Chapter Eight
"Okay, guys… Now that we're here, we're hunting a lady named Noa Rhydderk. Her father was from Wales and her mother was from Jipang. I hate to think we're attacking a woman, but she's got a bounty of 25,000,000 on her head. She must be pretty dangerous. She mostly uses a katana, though she packs a few small weapons like throwing daggers, shuriken and smoke bombs." Sven said in a businesslike tone.
"This woman sounds like a ninja. Are you sure she's not from Jipang?" Train asked.
"I researched her on the trip over… She's trained extensively in ninjutsu, and currently is one of the world's leading practitioners of the art. She has almost superhuman reflexes. She uses the bombs and other smaller weapons sparingly because of her limited supply of them. But her skill with her katanas is great.
"Rumors have spread that she is able to split a bullet in half with her katana." I said. I was sure that between the three of us, we could beat her, but it would be important to know how fast she was. "Though to do this, one would have to possess superhuman speed, so there is no guarantee as to whether this rumor is true."
"Really? She can split bullets? That's amazing!" I can't wait to face her!"
"Could you actually shoot a woman?" I asked. I had never seen Train actually hurt a woman. He had a very strong code of ethics. Train looked like he was thinking hard about that.
"If she was threatening my Little Princess, I certainly could. I've fought women before. I don't think I've ever killed a woman. I've actually never had to! Ahahahahaha! I can always end things before that!" Train said confidently.
"And you're sure this Noa Rhydderk is here?"
"Absolutely. See that woman over there? She doesn't look like much. But she's hiding half a dozen smoke bombs, shuriken, caltrops, and other ninja weapons under that jacket, and that briefcase she's carrying… She looks like a businesswoman… But it has more space inside it than it looks like. Some Tao stuff.
"She isn't a Taoist, herself. If she was, her bounty would be much higher. But rumor has it she hired a Taoist to enchant her briefcase to be a tesseract."
"I see… Hey! Noa Rhydderk!" Train yelled. I don't think he knew what a Tesseract was. The black haired haired, blue eyed woman looked up and stared politely but distantly at Train. She obviously had some Jipangese in her, but she had freckles as well like a westerner.
"Yes? How may I help you, sir?" She asked with exceedingly great manners.
"I'm a sweeper, and I'm here to take you in!"
"Take me in? I'm… Afraid I don't understand."
"Drop the briefcase, Rhydderk…" Sven said, moving up behind Noa. There was one thing Train was exceedingly good at. That was making a lot of noise, and distracting his opponents. Sven had only gotten the chance to flank Noa because of how loud Train was being. I had studied both their combat styles for as long as I knew them, and learned what they were good at and what they weren't. That helped me fill in their gaps when they needed me to, as rarely as that was.
"Well done, getting this close to me. Now, let me show you why it's useless." Rhydderk said, flipping her briefcase. The sword flew out and she grabbed it out of the air, slashing at Sven with such force that a huge burst of air sliced at him. I heard a huge clanging noise as the two weapons clashed, and when they came away, there was a huge dent in Sven's briefcase. He was just lucky that she hadn't sliced it open.
Sven would have to fix it later, but he seemed not to have damaged it beyond use. It opened and shot a few paralysis darts at Noa, all of which missed. Train shot a few bullets at her. She rolled out of the way of the first one, and then sliced the second one in two, shocking both Eve and Train.
I felt myself gasping, a hand moving to my mouth. I couldn't believe it. She really could split bullets. This wouldn't be an easy fight. In the time that they stood there, completely dumbfounded, Noa closed the distance, slicing at me. I created a nanoblade and blocked the sword. Although Noa's blade was much heavier than mine, my blade managed to leave a serious nick in my enemy's blade, not quite cutting it in half.
"My great-grandfather's blade! That was made of Orichalcum! It survived a thousand battles in its day! Mother passed it down t-to me!" Noa cried, tears spilling from her bright blue eyes.
"It couldn't have been real Orichalcum, or maybe just very impure. Pure Orichalcum, like my gun, wouldn't break that easily."
"Orichalcum gun, golden cat eyes, number thirteen on your collarbone… You're Number Thirteen… It's an honor to meet you." Noa said, bowing politely. She really had incredible manners, especially for an assassin. "I understand you recently crippled and arrested Lugart Won. I still must kill you. But I will not fool around as I have been. Please forgive the unseemly way I whined about my blade."
"Oh, no, I would be annoyed if my gun was damaged. So, I can assume that you won't just surrender yourself? We are just sweepers trying to do our job."
"I can appreciate that. You should not try to attack a woman when she is talking, Sven Vollfied… It's not gentlemanly at all. No. I will not simply surrender." Noa said, seeming to vanish in a cloud of smoke. The three sweepers looked around.
Train was the first to notice, as she seemed to come for him first, striking at his Carotid Artery with her middle and forefinger. Train grabbed her hand and smiled at her. I felt my heart flutter in that moment. That smile of his always seemed to have that effect on me, as much as I would have denied it before.
"That would've knocked me out if it hit." Train said, throwing her into the air with one hand and firing three shots at her, reloading almost instantly.
Noa seemed to twist almost inhumanly in the air, dodging two bullets, and throwing a smoke bomb in the way of the third, making a huge explosion of mist. She landed gracefully on the ground in the middle of the smoke, taking out three shuriken, throwing them at me.
