Author's Notes: Wow, sorry this took so long...This chapter was over a month and a half in the making, but things kept coming up that kept me from finishing it. School, family emergencies, computer issues...Anyway, it's finally here. Please read and review.
---
"Oh, Bismaru...You're so wise, and so beautiful..."
Goemon and the others crept along, pushed flat against the wall and moving towards an open archway. "Well, at least we've found Bismaru," Goemon said. "But there's no way that can possibly be Jurokubei. Fine with me." Being at the head of the group, he leapt out first and stood in the doorway. What he saw was such a shock to his system, he nearly fell over. The other four had similar reactions.
The setting was a massive courtyard of sorts, with small pools, flowers of all shapes and colors, and erotic statues made of polished white marble. But Goemon and the others didn't pay the scenery as much attention as they did the people. Bismaru was there, as they had suspected. And holding him against his chest in a loving embrace, with a gray helmet that had two crooked protrusions attached at the top, was Jurokubei. "Mmm, my lovely Bismaru..." he crooned to the peaceful-looking male nun in his arms.
Goemon was so sickened by the sight, he nearly threw up right there on the spot. "What...What the hell..." he finally managed to sputter.
"Hmm?" Bismaru opened his eyes and blinked as he looked in the direction of the voice. Jurokubei, however, continued to stare off blankly at nothing in particular. "Move along, you perverted freaks," he said irritably. "Can't you see we're busy here?"
Yae, only slightly less shocked than Goemon at what she was seeing, finally regained control of her voice. "That doesn't matter. Where are the girls you kidnapped from the Edo period, Bismaru?"
"That's Sister Bismaru to you, you hideous woman!" he sneered. "And I assure you, all of those lovely ladies are safe...for now. I was willing to share my precious Lord Jurokubei with them, but no-o, Lord Jurokubei was not satisfied with my generous gift. So I took him all to myself and I'll watch later as he tortures each and every one of them until I'm the only one left! Oh, ho ho ho ho ho ho ho..."
"You disgust me," Goemon said through gritted teeth.
"In more ways than one, I'm sure," Ebisumaru added. "Your ancestors must be ashamed!"
"To Hell with my ancestors!" Bismaru shouted. "I love Lord Jurokubei!" And with that, he gave Jurokubei a big, wet smooch on the cheek. Everyone else present, except for Jurokubei, gagged in disgust. "I don't know how you fools managed to make it this far in the first place," Bismaru continued in an arrogant tone. "The robot I built, the people I hired..."
"The robot was completely useless," Goemon said. "And if you're talking about the poisoning attempt, we got past that, too!"
"Oh? Oho?" A grin appeared on Bismaru's face and widened with each second. "I bet it was fun for all of you. I'm sure you all...got closer to each other as a result, shall we say. Or, was it just the opposite?" He stuck his lips out and kissed at the air in the direction of the ninjas.
"Wait...What do you mean by that?"
"The poison inside the robot, and in the drinks at the bar. It's my own special blend, I hope you liked it. What did you think of the antidote?"
"A special blend..." Omitsu repeated softly. "So, what exactly was the antidote, Bismaru?"
"You still haven't figured it out, you stupid girl? There's only one way to wake a person up from that deep sleep that came about as a result of the 'poison.' Any ideas what it could be?" Nobody answered; none of them would dare give him the comment that he was hoping for. "No? Well, it's quite simple, really. The cure is a kiss. One kiss is all it takes to instantly revive the victim."
Yae, overcome with guilt over her past reaction to Goemon's seemingly inappropriate gesture, slowly turned to look at a furious Goemon. "I'm so sorry, Goemon..." she whispered in a voice so quiet that even the person it was directed to couldn't hear it.
Omitsu, on the other hand, simply turned her head away from Goemon and looked to the floor. Her insides were twisted and tangled with guilt, but she showed no outward sign of it; closed eyes and biting of the lower lip were the only things outside observers could see.
"Well, regardless!" Goemon shouted, snapping his two female allies out of their daze. "What you've done is inexcusable, Bismaru! We're freeing Jurokubei and taking those girls back to the Edo period. Now step aside!"
"Ha...Ha ha ha...Hee hee, oh ho ho ho ho!" If it wasn't for the fact that Jurokubei was holding him, Bismaru would have been rolling on the floor in boisterous laughter. "Oh, that's funny," he said as he wiped away a tear. "You really think you're in a position to negotiate with me, Sister Bismaru the Beautiful? Well, go ahead and try your best, I'd certainly love to see you fail." He snickered evilly in their direction.
Goemon growled at this affront before charging forward with a bloodthirsty scream. But before he could get close enough to attack Bismaru, he found Jurokubei's right forearm meeting his face instead. Goemon was sent flying straight into a side wall.
The nun laughed in an even more uncontrollable manner than before. "Ha ha, oh, oh my..." he said finally. "That was great, high-quality entertainment right there. Care to try again?" Goemon stood up shakily, holding his head with one hand while he supported himself against the wall with the other. "How about the rest of you?" Bismaru turned to face the other four intruders and stuck his tongue out tauntingly.
