Merci beaucoup for all the reviews.. Here's the next chappie :)
Warning: Violence, swearing, and will probably have some girl-on-girl action in the future. All the good stuff. ;)
Disclaimer: Don't own a single darn thing, either James Bond or Mai Hime. T'is a shame, really..
Unidentified location, unspecified time:
Natsuki slowly opened her eyes with a groan. A harsh light glared into her face, forcing her to squint her eyes. Natsuki shifted uncomfortably on a cold, hard surface, but an attempt to raise her arm alerted her to the fact that she was shackled. Similar attempts with her other limbs gave the same result: she, Natsuki Kruger, had been shamefully overpowered and bound to a hard surface—spread-eagled, might she add. H will never let me hear the end of this!
Before Natsuki could even lift her head to look about her surroundings, a pleased voice cut through the air. "Miss Kruger. I am glad to see you are awake."
Natsuki raised her head carefully. She could see that she seemed to be lying on a long, steel table in some kind of laboratory. A menacing device was positioned above her, and through her peripheral vision Natsuki could sense the movements of several individuals in white lab coats hurrying back and forth. Turning her head, Natsuki caught sight of a figure—familiar only from photos—smirking down at her.
"Mr. Kanzaki. I'm glad to be awake, although this table is not exactly what I would call comfortable."
The dark-haired man chuckled coldly. Although there was a bland, almost expressionless look on his face, Reito Kanzaki's eyes shimmered with a kind of manic delight. He placed his hands casually into his pockets.
"Only a precaution, Miss Kruger. You did kill two of my men and severely wound another. We can't have you running amok again, can we?"
Natsuki frowned. "I do confess that I'm rather curious about how you know my identity."
"A little bird all the way from London told me."
He straightened up with that damnable smirk still firmly glued to his face.
"But that's neither here nor there, Miss Kruger."
Reito looked at one of the people in white lab coats and nodded. The scientist nodded back and pulled down a switch on the wall.
The menacing device hummed to life. Natsuki stared at it warily, her eyes widening when she saw a laser beam shoot out and begin to slice through the table.
Reito smirked, and in the glow of the laser, he looked absolutely maniacal. "This is one of the new experiments of a VCS affiliated company. It's a high-powered laser designated to destroy missiles mid-flight! It's still undergoing testing, though, as I'm sure you will find out soon enough."
Natsuki surreptitiously tugged on her bonds. They didn't budge. "I think you made your point. Thank you for the demonstration."
Reito gave her a chilling smile. "Choose your next witticism carefully, Ms. Kruger; it may be your last." Turning around, Reito began to walk away.
Natsuki glanced quickly at the laser slowly advancing towards her. She really would prefer not being sliced in half. "Do you expect me to talk?"
Reito glanced at her over his shoulder. "No, Miss Kruger, I expect you to DIE!" He laughed once.
"There is nothing you can talk to me about that I don't already know."
"Well, you're forgetting one thing. If I don't report, 008 replaces me."
"I trust he will be more successful."
Natsuki glanced down to see the laser's progress. It had passed between her feet and was getting uncomfortably close to her 'nether regions.' "Well, he knows what I know."
Reito smiled cruelly. "You know nothing, Miss Kruger."
Damn, he's right. Time to bluff, Kruger. "Operation Horsemen, for instance."
"Two words you may have read somewhere, which cannot have the slightest significance to you or anyone in your organization." Reito scoffed, but Natsuki could see a slight worry had crept into his eyes.
Score. Natsuki pushed on relentlessly. "Can you afford to take that chance?"
Reito looked deep in thought. As the laser grew increasing closer to slowly cutting her body in half, Natsuki mentally screamed at him to hurry the fuck up!
Finally, just when Natsuki closed her eyes in anticipation of excruciating pain, Reito snapped his fingers. The laser immediately shut off, and Natsuki gave an inaudible sigh of relief.
