-1

Fairy Mi:(sighs) Have you seen Tina?

Michiru: Not since last chap., why?

Fairy Mi: …..she disappeared and I dunno where she went

Michiru: (picks up note off floor and reads it) Oh, she's been stolen.

Fairy Mi: WHAT?!(snatches note away)

Note: If you want your barkeep back, pay us 100K at the docks 7p.m. sharp

Fairy Mi: O.o the note spoke!!!!!!

Note: Did not!bursts into flame

Flammera: No more evil note!

Fairy Mi:…..okay, onward with the story?

Flammera: Onward!!!!!

Chapter 8 A Memory Regained

The base looked like a battlefield, covered with busted up 'bots and burnt patches from Tak's lightning and Manic's chaos power. In the middle of the site stood two guys, surrounded by 'bots and both panting, low on energy.

Takeru stood concentrating on his final attack as 'bots slowly advanced on him. Manic destroyed a few of them as they got too close and gave an annoyed look to his friend "Any day now Tak! Hurry the hell up…"

Takeru's eyes snapped open and he whispered "Storms wrath" he then slammed his foot into the ground and lightning shot up in a circle around each 'bot, sending so much electricity into them that they short circuited and fell apart as Tak fell to a knee, drained.

Manic smiled and helped him up "Nice work, that attack sure has become useful"

"Yeah, too bad using it at that level drains so much energy from me." They paused as they heard a beep come from Manic's watch, indicating a message.

Takeru pushed a button on the watch and it played back the message from Yuna "We just caught that Ben and Shalem, they tried to sneak into the castle but we caught them and they are in the interrogation wing. We'll wait for you guys to get back before we start the questioning, so hurry back already ok?"

Manic shook his head "She's never gonna let me live this down is she?"

"Nope, well let's not keep them waiting or we may risk their anger." They both shivered as they remembered how the girls where when they got angry and then climbed back into the car, racing back to Yuna's castle.

Meanwhile in the interrogation wing…

Shalem opened her eyes, carefully looking around as she sat up rubbing her head "ow….what the hell happened?" she nearly jumped out of her fur when a deep voice answered her "You have trespassed onto royal grounds and are awaiting the decision of Queen Yuna. You are being held in a cell which cancels magic and powers and all of your weapons have been confiscated, so do not try anything or face further consequences."

Shalem glared angrily at the guard and stood "Who the hell do you people think you are, release me at once or I'll-" she drew back from the wall as she received a painful shock, she glared around her cell, realizing that Ben was sitting in the corner quietly and also glaring at the guard " Best to just sit and wait kid, that shock gets worse the more you try to get out…"

"But, what are we going to do? We have to do something! Can't you get us out of here?"

Ben shook his head "I've already tried and it's like the guard says, no magic no powers and no weapons." Shalem sat sulkily beside him and leaned to whisper in his ear " I don't want to die Ben and you know the code of our village…" Ben sighed angrily " I know, but don't worry. We are not going to die today, but we have to be patient ok?" Shalem nodded and sat silently watching the door at the top of a set of stairs, hopping they could get out of their prison quickly.

Meanwhile in the kitchens…

Flammera drained another glass filled with bourbon and propped her feet on the table "Where the hell are they? They should have been here ages ago…."

Yuna sighed and said for what felt like the millionth time "They'll be back soon and we can get a everything cleared up so calm down and quit drinking you've had enough!" she snatched the bottle away from Flammera as she was trying to pour another glass

"Awwwww, joy killer…."she pouted and watched the door while Yuna rolled her eyes and rested her head on a paw "They are rather late, I hope nothing happened to them…."

They both smiled as the kitchen doors swung open and the boys walked in, smiling themselves and sitting at the table exhausted.

Flammera gave Takeru a warm hug " So where've you been and why the hell do you look so drained?"

Yuna gave her Manic a hug also and drew back covered in oil "Same question Manniku and what's with the oil?"

Both guys sighed and explained their story, when they where done Flammera slammed a fiery hole into the table "Damnit, that guy always has to do something to piss me off" Takeru stopped her from slamming another hole into the table "Settle down, we took care of it and I'm sure he won't try anything again anytime soon."

