So I guess email notification is down or something. I check my email this morning, nothing there. I pop on two hours later in third period after grading some papers? Bam. Suddenly four or five reviews show up that weren't there before and that I never got a notification on. Now I have to log in every time I want to see if people have submitted their thoughts for my digestion.

Grumble.

Chapter XXV, for you hungry readers.


A fourth explosion went off just as Godo was giving Rude a sort of pinched, shut-the-hell-up look. This one was even louder than the rest, but it deafened none of them; they could clearly hear the sound of part of the building collapsing in the explosion's wake.

"We're leaving," Makoto said, standing protectively near Rei. "There's a back exit, right?"

Grandpa Souta shook his head. "No. The Scarlet Monastery was constructed in the fashion of the old monastery-temple to Da Chao that was erected here before it was destroyed in the war. That building had only one entrance and exit, and so does this one."

"It's got more than one by now," Rude observed, "and it's going to have a hell of a lot more real soon. Everyone up against the north wall." Without bothering to elaborate, he strode up to the south wall and pulled something out of his left shoe. It was a small, grey disc the size of his thumbnail, and he affixed it firmly to the wall. "Get down," he added before pressing in the center of the device in.

It started beeping and flashing red. Reno had a moment of recognition, a flashback to Karsk's place, before he jammed his fingers in his ears and hit the deck.

The room shook and more dust fell from the ceiling, but Rude had successfully punched a sizable hole in the wall – sizable enough that they could see the night sky through it.

"Mind explaining how an explosion big enough to make that hole didn't kill all of us?" Reno asked offhandedly.

"Smallest shaped charge in existence. R&D makes them. I have four more."

"Great. Let's get out of here."

The eight of them scrambled out the hole, and they were standing at the base of Da Chao. Rei peered into the still-smoky room as she stepped out onto soil and asked, "Did anyone see what happened to the woman who helped Yuffie into that outfit?"

"Probably dead," Reno replied. "Nothing we can do right now except get to our bikes and figure out what the hell is going on. Karsk, I thought you had men stationed around this place!"

Karsk didn't bother to reply; he already had a transmitter out and was barking into it. The reply was audible to everyone: "Ayaro here, Sarge. We had our boys on the roofs covering the place, looking for any signs of an incoming attack. The bastards slipped right through our psychology, sir. We were looking for them to be going in with cannons and engines blazing. They just cruised up solo or in twos, going the goddamned speed limit, like they didn't have a care in the world, and didn't open up until they were within range."

"I should have anticipated that," Karsk spat. "Whoever the supplier of the bike gangs is, we're dealing with quite a character. Dispatch alpha and beta squads, Ayaro. Secure the streets around the Pagoda for Lord Godo's arrival, and secure what's left of the Scarlet Monastery. Tell delta squad to make sure our condominium stays secure."

"Mern here," broke in a new voice. "Sarge, I have incoming bandits from all directions and multiple small explosions being touched off in and around the restaurant. They're trying to smoke you out and kill you when you're outside."

"We can get to our vehicles from here," Grandpa Souta interjected. "We just need to climb a ways up Da Chao, get onto what's left of the roof, traverse it, and land in the parking lot where the valets take clients' vehicles. Makoto, Karsk, you'll have to lose your bright-colored clothing, but the rest of us should blend well enough. Rei will have to make do."

"Did you hear that, Mern?" Karsk asked.

"Yessir. I'll warn you if I see any activity that indicates they've caught onto you."

"Good man. Karsk out." Immediately the Sub-General began shucking his uniform to reveal that he was wearing a black covert ops jumpsuit, a thick cloth thing that was armored around the forearms, abdomen, and groin. Reno gawked for a moment, wondering how the man could have gotten his uniform on over it, and Karsk explained, "My uniform's custom-tailored to be worn over this suit – it's why I look thicker when I'm wearing it."

"And I thought I was being polite, not telling you that you're not as slim as you think you are," Jobs chuckled.

