To everyone who were following this story: GOMEN NASAI! I wrote a lot of this story over summer, but when I went back to school, I forgot to take a copy of the updated story. I'm finally home for the first time in 3 months (Happy Turkey Day!) and here is the long-awaited update! In the meanwhile, I joined a Sailor Moon community on Lj and have been busy writing drabbles for Usagi and Mamoru's SM first season romance; "Do You Know" is VERY different from "AAO", but I think it's still worth reading.

Oh. And I want an Xbox 360 sooo bad...can't wait till Christmas!

Chapter 10
The Original

Smiling to himself, Hayabusa followed Zack's footsteps to the front door and turned the sign in the window from "Open" to "Closed". Zack had unwittingly given him an idea for a place to start his own search for Hayate. Perhaps Ayane would join him, he didn't know. All he knew was that the Victor Donovan and DOATEC seemed very suspicious in their actions to pay so much money for, what Hayabusa thought, inferior fighting skills. The ability of a ninja, however, was much more valuable.

"Rachel's right," thought Hayabusa as he walked back to the patio where he left his guest. "This Super Ninja ego is getting to me."

When Hayabusa opened the porch door, he was met with the intense glare of the kunoichi Ayane. "That guy that was just in your store," she said quickly. "I know him!"

"His name is Zack," replied Hayabusa, sitting at the table once again. He noticed that Ayane had eaten all but one piece of sushi. It didn't matter, though; Hayabusa's brain was transfixed on locating the laboratory in Germany. "He's one of my best customers. How do you know him?"

Ayane paused for a moment, hesitant to tell him the whole truth. "I was at The Wok meeting up with the guy who gave me the opera assignment, and Zack was there. He was sitting at a table with some rather suspicious characters. Not to mention the girl I was supposed to kill, Helena Douglas. I don't trust him."

"Yes, I sensed something very odd about him, besides his fashion sense. He had much on his mind," said Hayabusa thoughtfully. "He told me he sold his fighting style to Victor Donovan of DOATEC. Do you know anything about them?"

Ayane hid her flinch at the mention of the name. But Hayabusa was far from knowing very well that DOATEC were the ones who issued Helena's death. And Ayane felt he didn't need to know. "Yes…I think they're the ones who kidnapped Hayate."

His suspicions were confirmed with Ayane's speculation. He felt his entire body urged him to run, even all the way to Germany if he had to, and find his friend. There were no more excuses, nothing left to hold him back. "Kasumi's gone too," said Hayabusa, unexpectedly.

Ayane's face grew dark with bitterness. "I know, Genra told me before I came here," she said, tapping her fingers on the table top. "The entire clan wants to kill her."

Sighing, Hayabusa looked away, fearful that Ayane could see the guilt on his face. If he had only managed to grab her or talk some more sense into her, Kasumi wouldn't be in the amount of danger she put herself in. "We have to find her, before it's too late, and make sure she's safe. She left to find Hayate on her own," Hayabusa said.

"I'll be damned if she finds him before me," snapped Ayane. There was no sympathy for the shinobi, but rather, a burning desire behind her chestnut eyes. "If I lay my eyes on her again, I'll kill her myself."

Hayabusa stared at Ayane in shock. "You don't mean that," he said severely.

"Like hell I don't mean that!" Hayabusa's green eyes bore into her conscience, but Ayane brushed the blame away. "For as noble as she, and everyone else, thinks she is, Kasumi is one dumb bitch."

"Why do you have to be so hard on her all the time, Ayane? Don't you know you are the person she looks up to the most?" scolded Hayabusa.

Ayane only glared at him in disbelief. Her sister, perfect and innocent Kasumi, look up to the angry bastard child? If anything, Kasumi probably knew that the moment she came back to the village, with or without Hayate, her clan would somehow be able to twist the blame so that it became Ayane's fault their princess left. "I'll still kill her," said Ayane, quietly and menacingly.

