Authors note: Okay I just wanted to apologize to all my readers for the very, very late update, but between college and my fiance I rarely find time for myself, but now I have found some free tme and i will use it upload as many chapters as it is possible. Again if there are any questions or comments please dont be afraid to ask, and i will try my hardest address every single one of them, just don't expect me to get back at you too soon. Well thats all i'm going to keep you, hope you enjoy the next chapter of Get Backers : Fire At Will. Thank you. -Shinaynay

Chapter Seven

Rescue me

The group took a few minutes to prepare themselves for what was ahed. They knew that if any of them made a mistake both Paul and Tia's lives would be in danger. They were ready. Ban walked up to where the rope exposing the trapdoor was, with a deep breath he pulled hard on the rope. Silently the trapdoor slid open. This was good, it meant that the Mafia didnt hear them, and their surprise attack was again useful. Another tug on the rope brought down a metal ladder, again no noise.

Ban turned to face the group making sure that everybody was ready. Nobody said anything, but it was unnecessary Ban knew by the look in their eyes that they were prepared for what was to come. The blue eyed man turned to face the ladder once again. very slowly he acended. Quickly, but silently he was followed by the well prepared retreival team.

Cautiously Ban ascended the ladder, it was dark, it was like climbing into a hole. Ban climbed steadly wonderng how long he had to climb. It was frutsrating, they had so little time, yet it was taking far too long. Ban thoughts were still on how long they had when he was jerked back into reality by a sudden hard object. Ban had climbed so far he hit his head on the door, he didnt realise because he was thinking of other things, more important things.

The sudden stop had not only been a surprise to Ban but to the rest of the team aswell. He could hear Ginji scrabling to grab hold of the ladder, at the sudden stop he lost his footing and would be thrown back down the ladder taking with him the rest of the team. Ban looked down, but because of the thick darkness he was not able to see anybody. Cautiously after a deep breath Ban slowly pushed open the door onto the last floor of the abondoned warehouse. Ban looked around being constantly aware that there may be things surrounding him. He was prepared for anyting. But nothing came. He expected to see a room full of nothing but the Mafia ready and pointing their guns at them, but it was just an empty space noting around, not even mice or rats.

This was the top floor right, they did go the right way. Then why was there nobody around?Ban decided that it was safe to come out of the hole. Slowly he led the group onto the final floor. Silence rang trough the room, everybody was listening for any signs of people, but there wre none to be heard. Even Jubei's extra sensitive ears didnt pick up anything. Not even the sound of mice scratching around on the made eye contact with Ginji, the look in his eyes told Ban that he had no idea what was going on. Kazuki was the first to speak up "Dont you think its too quiet? This is the first floor right?" he should'nt have asked, everybody was thinking the same question.

They all looked around the room, there was nothing. "What is this?" Ban asked himself out loud "Isn't this where we are suppose to be? Computer Boy you better not have screwed up."

"No Midou I haven't done anything wrong...there should be someone here. This is definately the top floor" MakubeX assured him, and everybody else in the room. They all talked quietly amonst themselves. Each of them trying to come up with a reason why the floor was empty. Jubei was the only one not talking, it seemed he was listening for any sounds that might tell them why nobody was there. Or if there was some sort of secret the floor was hiding.

"This doesn't make sense" MakubeX said fiddling with his computer.

"You got that right" Ban replied looking if possible, even more uneasy.

"No you don't get it, I mean this is impossible"

"What the hell are you talking about computer boy!?"

"The blueprints of the warehouse, are completely different from what we're seeing right now" MakubeX finished, this time he had gotten the attention of everyone in the room. "Its as if what we are seeing right now is an illusion"

"What? I don't get it" Shido remarked "why would this be an illusion?"

"Because, I remember when Ban went to the window on the second floors west end. I could clearly see a window directly above him, but, there are no windows on this floor. Thats not just it either, I remember seeing this exact same room on my way up here" MakubeX explained typing rapidly on his computer.

"MakubeX, how do you know this is the same room? For all we know there could be hundreds of room that look like this here." Kazuki remarked leaning in closer to MakubeX to see the blueprints of the building for himself.

"I know its the same room because I remember stopping when I saw that" MakubeX said pointing to what looked likesome sort of large dead animal. "And I highly doubt that there would be hundreds of those just lying around in the same place in seemingly the same room everywhere in this building."

'So this room isn't real?' Ginji thought to himself. 'But if MakubeX is right then it means that who ever created the illusion knew that they were coming and was probably watching them right now' Ginji wanted to ask the question outloud but was afraid to break the silence. Everybody got so worked up when somebody said something in these moments. Though the look on Ginji's face was more then enough to allow Ban to see that something was on his mind.

