FIVE
Sutoomu
Firstly to the reviewers who are ever so faithful and down right cool!catc10, Vitanie Tora, Reikan, SanzoGirl, Kirihana, phoenixfirekitsune, silvertwighlight, Tears Falling Freely, anissa32, Backwards Bandit, NaraOccult, A reader, bloodredblack, shadowdreamer Lady Fate, Kami-Crimson, Roxie Faye, ste, Kris, and Lilith Desiree! who spurred me into action, and whose review made me decide to finish the twentieth chap. I love you guys a lot.
Can someone tell me how to figure out how many hits your story has had? I know reviews, but not how to find the number of hits.
And here is the twentieth chapter. Unfortunately, I cannot make it so that this will be the last. I kind of wanted to end on an even twenty, but there is at least one more, and probably two more chapters worth of stuff in order to finish it off. Maybe even three or four. I don't know. I haven't written it yet. But the whole story is coming to a close...it is so sad!
This is the second half of Duo and Heero's adventure, and a verbal explanation from Quatre and Trowa about their adventure to save Taia, and the basic stuff between everyone...you should enjoy it.
Tao Shen had been highly annoyed when the sound of the alarms had pierced through his calm afternoon tea ritual. He had gone to his communicator panel and demanded an explanation from his men, who had annoyed him even more. They claimed it was an intruder, a burglar, but over the last five minutes, he had been told that there were two of them and they were running wildly down the halls, knocking down everyone they passed. Apparently one of them was hooting and hollering like the world was one big roller coaster ride, but another said there had been a girl with them, and more had said there was a group of twenty intruders, and more had claimed it was Death himself, come to wreak vengeance. Tao Shen had no clue what half of them were talking about, but something was shaking them up.
The communicator beeped, and Tao Shen listened as another random one of his bodygaurds spoke. 'Master Chieu, we've been breached!"
Tao Shen hit the reply switch and growled. "What?"
'They've just demolished our fourth line of defenses,' the voice exclaimed. 'Master Chieu, they're coming straight at you!'
"What?" Tao Shen's eyes widened, and he blinked in surprise for a moment. He had no clue they were this close. It had only been a few moments since the alarm had gone off, and this manor took five minutes to walk across from one end to the other. "Who the hell are they?"
'I don't know, but they've successfully gotten through most of our men just by tackling and dashing past," the voice replied. "It's the oddest tactic I've ever seen, but it works.'
"That's pathetic! I want a straight answer for this question," Tao Shen ordered. "How many are there?"
'Two, Master Chieu. And, uh, I think they're both teenagers…'
"Teenagers? Teenagers!!" Tao Shen bellowed, the furnaces of anger deep in his belly roaring as they were stirred. "Are you telling me that two TEENAGERS have been knocking down every single one of my martial arts masters? That's absurd!"
'Absurd, but definitely true,' he said calmly in reply to Tao Shen's anger. 'Master Chieu, I'd like to offer some advice. I've done a lot of gaurding work, and I have to tell you that if someone comes who can get past my team of elites, then they're either very skilled, very lucky, or meant by fate to pass by.'
"You're messed in the head, man," Tao Shen snapped. "Kill them."
'Two teenagers? No,' the man, who was the leader of all the men and the one who had let Tao Shen hire them, sighed. 'I don't murder children.'
"Damnit," Tao Shen shut the communicator off angrily, then turned and glared at his wall. He was facing a seven foot tall wall mural of the artist's interpretation of heaven. He had often admired it peacefully before, but now he couldn't see beyond his rage.
He had gone and hired all those men to protect him against Wufei, in case of emergency or some miracle happening in the boy's favor, and now two random and unidentifiable teenagers were running around like hooligans in his manor halls and coming for him, supposedly. Well, if they were coming for Tao Shen, they would get Tao Shen. And he would show these teenagers what discipline meant, and give them a piece of his mind. Oh, yes, he was definitely going to tell them what he thought of them breaking into his home.