"Not now, Ayane," replied Hayabusa. "This is about finding Hayate, not your personal vendetta. When he's back, you won't feel such animosity towards your sister anymore, okay?"

"It's not my fault you have a big, fat crush on the twit," Ayane thought angrily. But Hayabusa was right, as usual, she had come to him for help with finding Hayate and not for personal counseling. "She's my half-sister, anyway…"

Hayabusa could only smile. Hayate was one lucky man, to have two sisters who loved him dearly. "So…do you have some sort of plan, Super Ninja?" asked Ayane as she finally finished off the last piece of sushi.

Shaking his head, Hayabusa leant back in his chair and stretched out his arms. "We're going to talk to old man Gen-Fu up in the mountains. Even if he can't tell us anything about DOATEC, we can book a plane and pack our stuff so we can get some answers."

Ayane smiled wickedly. "So WE are going to do this, huh? You finally came around?"

Hayabusa nodded solemnly. "Like you said, I didn't know why I wasn't helping you look for him. I suppose I've been more cautious with my actions, but with Hayate and Kasumi missing, being cautious isn't an option anymore." Ayane just stared at him, her eyebrow in an arch. "And sometimes…I just need to kick some ass."

Ayane laughed with a new excited spark igniting inside of her and said, "That's the spirit I once knew! I know so far that DOATEC is in central Germany, in the mountainous region of…" Her voice trailed off for a moment. Hayabusa opened his mouth to ask her what was wrong, but she held her hand up. Ayane's eyes darted back and forth, the hair on her neck standing up, sensing some sort of unseen danger. Hayabusa put his hands on the arm rests of his chair and began to slowly stand up.

"No!" yelled Ayane. In an instant, she dived forward and knocked Hayabusa to the ground at the very second a quiet shot rang out from nearby. It was the sound of a bullet exiting a gun with a silencer, but Ayane had felt the danger deep within her blood. Her body on top of Hayabusa's, Ayane glanced up in time to see a tall figure standing on the roof of a small building adjacent to the curio shop. It looked up from the rifle it held with a clear glare on its face. It also had startling, snow white hair.

"Oh hell no!" Ayane growled, her hand in her sleeve and extracting a shiny shuriken with her small fingers. The kunoichi threw it with ease, but the figure moved out of the way in time and started in a sprint.

"I am the original mother-fucking assassin!" Ayane screamed at the person before taking off in a run of her own.

"Ayane!" called Hayabusa, getting up from the ground as well. "Stop!"

"Meet me where you said, Hayabusa!" she yelled, still in a sprint and chasing after the mysterious figure. "I'll be fine!"

"But this bitch won't…"

Ayane's legs pounded against the ground, and she was now running so hard that her breath struck her lungs with a cold punch every time she took in air. But she would not allow the intruder to escape. It leapt from building to building, and Ayane wove between people on the street, sometimes knocking some down and inciting angry glares. However, Ayane did not care. Her thirst for revenge ran through her blood and drove her to run even faster. Rounding another corner without any more collisions, Ayane slowed her pace when she realized she was now alone in a long alley, no foe in sight.

"Show yourself, you coward!" she screamed in the wind, Ayane's voice echoing all around her in the brick alley.

The only reply was the sound of soft, maniacal laughter.

"So it's a woman," Ayane thought, now on her guard for any surprise attacks. Looking up into the sun, Ayane could've sworn she saw a shadow moving above her, but it was a bird.

"Christie, did you get her?" called a voice.

Ayane spun around to see meet the angry gaze of Helena Douglas. Her eyes had dark bags under them, clearly from a lack of sleep. Ayane hoped it was because of nightmares of her shooting the girl's mother. However, Ayane was very impressed that Helena had sought her out in order to challenge her. Placing a hit on her friend wasn't needed, but after all, Ayane started it. Suddenly, she heard the body of another person drop to the ground behind her. Ayane spun around to meet the icy glare of a tall woman with the snow white, spiky hair and dressed in a black body suit. She must have been Christie. Ayane couldn't read her neutral expression and thought it looked like Christie was either bored or there to back up Helena.