"You are quite right, Miss Kruger, you are worth more to me alive." Scanning the room before him, Reito called out, "Takeda?"
A man with spiky green hair stepped out from a distant corner of the room, capturing Natsuki's attention. "Hai, Kanzaki-sama."
Natsuki couldn't help but notice that he looked no older than thirty, despite a peculiar scar that marred his entire left cheek.
"Please untie Miss Kruger and escort her to one of the holding cells. I am already running late for an important meeting."
Resting a hand on the katana sheathed at his side, the man nodded, his eyes trained on Natsuki. With that, Reito left the room, disappearing from Natsuki's sight.
Natsuki and Takeda were the only two people in sight as they walked down the long corridor, passing by an endless row of metal doors. Or rather, Natsuki was walking slightly ahead, while Takeda kept one eye on her and one hand on the handle of his katana. Natsuki glanced back over her shoulder, only to see Takeda openly ogling her butt.
Her eyes narrowed dangerously. "Keep staring if you want a matching scar on your right cheek."
Takeda gave a start, and blushed, no longer seeming like the deadly swordsman he had been last night. "I-I'm s-sorry, it's just—you're a very beautiful woman, with a very noticeable body—"
Natsuki stopped and held up a hand. "Continue that sentence, and there will be blood." Natsuki glared to send her point home. Takeda paled instinctively, but mentally told himself to man up; he was the one with the weapon, right? So why did he feel like peeing his pants when that look was directed at him?
Takeda shook it off and put on a macho façade. "Keep walking!" He barked, and forcefully pushed Natsuki's shoulder.
Scowling, Natsuki continued to walk. If only I had my pistol…she ruefully thought. A bolt of inspiration then hit her. Wait! Glancing down at her wrists, she nearly cheered out loud: her garrote watch was still on her wrist! Takeda's voice interrupted her glee. "We're here."
They stopped in front of a door. Natsuki glanced through the small window; there was a small mattress on an iron bed frame, with a small toilet and sink. As much I love living in a closet, the décor doesn't really match my taste. Time to turn on the Kruger-charm.
"Say, Takeda," Natsuki literally purred. Takeda froze in the middle of opening the door with a key. "Are there any video cameras in that room?" She gave at him a sultry stare.
Takeda gulped. "N-no, not in the individual cells, but the hallway is heavily monitored."
Natsuki gave him a seductive smile. Ugh! I feel so dirty! "Since there are no cameras, why don't we have a little…fun?" Natsuki raised her handcuffed wrists to brush her hair away from her face, "accidentally" grazing his groin in the process.
Takeda sucked in his breath. Should he really indulge in this temptation, despite the fact that Kanzaki-sama would be furious if he found out? But Natsuki Kruger was one of the most beautiful women he had even seen…Takeda's eyes bulged as Natsuki sensually licked her lips. Ah, screw it. Spinning around, Takeda frantically inserted the key.
Natsuki smirked. Hook, line, and sinker.
Takeda tore open the door and clamped onto Natsuki's wrist, dragging her into the room. He turned to look at her, lust swirling in his eyes. Natsuki smiled coyly and held up her wrists, shaking the handcuffs playfully.
"Oh, right…" By this time, Takeda was nearly panting. He selected a key from the ring of keys on his belt. The handcuffs fell to the ground with a clang. He immediately turned around and started to strip, a bulge in his pants glaringly obvious. Rubbing her wrists to get the blood flowing again, Natsuki surreptitiously took off her watch and twisted the mechanism that would release a length of steel wire. By this time, Takeda was already half-naked. As he scrabbled at his belt, Natsuki wound the wire twice around both hands, making the middle taut. She pounced.
Takeda choked, grabbing at the wire that was tight around his windpipe. Natsuki continued to pull, heedless of his desperate attempts to free himself. Slowly, the man's struggles became feebler and feebler, until he finally stopped and slumped to the floor. Unwinding the wire from Takeda's neck, Natsuki smirked at the garrote watch in her hand. "Now that's what I call 'cutting-edge technology'."
