Teaching Respect.
By C S Sinclair.
Chapter Sixteen.
Author's Note: There is no way of getting around that this Chapter features the use of guns in a school. If you think you might be inordinately upset or offended by this, then it's best to give it a miss. The story has been quite light-hearted up to now, so I feel it's only fair to warn people.
Also, I will probably change the name of Fujin's weapon from 'Boomerang' at some point. I looked to see if it had an official name, but my guide lists it only as the rather uninspiring sounding 'Missile Blade'. And Boomerang seemed appropriate because Fujin is having to swiftly return where she has just come from. I'll look into it...
Anyway, enough blather from me...
His finger was on the trigger, innocent people were in danger – instinct took over. Snapping her hand upwards, she sent forth a small but crushing blast of wind in the gunman's direction. His hand was slammed brutally against the scaffold, releasing the gun as he screamed in pain. The gun however discharged a burst, riddling the wall behind them with holes.
The thunder of the gun firing and the sparking as some of the bullets ricocheted off the scaffolding, froze her in place abruptly. The gunman doubled over and toppled to the floor, nursing his hand as if time had slowed around them. She was numb, barely able to hear his yelps of agony. Dimly she was aware they were still in danger, but her whole body had locked up.
'This can't be happening!' she screamed inwardly. 'Please, not again... I don't want to fight; I'm not a soldier anymore! I'm with Xu, this is our home; we're happy here! Just leave us alone!!!'
"Focus!"
Dazed, she looked over and saw two shapes grappling nearby. As her vision cleared, she saw Bernie was pressing back into the second workman, flattening him against the scaffold, his hands locked around the other's wrist, as he tried to wrestle a pistol from him. The man recovered his wits enough however to punch him hard several times in the ribs, before grabbing him with his arm round his throat.
"No... Stop it..." Fujin mumbled dumbly, raising her hands to show she was unarmed.
"Defend yourself!"
"Look out!" the first man shouted from where he was crouched, clutching his fist. Looking at his comrade, he pointed at her with his good hand. The second man's eyes widened and he trained the gun at her... and opened fire.
"No! No-one was supp...arrghhh!"
Fujin was aware of a sharp pain in her elbow as she hit the floor hard, her ears ringing with the explosive sound of gunshots. Something heavy fell against her, before sliding off to the floor. She'd been pulled... looking over, she Rento lying in a pool of blood next to her, horrid gurgling noises coming from her throat.
"No! C'mere, you bas... I'll… give - me - that!!!"
Looking up, she saw Bernie had grabbed the man again and had thrust him back against the scaffold, trying to seize the gun. The first man was rising... there was blood all over her jacket... what if Xu had come with her... it could have been her blood...
"Do not deny me... You are my favourite... I have never left you..."
The glyph was drawn and thrown, before the snarl of rage had even left her throat. Briefly it seemed to hover over the man as he fought, before the powerful suction adhered it violently to his chest. Issuing a piercing scream as the highly localised force tore at his flesh, he dropped the gun. But she wasn't through with him yet.
"ANIMAL!" she yelled angrily. How dare they attack her home and her friends!
Yanking her arm back, she tugged on the stream of wind, lifting the man clear off his feet. Savagely, she whipped him to the side, where he slammed back first into the wall, going limp in the process. Adjusting her control slightly, she then catapulted him forwards, sending him flying into his partner, crushing said accomplice against the opposite wall with a sickening thud.
He was hanging limply now, bent over double, but still held by her spell. In her outrage, she considered whipping him back against the opposite wall again, head first this time... but they were beaten and people were hurt. Disgusted, she let his body crumple on top of his cohort's...
She wanted Xu.
"Son... son, you okay?! Come on lad, you can make it! Fujin?! You with me, missy?!"
Bernie had scrambled over to Rento and was doing his best to staunch the boy's wounds. Alarms and screams were sounding all around. People were all about her, shouting and pulling at her. Angrily, she threw them off and knelt down by Rento. Ignoring Bernie's protestations, she seized him by the jacket and shook him.