"What do you want with me?" asked Ayane, putting her hands on her hips. Perhaps she didn't have to up her record to three deaths in two days.

"Revenge!" Helena growled, moving closer to the purple-haired ninja. She looked exactly like the police report and Donovan's description. Helena put her hands up to her face, showing Ayane that she was ready to fight.

Ayane only glared at the other woman. "You tried to kill my friend."

"And you shot my mother!" Helena shrieked back. Ayane flinched as the high-pitched whine hit her ears. It was like she was back at the opera.

With a shrug, Ayane turned her back to the singer. "Touché," she said causally. "I guess I forgot."

Christie's ice blue eyes stared back at Ayane. Perhaps there was a mutual feeling of respect; both assassins, Ayane could feel the emotion Christie emitted at her: absolutely none. However, upon staring in her clear eyes and feeling the sudden cut in the wind, Ayane back flipped over Christe's head as Helena swung her long arms at her. Helena's hand met Christie's cheek, and the taller woman stumbled back slightly. Ayane only chuckled at the two.

Helena let out a long growl of frustration. "Brace yourself, Ayane!" she bellowed.

Meeting her eyes, Ayane smiled with confidence. "So you know my name, good for you," she retorted, bringing her hands to her face. "Give me your best shot, you spoiled prima donna…or let your mother rot in her grave with dishonor."

"Ha!" Helena huffed as she swung her arms around in a large windmill around her body. Christie had moved out of the way to give her ally a full range of motion, but kept her intense gaze at the fight. Ayane stepped back lightly as the arsenal of attacks came at her, but easily side stepped out of the way. Then, with the precise timing from her countless hours of training, Ayane reached out and grabbed Helena's arm as it came swinging by. She pulled Helena forward, causing her to lose her balance, pulled her arm over her shoulder and with the momentum, flipped forward, landing on top of Helena, knocking the wind out of her. However, when Ayane was about to leap to her feet, Christe's pointed boot came crashing down on her stomach. A sharp pain traveled throughout her body, but Ayane got to her feet and back to her defensive position with nothing more than heavy breathing.

"So you're going to play dirty, are you two?" she taunted. Ayane smiled and pointed her fingers directly at Helena's eyes. "That's how I like it."

Helena stood once again, but crouched with her arms above her head and her legs spread out under her. Ayane only stared at her with a "what-the-fuck?" expression. Suddenly, Helena rose from her Bohuko position when Ayane reached out to grab her again and punched Ayane from the stomach all the way to her face. The unexpectedness of the blow gave Christie and Helena enough surprise to grab Ayane by the arms, elbow her in the chest, flip her arms inside out, and kick her into the brick wall.

Bracing herself against the building, Ayane breathed in and out to calmly conquer her pain. If she was fighting Helena and Christie alone, she would have been fine, but the two together were bent on killing her before the fight was over. "I think I'm beginning to enjoy this," said Helena with a haughty laugh.

"Me too," Ayane said as mightily as she could. Maybe she should have gotten Hayabusa to follow her, but her pride told her that she wanted to defeat Helena and her sidekick by herself.

Ayane's attitude got under Helena's skin. How could she be so confident when Ayane was the one clinging to the brick wall? Helena wanted to beat her down and let her suffer for her mother's death. The singer lunged at Ayane with her foot extended, ready to shatter Ayane's skull to pieces. However, the ninja was too fast. In the blink of an eye, Ayane reached behind her back and unsheathed her tonto hidden under her leather jacket. She pushed herself off of the wall and spun around as Helena's foot hit the brick, slicing Helena's arm in the process. Still moving towards Christie, who put her hands up to defend herself against the deadly weapon, Ayane raised the blade into the air, but knocked Christie to the ground with a sweep of her leg. Ayane put the blade back into its holder, knowing that this fight was also about honor. She would beat the two foes with her bare hands.

