As promised, here is the last chapter. Thanks to all those who came along for the ride. Hopefully my sadism and sarcasm weren't too painful for any of you. I appreciated all of your kind reviews and/or suggestions. They really helped me develop as an amateur writer.

Oh! Speaking of sadism and torture, it's been brought to my attention that I may have been unfair to certain bishounen in my story. Here are the final stats. They have been adjusted not only for the number of times they have been insulted or injured but also on the severity of the insult or injury and the reaction of the subject:

Lady Chris: -1 Barts: -1 Franz: -2 Futch: -4 Percival: -7 Nash: -8 Yuber: -9 Ace: -9 Fred: -10Geddoe: -12 Caesar: -68 Borus: -276 Kyrissean+1,000,006

BTW, I just wanted to say that I was pretty nice to Caesar before I got Shu...except for the whole Nash incident, and then there was the time...ummm...well, he did have some shining moments...

As you can all see, I, the author, definitely have the upper hand in this matter and the rest of the bishounen have been treated fairly equally...Well, I suppose some have been treated more equally than others...Okay, okay. There may have been a couple who's dignity I degraded more than was necessary...moving on.

Disclaimer: I don't own Suikoden or any of the characters relating to the series.


Chapter 12: The Final Showdown

She sighed as She finished laying the last book on the cold, gray cement in the outskirts of Crystal Valley. She could hardly believe this day had finally come. After all Her hard work, She was finally going to capture the bishounen of all bishounen, Albert Silverberg.

As She reflected on it, She realized a trap was probably no longer needed for the great strategist. She had, after all, captured two of his employers and smeared his so-called good name to the third. Not only that, but She, along with Her bishounen, had caused immense damage to the great library in Crystal Valley, destroying some of the rarest books on the continent...or so he thought.

In reality, after researching the books stocked at the library, She had, with Shu's help, made a list of the most rare to confiscate before the library was set on fire. In a shining moment She stole dozens of Crystal Valley's prize books including the one-of-a-kind, Strategic Locations of Sindar Ruins. Not only that, but after finding and painstakingly searching several sites of Sindar ruins, She found an old book called The Inevitable Downfall of the Sindar, evidently written by a Sindar man himself. How could Albert possibly resist it?

She took Her place on the side of the street, where Her bishounen were patiently waiting, and surveyed the trap. In the middle of the square was a pile of books, the aforementioned prized book sitting on top. Leading to the large pile was a rather long trail of books placed about every five feet. The trail wound around the buildings to Albert's place of residence. She had the other book on the Sindar ruins at the head of the trail. She wanted to be sure Albert noticed the trail, after all.

"Do you really think he's going to fall for this?" Caesar looked mockingly at Shu. "I know my brother. He's smarter than this."

"Intelligence has nothing to do with this trap," Shu replied, not taking his eyes off the corner where Albert would ultimately come into view. "This is based on the importance Albert places on the written word. He'll come."

"I certainly hope so." She fidgeted anxiously.

"If he doesn't show, we can always drive him out into the open and jump him." Nash glanced at Caesar out of the corner of his eyes.

"That's not funny!" Caesar's face beamed red.

"I see your training isn't working very well," She commented to Shu.

"It's a hopeless case," Shu shrugged. "I have hopes he will improve after his brother joins our forces."

Nash snorted. "Or his inferiority will become more pronounced."

"Sadie help us if that happens," Percival shuddered.

"Hey! I…"

"This is a losing argument, Caesar." Borus remarked in a deadpan tone.

"Hmph." Caesar angrily crossed his arms and returned his glare to "Albert's corner."

"Hey! What's that?" Fred shouted, as he pointed to a pole sticking out from behind the building on the corner.

"What is he doing?" Sharon stuck up her nose in scorn.

They all watched in fascination as the end of the pole opened up in a gripper-like device and snatched the first book in the square.

"Huh." Percival grinned in admiration. "Would you look at that."

Her lips thinned as She shot a glare at Shu, who shrugged. "I wouldn't worry about it. He can only reach the first book with that device."

To disprove his statement, the pole once again appeared and reached out for the next book. There appeared to be extensions added to the device. "Shu!"

Caesar shot a superior look at the other strategist, glad that the other had failed to anticipate Albert's move. The look faded as Shu made a signal with his hand and Franz and Ruby suddenly shot out from behind another building, the mantor leader snatching the pole out of the air.

Shu smiled. "Satisfied?"

"Hmph." Caesar looked pointedly away from the other strategist. "The day's not over yet."