Makoto pulled off his light-blue and white uniform and tossed it back into the now-burning back room, revealing that he, too, had elected to wear a darkly colored jumpsuit beneath, though this one sported no armor and as such was easily worn beneath other clothing. "Right. Time for a stroll."


Yuffie's evening was turning out fantastically.

There had been an explosion or two, and before she'd been able to get up something had hit her over the back of the head. When she'd woken up, she'd found herself still wearing the betrothal robe, tied hand and foot, and stuffed into what seemed to be a large, burlap sack.

Between the heat trapped by the heavy robe, the closeness of the sack, and the fact that she had obviously been thrown unceremoniously into the trunk of a car with very poor suspension that kept rocking up and down as it sped along to its destination, she was going to be sick.

At first she'd tried slamming her feet against the wall of the trunk that she estimated was closest to the passenger's section of the car, but that had just earned her a gunshot fired through the backseat. It had missed her, but she knew better than to try again. Besides, she wanted to meet whoever it was that was behind all this.

Reno's gonna be pissed, though.


The bikers milling in front of what was left of the burning Scarlet Monastery knew that police weren't coming. The force was already tied up with an anti-foreigner riot that had been incited in the town square where the Orochimaru had kicked the bucket as a gang. Bikers weren't naturally inclined to patience, so they spun doughnuts on their bikes, cruised around the street and over the curb, occasionally knocking out a window as they puttered by it.

They were completely unprepared to be laid into by two assault bikes.

The roar of two engines rose out of the Scarlet Monastery's parking lot. Before any of the bikers had a chance to react, two bikes shot out at them – a chrome one and a crimson one – and they both did wheelies.

Rude's rocket took out an entire cluster of the enemy at once, sending bits and pieces of bike and biker alike flying everywhere. Reno waited until a moment after to fire the Marclite affixed to his undercarriage.

The Mini-Arclite cannon, an autocannon with a barrel the size of a basketball, swung out from its recess in the bottom of Reno's bike and spoke throatily after Rude's rocket exploded. Reno laughed as the force of the weapon discharging kicked his bike right off of its back wheel, launching him completely into the air for a moment before he slammed back down hard on the pavement. The bike held up beautifully, though, a testament to Grandpa Souta's engineering.

Going wide of its target, the round smashed through a glass display case of china and tore a lamppost in half before thudding to a stop in a concrete wall. Reno looked sheepishly at Rude and grinned, then gunned the engine. "Let's go!"

They went at the enemy head-on, Rude brandishing his umbrella, Reno holding his black-lacquered cane. Damned if he'd ever tell anyone, but Rude kicking ass with the umbrella had made him somewhat jealous, so he'd dropped by a cane store during the afternoon and picked up this fashionable little number on the principle that it looked good and happened to be hollow to make it lighter. He'd popped the smooth, faux-ivory grip off of the top so he could work, opened up the bottom, rigged it with a spring set off by pushing in the handle, and stuck his prod inside. It had taken him about half an hour.

The cane's tip made a distinctly metallic sound whenever it hit a surface, now, but it was worth it to be able to give the handle a sharp push and pop a fully-working electric prod out. For the purposes of the cane, Reno had turned on the prod's auto-shock system. When it was struck against something with enough force, it automatically discharged an electroshock. He normally didn't use the feature, but it wasn't like he could push the button from here.

By now the bikers had had a chance to regroup. Twelve of them rallied at the far end of the street and came roaring at the two Turks, brandishing guns and swords. Rude, his expression suggesting that he was doing something mundane, like shopping for leeks, extended his dual N17Bs and opened fire.

Three of the bikers instantly went down, and two more swerved out of the way and into one another. Reno shouted at Rude to brake a moment before he punched the acceleration, opened his flamethrower hatches, and twisted his bike into a hard one-eighty turn. He hit the thumbswitch and triggered twin twenty-foot jet-streams of brilliant flame as the rear of his bike swung around.

The bikers, none of them even having the presence of mind to be firing their guns, rode into a literal wall of flame.

Reno whooped delightedly as the now-riderless bikes veered out of control and smashed themselves into walls and skidded to uneasy halts along the pavement. "Gotcha!"