Now bleeding through her blue jumpsuit, Helena glared at Ayane with all of the hatred in her body. She ran at Ayane again, but stopped short. Helena threw out her arms and flapped them up, slapping Ayane from under her chin. With her arms on their way down, Ayane grabbed Helena's wrist and pulled the girl close. Ayane leapt in the air, landing her feet on Helena's chest. Then, with a loud popping noise, she jumped away from Helena, pulling both of her arms out. Helena dropped to the ground in pain.

With Helena flattened on the floor, Ayane walked over to her and stepped on her hand with her boot. Raising her head, her eyes met with Christie's, whose lips were curled into a small, amused smirk.

"Don't you remember what I told you! You are fired!" bellowed Bass from inside of The Wok. The sheer resonance of his deep voice shook the frames mounted on the bar walls.

Jann-Lee held out his hands in front of him. "Bass, please! That fight wasn't my fault! Those guys started it outside and brought it into our restaurant!"

"Mister, this isn't 'our' restaurant," Bass said, shaking his head without remorse. "And those guys you decided to beat up were our best customers, friends of the bar's owner, and very powerful people! I'm surprised Dr. Donovan hasn't asked for both of our heads already!"

"Bass…"

"I told you already, son, it is Mr. Armstrong to a punk like you!"

Jann-Lee could feel his temper rising inside of his fists. He's gladly give up his job in a second if he could just Dragon Kick this prick across the room. But Jann-Lee knew he couldn't kid himself; although he knew a life with a menial job as a waiter wouldn't last with his wandering tendencies, a life behind bars didn't fly so well either. His life needed excitement and stood for passion. And Jann-Lee couldn't be passionate on whether customers wanted salt with or without their Margaritas.

"Well, BASS," he said with an angry tone, his voice almost at screaming level. "You can keep Doctor Donovan's buttcrack in your face and shove this place up your mammoth ass because I QUIT!"

Jann-Lee grabbed a wet towel on a nearby table he was cleaning and threw it at Bass's face. The much larger man's face grew as red as a hot stove, but before he could react to Jann-Lee's insult, the ex-Wok employee had already stormed out of the front door. Once outside, the cool air seemed to calm Jann-Lee down. He may have just quit his most stable job to date, but it wasn't worth the frustration and disrespect he got from Bass and company. Out of no where, a soft voice called him out of his angered state of mind.

"Excuse me, Jann-Lee?"

He looked into the bright eyes of Lei-Fang, the girl he saved the day before. "What are you doing here?"

"I told you, my dad owns the restaurant," she replied with a smile. Lei-Fang was dressed in a bright red Mandarin dress with gold accents. The bubbly sight of her gave his teeth aches from the sweetness.

"Well what should I care because I just quit my job at your dad's stupid restaurant."

As nasty as Jann-Lee tried to sound, the young girl wasn't discouraged. She arched an eyebrow at him and waved a single, slim finger in his face. "You have such a temper," said Lei-Fang, with a little tisk-tisk. "You blow up at the smallest thing, and I bet that's what always gets you into trouble."

Jann-Lee looked at her with a sarcastic expression on his face. "Hey, if I didn't blow up yesterday, you might not be standing here right now, waving your little presumptuous finger at me," he replied before turning his back to walk away from Lei-Fang.

"I didn't need your help," she replied flatly. "I could have taken you on as well."

Jann-Lee whipped around and marched right back into her face. "Oh, you think you could fight me?" He let out an amused laugh. "That's really rich for…a rich girl like you."

Continuing to smile at him, Lei-Fang only cocked her head to the side and nodded silently. "Yes, I know I can fight you…and win. You only butted in too soon before you could see my power first hand."

"There's more to power than what your daddy can do for you," Jann-Lee retorted back. He squeezed his hand into a fist and the muscles in his arm instantly contracted as veins lined every toned inch of his skin. Jann-Lee prided himself in the shape he kept his body.