Yuna nodded in agreement "Yeah, Robotnick never did try more than one attack close together and besides we have more pressing matters at the moment."

Manic sighed "Yeah so what are we going to do with Ben and Shalem?"

Flammera, still fuming muttered " I say we teach them a lesson on who they're dealing with."

Takeru shook his head "Now calm down Flammera, I know how you feel and I'd love to do the same but we have to be reasonable about this…."

Yuna stood up and started pacing "Well the guards notified me earlier that they woke up a short while ago but Michiru isn't here yet, so maybe we should wait on him before we start questioning?"

Manic bristled a bit "Why? There's more than enough people here to handle this…"

Yuna sighed, "Just a feeling dear, calm down and stop being jealously paranoid. You know I love you and you alone." she gave him a kiss to remind him and he calmed down "Alright fine, we'll wait."

At that moment Michiru walked into the room and bowed to Yuna "You needed my

assistance?" he stood back straight and smiled a little, sensing the tenseness in the room.

Yuna nodded "Yeah, you got the message I see. Well now that were all here, lets get this over with asap, I'm tired of waiting." she led the group out of the kitchens and to the interrogation wing.

A guard opened up the door as Yuna came close, bowing low and saying "Good evening your Highness and her guests, do you need any others to accompany you while you interrogate those riffraff?"

"No that won't be necessary, just have those who are already here stay close and on guard until dismissed." she walked down the flight of stairs and flicked on the lights, telling the other guards to wait outside as everyone else filed in.

Ben and Shalem looked up and watched as they all filed in, remaining silent and studying their captors.

Ben's eyes widened as he say Michiru walk in and take a seat and he walked over as close as he could without getting shocked by the wall. Ben looked Michiru over and shook his head " Impossible, is that really you Michiru?"

Michiru looked confused and stood back up " How do you know my name?"

Yuna and the others looked just as confused " Have you guys met or something?"

Michiru shook his head " Not that I know of…now answer the question."

Ben looked hurt "You don't remember? How the hell could you forget? You're my best friend…how do you forget something like that Kenshin?!"

"….Kenshin?" Michiru closed his eyes as memories flashed before his eyes, and he slowly opened them, suddenly remembering his past and his old friend "Yuki…we have a lot to catch up on don't we?"

The group stood shocked and Flammera turned to Michiru "So you two have met before?"

Michiru nodded "Looks like the search for my past is over. I remember everything now. Hey Yuna, if they promise not to try anything funny can we let them out of the cell?"

Yuna hesitated but nodded "Sure, but we want to know everything that's going on, I'd like to settle this matter peacefully. Do you agree?"

Ben and a confused Shalem nodded and Takeru disabled the portable cell, keeping a sharp eye on the pair as they both sat down.

Michiru sighed, overwhelmed by the memories and then looked over at Ben who smiled "Glad you remembered, I was starting to think you wouldn't and I'd have to knock some sense into you."

"As if you could, damn so much has changed in three years…so why in the hell did your, what is she your friend? Try to kill Flammera?"

Ben laughed "Shalem replaced you a few years after you left to "travel the world". And you should know a little of our motives, although killing wasn't a part of it…yet."

"What you not able to handle your partner Yuki?"

Shalem glared at him "Shut up, I don't know you but I won't have you insulting Ben." she turned her glare on Ben "And why the hell have you never told me about this and why does he call you Yuki?"

Michiru and Ben smiled and Ben ruffled Shalem's fur " I didn't tell you because there was no need and Yuki is my assassin nickname."

Manic growled a little, interrupting "Not to be rude but can we get on with this?"

Ben sighed, becoming serious again and started his tale "Ok, about a year ago our village was attacked, almost completely destroyed and we had only a few clues as to who had committed this crime. It also linked another attack, about eleven years ago which destroyed our kingdom, along with all the royal family, save for one."