Immediately, Grandpa Souta's car, with Rei and Jobs inside, made a break for it, screeching out of the parking lot and heading for his compound. Grandpa Souta and Rei were going to hide there until the situation stabilized, with Jobs being sent along to escort them. He'd protested, but Reno sticking his derringer up the man's nose had persuaded him.

Karsk's car followed a moment later, Arcturus at the wheel, Karsk in the back, relaying orders. They were probably headed for Karsk's condominium where he could take charge of his forces and set strategies in motion. Godo's car succeeded Karsk's and took off in the direction of the Pagoda.

Now Makoto joined Reno and Rude, his bike's white and blue easily visible even in the evening light. He was visibly scowling.

"What's up?" Reno asked, retracting the flamethrowers.

"Somebody's going to pay real dearly for this," Makoto growled. "When I got to my bike, the Kikuichi-monji was gone. Whoever it was stole it right out of the clasps I had it in." He gestured to a series of ragged, screw-sized metal holes in the side of his chassis. "Ripped them right off."

Reno whistled. "Damn. He must have really liked your sword. You got a backup?"

With a small sigh of vexation, Makoto nodded and pulled a sword from his back. It wasn't a dao, but instead was a double-edged, straight longsword about the length of a katana. "It's called a jian," he explained briefly. "The 'gentleman's sword.' It's actually better for Shiranui-ryu than a dao is, but I would still prefer the Kikuichi-monji."

"You'll just have to deal. Ten gil says that they took Yuffie to the Shattered Hand headquarters. They got the best chance of holding onto her there." Reno looked at Rude. "Any bets, partner?"

"Ten gil says that you'd win, so we both break even. After you."


Yuffie yelped as she was dumped unceremoniously out of the burlap sack onto a hard floor. It was dark, though there was some kind of faint green glow in the air. She'd landed on her face, so the ninja-girl rolled around until she was on her back, looking up.

The position had her staring up at the jade statue of Seiryū, rearing back over an empty pedestal. Her kidnappers had taken her to the shrine of the water god.

Twisting, Yuffie watched the receding feet of the two bikers who'd carried her here. "Hey!" she shouted. "You gonna just leave me here? Hey! I'll get loose, y'know!"

She couldn't actually get loose in any reasonable amount of time. The ropes around her wrists and ankles hadn't been just thrown on sloppily; they'd been double-wrapped and cinched. She'd had no opportunity to screw with the tying, so she wasn't getting unbound anytime soon.

"You really want to just leave me here?"

The doors to the shrine were thrown open as the bikers exited, and the dim moonlight framed the silhouette of another figure, entering.

"On the contrary; I intend to keep you company until your friends arrive."

Yuffie squinted, trying to make out who it was. Then the figure stepped into the light and she yelled, "Holy shit!"


"SHIRANUI-RYU – GŌTSUI MEISEI!"

Spirit energy rippled up and down Makoto's body, flaming blue-green, and he swung his jian in a wild arc in front of him. The blade spat a rippling thunderbolt of blue fire that blew three Shattered Hand bikers right off of their rides.

"Don't overdo it!" Reno yelled at Makoto as he ducked beneath an enemy biker's strike and jabbed the man hard in the chest with his cane. "Save some juice for when we have to rescue Yuffie!"

The deep pounding of Rude's N17Bs underscored the half-scream, half-gurgle of the next man Makoto blew away. "Relax!" he yelled back. "The Thundering Hammer Howl Strike is a basic technique! Not draining at all!"

Reno eyed what was left of the man who'd been hit by the projectile. His clothes were still bathed in guttering blue fire and all the hair had been burned off of his face and most of his head. Hell of a technique to just be a basic one.

The Shattered Hand headquarters was a three-story apartment building with an underground parking garage. The gang had converted the apartments into living area for their large amount of members, and the garage served as an excellent place to keep their rides safe from rain or other undesirable elements.