Lei-Fang was impressed with her rival's attitude. Not only did he stand up to her, but did so with such confidence. And it wasn't that bad that Jann-Lee was easy on the eyes. She took a deep breath and suddenly stomped her foot onto the concrete sidewalk. Numerous cracks snaked out from underneath her red and gold shoe. "Daddy didn't do that for me," she said coolly.

"What do you want?" Jann-Lee asked, eyeing her suspiciously.

"I want to fight you and prove myself to you," she replied, a bright smile lingering on Lei-Fang's face.

Jann-Lee opened his mouth to respond, but a sharp, high-pitched scream cut through the air. Both rivals looked to the alley way behind the restaurant. It echoed in the same place where Jann-Lee and Lei-Fang had first met each other. When the pair reached the origin of the scream, they found a strange sight. There were two women, one with white hair and another with purple hair, who stood with her boot on the hand of one blonde woman on the ground.

Stepping forward with a finger pointed at the purple-haired girl, Jann-Lee approached the women with caution. "You're the girl from the bar yesterday," he said, eyeing Ayane. "Both of you were there yesterday, but you…you're wanted for murder!"

Ayane rolled her eyes and took her foot off of Helena's hand. She didn't need time for civilian "heroes"; she wanted ice for her face as it began to swell up. There were already too many witnesses, but she had no problem getting rid of every one of them. "Perhaps, but perhaps you should get away from here before I'm wanted for four more."

Ryu Hayabusa ran after Ayane as she darted through the curio shop and took a right, but doubled back to the kitchen. He locked the door, ran to the corner of the room and jumped up through the square in the ceiling, grabbing the edges of the opening to pull himself up. Now in his apartment's second floor, Hayabusa darted to his bedroom closet and suited up in his black suit armor. He strapped his boots and shin guards tightly before checking for the supply of kunai and shuriken in the numerous pockets of his suit. He threw on his head gear and wrapped his face with his usual black mask. Hayabusa reached for a sword on the wall, but stopped his hand when he realized it was inches away from touching Ryuken. He stared at it for a moment before reaching below it to a Hanzo sword and pausing again.

"Just grab the sword and go," he commanded his hand.

Hayabusa's eyes disobediently darted to a single picture frame on the nightstand near his bed. And the dormant, tiny black box in front of it. He felt the pang of guilt in his chest; Hayabusa knew he was running again. As much as he wanted to live a normal life for himself, the blood of his ancestors ran through his veins, thirsty for battle and the fight for honor. If he truly was a Super Ninja, balancing the two would be easy…right?

There was no room for hesitation. He would stop doubting his command of the immense ancient power and go find his best friend. Life had to go on. Hayabusa grabbed Ryuken off of its perch and unsheathed the lethal blade. He waved the sword, pleased with the sound of "whooshes" through the air as he sliced at invisible enemies, re-familiarizing himself with his weapon. Hayabusa put away the blade and strapped Ryuken to his back. With one swift movement, Hayabusa dropped down through the floor once again, ran outside to Ayane's motorcycle after locking the store door, and started to ride in the direction that he last saw the kunoichi run.

Hayabusa didn't have to travel far.

The Dragon Ninja heard the sounds of a fight nearby and Ayane's fighting cries. He rode past an alleyway to see Ayane fighting against a taller man with spiky hair. There were two other women beyond the two fighters, one in a black jumpsuit helping one with long blonde hair off of the ground. Had Ayane been fighting with everyone? She was already in enough trouble as it was.

"Stop them!" screamed a young girl with braids in her hair to Hayabusa. She looked at him with pleading eyes, obviously scared of Ayane's wrath.

Ayane held up her arms in front of her face to block the rapid punches of Jann-Lee. He tricked her, however, by pretending that the barrage of attacks was done. The second Ayane lowered her arms, he squatted as he screamed at the top of his lungs, unleashing the Dragon punch to her stomach. Ayane flew backwards, her head hitting the brick wall with such an intense force that bits of brick crumbled on her purple hair. Jann-Lee ran forward to continue the assault, but Ayane leapt to her feet, ignoring the dizzying buzz in her head. She flipped over his head and landed on the other side of Jann-Lee. Ayane grabbed his arm and spun him so fast that Jann-Lee lost his footing, allowing Ayane to throw him to the ground with ease. However, he wasn't as tired as Ayane, and Jann-Lee swept her feet out from under her. Ayane fell face forward to the dirt floor, slicing her cheek on a sharp rock underneath her.