"Goemon!" After shouting this single word, Omitsu would have run at Bismaru in exactly the same manner if Yae had been a split second slower in stopping her. Instead, she was forced to search for a long-range weapon on her person, but the only thing she could find was a handful of soy sauce packets. With no other choice, she hurled them at Bismaru as hard as she could.
Ebisumaru, though, would have none of this. With a passionate "Noooo!", he managed to get out of Yae's reach and ran as fast as he could with the hopes of catching as many of the flying sauce packets as he could. He wasn't able to reach them, though, as Jurokubei's arm swung out once again and sent the Ninja of Justice into the same wall as Goemon.
Omitsu's projectiles did manage to reach their target, but despite this Bismaru was once again in hysterics. "My goodness, you people really are as stupid as you look. Anyway, I think we've had enough playing around for now. I think it's time to get serious." And with that, Bismaru pulled out a thick, rectangular remote with a single red button on it. "I'm going to squash all of you like the bugs you are, as I should have done long ago!" He pushed the button, and there was a loud rumbling sound throughout the courtyard.
"Oh boy, this can't be good..." Goemon said as he moved unsteadily on his feet. It didn't take him long after that until he was on the ground.
"Ah! Goemon!" Being sure to stay further than arms distance from Jurokubei, Omitsu made her way to Goemon's side. She tripped right before she got there, however, and ended up sprawled across the face down ninja. Blushing heavily, she tried to climb off but had some trouble because of the rumbling, which was now ear-splittingly loud.
"Guys, this is no time to fool around!" Yae shouted suddenly. Omitsu, Goemon, and Ebisumaru, after spending some time to get at least on all fours, turned their heads towards the center where they could see Bismaru and Jurokubei rising straight up through the air, the former cackling loudly and the latter keeping the same blank expression. Their destination was Bismaru Elegant, hovering high above the ninjas. "Well, I guess it could be worse..." Yae mumbled. "Maybe that piece of junk will end up falling apart on its own."
As soon as Bismaru and Jurokubei were safely inside the unsightly mecha, it zoomed straight up into the sky, leaving its five opponents standing in the courtyard in confusion. "Come on, let's get out of here while we can!" Ebisumaru said as he hobbled towards the exit. The shaking was still quite severe.
"Mr. Ebisumaru, get a hold of yourself!" Sasuke replied in a shrill voice. "We can't leave until we've completed our duty!"
It was at that moment that a beam of light hit the stone archway that served as the entrance to this courtyard. As soon as the dust settled, the only thing left in its place was a pile of rubble that blocked the only way in or out. "Well, it looks like we don't have a choice now," said Goemon, who, along with Omitsu, had rejoined the rest of the group.
Everybody turned around to see the source of the laser that had trapped them here. Bismaru Elegant was there, as expected, but looked bigger and stronger because of some new attachments. What had at one time been a wide skirt at the base of the robot was now an extra torso, complete with a second set of arms and a pair of long, thick legs. The two hands on top, Bismaru Elegant's, each held a long, curved sword that looked as if it could slice straight through the harem from the ceiling to the floor with no trouble at all. The other two hands ended in sharp claws, as did the feet. Bismaru Elegant's eyes now glowed a crimson red, but returned to their normal blue color after a moment. "Oh, crap. This is bad..." Goemon said, stating what was clearly on the minds of everybody else on the ground.
Bismaru Elegant's eyes slowly began turning red once again, and the five people on the ground scattered to avoid the laser that they rightly assumed was coming their way. It then rotated its two swords until they pointed straight downward and thrust them into the ground where Sasuke and Yae had been seconds earlier. "Well, now what are we supposed to do?!" Ebisumaru whined loudly as the robot tried to pull its swords back out of the ground while swinging wildly with its other two arms. "There's no way we can fight this thing!"
Breathing heavily, Goemon shook his head before giving the only answer he could think of. "Just avoid it for now and try to figure something out!" He wrapped his arms around Omitsu's waist and dove out of the way of an incoming metallic foot that tried to stomp down on top of them.
"Heh heh...umm..." Despite the extreme danger she and the others were in, Omitsu couldn't take her eyes off of Goemon. He quickly got off of her and helped her up before dashing towards the other side of the courtyard.
"We're gonna get killed pretty quickly if we can't come up with a plan." Goemon looked back as he and Omitsu ran for safety. He could see the others attempting to do the same throughout the large courtyard-turned-battlefield.
"Goemon, I'm scared..." Omitsu whimpered. He could see the waitress shaking as they stopped at the end of the courtyard.
"I know, Omitsu, I know..." he replied in the most reassuring voice he could manage to make. "Damn it, I wish I was stronger..."
"There must be something you can do. Oh, I wish Impact was here..."
And that's when an idea finally dawned on Goemon. "Impact..." he repeated. Frantically, he dug around in his inside pockets and pulled out the conch shell that was used to summon the giant mecha. Without wasting another moment, he blew into it with all his might. The long, low sound of the shell echoed throughout the courtyard. "Let's hope this works..." he said.