Now they charged straight at the front door, a large revolving glass thing that had been painted with the image of a purple hand broken into several pieces on all its panes. Arrayed out front were tire spikes and road barricades, behind which were crouched numerous gang members armed with assault rifles. Two of them also sported shoulder-mounted rocket launchers, as well. If Reno squinted, he could see through the glass to the lobby beyond; it was also barricaded up, with armed bikers inside.

The redhead laughed. "Let's ruin some shit."

They all stepped on it, speeding down the street and crouching low in their seats to avoid enemy fire, their reinforced tires riding right over tire spikes like they were a joke. Both bikers with the rocket launchers fired, twin projectiles streaking out at the three of them. One went wide and blew open a water tower on a nearby roof, showering all of them with a fine mist. The other was right on target, though, aimed straight at Rude.

His N17Bs spoke just as Makoto flared up with spirit energy again and launched a Gōtsui Meisei. The rocket wavered in its path as it took several high-caliber rounds to the nose and then detonated far ahead of them when the flaming thunderbolt struck it. As they rode into the spreading cloud of smoke, they were camouflaged for a moment, and both Reno and Rude pulled their bikes off of their front wheels.

Rude fired a single rocket at the barricades. It slipped between two hastily-erected walls and detonated in the middle of the enemy, sending bikers and fortifications alike flying. Reno fired his Marclite a moment later, slamming back down onto his front wheel just in time to see his round hit the mark beautifully. It shot through the revolving door like the thing was made of tissue paper, blowing all the glass out of the surrounding frames in a jagged horizontal hailstorm that mowed down all the bikers with exposed body parts. The round kept going, smashing through barricades and surprised men before finally crashing through the thick metal door of the elevator in the back and coming to a rest.

By the time the three of them pulled up to the Shattered Hand headquarters, nobody inside was left standing.

"Stupid bastards sure as hell picked a bad place to base themselves," Reno commented. "A goddamned front door made of glass? Morons."

"I hope you haven't inadvertently hurt Yuffie," Makoto murmured.

"They're keeping her on the third floor or in the parking garage you told us about. Nobody would be stupid enough to keep a valuable hostage on the first floor when they've got heavily armed enemies approaching."

"But these guys were stupid enough to keep a glass front door," Rude observed.

They sat there for a moment, bikes idling, and then Reno killed his engine, leaped off of his bike, and ran in screaming Yuffie's name.

He got no response; either she was out cold, was gagged, or he couldn't hear her. Reno started overturning scattered tables and couches that had been used as cover before he heard a sharp groan from the corner of the room.

Immediately, the redhead moved to the source of the noise and started digging through a veritable pile of wooden debris. Rude and Makoto both killed their engines as well and jumped in to help. In a matter of moments they uncovered the man who was obviously the leader of the Shattered Hand. He had a huge tattoo of a shattered purple hand on his torso, just like the ones painted on the ill-fated front door of the building. He was also full of splinters and glass shrapnel, but Reno didn't really care at the moment.

"Where'd you take her?" Reno demanded immediately. "Where'd you take Yuffie?" The man stared dully at him and Reno cuffed him across the face. "Yuffie, you jackass! Where'd you take her?"

"Wutimesit?"

Reno blinked, surprised. "What?"

"What. Time. Is. It?" the man asked. "Tell me and I'll tell you where your broad is."

Scowling, Reno looked at his wristwatch. "Ten to seven. Why?"

The Shattered Hand biker's expression collapsed into a semi-delirious grin. "Good, we bought enough time." He made as though to stretch, but the shrapnel in his gut said otherwise, and he winced and stopped. "Yup, we were just a goddamned decoy. Imagine that. Us, the Shattered Hand, the biggest and baddest bike gang in Wutai."

"Why the hell did you stand for that?" Makoto demanded. "Your head's normally so far up your ass that you get stuck at your shoulders. Why follow someone's orders now?"

The biker started laughing, though all that got him was a hacking cough that spilled blood down the front of his shirt. "Whoever our supplier was… he or she was so far ahead of you guys it's not even funny. I was told that you guys would show up here, and that if we couldn't beat you back, we were supposed to tell you to head to the shrine to Seiryū. Your broad's there."