"KNOW SOMETHING – HEARD YOU! WHO ATTACKS?" she demanded, blind to anything else. This had to stop!
Rento was leaking blood from his mouth, but he met her fierce gaze. Tears were streaming down his face.
"I'm... sorry. They told me... they'd help me..." he managed.
"WHO?!" Fujin demanded, her fingers tearing into his jacket, suddenly afraid of what he would say.
"Didn't mean this... said they'd just take her... wanted her gone... so Miss Trepe could..."
"No..." she whimpered, feeling her stomach lurch. "Please... not..."
"I'm so sorry... Headmistress..." he finished, collapsing backwards.
Moving on instinct once more, she was only partially aware of her insides twisting in cold horror at what she had heard. Before she knew what she was doing, her wardrobe was in front of her, ripped open and the contents tipping everywhere as she dug it out...
She knew what she needed and then everything would be fine, she insisted, looking up defiantly at her reflection, but finding only stern resolve and no arguments. They were in complete agreement for once...
Finding it at last, she had just grabbed it, when a hand lifted her to her feet.
"Fu! I said snap out of itl What the hell ya doin?! We gotta move; we gotta..."
"OFF OF ME!" she screamed, wrenching her arm from Raijin's grasp. He stood back, aghast, but said no more.
Pushing past him, she paused in the doorway to cast off the cloth wrapping and examined her long neglected Boomerang. It was looking a little worse for wear, but the spikes seemed as sharp as ever. In her mind, she heard the screaming, saw the blood... but they had brought this on themselves...
She was about to push her way out towards the lift, when she felt Raijin grab her again.
"Fu, come on, I need ya - everyone's panicking!" Raijin shouted with exasperation, pointing to the confused gaggle outside. "Half the school's asleep, everyone's hung over from last night - nobody's where they should be! We gotta do something..."
She turned to face him, shaking her head angrily, her face slicked with tears. He let go as soon as he saw this.
"XU IN... NEEDS ME... MUST FIND!" she sobbed, backing out the door. "CANNOT... HAVE TO HELP XU!"
Raijin nodded and grabbed her hand in his. She felt an energy pulsing from him, offering itself. Gratefully, she drew it to her, feeling some of her friend's tremendous power pass to her.
"Go find her – I got this" he confirmed.
Clasping his arm in thanks, she turned and raced off towards the lift.
"RAIJIN... RAIJIN WILL HELP... SEE MR RAIJIN" she muttered distractedly, pointing behind her as two more students ran up. The alarms and screams made it hard, but she could have sworn she heard shots coming from above them...
Reaching the balcony, she heard a loud whistle through the hubbub. Looking down, she saw Jeanette standing by the ground floor lift call button. She motioned for Fujin to get to the second floor lift doors.
Before she could make a move however, a mighty Boom sounded overhead. Aware first only of dust falling, she caught sight of something flash downwards in the lift tube...
"MOVE!" she screamed down at Jeanette, gesturing wildly, even as people clawed and clung to her. Jeanette was making to leap away when...
An almighty CRASH! sent shudders through the balcony, forcing her back from the railing as great clouds of dust billowed upwards. The lift had smashed at tremendous velocity into the ground, the plate separating the ground floor from the underground level apparently having held.
Leaning right over the railing, she strained her eyes and ears to make out what was happening down there through the dust and the renewed screaming.
"You and you, seal the entrance! No-one in or out! You, take anyone you can find and secure the ground floor exits..."
The sharp, familiar voice of Quistis Trepe rang out from below and Fujin soon picked her out amid the dust, shouting out orders whilst cuddling a very shell-shocked looking Jeanette in one arm. Her whip still hung loosely about Jeanette's waist, where she had yanked her to safety. They were safe...
"FU!" she heard Raijin call from some distance behind her. She turned to see him gesturing upwards. "WHAT YA WAITIN' FOR?! AN INVITATION? GET GOIN! – GO, GO, GO!" he bellowed.