Natsuki checked Takeda's pulse, and was slightly surprised to still feel it, albeit an extremely faint one. Huh, he's tougher than he looks. She searched the body for a gun, but only came with a small dagger. She took it, and grabbed the handcuffs from the floor, handcuffing Takeda to one of the bedposts. Picking up the ring of keys, Natsuki carefully selected the one she had seen Takeda had used and stepped out into the hallway, locking the door behind her. Natsuki gave the security camera a quick glance and sprinted towards the opposite direction.
It wasn't long before a high-pitched alarm went off in the building, complete with flashing red lights. Natsuki ignored it and continued to sprint up a winding staircase. Unsurprisingly, she wasn't at First District Headquarters anymore. Shouts from below rang out, and a barrage of bullets whizzed past her. She winced and veered right at a landing, bursting through the doors of a random floor.
Glancing around quickly, Natsuki ensconced herself in a dark corner behind a potted plant. Nearly a second later, the door burst open again, revealing four men toting Beretta 92s. Natsuki waited for the first three men to rush by before stepping out of her hiding place in front of the last henchman. Startled, the man opened his mouth to let out a shout. Natsuki stabbed him in the jugular before he could make a sound. He collapsed with a gurgle, and Natsuki calmly picked up his dropped gun, sidestepped the growing puddle of blood, and headed up the staircase again.
This time, she ended up on the roof of the building. Natsuki could see that the building was situated on the waterside, although she could barely see the river—the Salado, perhaps?—drifting by ten stories below, as dusk had just fallen. Natsuki could hear footsteps echoing up the stairs; the guards would be here any second. She shrugged. I've got nothing to lose…besides my life, she thought wryly. Just as the door to the roof was flung open with a burst of gunfire, Natsuki leaped. The henchmen rushed to where she had been just moments ago and scanned the ground below. There was no sight of the spy.
London, 11:59 PM/ Buenos Aires, 7:59 PM
Haruka paced back and forth in her office. She glanced worriedly at the clock. The red digits blared out: 11:59 PM. With a sigh, Haruka reached for the phone; just as she placed her hand on it, it rang. Haruka jumped and swore. Please let it be Kruger!
Clearing her throat, Haruka brusquely answered. "H."
A tired voice floated into her ear. "H, old sport, you wouldn't believe the hell I just went through."
Haruka gave a little sigh of relief, and immediately hoped Natsuki didn't hear it. "007. What took you so long? I was all ready to sent out 008!"
An uncharacteristically serious voice responded. "Forget that fool for a second, and listen to me. I think there's a mole in headquarters."
Haruka raised her eyebrows. Having a snitch at headquarters would be disastrous! She nearly didn't want to believe it, but Kruger was her best agent… "Well, that's too bad. I'll look into it."
Nearly 6,000 miles away, Natsuki, despite being sopping wet, grinned into the dingy pay phone. H had picked up the proverbial ball quite well; anyone that might have been eavesdropping in H's office wouldn't suspect that anything was wrong.
"Listen, H, you have to get me out of Buenos Aires. Kanzaki knows who I am."
Haruka nodded. "You should take a vacation; perhaps somewhere sunny, like Dubai?"
Natsuki mentally translated H's words. Your next mission is in Dubai. "That certainly sounds pleasant."
A sound of acquiescence came through the phone. "Take in the sights and whatnot…the women are purported to be exotically beautiful, you know. I hear that some of them even have eye-colors that are uncommon anywhere else in the world."
Natsuki's own uncommon emerald eyes lit up for a couple of seconds. Is H actually giving me permission to form my own harem?! Then Natsuki frowned. Uncommon eye colors? She thought hard for a second before finally understanding. Spy on Shizuru Viola.
Haruka rolled her eyes when an "oh" of comprehension came over the line. Typical Kruger, with her mind in the gutter… She cleared her throat in irritation. "I'll send a friend to meet you there, while I take care of the infestation here."