Dammit. Resisting the urge to pull his derringer and put a bullet between the smug biker's eyes, Reno simply rose to his feet, turned, and walked away.

There was the roaring sound of spirit energy gathering, and a scream was choked off as Makoto shouted, "SEIRYŪ SŌSEI!"

A very unpleasant splattering sound followed. Reno didn't bother to look back at what had happened. He simply stepped over a corpse in a valet uniform and said, "Let's go."


The enemy was waiting for them at the temple to Seiryū, too.

There were no barricades here, but instead a group of twelve, black-clad mercenaries stood outside the doors, all armed with assault rifles. They were the other half of the squad that Reno and Yuffie had fought with here when they'd come to steal the holy materia. Karsk's men had done a very good job of securing the Pagoda – so good, in fact, that they'd left Godo's house and the temple opposite wide open to enemy occupation.

As Reno, Rude and Makoto roared up the long, steeply inclined road towards the temple and the Pagoda, the squad cocked their weapons and opened fire. Rude returned fire, angling his N17Bs up a little high to try to force the enemy to duck. That proved useless, as they stood their ground and kept up a steady rate of fire. Three-round bursts ricocheted off of the front of Reno's motorcycle and he gritted his teeth, keeping his head low. "We've still got half a mile to go and we can't do wheelies on this hill! If anyone's got any ideas, now's the time!"

Before Rude or Makoto had the chance to come up with a brilliant idea, the gunfire suddenly ceased. The three of them exchanged bemused glances and then drove their bikes up the hill faster, thinking to get to the source of the gunfire and then deal with why it had ceased.

Dealing with it also became a null factor, as when they got to the top of the hill, there was nothing left of the squad except a still-smoking patch of seared ground in front of the temple steps.

Killing their engines, they dismounted, Reno taking his cane, Rude his umbrella and the N17B Reno had gotten from the first half of the now-late squad, and Makoto his jian.

"We don't know what the hell is going on in there," Reno said quietly to Rude and Makoto. "Stay sharp. We'll all go in through the front, but be ready to split off if necessary."

"Roger," Makoto replied. Rude nodded gravely.

In they went.


Karsk stared speechlessly at the image he was seeing on the monitors in his room. Mern was replaying the events of twenty minutes ago for him to confirm that they'd been completely and utterly blindsided.

"We could never have expected this," Karsk growled. "Right where we were most vulnerable, we got hit." He whirled to Arcturus. "Arcturus, get David and Mengsk. Outfit yourselves with some heavy weapons."

"Yessir."

The shadows of the Sub-General's face vanished as he turned back to stare at the cold glow of the monitors. "We have an appointment at the temple of Seiryū with some allies of ours."


The first thing Reno saw upon entering the temple was the great jade statue of Seiryū, illuminated and set aglow by the dim moonlight. All the temple was charged with a soft green light, giving it an eerie feeling.

Immediately afterwards, Reno's gaze was dragged back to the ground to see Yuffie lying at the foot of the statue, trying to wriggle out of ropes around her wrists and ankles.

"YUFFIE!"

The ninja-girl rolled over onto her side to face him and yelled back, "RENO!"

Shouldering his cane, Reno dashed across the temple floor and skidded to a halt on his knees next to her. "Are you okay? Did they hurt you?"

"They stuffed me in a sack, but I'm fine. Forget about me, dammit, he's still here!"

Reno frowned. "What? Who?" He called over his shoulder, "Makoto, get over here with that sword of yours and cut Yuffie loose!"

No response.

Twisting to look behind him, Reno saw no trace of Rude or Makoto having followed him inside. It was as if they'd simply vanished. Yuffie suddenly gave a sharp gasp, and Reno whirled back around to find the Kikuichi-monji's point a centimeter away from his face.

Slowly, Reno's eyes traversed the length of the beautiful weapon, drifting up its blade, past the guard, up the arm, to the face –

"Welcome," Souta the Cunning said, "to the soirée."