Moon Cats, Fearful Symmetry

Chapter Fourteen

"Team one, two, and three, check in." The new Captain Hibuki spoke calmly into his headset, the tension running through his body showing nowhere in his voice. His left hand was resting on the white haired cat-man, even Hibuki himself not sure if it was to comfort his friend or to hold him back. Neither men were trained for what was about to take place.

"This is one, Ready to go."

"Three, in position."

"We'll be in position in thirty seconds. Two out."

He nodded absently, fully aware that they couldn't see him. Turning to the tactical gear bearing man standing next to him he asked. "Now this is very likely a trap, are your men aware of that Captain Arasaka?"

"Yes, and they aren't real happy about it, but the Gaki has a reputation worth the risk. If that psycho is still running around, even in a wheel chair, he needs to go down. They're up to the challenge."

"Never doubted it Heero, but I hate sending men in without me. I'll never get used to it."

"That's cause your a real cop." The SWAT Captain paused as team two's point man gave confirmation of being in position. "They are ready, on your command."

Hibuki and Artemis looked each other in the eye, and nodded in unison. "Tell them to go now."

"Go! Go! Go!" The sound of ten pound sledgehammers slamming into fire doors reached even around the buildings the tactical vehicles were hidden behind, and the stun grenades weren't exactly made quiet by the muffling. Ten seconds, then thirty went by after that with no sounds.

"Site secure, site secure. We need EMS in here now!" Came over the radio's after one minute of operation, and apparently spelled the end of Artemis's patience. The moon cat jumped out of the back of the tactical van, his long coat flowing behind him in the wind of his passing, forcing a cursing Hibuki to catch up to him.

"Damn it Artemis, this is the SWAT guy's party!"

Artemis grunted, glaring at the warehouse he was running towards darkly. Both expression and dark sound were generally not normal for the white haired neko-jin. "If the Gaki was here, they'd be dead Hibuki. He figured out we were coming and moved!"

"They could be calling EMS because they got him!"

Artemis's answer was to shove open the dented door, and to freeze only a few steps in. Hibuki ran into him in surprise, then froze himself.

A young, bespeckled man was hanging from a rope, his fingertips brushing the floor and two obvious bullet wounds in his stomach. Only the two SWAT men cutting him down suggested there was even a chance he was still alive. "What the hell is this!"

"This was addressed to you sir. Well, actually to Lieutenant (Artemis's last name). It was umm...stuck to the victim."

"Is he dead?" Artemis asked, not touching the blood soaked envelope.

"No sir, but the paramedics are demanding clearance from Captain Arasaka before coming in. If you'll excuse me." The officer handed the plastic bag sealed envelope to Artemis, and vanished out the door.

Artemis watched the SWAT man vanish, then looked down at the sealed letter. It was hand written, somehow that struck the cat as significant, with his name in bold script at the top. He started reading, ignoring the rushed entrance of the paramedics.

Artemis, My "Friend"

I first must thank you for a lovely lunch. I find the reports from my man to be well worth my time in entertainment value alone, though he did tell me that the bathrooms door and sink might never be the same again. I admit, it was a cruel joke and a bit of a low conceit on my part but I found myself unable to resist.

Now, to more urgent business. If you are reading this, and I know you are, you found my little hideout and my scientist friend. He really should have known better then to try to get help, even though I did let him do it to draw you in. Either way, he has already served my purpose, providing not only myself, but my men with nothing less then battle suits, mecha capable of holding off a sizable force of JSDF! You've seen the robot he sent to get his "Help" and you know he's more then capable of building such things. I do not lie when I say I almost regret that I am about to shoot him, since he is as much an artist as an engineer.

Sadly, that is life.

My men shall use these mecha, starting twenty-four hours after you find this letter, to attack the city of Tokyo it's self. Strategic sites, heavily populated sites, and even one hospital is on their list of targets and your KAPPA team isn't going to be able to stop them! This is my revenge Moon Cat. The Tokyo your little protégé's have managed to defend from magical monsters for so long are going to get to watch the city burn in technological fire because of their mentor's enemies. The death will be on your heads, and they'll know it!

Well, I must be shipping out soon since you can only be hours away from finding this place.

Respectfully yours,

The Gaki

PS: If your wondering how I'll know you found the letter, note the large barrels in the corner, and the paramedics lifting my engineer friend from his perch. I knew you wouldn't leave (Or be kept out of coming for me) before reading, and Ether is so flammable, if you recall!

Artemis's eyes flew open, and he looked up seeing one of the paramedics beginning to cut the man down. "No! STOP!"

It was to late, the moon cat's ears hearing the click, and eyes catching a falling object plummeting from the ceiling to the unmarked barrels lining the walls.

The Gaki sighed as the blossom of flame burst over the northern skyline of Tokyo, satisfied and depressed just the same. Part of him had hopped that Artemis wouldn't have fallen for his trap, that he'd have stayed out of the building till the end, but he knew he wouldn't. "Ah well, he was a worthy opponent while he lasted. Continue on Yasuke, we have an appointment to keep."

The thug pushed his boss's chair towards the elevators of Tokyo Towers observation deck. He was well trained, and desired survival enough, to not ask why they were in such a hurry to get to Juban High School.

Authors Notes: First off, Yes I'm back, and while I might be rusty and I might be slow (And this might have been short and somewhat clumsy) I plan on picking up this story, and all the others I'd been working on. Work got hectic as hell, and life didn't really decide to stay calm away from work...but since it seems to be stabilizing now, I really do think I'm back.

No, really...I mean it this time!

I also know it's a little short. To be honest I got a bit of writers block on this story line, and kind of hit a "Okay, move forward, damn the torpedo's, and get to the part that you CAN write. That's where I was and now it will be much easier to write.

ShadoeFox