"How far away are we?" Julie asked, looking in the mirror. The last van was still tailing them.
"We have about 45 minutes till we get there."
"Umph!" Mayumi grunted as a particularly hard turn threw them all over the place. Then Duo decided to go over a series of speed bumps at a high speed.
"Wh-o-o-a-a!" Mayumi cried as she went left, right, up and down.
"Ooo…." Shiris moaned after they stopped moving erratically.
"Trowa? Is that you?" Hiiro asked, pushing at the body lying over his chest.
"I don't know, is that you under me?" Trowa replied, feeling the waist of the person under him. "Nope, this is definitely a girl,"
"I'm on top of you, Hiiro," Mayumi said, rolling off him.
"So are you Shiris?" Trowa guessed, poking the person he was on top of.
"That tickles!" she giggled, wiggling under him.
Over in the opposite corner, Hiiro and Mayumi had sat up against the wall.
"Are they doing what I think they're doing?" he muttered, completely disgusted.
"Most likely. And it's not that bad," Mayumi replied, slightly jealous. Of course the guy she falls for is the stoic, non-speaking, I-don't-believe-in-love guy.
Up front, Julie let out a squeak as she looked out the window.
"Duo, drive faster, they're right next to us!"
Duo glanced out her window and ducked just in time to miss a shower of bullets sprayed at his face.
"Julie!" Are you hurt?" he cried when he swerved out of the line of fire.
"No, I'm fine. But I wish they'd give us some warning before they do that," she muttered, lifting her head up.
"We need to get rid of them. I think there are some weapons in the back, but I'm not sure," he said while attempting to stay ahead of the tailgating van.
"That's our best option." Julie agreed, and pounded on the divider.
"Guys! We've got company! We need you to search for the weapons that are in there, open the door, and kill them!" she screamed.
On the other side, Hiiro and Mayumi jumped as the wall behind them shook. Then they all heard Julie's voice.
"What did she say?" Shiris asked after Julie was quiet.
"Something about guns and a van," Hiiro replied. The two of them had not heard the whole order.
"Are there weapons back here?" Mayumi asked.
"I didn't think so. But I guess Duo thinks so."
"Let's find them, fast. I think we have to shoot the van that's next to us," Trowa suggested, feeling around on the floor.
Shots rang out against the side of the van.
"Faster is better," Mayumi urged, frantically searching.
"Got one," Hiiro said, having found a pistol.
"Me too," Shiris added, finding the same type of gun.
"Okay, I'll open the door and we fire. They won't be expecting it, so we'll have the advantage," Hiiro ordered, moving over to the door.
"Okay, I'm here," Shiris said, feeling on the wall for the door handle. She touched Hiiro's hand.
"Okay, you two take cover."
He slammed the door back and immediately found the driver's window. Shiris, blinking furiously in the sunlight, pulled back the safety, aimed as the driver's head, and with a cry threw herself away from the door as bullets whipped past her head.
"They obviously knew we were going to do that!" she shouted to Hiiro, who had also flung himself out of the way. If they hadn't, they would have been killed.
"Obviously. So we need a new plan," he muttered, angry at being outmaneuvered.
Shiris stuck her gun out the door and randomly fired. An answering fire caused her to withdraw.
"Any ideas?" she yelled. The wind whipped in from the open door, sending the inside of the van into chaos. Scraps of cloth, paper, and light materials flew every which way, some out the door. Mayumi and Shiris were trying to keep their hair away from their face.
"How about we use that?" Trowa said suddenly, pointing upward.
On the ceiling, previously unable to be seen, was a hatch.
"Perfect!" Shiris exclaimed, getting up and inspecting it.
"Shiris, give me your gun. Someone hoist me up and I'll take them out from above," Mayumi said, holding out her hand.
"Be quick, or they'll discover where you are," Shiris murmured, handing over the gun. Mayumi nodded and looked at Hiiro.
"Come on, I'll stand on your shoulders."
He went over and she flung open the hatch, her hair immediately flying up and out of the opening.
Swiftly hoisting herself up onto his shoulders, she peered out over the top of the van. So far the neighboring van was unaware of her. She took careful aim at the wheels of the car, praying she could take out at least two.
She squeezed off three quick shots and hit the two wheels closest to her. With a bang, they deflated and the van swerved off the road into the ditch on the side.
After firing off a last few shots, Mayumi retreated back into the van.
"Alright! That was great!" Shiris cried as her friend reappeared.
"That was excellent work," Trowa agreed.
"Nice shooting," Hiiro murmured under his breath.
"Why, thank you Hiiro!" she said in a sarcastic tone.
"I'm so glad you approve!"
"Nice job! We got 'em!" Julie shouted back from the front. She turned back around to face front. "Right. Now to get back our stuff,"
"They might have taken it already, you know," Duo said.
"Good point," Julie agreed. "Great, now what? I never even though of that. Do we go back to the hotel?"
Duo grinned. "Up for a challenge?"
Julie smiled happily. "Of course!"
"I know where they would have taken it, if they did."
"Where?"
"It's a separate facility, way over in Japan. There they take the stuff apart, try and figure out how it works and why."
"We have to get it back," she said worriedly, her eyes narrowing. "They might find out where our base is."
"That's exactly what they would try to do. I'm guessing it's on its way there right now, so if we hurry, we might be able to get to it before they completely take it apart."
"Right! To Japan!" Julie exclaimed as Duo got on the highway towards the airport.