"What do you think he'll try next?" She wondered out loud, secretly glad Albert wasn't going down without a fight. It showed spirit. She liked it when the guys showed spirit. Just then, the answer to Her question appeared on the corner.

"Hey look!" Fred yelled again as he pointed to an NPC, who looked as if he was pushed out into the square. Said NPC warily approached the second book and slowly bent down to pick it up. His plan didn't go very well, however, because as soon as his hand brushed the book's surface, the book and he burst into flames.

"Futch," She directed a dry glance towards the dragon knight. "Got it." Futch rushed into the square, a fire extinguisher strapped to his back. Within seconds, the unfortunate NPC was covered in fluffy foam, and Futch rushed him to the nearest hospital.

Percival raised his eyebrows. "Wow. Sacrificing the NPCs already. You must have him pretty desperate."

Shu snorted derisively. "Not precisely a huge sacrifice for Albert."

Percival shrugged. "True."

Caesar blinked at Shu. "You had the books triggered to set themselves on fire if anyone but Albert touched them?"

Shu nodded. "Courtesy of Jeane."

Nash started in astonishment. "You'd better be careful dealing with that rune sage. She's dangerous."

"You're needlessly sacrificing lives for him?"

"We're aware of that," Shu commented calmly, ignoring Caesar's comment. "We didn't hide anything from her when we enlisted her aid."

"I'm just sayin'." Nash shrugged.

"Hey! Listen to me!" Caesar tugged on Her shirt.

"He wasn't sacrificed, precisely. I instructed Futch to get anyone unlucky enough to get hurt in the cross-fire instant medical attention."

"I saw that," Caesar sighed. "But…"

"Shhh. Look." Shu nodded towards the corner, where two NPCs appeared. One looked to have a fire extinguisher attached to him.

"What the…oh no…" She put Her hand to Her head.

Shu looked mildy irritated as the first NPC grabbed the book. Predictably, it and he burst into flames. However, the other NPC sprayed both man and book with foam until they were both out of sight.

"Clever," Percival smirked as Futch came running back towards the party.

"You seem to be missing something," Shu remarked, looking at Futch's empty back.

Futch hung his head. "They wouldn't let me bring it into the hospital. Said it was a safety hazard. When I got back outside, it was gone. Sorry 'bout that."

"Shu." He grimaced slightly at Her tone.

"Don't worry. There wasn't that much foam in the device."

"I hope not! At this rate he'll make it to the center pile in no time."

Suddenly, another NPC emerged from the corner with a transparent glass box in his hands. He strolled over to the fourth book, took the cover off the box and carefully used the bottom panel to shove the book into the cover. The book didn't burst into flames. Relieved, the NPC quickly scurried back to the corner. In a few seconds, the same NPC ran out to the next book.

"Enough of this nonsense," Shu looked mildly irritated as held up his hand and struck the NPC with a well placed lightning bolt. The NPC yipped in pain, dropping the glass box, which shattered upon contact with the cement street, and ran further into the city. The bishounen stared at Shu in shock. The strategist had obviously had enough of Albert's games, because he purposefully strode to the pile of books. "Albert!" His voice rang out in the square. "On top of this pile of rare books is a novel written by a Sindar man himself, explaining the deterioration of the once widely successful Sindar culture. It's the only one known to exist in the world. If you don't come here in less than 10 seconds, this along with the rest of the books in this pile will be reduced to cinders."

As if on cue, the red-haired strategist slowly revealed himself to the group, an NPC behind him holding the bulging sack of books. "You wouldn't do that."

"Try me."

Albert sighed. "Shall I go with you now, or do you have yet other plans for me?" He surveyed the group with his customary contempt.

"I don't know…" Nash cocked his head to one side. "I think we could drag this out for a few more months. What do you think Percival?"

Percival's eyebrows twitched. "Definitely."

"You're giving up already?" Caesar shouted in dismay, taking a few steps towards his brother. "If I'd have known it was going to be this easy..."

"You would've attempted to devise a scheme yourself," Albert finished with a smirk. "And then I would've escaped once again and your prime window of opportunity would've been lost." Albert sighed as Caesar sputter in indignation. "A pity You didn't let him try again. I was starting to enjoy this game of cat and mouse."

Caesar growled.

"Yeah. When you were the cat," Sharon retorted.

Albert shrugged his shoulders, still assuming an arrogant pose.

"I'm gonna..." Caesar attempted to dash over to his brother, but Borus firmly grabbed his collar and yanked him back into the group.

"I don't think so..." Borus glared at the strategist. "You're not going to mess this one up. I'm done going on these worhless escapades. I want to get back to Lady Chris."

Percival raised an eyebrow. "You assume She's going to release us after this is all over."