"Yo Ginji! Whats wrong, do you have something to say?" Ban asked breaking the slience and allowing all eyes to move from MakubeX's blueprints, to Ginji.

"Well, umm, this is just a hunch, but i figure if this is an illusion then doent it mean the the person behind it probably already knows we are here and they're watching us?" Ginji started.

"Well obviously Ginji" Ban retorted seemingly angry, though it was probably caused by the present problem that they were facing.

"Well i'm not done yet Ban" Ginji said waiting for everyone again to pay attention to what he was saying. "What i was trying to say was that, Ban, you said you think Himiko may also be working with these guys on a job right?" Ginji paused looking over at Ban, who nodded curtly. "Well I know that the last time we worked on a job with Himiko she was telling me about how she was trying to create some new perfumes. I can't really remember much of what she was saying but i do remember her talking about some kind of perfume that like messes with your mind and makes you see things or something. I just figured that if she is probably here then maybe she is what is causing this illusion." Ginji finished he had obviously put alot of thought into his conclusion, something that was very unlike him.

Ban looked at Ginji "I remember her saying that too, It was about four months ago she sai she had almost perfected it." Ban turned his gaze away from Ginji and the rest of the retreival team. He didn't want to believe it, he didn't want to even think that Himiko might be against them this time. Not that it hadn't happened before, but this case was different. Why would Himiko want to hurt Tia? Why would anyone want to hurt Tia? It didn't matter who he was fighting as long as he managed to save both Tia and Paul. If Himiko was in his way then he would just have to take her down, and its not like he hasnt done this before either. His only concern now was the fact that Himiko had all new perfumes and poisons in her army.

Jubei decided to speak up "Ginji now that you bring it up I did notice that the air in this level of the warehouse was stagnant. Though I had just figured that maybe it was because this place had been sealed off for a while and without windows it was sure to get stuffy. Do you think that this could mean that we are inhaling one of Himiko's poisons?"

"Hmm, that is a possibility. But I don't think theres anything we will be able to do about it until the perfumes effects wear off. There don't look like there is anything we can use to get rid of the fumes" MakubeX said looking away from his laptop, there was no use for his computer in this type of situation.

"Wait MakubeX don't put it away just yet" Kazuki said noting MakubeX's move to close his lasptop. "You said there was a window in this room right? we may not be able to see it but it doesnt mean that its not there. Judging by the legnth of the illusion effect we are experiencing, that means that this window is not open. I'm sure if we find ths window you were talking about and open it the perfume would blow away and eventually the illusion would disapate aswell." Ban took his phone out of his pocket, he still had the picture saved on his phone that MakubeX had sent him. He looked at the picture, and sure enough there was a window and it should be right where they were. In the picture the window as indeed the only window left in the warehouse that was not broken, which would mean it was just as Kazuki said and that was how the perfume was being contained.

Ban looked up from his phone "So all we gotta do is find this window and bust it open right" He asked addressing everyone in the room. With all of them looking it would be a matter of time before they found the window. Though it may be difficult seeing as how the room was so big and they didnt know the true layout, but it was worth a try. Paul and Tia's lives depended on them and they couldnt afford to waste time trying to find a window admist a seemingly never ending illusion.

"Yes i believe it will work but remember this illusion is very real even if the room this illusion is contained in is bigger then the illusion room we may not be able to go outside the boundries of the illusion and we might not even be able to get to the window. This is only a guess but we may just end up being stuck here waiting for the perfume to go away and judging by the stagnant air, it may take some time. Time that we don't have." MakubeX explained.

"Well lets just hope we can get to this window, and we don't have the time to argue about how important this is, it will only make us take longer" Shido said adding the last bit while looking at Ginji who looked like he was about to say something. Ginji nodded in agreement and ran off toward the far end of the room. The rest of the team did the same thing.

"Yo Kazuki how are we supposed to find this window anyway if we cant even see it?" Shido said staring at a wall looking quite dumbfounded.

"Well the only thing i can think of would be to try and feel it, but as MakubeX said we may not even be able to get to this wondow because of the possible boundary of the illusion." Kazuki said feeling around a wall both high and low trying to find some signs of the window.

The team searched for what seemed like an eternity, but none of them seemed to be able to find any signs of a window. Though with Paul and Tia's lives at stake none of them were about to give up just yet. As far as they were concerned they were going to keep looking even if that meant the illusion would wear off before they managed to find their window. "Dammit! At this rate we are never going to find it!" Ban yelled trying his hardest to keep his cool. "Come on isn't there anything else that we can do!?"