Looking back, she gripped the railing and steadied her nerves in preparation. Pointing the petrified students in Raijin's direction, she walked them to the start of the corridor. Pushing them on their way, she gave Raijin a nod, before turning and racing at full pelt towards the railing. Jumping up as she reached it, she kicked off into space... and again... and again!
Forcing small but powerful wind currents up to meet her feet with enough force to hold her, she used them as stepping stones, surging upwards, ever upwards over the chaos below. Teeth gritted in intense concentration, she focused her mind on reaching the sub balcony just below the top floor. One badly timed or placed current, of insufficient or too great a magnitude... but she could not fail – Xu was counting on her! The railing was coming up... and over!
Landing lightly on the maintenance balcony, she heard an odd sound. Far below her, she could hear the terrified screams had turned to cheers of amazement and pride. Aware that Xu would want their students to feel cared for; she turned and waved quickly, before racing over to the door to the Garden's enclosed top level.
'I'm not far off now... I'll be right there; just hold on!', she thought feverishly, trying to project the consoling words to Xu as she went.
The short stairwell was dimly lit as she eased the door open. Pausing to listen, she caught her heart in her mouth as she heard someone speak just a few feet away!
"Hurry it up – someone could come any time!" a man hissed, apparently speaking to someone else further up the stairs. "Those idiots – they've thrown the whole schedule off!"
They were up here – Xu was in danger! Pausing only to activate Raijin's shielding spell, Fujin leapt through the door, mustering a howling wall of force which she unleashed at the man she had heard. Facing away from her on the steps, his surprised cries were quickly silenced as he collided into the wall at speed and sprawled back onto the floor.
She raced forwards, but could hear a clattering of footsteps as someone escaped up the stairs. Reaching the bend, she saw the first man was unconscious, bleeding a nasty head wound. She also spotted a small set of charges for blocking the stairwell– not armed, thankfully.
She was swinging round the bend, when the stairwell exploded into a chaos of sound as gunfire flashed all about her. Kicking off from the wall, she forced herself back, wincing as several shots slammed into her. Absorbed by her shielding enchantment, they merely jarred her painfully, but she nevertheless shrank back down the steps with the shock of the close call.
The man hadn't followed – probably covering the stairs in case she tried again. Taking hold of her Boomerang, she swallowed down her doubts and readied it. Frizbees were one thing, but she hadn't used this in so long now. Seeing what it did against monsters and training dummies had not prepared her for when she had used it on a person... now she had to do so again.
'Xu could be hurt – move!!' she yelled at herself. And since it was Xu who had given the weapon back to her, even though it had been confiscated as part of her parole... it was only fitting she use it to rescue her. But this was going to be tricky with such a small space to work with. It called for a leaf out of Seifer's book – a modified version of his rather grandly named 'No Mercy' attack.
Balancing the Boomerang on the tip of her finger, she willed it to spin, faster and faster, then holding it in mid-air with her thoughts, she stepped back... and thrust forwards. The 'rang whipped round the stairs bend and hung suspended in the air, revolving ferociously. A fearful cry sounded out and shots rained down around the lethal spinning blade. With great concentration, she held it steady through this hail long enough to gauge the man's position, then she released.
A terrible scream tore through the air; moments after a horrific squelching thud had told her that her aim had been true. Surging up the stairs, she found the man pinioned to the wall, one of her weapon's spikes pierced all the way through his arm. Reaching over, he feebly tried to remove it, but merely succeeded in leaving himself in further agony.
Not pausing to think, Fujin sprinted up the stairs and ripped the weapon free, whilst delivering a savage chop to the man's neck. He collapsed with the twin shocks from her neck and arm, out cold. Exhaling, Fujin could feel... oh... no...
Staggering to the side, she retched violently, throwing up all over the floor. She slammed her hand with angry embarrassment against the wall. Looking sideways at the blood on the blade and the state of the man on the floor, she buried her face in her hands. She was shaking and crying and she just wanted Xu to hold her. Stupid, wretched people - why were they doing this?!