It was his home! He had sacrificed so much and done a lot of work for years and years just to have a home like this one. It was beautiful, with every little commodity you would ever want or need, and an incredible expansive view of forrested hills in the distance. It was his little piece of heaven, and he had risked everything to get here. Now, just when he had managed to tuck Wufei away and try to forget the boy, this had to happen to mess up his day. He would not stand for it.
All these wild teenagers needed was a lesson beaten into them.
Tao Shen's angry and icy eyes glanced to the door as he heard a suspicious 'thump!', and when the door was kicked in, it didn't even surprise him. Who walked in, however, shocked the living life out of him.
Both teenagers in their prime of youth, one with japanese features and merciless blue eyes and wild hair, another with flashing violet eyes and a long chestnut braid. Both pairs of eyes focused instantly on him, and then the violet ones narrowed with black hate.
"You…!" Tao Shen sputtered, enraged now. All his trouble, and it was these two he had to deal with. As his memory was slightly fuzzy from that far ago day, he couldn't recall much, but he definitely recognized the two of them as half of Wufei's lovers. "Did Wufei send you? Does he believe you can do what he can't without suffering the consequences of your actions? I told him to stay still or I would hurt Taia, and I am good to my word!"
"Wufei didn't send us," Heero replied, in his iciest, coldest, most creepy sounding monotone. "Actually, he doesn't even know we're here. This is supposed to be a surprise for him. A little pick-me-up gift. We decided to come and clean out his garbage for him."
"Free of cost, too," Duo added in his voice. He smiled crookedly at Tao Shen, and suddenly his rage seemed a little unsuited for the moment. It almost felt like he should be terrified instead of enraged as he looked at Duo's black violet eyes, but he forced the feeling away.
"Tell me, Tao Shen Chieu," Heero asked. "How are you supposed to hurt Taia when she's at the other end of the house and you're locked in here with two of us and all your men on the wrong side of the door with your communicator broken?"
Duo blinked, looking over at Heero. "What broken communicator?"
"That one," Heero replied, his gaze still pinned on Tao Shen as he raised his arm and squeezed his trigger finger. The handgun sent a bullet flying at high speeds towards the communicator panel, sinking deep into the metal and wires of the inside. It flashed and a shower of sparks danced in the air, then the sound of technical death came to them all.
"Hee-chan?" Duo stared at the panel, his anger with Tao Shen momentarily forgotten. "…was that your gun?"
"Hai," Heero lowered the handgun to his side, his entire body tense for action.
"The one you locked up in the safe and swore never to touch again?" Duo continued.
"Hai."
"So because of your love of Wufei, you're taking up the gun you used an assassin once more?"
"…hai," Heero whispered this time, as Tao Shen's eyes widened at the announcement Heero was an assassin.
"Damnit," Duo cursed in a low voice of inner hurt, glowering at the floor. "This sucks." He looked up and pinned his gaze on Tao Shen again. "You know what, this is all your fault. You're a nosy, stupid, stubborn, fucked up little man who thinks himself a gaurdian.Well, guess what? You destroyed what you were gaurding! Because of you, my 'Fei is hurting, and that's not acceptable. And now my 'Ro is…"
"And what do you plan to do about it?" Tao Shen growled, his eyes narrowing in challenge to the threat of an angry Heero and Duo.
"I planned to kill you!" Duo snapped back. "I planned to strangle you until your neck broke and I could hear the satisfying little crack! But I can't because Wufie's got first dibs on your sorry ass! And you know what else? Not being able to kill who you wanna kill is really stressing and annoying! First Jasen, now you…ugh!" Duo stomped a foot in anger and frustration, then breathed and spoke again. "Basically, I'm pissed, and I'm going to do to you what you did to 'Fei, and Heero isn't going to interfere or stop me, right?"
"I have no objections to the man being a pulp," Heero confirmed.
"Great! I'm going to have so much fun! Have you ever ranted while raving before, 'Ro?" Heero shook his head. "Sad. Next time, you'll have to join me. It's rather fun."
"So you beat him to death?" Meiran asked, blinking with wide eyes as Taia held her shoulders with her arm in comfort.
"No," Duo sent one glance at her and then looked away. He seemed to want to completely avoid her gaze, and her in general. She assumed it was jealousy over Wufei, though he had nothing to worry about. She wasn't going to fight to keep Wufei. This was her ticket to freedom as well, and her dreams from childhood.
