This is the last chapter in this one! I have the next one loosely set down, I'm hoping to have time to monkey with it this summer and start posting in the fall, fingers crossed.

Operation: Warfan

"I wanted it noted that I am doin' this under heavy protest."

"Aww, come on, Lady. It can't be that bad."

"Tell yah what, Cooper. We'll put yah in this get-up, and I'll go help the turtle."

"What?!"

"Chill, Bentley, she isn't going to do that."

"I dunno, Cooper, you'd make a pretty girl…"

The answering growl over the comms made Lady feel a lot better, but she had to knock it off. And not because the turtle's shout had her ears hurting. Her target was approaching. Lowering her fan with a snap, she pattered her way down the hall. God, she hated geta. "You must be Minamoto-san," she greeted the red panda in fluent Japanese. She gave a polite bow of the correct level if she really was an outlying member of a samurai clan greeting a daimyo. (Karin had taught her, since Lady only knew modern, polite levels of bowing.)

The red panda's dour expression did not endear him to anyone. "I do not know you," he said slowly, returning her bow with a nod of his head. "My lady…?"

"Coopergiwa," she lied, though it wasn't something she really wanted to say. "One of the outlying branches."

His brows rose, and he gave her a more thorough look. "I did not know there was a golden beauty among the samurai," he said smoothly, stepping more into her space.

Ugh, how did Sly stand doing this sort of thing with that fox inspector? At least a red panda looked close to a raccoon, she could pretend this wasn't gross. She gave her fake laugh, twittering rather than the breathy one that was genuine. She reached up to touch her mask absently. "I am no beauty, my lord, but thank you."

Eyes flickering over her mask, she saw him build up a story of assumptions in his mind, all without her having to say anything. A birth mark or accident, like they'd told the other noblewomen. But Lady knew how to flirt without having a face, regardless of culture. She let her sleeves slide down her arm, exposing more of her wrist and forearm as she brushed her hand lightly along his arm. "What brings you so far from home, my lord?" she asks coyly, even though she was well aware of his plans.

He hummed, leaning into her personal space, just like she intended. "Business with the headman, concerning your clanswoman," he admitted. "Are you visiting her?"

"For a time," she said breezily. "I am not yet betrothed, so my father has me visiting relations to see if any know of a suitable gentleman."

"Then I eagerly await when you visit my lands," he purred, his smile oily as he touched the back of his hand to her mask. Never had she been so grateful that she had porcelain between her actual flesh and another's touch.

Sly lowered his binocucom from where he was spying on Lady. "Alright. I take back my approval for this," he muttered.

"It's too late for second-guessing, Sly," Bentley said over the comm, practical as always. "Lady is going to have to handle herself. We have to gather up the rest of those ninja, so they don't attack Karin when she takes proof to the headman."

"Right, stick to the plan," Sly confirmed. He jumped over the roof tops, scanning for signs of movement. With Lady out and about, the ninja had to be active in hopes of finding Karin.

A series of fireworks went off to his left. Bentley's signal, they had just passed him. Using his hook to slide down a series of ropes, Sly reached the area more easily and found a gaggle of bats. "Not tonight, gents," he joked, swinging in with electricity sparking along his cane. It was light work. He'd just gotten this group when Bentley came over the comm with another sighting. It was going to be a long night.

The van bumbled into view, the back emptied out of the time machine to free up room. Murray slid out of the driver's seat and opened the back door. "I've got these, Sly!" he promised.

Giving a touch to his cap, Sly scurried to the next location. It took three similar drops to get them all gathered up. He tapped his comm to relay a message back to Bentley, and set out for the headman's office.

Bentley tapped into his computer at the all clear from Sly, and turned towards Karin. "Alright, Coppergiwa-san. Lady is keeping the daimyo busy, and Sly and Murray took care of the ninja. There isn't going to be a better time to talk to the headman."

She gave him a tense nod. "I will take your word for it, Bentley-san. Please keep an eye on my cousins. This could turn at a moment's notice."

"I've got eyes on everybody here," he promised. She jumped out and away, and Bentley hoped he hadn't just lied to her.