"WHY?!" she shouted angrily, resisting the urge to kick the wounded man.
'Listen.'
What... the music! She looked up at full attention again. The music from last night and from the last time... it was playing nearby! She must be hallucinating... no, it really was playing. In her mind, the scream sounded again... that terrible scream. If he was here... she had to find Xu now!
Bursting through the door to the roughly semi-circular 3rd floor corridor, she skidded to a halt, jaw dropping open in horror at the scene before her. Nearby a student – one of Xu's security detail, lay face down on the floor. He was badly bruised and unconscious, but seemed to be unhurt by any kind of weapon. Xu's female bodyguard however, lay seated near the door to her partner's room, covered in blood.
And crouching over the body... The hair was longer than she remembered, but it was definitely him. What was he doing here; was all this just to get back at her? But surely he couldn't have masterminded this whole thing, breaking into the Garden, private soldiers... She'd never known much about him, but who exactly was he, if he was this well connected?!
Regardless, here they were again – except that he may have succeeded this time.... What if she was too late?! What if he'd... what if Xu was... No, she couldn't be and especially not to someone like him. she told herself firmly. She believed in what she'd seen in the picture last night – they were stronger than this. They couldn't be beaten by this... monster!
And seeing that just like last time, he had a weapon in hand, she sprang into action. Her rage and determination to stop him flowed into her Boomerang as she hurled it towards him. Her instinct had been to aim for his side to disable him, but in the split second as it left her hand, a thought entered her head. The smallest mental push would change the trajectory... would end this now...
CLAANG!
Before she had made up her mind on this however, the Boomerang collided abruptly with a glyph that suddenly appeared behind her target. It glowed briefly, absorbing the impact, before dissipating as the weapon fell to the ground - a type of shielding spell, evidently. It occurred to her that in way, it had saved both of them. Would she have executed him... could she really do something like that?
Whatever the case, there was no time to think about it now. Shooting to his feet in alarm, the figure whirled about and faced her. Hunched over defensively, his eyes blazed with a mad intensity; his face, lined with hatred, twisting into a crazed grin.
"I knew you'd come..." he stated simply, but with barely suppressed rage evident in his voice.
Recovering swiftly from the failure of her attack, she whipped out her hand, summoning her weapon back. Just as the spell was lifting it off the ground however, her opponent stamped viciously down, clamping it to the floor. His mouth twitched with a repressed smirk of triumph – this was just sick.
She was about to try a more forceful means of retrieving the weapon, when she spotted that the thing he was holding was not a knife this time, but rather a slender piece of metal, looking not unlike a kind of high-tech conductor's baton the way he was holding it. The music seemed to be emanating from it...
"Remarkable, isn't it?" he stated, turning it over in his hands. "Estharan technology – truly a marvel, but such a sound is no substitute to the real thing... to a trained ear of course."
Fujin steeled herself, aware that her shielding spell has faded. No defences, no weapon... perfect. She had to hurry this up... Who knew what could have happened...
"WHERE IS XU?!" she demanded, her anger and concern for her partner quashing her apprehension. She was okay – she felt sure she would know if...
"I'm sorry – could you please speak up?! I'm not sure I hear you!" snarled the figure, flicking the hair from his mutilated ear and raising the baton threateningly. It seemed likely that it did more than simply playing music...
"IF YOU HAVE HARMED..." retorted Fujin, refusing to be cowed. She had been badly affected by the wound she had given him, but that didn't mean she felt even the smallest sympathy for this creature – he had deserved what she gave him and more.
"...You'll do what? Take the other ear, perhaps?" he scowled. "You might find it difficult without this... ah, I see you're still up to your old tricks..." he added, indicating the blood on the Boomerang.
That was it; she had no more time to waste on this lunatic. Xu could be lying in their room... hurt. She had to get in there! With a cry, she sent another crashing wave of force hurtling towards him.