"What happened to him?" Wufei asked, his eyes hard and dark, ready for anything.
"A few fists and some feet," Heero replied, smirking sideways at Duo's form. "Duo laid into him pretty good, for a street fighter against your old sensei, the man who taught you. You would be proud, Wufei," Heero's eyes lit with light inside. "He was pounding your old man into the ground like a hammer to a nail, all the while yelling and growling about how he was such a jackass, fucked up idiot!" Heero blinked and seemed to realize that he was putting emotion and energy into his words, and he calmed himself down. "The point is that he's fucked. Not dead, but damn well near it. Duo ranted and raved the hell out of him."
"I told you it was fun," Duo nodded, looking to Heero. "Wasn't it fun, Hee-chan?"
"Next time, I want to try," Heero spoke in his monotone again, though his eyes were still bright with passion. "It looked like fun."
"Where is he, though?" Meiran asked. "Did you leave him to die?"
"Nevermind where he is," Heero dismissed her question, in an ordering voice. "Tao Shen is no concern for any of us, anymore. Taia is safe and he's been punished."
"How did you rescue Taia, then?" Meiran changed her question, understanding from the tone of his voice that it would not be wise or successful if she pressed for an answer.
Duo opened his mouth, paused, then sighed. "That's Tro and Quat's story. Thus will I leave the spotlight…" He sighed dramatically, and everyone ignored him.
"We had the easy part, mostly," Quatre began to explain, smiling openly at her. "Most of the martial artists were called over to deal with Heero and Duo, so we didn't have to go through very much of them. It wasn't too hard, really."
"From your point of view," Trowa mentioned quietly.
Quatre sighed. "Trowa was the one who dealt with most of the martial artists, so, of course, I had an easy trip. Even though I can fight, and I can fight pretty good, they always insist upon babying me like I'm some innocent invalid who can't risk breaking a nail!"
"You're a pacifist, Quat," Duo grinned. "We're just trying to protect your virtues. 'Sides, half your fighting skills were taught to you by us. And we can't destroy your pretty manicured hands…"
"Well, I'm sorry I'm a such a sheltered little rich boy, but not everyone can…"
"You bicker like little kids when I'm trying to hear a story," Wufei interrupted them. "I'm sure you could kick my ass all by yourself, Quatre, so let's continue."
Quatre gave him a halfhearted glare, then listened and continued his tale. "We only went through about half a dozen before we came to Taia's room. Then it became more complicated."
"Tao Shen put booby traps and trick wires about the door, along with the original alarm," Trowa explained. "We spent fifteen minutes disarming them before we could go in and get Taia. Our trouble didn't come until after, when we were taking her out."
"While Duo was ranting and raving, we were running away from smoke bombs and tear gas," Quatre rubbed at an eye as though in memory. "We got away before it really hit our systems, but we ended up leaving by the second story window on the east side. The east side of that house is covered by a very thick patch of woods. Which are, by the way, unnavigatable. Even for Trowa."
Trowa shrugged. "We had to run right in to get out of sight of them, and we got lost. They were very dark and thick."
"So we wandered for about an hour in the brush until Heero and Duo found us, by tracking down my cell phone," Quatre sighed in memory. "Then we all went back to our hotel and cleaned ourselves up. And then we started tracking you down."
"That only took 'Ro eight hours, and then the hour long trip out here, and now, here we are," Duo finished up. "And that's our tale of daring rescue."
How do you like it? I just wrote it in two hours or so. And a bit of the next chapter. Actually, I could have the next chapter ready in another half hour of writing. There's going to be twenty two chapters, I've decided, and you will all love the twenty second! I think I will get very positive feedback when it's posted. Actually, I think you'll like the twenty first chapter as well. It's going to be sorta sad and depressing. And that chapter will determine if there ever is a twenty third chapter!
I'm rambling, I think, so I'm just going to post this so you can read it. If you liked it, please review, and if you can, please tell me how to see the number of hits on Five. My reviews are in the three hundreds, now. What will my hits be like?
Storm