Karin rolled into the headman's office from the window. The office was more than big enough for such a maneuver, the headman's title had passed through his family for several generations now and they also owned the majority of the rice fields, so his home was larger than most. While it was simple, it was on par with her own home or that of her childhood growing up.

The serow looked up, startled from his desk. "Coopergiwa-san, what—?" he began to protest.

"Please, Kino-san," she said, walking towards his table-desk. "I must speak with you urgently. I am being framed!"

He paused his reaction, as well as reaching for a drum to call for help from any of the locals within hearing distance. "Framed?" he repeated with a tone of skepticism. But he wasn't dismissing her outright, which if he was completely in Ken's pocket, he would.

Karin had to press her advantage. "I have been keeping to my family and the compound," she promised. "And then I heard of what was being said of me in town. Things I could not have done while I was with my kits! My relatives came to visit, to help get to the bottom of it." She reached for Kino's hoof. "Please believe us, sir. It was not us."

"Then who was it?" the serow asked, his eyes narrowing. "Raccoon mischief is well known, Karin-san. I tried to defend you, but without anything to back up our claims, they'll have my head along with yours."

"We're in position," Sly whispered in her ear through the strange device that Bentley had set there. (Lady had grumbled for some reason when it didn't take very long at all.) She tugged at Kino's hand, bringing him to the window. She slipped open the shutters, letting him look down into the street. There, the bats squeaked and struggled against ropes holding them all bound up together like a straw bundle in the middle of the road.

Kino started, leaning out the window to see closer. "The ninja clans? But why? They never get involved unless…"

"Unless they are paid," Karin finished the thought for him.

He looked at her, and she could see that he was putting the puzzle together on his own. His expression darkened, and he strode towards his desk. "I will write the daimyo at once, how dare they bring their political maneuvering into our quiet village," he complained.

The door slammed open. "Karin, we're out of time," Lady said, snapping the threads holding her kimono shut to rip it off and kick off her geta. She had her boots hidden under the folds of fabric, and was wearing her normal thieving clothes underneath, just needing small adjustments. She even managed to change out the porcelain masks with only a few seconds to spare.

Karin threw her the odd cane that both of the younger raccoons used… Just as Minamoto came storming in after her, his eyes glistening. He froze, though, at seeing both females in front of the headman. Particularly the beauty he had been flirting with before she disappeared on him, now standing in strange clothes that loaned her the mobility of a warrior.

And Coopergiwa Karin. The steel and silk maiden who had slipped from his fingers years before. Wielding her familiar naginata, despite reports from his ninja that the weapon had been rendered useless during the failed kidnapping attempt.

"Sir, yah might wanna get outta here," the gold and cream female murmured, and the serow took the opportunity to flee through a side door. Coward. But that was why Ken's plan had been working, to get him the only thing he had ever been denied.

He wasn't going to let anyone stop him from getting it now.

Drawing his kabutowari, the heavy blade possessing a small hook making it ideal against opponents in heavy armor or who favored reach weapons, he launched himself at the two females.

Lady let out a swear in French as she jerked out of the way of the swing. That was going to break her bones if it actually connected. "Sly, get your furry tail up here!" she shouted over the comm, especially as she realized that the lord was deliberately trying to keep her away while he engaged with Karin.

Sly jumped through the window, and quickly saw the problem. They were fighting someone with an actual understanding of tactics. Karin relied on reach, but judging by her fighting, she was limited by Minamoto's weapon and he was trying to get in close quarters. Every time Lady went in to try and stop him, she was forced to retreat due to the weight of the blade as it practically displaced the air around him.

Bentley was babbling in Sly's ear, trying to figure out a series of tactics that would work. But Sly didn't need it. He darted into the fight, grabbing Lady by the waist to stop her from running in. "Together," he told her. "Like the floors. You go high, I'll go low."

"That might actually work," Bentley said in disbelief.

Lady huffed in exasperation at the turtle's doubt, and the pair of them circled around, going in at the same time. While Minamoto was dodging swings for his legs and blocking the ones for his head, it let Karin get out of the way and go in for a strike. Minamoto would do a wide sweep, sending all three raccoons scattering until their next opportunity.