"Get up and come with me peacefully, or continue to get beaten," Jann-Lee threatened the kunoichi, who did not look at her attacker, but breathed in deeply trying to overcome her inner pain. "You cost me my job, at least I'm going to get credit for turning you in!"

"Fuck off, pal!" Ayane screamed back, blood trailing down her cheek from a slim cut. "Go attack tweedle-dee and tweedle-dumb over there, it's them you want! They attacked me first!"

Jann-Lee rubbed his nose with his thumb. This broad just needed a little more Dragon Persuasion. He shook his head with a disapproving tisk-tisk before dancing on his feet once more. He reached his foot back to kick Ayane in the stomach, but a firm grip grabbed his arm.

"Do not touch her," a deep voice commanded.

Jann-Lee spun around, smacking the unwanted contact away. He stared into the piercing green eyes of Ryu Hayabusa. "Why do you want to protect her? She's a murderer!" Jann-Lee growled back.

Hayabusa only shook his head silently.

"I know you," Jann-Lee said slowly, looking the ninja over. "You're Ryu Hayabusa, the 'Super Ninja'! Do you think you're great enough to tell others what to do? Well, you're not going to save another murderer like yourself, so just get lost and slice up something somewhere else."

Ayane could see a flicker of pain and anger in Hayabusa's eyes, but also saw how well he hid it. In fact, if Ayane didn't know Hayabusa beforehand, she would probably pee herself from intimidation by the way his green eyes narrowed into tiny slits. But this guy didn't get it; Ayane didn't know whether it was fearlessness, or him just being plain hard-headed. She grunted as she picked herself up from the ground. Her lungs felt like they were burning her from the inside.

"Are you okay?" asked a short girl with black hair. She rushed forward to help Ayane up, but the kunoichi snatched her arm away from the tiny hands.

"I'm fine!" snapped Ayane. She didn't need any help; she fought by herself against three other opponents and thought herself perfectly capable of standing on her own two feet…despite how her legs shook under the weight of her slim body. Ayane glanced at the young girl, realizing that she had never seen her before. She blurted, "Who exactly are you?"

The girl blinked in shock, almost scandalized that Ayane didn't know her. "I am Lei-Fang, daughter of the owner of The Wok, where you were just fighting behind." Ayane only stared at her with a blank expression. "You're not going to kill me, are you?"

Ayane rolled her eyes. Her reputation of being an assassin was starting to get on her nerves. How did Hayabusa deal with the fame?

"By turning into a hermit," her brain replied.

"The only people I want to kill are those bitches who attacked me while I was eating!" Ayane replied, remembering why she had been beat up in the first place. Her eyes scanned the alley, only to realize her frustrations were growing. She pushed her way past Jann-Lee and Hayabusa who were shooting daggers at each other and nearly inches apart from each other. Ayane would have stopped to laugh at the fact that Jann-Lee was noticeably shorter than Hayabusa, but their bickering wasn't her main concern. It was the fact that Helena and Christie managed to escape unnoticed.

"They're gone!" she yelled in anger, throwing a kunai at the other end of the alley, striking a spot at the bottom of the brick wall, just inches away from the ground. "Because you assholes have to compare egos, they got away!"

Hayabusa turned away, brushing Jann-Lee away with his shoulder as he walked towards Ayane. "That's okay, we'll find them later," he said, putting a hand on her arm. He could feel Ayane's pulse throbbing through her warm flesh. "We need to go get information about Donovan."

"Victor Donovan?" interrupted Lei-Fang, taking a step closer to the two ninjas.

Hayabusa glanced at her with a look of concern. "Do you know Victor Donovan, of DOATEC? We're looking for him."