They flew out of the smoke, curving in on me. I caught one of them out of the air, though with my prehensile hair, throwing both of them away, and dodging the other two, jumping and forming wings and flying at Noa, who gasped as she was struck by me flying straight at her.
Now, I've practiced a great deal in flight combat by reading numerous books written by former Air Force members who had been the best in their field, and of course by re-enacting those maneuvers. As conceited as it sounds, I'm a highly accomplished flier, now, able to outmaneuver almost anyone in flight. I managed to fly away from Noa before she could strike back. In taking off, I also blew away all of the smoke, surveying the ground below, and trying to plan what to do next.
For a moment, I thought about what to do, then flew in, doing a spin and striking Noa again with my wings, sending her up into the air, and shooting several feathers at her. I didn't want to seriously injuring Noa. However, the assassin seemed to be healing quite quickly.
It was Tao, although she seemed to have no main ability, at least not that she was using. Maybe Noa had unlocked similar abilities, the ability to use her own life force. In other words, Tao, or perhaps someone had given her the Ki potion. I had read about Ki in a number of ninja and Buddhist books. Users of Ki could do a lot of things with that extra energy.
Noa landed again, this time a little less gracefully. She was slowing down, but she grabbed her blade, and wiped it off, sending an air strike up at me, sending me reeling off target, hitting a lamp post. I have to say, it hurt.
"Eve!" Sven called loudly, running over to me, checking to see if I was alright. I told him that I was.
"Tao…" Train said with a smirk. "You've learned to use Ki. That's impressive…"
"Yes. Not many recognize it as such, but because of that fact, nobody has yet been able to defeat me. Chronos Numbers have come after me and failed. But I think you might be different. You're much more handsome than you've been given credit for. Would you ever consider giving up the life of a sweeper and joining me? I could use a long range combat partner." Noa asked with a smile, adjusting her glasses.
I gasped. Noa was quite beautiful. Her crystal clear blue eyes had been said to charm many a man. Would Train leave me to be a killer again? I hadn't seriously doubted him since shortly after we met, but now… Was I just too young for Train? I found myself asking that question
"Thank you, no." Train said. I sighed with relief.
"I'm afraid my place is here with Sven and Eve. Now, please just go down." Train said, firing just to the left of Noa, who seemed to be under the impression that he had missed. But the bullet bounced off the lamp post perfectly, burying itself in her leg. Noa gasped and collapsed, blood pouring from the wound.
"Don't worry, Noa. You won't die. I just wanted to incapacitate you. Your leg will be going numb right about now. The tip of the bullet had a tiny amount of neurotoxin in it. Not enough to stop your heart. But your body will be feeling cold and numb by now. Am I right?
"Yes. Your breathing will become somewhat labored. Do try to take long, even breaths to counter it."
"I-I… Why doesn't my Ki work on this poison!? It's never failed before!" Noa raged.
"This is a special poison. Not deadly except in larger doses. But it's harder to rid the body of. Ki will help it leave quicker, but as long as the bullet is still in your leg, it will still be releasing little by little."
"Train… Are you sure that toxin won't kill her?" I asked.
"Yeah! Sven assured me of that!" Train said cheerfully, giving me a thumbs up. Sven sighed, shaking his head.
"Actually, Train… I said that a man of average weight wouldn't die of the neurotoxin. A woman of her slight build could easily die. The fact that she can use Ki may work in her favor. But there's little guarantee. You really should be careful."
Train nodded, and walked over to Noa, who seemed far too numb to do anything, and took a powerful magnet, removing the bullet.
"Let's get you to the police. We can collect the bounty, and they can get you looked at. Please don't die, Noa. I wouldn't like that on my conscience."
"You're not like the other Numbers. You have a conscience. A very strong one. I wish there were more men like you in the world. Men have only ever caused me pain."
"Maybe you just never met the right one." Train said absently, picking Noa up and carrying her along with her briefcase and sword to the police.
"Wow… You brought in Noa Rhydderk? She was a big bounty. Here you go. 25 million, as promised. If you would just sign for her?" The clerk said. Train nodded and signed the line, telling the clerk that Noa needed medical help. She had been poisoned, and would need a doctor. The clerk assured Train that they would take care of her.
"Train… I-I… No, never mind."
"Please tell me, Princess. You seem upset." Train said, smiling at me, my smile wavered slightly.
"I-I was afraid you would leave us again… Return to a life of murder."
"Oh, ye of little faith…" Train laughed. "Besides, Sven would break my face if I hurt you like that. And I love you… And Sven too much to leave you guys."
"Train… I love you, too…" I said quietly, kissing Train on the lips, smiling happily, tears flowing from my reddish eyes. I couldn't remember being this happy since Sven adopted her. Train returned my kiss.
"I could never leave you, Eve." Train said, looking into my eyes, looking slightly hurt that she would suspect him of wanting to leave in the first place.
"Maybe someday, you'll come to trust me. But for now, I'll accept resigned acceptance in the moment."
"What?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. Train laughed, shrugging.
"I have no idea, Princess. Maybe you could tell me what I was saying."
"You never do change, do you, Train?" I asked. Train laughed, shaking his head.
"Nope!" He exclaimed, kissing me again. No matter how many times it happened, I still had the feeling of freefalling, of spinning in circles… It was such a wonderful sensation. I wasn't sure how Sven would feel about this, but for the moment, I didn't really care.