"Alright. Kruger out."
Haruka rubbed her forehead. Kruger would probably need backup to handle Viola. She pressed the intercom button. "Yukino, please tell 006 to meet me in Conference Room A."
Dubai, 6:00 AM
Natsuki stepped out of the plane with relief. Being stuck in a commercial airplane was like walking on nails; she had been stuck between a woman with a crying baby and an obese man for almost 17 hours.
As she was walking to the baggage claim, Natsuki's peripheral vision caught sight of a familiar figure loping towards her. She abruptly stopped. "Mikoto?!"
Mikoto Minagi, codename 006, grinned shamelessly back at her. "Hey, Natsuki."
Mikoto Minagi was one of those lucky people who had pure and innocent hearts, and despite her choice of career, Mikoto still retained that innocence, which Natsuki considered to be nothing short of a miracle.
Natsuki slightly frowned. "What are you doing here?"
"H sent me."
"What? Why? Isn't this your second mission since becoming a Double-O agent? No offense, but this is a pretty critical mission…"
Mikoto shrugged. "I guess H thought an agent with as much experience as you have would make up for my lack thereof."
Natsuki smiled at the compliment. Actually, Mikoto was extremely good at hand-to-hand combat; almost to par with, if not slightly better, than Natsuki's level.
She sighed. "Alright kid, debrief me on this mission then."
Dubai, 9:00 PM
A dark blue Lamborghini Murcielago smoothly pulled up to the entrance of Hotel Calypso, catching the attention of the crowd of luxuriously dressed men and women.
Heedless of the curious and envious stares outside, Natsuki twisted in the driver's seat to look at Mikoto.
"So let me get this straight: tonight is the opening of the world's largest underwater hotel and first underwater casino, of which VCS is a major stockholder?"
Mikoto nodded enthusiastically. "Yep! And since VCS Dubai is supposed to be under the control of Shizuru Viola, she should be here, along with a variety of other higher-ups."
Natsuki checked her gun before tucking it into the waistband of her tuxedo. "I'll follow Viola for the night; you take whoever else that might be important. Discretely, now." She fixed her black bowtie and motioned for Mikoto to do the same with her own. With deep breaths, both stepped out of the car at the same time.
Mikoto blinked. Nearly all the women in the crowd, who had been staring hungrily at the car, now switched their ravenous stares to the two extremely attractive women. "Uh, Natsuki? I don't think this is being very discrete."
Natsuki ignored her and melted away into the crowd with ease, disappearing from Mikoto's line of sight.
Hotel Calypso, 11:30 PM
Natsuki took a sip of her martini. From the corner of her eye, she could see Shizuru Viola laughing at a poker table. There was a huge crowd around her table; apparently, it was between Shizuru Viola and some CEO of a Turkish company now. Natsuki had been watching since the beginning of the game.
***Two hours ago***
Natsuki was aimlessly walking around the casino when she heard the sultriest voice she had ever heard in her entire life: "Good evening, gentlemen."
Natsuki glanced to see Shizuru Viola in all her glory, wearing some designer's cocktail dress and standing at about 5 feet and 9 inches. She struggled not to drool, but it was a losing battle: Shizuru Viola just exuded confidence and sensuality, and that lovely accent (which Natsuki couldn't really place, as it seemed to be a blend) was extremely arousing.
Shizuru, unaware of Natsuki's dilemma, was speaking to a group of businessmen seated around a poker table. "Unfortunately, my uncle was unable to make it tonight, although I do hope none of you are displeased that I am here in his place."
A chorus of dazed "No, of course not" and "Not at all, Ms. Viola" reached Natsuki's ears.
As the game started, Natsuki studied the beautiful woman. She wore an enigmatic smile, giving everyone around her a seductive glance.