It was during one of those scattered sweeps that Lady got an idea. Grabbing the obi she had shucked earlier, she tossed one end at Sly. "Let's wrap this up," she suggested.

"Oh, bad pun," Sly scolded, but he took the end of the long bit of silk.

"I've heard you boys use worse," she threw back at him as they stretched it out.

Seeing what they were doing, Karin gave a twist of her naginata, sending Ken stumbling backwards…and into the obi.

"What?" he growled, reaching to tug at the fabric. But Lady and Sly were already running in circles, quickly tying him up in the gold, flowery silk.

"I will take that," Karin said, snagging his kabutowari. She also swept his legs out from under him, sending him crashing to the ground as he struggled against the heavy cloth. But it wasn't so old that he could get leverage to rip it. "It's safe now, Kino-san," she called.

The serow poked his head out and shook his head. "What a mess he has made of my office, and of your reputation to boot," he said in disgust, folding his arms. "Any suggestions on what we should do with him, Coopergiwa-san?"

"Let us keep him in the cells until our own daimyo can fetch him," she suggested. "Without pay, his ronin will leave on their own. And with their own compromised, the ninja clan will pull back and cut their loses." He nodded and left the room to arrange the messages and let the ronin and ninja know there was no more coin coming their way.

But that was bothering Lady. She kneeled down in front of the red panda, tilting her head. "Yah know, if you'd wanted the local members of the Coopergiwa Clan dead, it would have been easy to just overwhelm their compound. But instead yah played this slow game."

"What's your point, Lady?" Sly asked, looking at the two.

"Somethin' slow like that, it's to keep control. Like usin' a scalpel instead of a glaive." Lady tilted her head and leaned in close to Ken's face. "So the question is, who were you tryin' to avoid hurtin'?"

He sneered at her, eyes glinting in rage. "I will not tolerate this indignity," he spat at her.

"Indignity. Like a samurai marryin' a common merchant?" she suggested lightly.

Ken froze.

Lady nodded. "That's what I thought." She looks up at Sly. "This wasn' an attack against Karin. He wanted her discredited so she'd be sent home to her folks in disgrace. No one would let Shinji keep the kits, makin' them sittin' ducks, so to say. Without kits, he could pressure Karin's daddy to give her to him to manage. Especially with all that gold he was flashin' around."

"Except his family lands were not so rich as to afford all of this," Karin said as she approached with a frown, realizing that Lady had stumbled on a rather large hole in their understanding of Ken's plan. "Where is he getting so much in funds to hire all of these people? To potentially bribe my father?"

"It did not matter," the red panda said, eyeing Karin with a stern frown. "I never knew his name. He offered to fund anything, any plan, as long as you were mine and the kits were gone."

Sly shook his head. So even though Clockwerk was more than likely involved in some way, Ken didn't have any information to make tracking it down in some way. They weren't even sure if this was the original Clockwerk, and thus potentially causing chaos to the timestream, or if it was the back-up that they were after.

Two villagers—a blacksmith judging by the smudges to the wolf's leather apron and another of undetermined occupation but a huge bear that Sly had no desire to tussle with—came in with bows. "Kino-san has said that we are to take Minamoto to the holding cells," the bear said in a slow rumble. The lack of honorific made the red panda hiss in outrage, though he silenced when Sly thumped him on the head with his cane.

The wolf darted in and held up his hands to Karin, bowing deeply. "We offer our deepest apologies to you and your family, Coopergiwa-san," he said, his voice oddly melodious compared to what Sly had heard from the mechanical wolves in England. "We should have believed in you and your husband rather than an outsider."

Karin put her hands into the wolf's and bows in turn. "Your apology is accepted," she promised.

Lady leaned her elbow on Sly's shoulder. "Yah know, even though we didn' get much out of this to help with our problem in Paris… I don' think we were completely wasted here."

He grinned down at her. "I actually agree." For once, this wasn't something that could make or break the future. It was just helping. While he wish he was able to do it back in his own time period, well. It was what he actually enjoyed doing. Hopefully the next location would be just as relaxing.

