to his side.
Instead, she just cocked an eyebrow, and looked at him. "So, you're Keitaro Urashima?" She walked over to him, and looked him over, walked around him a few times, then stopping in front of him, shrugged. "I don't see what's so special about you. You don't look important."
"How the hell did you find me?" Keitaro asked. He gave him a hard look.
"Are you kidding? After the fireworks display you pulled off at the warehouse, and out here, it's hard, NOT to find you."
"Then that means…"
"More soldiers are coming? Yep!" She pointed down an ally, which she had most likely come from. "We can go this way. I'm due to meet our target in less than five minutes."
"Right here?" Keitaro asked.
"My target insisted on coming here, looking for you, my dear boy. I couldn't talk them out of it, so I spent most of the night planting a few bombs around the city to set off, in order to distract the soldiers," she trailed off and looked around at the mess. "But it looks like you've created quite a distraction your self."
"Who are you?" Keitaro asked. She smiled at him.
"I'm classified," she said. "Shall we leave, or wait for the soldiers to arrive?"
"Come on!" Keitaro called to the others, and they quickly hurried away into the ally, as the sounds of approaching vehicles started drifting over the still night air.
Finally, after much running around the city, the group arrived in a residential section of the city.
"Where are we going?" Kitsune asked, as they walked among the empty houses.
"We're going to the one place where we won't be bothered," the stranger said. "The baseball diamond."
"Why there?" Kanako asked.
"After all the men died in this city, they turned the place into one big crematorium. Now none of the girls will go anywhere near it. It seems the perfect place where we can go about our business undisturbed."
They rounded a block, and came to the baseball park. It was completely disserted, with a huge dirt pile in the centre of the field. "After they'd burnt all the bodies they buried the ashes under the field." The stranger replied.
"We're going to conduct our business in a cemetery?" Keitaro cried out.
"Well, unless you can think of a better place, that's less crowded, and one where we won't be disturbed, I'll be more than happy to hear it," the stranger said sharply. "Besides. My target insisted on meeting me here."
"Why?" Keitaro asked.
"Because you would be here, that's why." She said. They all went through the front entrance and onto the field.
"All right, now that we're here, who, or what is this 'target' you keep talking about?" Keitaro said.
"Yeah," both Kanako, Kitsune, Liu, Haitani and Shiria all said at once.
"Actually, Keitaro," Motoko said. "It's someone you know, very well."
"Someone I know very well?" Keitaro said. Suddenly his eyes widened. "You mean Naru!?!"
Before anyone could answer, Haitani looked up at the sky. "Is that a plane?" He asked. They all listened.
"Yes it is," the stranger replied. "That means our target is right on time."
The buzzing sound drew closer, and closer, until they could make out a dark shape, moving against the night sky. But, before anyone could say anything, the plane suddenly dipped down, and screamed straight for the baseball diamond.
The group was silent for a few seconds, before they all suddenly screamed, and scattered in every direction. However, the plane seemed to follow Keitaro, slamming nose first into the ground, and skidding along after him, tearing up grass and dirt as it closed in on him.
Keitaro ran screaming for his life as the plane followed, drawing closer, and closer, until he suddenly found himself up against a wall. With no chance of escape, he turned to face the plane, coming up on him. He closed his eyes and began to pray.
The plane began to slow down from all the traction, and came to a steady stop, it's nose, a few inches from Keitaro's face. Keitaro gasped out loud and collapsed on the ground.
"Keitaro!?!" Liu cried out, rushing over to him. "Are you alright?"
"Hands off him, Missy!" Kanako shouted, pushing her aside.
"One side, you sicko!" Motoko yelled, charging into her back with her shoulder. "Keitaro's mine!"
"no," Liu growled. "He's mine!"
"You're both psycho's!" Kanako cried. "He doesn't want ether of you!"
"Oh God," Keitaro muttered. "Please, if you really do love me, strike me with a lighting bolt now!"
Suddenly, the door of the plane swung open, and out jumped Sarah MacDougal. She looked around at the gathered crowd and grinned. "Well, well, well," she said, looking at the Hinata girls, Haitani, and Shiria. "Fancy meeting all of you freaks here!" She looked past them at Keitaro on the ground. "Wow, whaddya know, he DID survive."
"Oh me, oh my," a shaky voice said from the plane, and a taller figure stepped out. "That was rather dangerous," Mutsumi Otohime replied placing a hand to her forehead. She looked over at the group. "Oh, hi Keitaro. What was the afterlife like?"
"You twit!" Sarah scowled at her. "He was never dead."
"Sarah!?! Mitsumi!?!" Keitaro cried out. "What are you guys doing here!?!" Then, he paused, as something they both said got to him slower than it should have. "Wait a minute! Y-you guys aren't surprised I'm still alive?" Keitaro asked, getting up, and walking over to them.
"Well, no," Mitsumi replied. "We always knew you were alive."
"How!?!" Keitaro cried out.
"Because I told them," a voice said from the plane. Keitaro turned and looked at the door, as a tall figure stepped forth and into the moonlight.
"Y-y-y-you!" He cried out, falling over in surprise.
"Nice to see you too, Part-Timer," Seta replied, pulling a large shard of glass from his head.
MORE TO COME...