"we need to get rid of this illusion, who knows depending on how little fresh air is able to get in here the perfume might even manage to last a few days." Jubei said stepping away from a wall he was investigating.

"Shit! I wish that this stupid building had been demolished years ago, what i would give to be able to come in here with a wrecking ball and put holes in the place!" Ban yelled finally losing his cool.

"Thats it!" Ginji said wuite loudly. Everybody once again drew their attention towards Ginji, he was on a roll today, and he hadn't even managed to say something stupid this time. "Put holes in the place" Oops, spoke too soon here was the stupidity. "We know at least that we are probably up against one or two walls of the building right?" Ginji asked MakubeX.

MakubeX looked once again at the blueprints on his computer "Well judging by the size of this room...yes the legnth of this room is the exact legnth of the building itself so we should be up against one of the original walls and not just the illusion walls" He answered but still not understanding what Ginji was trying to say. He paused then looked at Ginji who happened to be looking at Ban, his eyes widened, he knew exactly what Ginji was planing to do.

Ginji tore his eyes away from Ban and started addressing the rest of them. "Well if we are up against one of the walls don't you think we will be able to bust one open and let a whole bunch of fresh air in?"

"How could we possibly put a hole in the wall? These walls are about two feet of solid concrete, its as Ban said we would need a wrecking ball if we wanted to put a hole in them." Jubei said.

"No...." Ban started, everybody looked at him, had he actually found a way to put a hole in two feet of solid concrete? A smile widened on Bans face, he looked up at the rest of the group "Why would we need a wrecking ball when these hands of mine have a 200kg grip?" Ban didn't need ot elaborate everybody knew what he was planning.

"You have a grip of 200kg, that doesnt mean you can blow a hole in a wall of concrete" Shido said, the expression in his voice told them that he thought the idea was absolutely ridiculous.

"Its worth a try" Ginji said curtly, in the end they all decided that it was better to try then sit around for days waiting for the poison to dissipate. "Okay Ban" Ginji finally said smiling like he always did. That showed Ban that Ginji had faith in him. Which all the more motivated him, even though he didnt need it with two lives at stake.

"Alright Computer Boy tell me one of the walls that your sure i can connect with" Ban said looking at MakubeX. He smirked at Ban, good this meant that Ban was becoming more like himself, cocky and everything. MakubeX looked down at his computer and stared at the blueprints then looking back up again. Eventually MaukbeX pointed to a wall far at the east end of the building. "Thats the one? Good now i'll finally be able to get my revenge on this stupid building" Ban said walking toward the far end stretching his arms out.

Ginji was close behind him, while the others watched and hoped for the best. This was there only chance, it was either Ban blew a hole in the place or they be locked in this illusion room for days. Once they came through the hole in the floor the illusion sealed it off because in the room the illusion was modeled after didnt have a trap door and neither should this one. Ban finally reached the far east end of the building. He stood there for a few minutes looking at the wall. Could he really do it? Why wasn't he worried? Is it even possible? What if they didn't make it in time? What will happen if he wasn't able ot break through the wall? All of these questions ran through Ban head. No he didnt need anymore distractions today, Paul and Tia's lives depended on this wall and the potential hole that should be in it. Fine, he was going to give it all he had. He took a deep breath closing his eyes for a few short minutes preparing himself.

"Ban!" MakubeX shouted, because of the silence around him and how hard he was focusing, MakubeX's call had startled him.

"What!?" Ban said jumping

"I think i may be able to make this just a little easier for you" MakubeX said pausing to see if Ban was listening. "I was looking around the blueprints to see if i could find any other possible way to do this and i found an article attached to the blueprint talking about a fire they had here about sixty years ago. It looks like this is the floor where they dealt with chemicals and highly explosive soluvents, when the fire broke out it blew out the west side of the building, and it says that when they rebuilt it, because of the lack of insurance they couldnt make it as strong as the original layout of the building had been. The difference between these two opposite walls is that they had used a much cheaper concrete. They had to completely rebuild the west side of the building. Incase you didnt notice on our way up here most of the west side was crumbling because of how aged it is. I'm guessing that even though there is still two feet of concrete that the west side will be much easier to break through because its so old and rotted." MakubeX paused, he looked around to make sure they were paying attention before he continued.