Rioichi carefully carried a bucket of ashes that he had stolen from besides the kitchen hearth, where Haha kept it to make soap. If he set up his trap just right, he'd get both Lady-san and Sly-san, and then they'd just have to stay until laundry day and their clothes could be clean. It was a perfect plan.

A hard whack hit the back of his head, making him drop the pail. "Ow, ow, ow!" he whined, reaching up to rub the back of his head.

"Did I knock sense into you yet?" his mother asked, her tone patient and yet not tolerating any arguments or excuses.

Rioichi slowly looked up to see her crossing her arms and tapping her foot…soot all over her now pristine floors. Perhaps he hadn't thought this through very well. "…Hai, Haha," he tried to say with big eyes.

"Oh, my son…" she sighed. For a moment, he thought he might actually get away with it. "I cannot find it in my heart to believe you," she said, reaching down to snag him by the ear before he could make a break for it. "Come along, perhaps some meditation will help you learn better than to lie to your mother."

"But Haha, Sly-san and Bentley-san are leaving soon!" he protested, this time his sniffling real.

But his mother could not be budged. "You will meditate, and I will come fetch you when they are actually leaving," she said. "We will all get our chance to say good-bye. Your sisters have grown quite attached to Murray-san, and I would not want to deprive any of you." She then pointed in the direction of the rock garden.

"Hai," he muttered back, remembering that Kaya and Kiyo had been wilting for days. It wasn't fair of him to try and be selfish. Not to mention that these relatives were on important work. He had to think of that too.

Tail between his legs, he went to go find the best spot on the meditation rocks. He just wished there were more raccoons his age (and sex) to play with.

Like she promised, Karin fetched her son just as the van came out of hiding and the visitors were done getting things settled for their next location. Murray picked up both girls and swung them around in his arms, making them squeal through their tears. Bentley was patting Rioichi on the head, looking awkward at how the young kit was trying to cling to him.

Karin used the opportunity to approach Sly. "Take care of yourself, Sly-san," she admonished, pulling him in for a hug. She pulled back to shake her finger at him. "Listen to Murray-san, and stay away from the mystic techniques until he says you have finished healing. He is much wiser than his speech would suggest."

"You're one of the few who realizes it," Sly said with a grin as he rubbed the back of his head. "I promise to behave."

She nodded, and looked over his shoulder. "It looks like Lady-san does not do good-byes, so you will have to wish her my best," Karin said with a short bow.

Looking over at where the female raccoon was leaning against the back of the van, Sly couldn't exactly argue with that observation. Aside from the flicking of her tail, she must as well be a statue. Ah, well. He had a turtle to save. "Hey there, little ninja," Sly said, grabbing Rioichi and pulling him around to stand in front of him. "Now, I need you to promise me something."

Rioichi rubbed at his eyes to get rid of his tears…and missing Bentley using the chance to escape to the van. "What is it, Sly-san?" he asked.

Sly held up his finger. "We might see each other again, but things could be tricky. So I need you to play a joke with me." He winked to try and entice the little boy into playing a game that Sly hoped would save all their fur and shells.

"What joke, what joke?" the little kit asked eagerly, eyes bright.

"If I act like I have never seen you before, like you shouldn't recognize me? Play along," Sly says. "You'll get the punch line later, I promise." If the book was anything to go by, anyway. Sly still smarted from missing the translation code.

"I can do that!" Rioichi promised. Sly held up his pinkie…and had to explain how a pinkie promise worked, but the little future ninja seemed thrilled by the idea.

"Sly!" Bentley called from the van. "Hurry up! Henriette isn't going to wait forever!"

Shaking his head, Sly walked around to the back of the van, where Lady was opening up one of her mask storage boxes that they had brought from the future. This one was a Venetian mask, set in just the right time period for Henriette "One-Eye" Cooper to be in Italian waters. "He does realize that with time travel, it literally makes no difference?" she asked him quietly.

"Better to just go along with it," he whispered back.

"I heard that!" the turtle drawled from where he was setting up the time machine. He held out his hand, and Lady carefully gave him one of her prized masks to set into the machine. It was time for their next adventure.

As the van disappeared from view, Karin cuddled her despondent kits, even as Rioichi managed to wave good-bye to the blue vortex.