He pointed to Shalem "she's the only royalty left from the incident. Anyways, having no rulers we built up our own government and moved on, we didn't know Shalem was alive until three years ago, but only a few people knew this and we kept it a secret." "

After the recent attack we started research to bring justice to the criminals who so desperately tried to destroy our village, having destroyed our kingdom once before. We found that the 'bots and mechs that attacked us had the same insignia from both incidents, but we couldn't read the message on them. We searched for potential suspects and our investigation led us to this kingdom and that base." "

Shalem had been kidnapped that year ago, so she wanted revenge the most, which is why she tried to kill Flammera. Shalem is young and still hasn't completed training, therefore acting impulsively and without full information…We are truly sorry for our actions." he nudged Shalem in the side, indicating for her to apologize as well.

Shalem sighed but turned to Flammera "I'm sorry I tried to kill you without knowing if you were a suspect or not…I'm relieved that you lived and have recovered."

Flammera nodded and turned to Michiru "That solves that but doesn't explain how you two know each other…."

Michiru looked around the room then looked back at Ben "Another time, first we need to find out who the real suspect is. I know that it couldn't possibly have been Yuna's kingdom that attacked our village…did you bring that insignia with you by chance?"

Ben nodded "I did, however all of my stuff was confiscated. If I could have my knapsack, I know where I packed it away."

Yuna nodded and walked over to a cabinet, placing a paw on it and whispering something incoherent to the others. It clicked open and she ruffled through the items there pulling out a large knapsack and placing it on the table "Damn that's a heavy bag to carry around…"

Ben laughed "T'is an assassins' bag, what'd ya expect?" he riffled through it for a moment and pulled out a small thin piece of metal with a simple insignia surrounded by runes carved into it.

Michiru studied it "I've seen this somewhere else before….but where?"

Flammera's eyes narrowed and she let out a small growl, causing the whole group to look at her, confused.

Takeru placed a paw on her shoulder "What's the matter, you look livid."

Flammera calmed, speaking through clenched teeth " I know what it says and I've seen that insignia before…." she looked at Ben "The suspect your looking for is called Robotnick, he's an evil bastard who tries to take over the world by destroying kingdoms with 'bots and mechs….Also, I think I know why your village was attacked eleven years ago."

Ben nodded "Go on…"

"….About that time, I had escaped from his lab and I was running from him. Seeking safety and rest I stopped in a small village. I didn't stay long, just enough to rest and get something to eat. Then, the 'bots and mechs caught up to me and I fled before they could find me again…I didn't stop running until I ran into Yuna while being chased by some thugs from town. We became friends and I built the base to help her out on missions in return for saving my life."

Shalem asked meekly "But why where you running from this Robotnick and how do you know so much about him and another thing how can you use fire?"

Flammera avoided her eyes and said quietly "because, kid, I was made by Robotnick as a weapon and was given the power of fire, I was meant to help him in his motives but when I was awakened I didn't want to be a weapon, so I escaped and ran until he gave up the chase. He still tries to take me back on occasion but I still fight and he never succeeds."

Shalem and Ben sat silent for a moment before apologizing again for their past deeds.

Yuna shook her head and stood "There's no need to apologize, we understand. Now that things are cleared up, what are we going to do about it?"

Ben considered for a moment then looked around at everyone "Well, now that we know who attacked us, I think we should shut down this Robotnik guy for good."

The whole group cheered and decided that they could work out the plan later, Michiru was first to suggest food and everyone filed out to head to the kitchens to celebrate after returning all of Ben and Shalem's things to them and showing them the rooms they could stay in. They then threw a party just for the hell of it which lasted a good bit of the night , where afterwards everyone retired for bed, excited about finally giving Robotnik what he deserved.

End Chapter 8

Fairy Mi: (flying around room happily) YAY, that was a decent chapter!!!! Whooo!!!

Tina: A bit long though….

Fairy Mi: O.O(stops flying around room) Where the hell did you come from?! The note said you had been kidnapped.

Tina: No, I'd just been knocked out stuffed in a closet by some random fan…wait that would be considered kidnapping wouldn't it?

Fairy Mi:…yeah, how dense are you?

Tina: Baka, I'm not the dense one you are!(starts fight cloud)

Michiru: Geez, there's nothing but fighting in the interemissions now a days….Please review!!!! There has been insufficient reviews, causing inspiration to decline!

Tina and Fairy Mi: So Review Already!!!!! Take a moment out of your time to review, cause if you have time to read the story you have time to review!!!!