"Why? So you can kill him too?" sneered Jann-Lee, still angry at Hayabusa's brush-off. Everyone else looked at him in confusion. "That bastard cost me my job."

"Yes, I do know him," Lei-Fang continued. "He attacked me yesterday, when I met Jann-Lee here. I was in this very alley. He accused my father of having something to do with smuggling things or importing them on ships, I don't know. My father isn't a criminal!"

"Sure thing, sweetheart, whatever you believe," Jann-Lee said, cracking his knuckles. He still itched to have a go at the famous ninja.

"He's not," asserted Lei-Fang. She turned to Hayabusa and Ayane, holding out her hand. "If I help you find Victor Donovan, will you clear my father's name?"

"Wait a minute," said Ayane, shaking her head. "What makes you think that a little girl like you can hack following around two trained ninjas? We're not playing with dolls here, we're talking about finding this man and torturing him to get information that we need."

Hayabusa looked at her with a stern look. "Okay, maybe I'll do the torturing for fun," Ayane corrected herself. "But the point is, there's going to be blood and guts and slashing shit." Hayabusa furrowed his brows at her. "Okay, okay! The point is that we don't need your help, princess."

"You may think what you wish about me, but I am perfectly secure with my fighting abilities and believe I can take care of myself," said Lei-Fang coolly. She arched an eyebrow at the purple-haired girl. "It's not like you're any better than me with that thing you threw."

Ayane smirked back at the taunt. She strode to the wall and yanked the silver kunai out from the wall and made her way back to Lei-Fang. She struck out her arm quickly, bringing the sharp end just inches from the other girl's face, causing Lei-Fang to flinch in surprise. Ayane smiled wickedly when Lei-Fang opened her mouth to gape at the tiny fly skewered on the end of the kunai. Lei-Fang closed her mouth and glared at Ayane.

"And how exactly do you plan on getting to Germany? Riding the motorcycle!" retorted Lei-Fang, crossing her arms over her chest. She was tired from being perceived that girly. Neither ninja responded to her question. "Princess did a little research and found out the exact location of DOATEC. Not to mention, her daddy has a private plane, which princess knows how to fly, and can get you there in a record of five hours."

She smiled at the bait she jingled in front of the two contemporaries. Lei-Fang wanted to get away and find some adventure in her boring home life. She wanted to explore the world!

Extending his hand, Hayabusa stepped closer to Lei-Fang. The young girl eagerly took his hand, and Ayane could see the blush rising in her cheeks. If Hayabusa only knew what his true powers were, she thought, rolling her eyes. Well, there's nothing wrong with teaming up with a little rich girl who could buy her way out of any trouble that might arise. Maybe it would become the ultimate battle between socialites: Lei-Fang versus Helena Douglas!

"If you'll come with us, Ayane and I are going to the Aerial Gardens to get some last few answers," Hayabusa started, staring Lei-Fang in the eyes.

She nodded in agreement before extending her hand to Ayane. Reluctantly, Ayane shook it, being sure to squeeze extra hard. This was going to be one happy little pilgrimage to meet Hayate. The three of them began to walk out of the alley, Lei-Fang hailing a taxi to take them to the Aerial Gardens. Jann-Lee only looked on with a disgruntled expression.

"Lei-Fang, where the hell do you think you're going?" he called after her as Hayabusa opened the car door.

Lei-Fang smiled at him innocently. "If you want to come along, just get in the cab, Jann-Lee!" She disappeared behind the door as she sat down on the leather seat. To her right, Ayane swung her leg over her motorcycle and revved the engine. She glared at Jann-Lee as she sped away, towards the mountainous outskirts of the city.

"Come on, you can't even take care of yourself, let alone follow these loonies to who-knows-where," Jann-Lee continued.

"Last chance," came the reply from inside the taxi.

Grumbling to himself, Jann-Lee ran forward, almost diving into the cab as the door began to shut. The cab eased itself back into traffic before turning around to make its way out of the busy afternoon rush.