"I did say that the whole legnth of the room matched the legnth of the building. The east and west side touch the walls of the actual structure, while the north and the south sides fall short about 20 feet. Lucky for us the weak concrete is on the west side and we should be able ot reach it."

Ban looked at MakubeX "Fuck! Computer boy why the hell didn't you say so earlier!? I could have broken my hand trying to break through this wall!"

"Well in all honesty you could still seriously injure yourself trying to break through this side, the only difference is that the damage might not be as severe" MakubeX retorted.

"Hmph! Whatever, just let me blow a hole in this place and get out so we can complete our case. Our recovery rate is still 100% and i don't intend on letting that go down because of stupid mafia goons and some perfume" Ban said getting irritated, he walked to the west side instead. Even though the room was just an illusion the wall he was now facing was still the west side and it did indeed look as if it was starting to fall apart. It was now or never. This time Ban didn't waste his time trying to psyche himself up he was far past his limit already and just wanted to get it over with. He bunched his hand into a fist and with all his might he swung his arm forward with great force and made contact with the wall. Nothing happened but Ban yelped when his clenched fist made contact with the rotting but still hard cement. "Dammit" Ban yelled, it didnt work. He turned around all of his enthusiasm and motivation now gone.

"Ban dont stop!" Jubei yelled "I heard the wall crack keep at it!"

"What!? Really!?" Ban said in amazement, he didnt think he did any damage to the wall, it looked like his hand took more effect then the wall did. Ban clenched his other fist, not wanting to do any more damage to his opposite hand. Again with all his might he struck the seemingly solid wall again. Even though the wall looked solid, it was just an illusion and it was a possibility that the real wall just outside of it was breaking. This time when his fist made contact it wasnt only Jubei's extra senstitve ears that heard the crack but everybody else heard it as well. "Guys I don't know how much longer i'll be able to do this, it may not seem like it but it hurts like hell!" Ban said after his second attempt.

"Well we may not have a 200kg grip but we can at least try to help" Ginji said. With that Ginji, Shido, and Jubei walked forward to give Ban some assistance. Kazuki and MakubeX stayed behind because brute force wasn't on their resume.

"You should all try hitting it at the same time that way the force will be greater then just 200 kg of power, and maybe Ginji should try using some lightning it may help it crack faster. The concrete shouldnt carry the current to the rest of you, so you should be safe" Kazuki suggested, he may not be strong enough to break through a wall of concrete but his brain still worked just fine. The rest of them nodded in agreement.

"Alright, lets blow a hole in this stupid building" Ginji said smacking his hand to his already closed fist. All of them readied themselves, and Kazuki counted down from three. On the third count all of them at once struck the wall as hard as they could, This time the crack sounded more like a rumbling. "I don't feel any wind so I don't think we made a hole just yet. Lets try it again we are getting somewhere" Ginji said, the group followed Bans lead and switched fists, he was right it did hurt like hell but what could you expect here they were trying to punch a hole in two feet of solid concrete. Three or four more attempts at trying to break teh wall proved that it wasn't going ot be easy but they knew they were getting somewhere because everytime their fists made contact with the wall the rumbling was getting louder and louder. So much for their surprise attack, if the screaming didnt let they mafia goons know they were here then the rumbling of the wall did.

On their sixth attempt they all felt a great force of wind coming back at them like the wall was fighting back. Yes! They had done it! They had broken through the wall! Looks like Ginji's stupid idea wasn't so stupid after all. After a few moments of breathing in the fresh air the illusion around them started dissappearing. In the north end of the building 20 feet away fromwhere the illusionary north wall had stood was Himiko, but she wasnt alone around her was the three mafia goons all dressed up in fancy suits. Sitting right behind them on chairs bound up were Paul and Tia. Paul was unconscious, but Tia was wide awake. They had watched the whole time as the team tried to free themselves from the illusion.

Ban didn't say anything, none of them did. There they were, the goons, Himiko, Paul and Tia. All except for Tia was smiling, apparently they had founf it funny watching them fight so hard to get out of the seemingly solid room. They must have looked like mimes to them trying to feel the invisible walls for the window. Around their necks they wore gas masks, this was how they were able to watch without getting sucked into the illusion aswell. And because they were 20 feet out of the illusionary rooms range they were not seen by the retreival team.

Ginji tore his eyes away from Himiko to look at Ban. "Ban..." Ginji started but decided not to finish.

It may have looked to Ginji like Ban was looking at Himiko, but, he was looking straight past Himiko. Right at Tia. She knew he was looking at her because she opened her unbound mouth and spoke.

"Midou, I never thought you would be the one to...Rescue me"