Very soon, Natsuki noticed something peculiar: Shizuru Viola had a good hand in every turn since the beginning of the game. Natsuki furrowed her brow; Viola may just be extremely lucky, but she was disinclined to believe that. There were no such coincidences in the world.
Natsuki casually joined the crowd of observers, training her eyes on Shizuru Viola's back. She was so enthralled by the way Shizuru's hair cascaded down her back, that she almost missed seeing Shizuru slyly glancing at the dealer. The dealer did not look up at her, but moved his head a fraction of an inch to the right after dealing out all the cards. Shizuru's grin impossibly widened, and her accented voice rang out. "I raise by $50,000."
The crowd gasped, and Natsuki shook her head in admiration. Shizuru Viola really was something.
***
A burst of applause shook Natsuki out of her reverie. Draining her glass, Natsuki carefully watched Shizuru through the side of the glass. She was standing up and smiling at the dejected businessman, saying something Natsuki couldn't hear. The brunette then started to walk towards the other end of the casino. Natsuki set down her glass and gave her a thirty-seconds head start before following. She was faintly surprised to see the brunette disappear into the restrooms, but shrugged and decided to follow.
Stepping cautiously into the restrooms, Natsuki scanned the room quickly. It was impossibly clean, and if it weren't for the row of stalls, it could have been mistaken for the sitting room of some fancy mansion. She furrowed her brow; there was no sight of anyone.
—Click!— Natsuki heard someone lock the door behind her and immediately whirled around in a defensive crouch, her hand placed on the gun hidden in her waistband. Shizuru Viola was smirking at her.
"Ara ara, such a jumpy little puppy."
Natsuki cautiously straightened up. Well, I'll be damned—she even locks doors seductively! "Ah—is there any reason you locked the door, Miss…?" Feigning ignorance was key here.
Shizuru gave a light chuckle. Natsuki's knees almost buckled. "Viola. I just noticed that you've been watching me the entire evening, Miss…?"
Natsuki was still wary, but her wall was cracking underneath the charms of the Kyoto-born woman. "Kruger. Natsuki Kruger."
She leaned casually against the wall. "And I'm sure that I wasn't the only one. You're quite beautiful, Miss Viola." She punctuated this smile with a dazzling smile, which faltered a little bit as Shizuru started to walk seductively towards her.
Natsuki nearly squeaked when the other woman forcefully pushed her against the wall. The back of head smacked against the lavender wallpaper. Ouch. Natsuki opened her mouth to speak, but it went dry as soon as Shizuru pressed her body up very closely against Natsuki's.
"Ara, I'm quite flattered to hear that," she purred into Natsuki's face. Her hands began to teasingly wander up Natsuki's sides. "Especially from such a gorgeous woman like yourself."
Natsuki wrapped an arm around Shizuru's slender waist and pulled her closer, noticing that Shizuru was about a half-inch taller than her. The rational side of Natsuki's mind protested. I can't believe I'm *doing* this! The cheering of the lust-filled side of her brain drowned out her rational side. I can't believe I'm doing THIS! Having Shizuru's hot breath on her mouth did not help matters; in fact, it was driving her downright crazy.
Just as Natsuki was tempted to give in and capture those luscious lips, she felt a slight, familiar pain in the back of her neck. Well, fuck, Natsuki, you've just been played. Natsuki internally raged at the humiliation of being tranquilized for the second time in two days. She slumped down the wall, but was caught a pair of soft yet strong hands.
As her sight began to dim, she heard a sultry voice exclaim: "It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Miss Kruger." If she weren't falling unconscious, Natsuki would have started sobbing right there and then at the unfairness of it all.
As promised, the appearance of Shizuru Viola...at the end of the chapter. Yes, I suck, but the next chapter (a long, looong time from now) will have parts written in Shizuru's point of view.
Brownie points for anyone who can identify a scene in this chapter that was from the 1964 James Bond movie "Goldfinger", with Sean Connery! (such a sexy man.) 'Til next time, then!