Borus' eyes widened as panic overtook him. "You..."

She ignored Borus, once again addressing the current object of interest. "I think you should go over to the pile and try to pick up the top book."

"Yes. Please oblige us," Shu commented wryly. "Ten seconds was over about two minutes ago, so these," he encompassed the references with one sweeping gesture of his hand, "could theoretically ignite at any second."

"Very well," Albert stiffened and coolly made his way towards the pile of books, picking up the strays along the way and depositing them into the sack. When the strategist finally reached the center pile, he took the sack from the NPC and dismissed him with a contemptuous flick of the hand. While the NPC scurried away, Albert set the sack tenderly down near the pile.

"For Sadie's sake. Come on Silverberg! We don't have all day!" Borus tapped his foot impatiently.

Albert cast a withering glance at the knight, before turning back to the books.

"Apparently, Borus doesn't realize he is in the presence of greatness," Caesar commented dryly, turning to the knight. "When you're dealing with Albert, it's important to remember that everything runs on his time schedule." Caesar shrugged nonchalantly. "Besides, it's not like we have anywhere else to go."

Albert sneered at his little brother's insults and with new resolve, firmly took the top book off the stack. Nothing happened. Albert looked almost confused. "Nothing happened," he muttered, staring at the book and turning it over in his hands. Abruptly, Watari flashed behind the unsuspecting strategist and snapped a color around his neck. Albert sighed in resignation. "Ah…This was more what I was expecting. Are we leaving now?"

"Not quite," Percival smirked as She half ran, half skipped to Her new prize and surveyed him gleefully.

"She wants to enjoy Her victory," Nash finished, a sly look in his eyes.

"I suppose since I've stripped you of everything else, I'll let you keep your coat and scarf." She grinned.

"Very generous of you," Albert commented sarcastically.

"Thank you." Her eyes glittered.

"I can't believe you let yourself get caught." Caesar directed a contemptuous look at his older brother. "And here I am, aspiring to be like..." Caesar suddenly stopped. "Ummm."

Albert's mouth twisted in a mocking half smile. " I feel so honored."

Caesar's face changed to the color of Bart's tomatoes. "Well, it looks like we're in the same boat now, huh?" he snarled curtly, before stomping away.

Albert sighed melodramatically. "Still as eloquent as ever."

"So are we done with all this capturing stuff now?" Nash asked, as the group began their trek out of Crystal Valley.

She nodded. Then, realizing what that meant, Her face fell in disappointment.

"So what you going to do now?" Percival looked at Her curiously. "Let us go?"

"Oh no!" She grinned. "That wouldn't be very much fun. I have lots of adventures planned for us!"

"What?" Borus shouted.

"Oh, joy."

"Why Nash. You don't sound very excited." Percival jabbed the spy.

"Oh. I'm very excited." Nash continued in a monotone.

"You can't keep us any longer!" Borus continued in an elevated tone of voice. "I have duties..." the knight trailed off as She directed Her most unimpressed expression at him.

"I think Lady Chris can survive without you a while longer," She smiled.

Borus whined. "But..."

"May I ask, now that you've caught me, what exactly are you planning on doing with me? I do not go on adventures." Albert raised a contemptuous eyebrow at Her.

She paused thoughtfully. "I haven't really decided on that yet. I guess you'll just have to wait and see." She turned to him suddenly. "You will go on my adventures though. I guarantee it."

Albert sighed. "I suppose it would be boring to stay at your ranch all the time. I could go on a few quests with you. I think it would be very particularly informative to investigate the Sindar ruins."

"The ruins?" She shrugged. "We could go to a few ruin sites if you want. After I found that book, I stopped exploring them. I don't really like mazes."

Borus stopped. "I'm not leading the way this time!"

"Of course not Borus," She smiled indulgently at the knight.

"I'm not entirely convinced your defenses at this ranch are extraordinary enough to containing me." Albert continued snidely. "Especially if my brother was in charge of designing them."

Caesar growled. "Why you…I am perfectly capable of designing a security system capable of containing you!"

"We'll see," Albert smirked. "There's a slight possibility this adventure could be interesting for me. I haven't been challenged in quite some time."

Shu snorted. "How about the situation we put you in about ten minutes ago? That seemed to be a more than effective challenge for your strategic prowess."

Albert sneered at the other strategist. "I was merely unprepared for the conditions of battle. I know my opponent now, and am better able to anticipate Her moves."

"Uh-huh," She mocked him and held out Her hand. "Well, good luck to you then. May the best man…" She smiled softly, "or in this case, Woman, win."


All done! Please review.