Rather than cover up or try to run however, he traced three horizontal lines with his baton which shimmered in the air. He then struck downwards on the centre of them, bending them in the middle just as the wave struck. The force wave struck the lines and broke against them as they rose, it's power throttled to a stiff breeze that passed harmlessly to either side of him.
A grim smile flashed across his face: "Not this time, freak. That's what they call me now too. You made me like you, deformed and hideous. I used to be so happy before you... now I will finally have justice..."
As Fujin wracked her brain for some other form of attack, he started tracing in the air again. As thw baton swished, the faint sound of music could be heard.
"Run!"
Seeing a glyph that appeared to resemble a musical note crossed with the Quetzalcoatl sigil forming in the air, Fujin took her patron's advice and backed hastily away down the corridor. Seeing him stab viciously into the glyph to finish, she barely had time to leap out of the way as a bolt of lightning streaked past her, the music in the air turning to a keening, discordant screech.
Landing in a crouch by the wall, she searched frantically for an escape route... an open storeroom... go!
"Stand still – I didn't run from you, remember?" he called mockingly after her.
Diving behind a pillar where the corridor widened out near the central lift, she made ready to dash into the storeroom. She ducked back as a bolt flashed right by her nose. About to dive through the door, she slashed out her hand, sending a gust towards the corridor's light switch panel, plunging them into near darkness, there being no windows outside the rooms on this level of the Garden.
"You think my hearing is now so bad, you'll be able to sneak out of there and right up to me, is that it?" scoffed the figure bitterly. "Perhaps I should target one of your little friends here, instead – that is what you expect of me, right?"
Fujin huddled into the storeroom, mind racing. She had to get past this psychotic madman. But how? Perhaps... if she could just move him forwards a bit...
"SPEAK LIKE ARE VICTIM!" she shouted incredulously. "HURT GIRL – WOULD HAVE KILLED. HAD TO STOP YOU!"
"That... that was an accident!" he shouted back in reply. "You have no..."
"NOT TALKING OF NOW!" she shot back. "HAD KNIFE... DID KNIFE SLIP?! ARE INSANE!" she condemned angrily.
Several bolts of lightning slammed fiercely into the doorframe, splintering and scorching it, as the man raged hysterically outside.
"STOP IT! JUST... STOP IT! I'M NOT TALKING ABOUT NOW EITHER, YOU BITCH!" he howled furiously. "THAT'S NOT HOW IT WAS! IT WAS AN ACCIDENT, DAMN YOU...damn you... it wasn't my fault..."
His voice trailed off into a sob. This might be her chance – she felt sure he had advanced towards her that time. Could she really do this again? Then she saw him again in her mind, kneeling over that girl as the siege raged around them, knife raised to strike, blood pouring from her head - it had been no accident.
She remembered her outrage; that she had fought so hard to rein her soldiers in, been so horrified as it had finally struck home, what Seifer had wanted them to do... And this animal had taken advantage of the situation to commit such a horrendous crime – a crime they no doubt would have been blamed for, if she hadn't stopped him!
She'd seen that same mania in his eyes back then, playing the music to drown out any screams the girl might manage... She shivered at the sheer coldness of it, appalled that she'd once wished for such emotional detachment to escape her unhappiness. But Xu had saved her from all that...
She wanted Xu back so badly, she wanted their life back! But before that could happen... there was no way she would let him stand in their way...
"It wasn't my fault; it never would have happened if they hadn't attacked us, I swear..." he babbled, seemingly lost in conversation with someone else entirely now, though Fujin was quite sure no-one else had entered the corridor. "I had to do it... she might have talked... no-one would have understood... I couldn't tell you... I wanted to, but I just couldn't..."
He sounded almost out of it now, severely crazed – it was now or never; she had to do this. Silently, she crept into the corridor, but it wasn't so dark that she could hope to avoid detection. The baton he was holding was sparking with electrical energy. In the glow, she could see the area around him reasonably well.
"I had to do it" he stated calmly, looking straight at her, his face shining demonically in the pale bluish light. "She left me no choice..." he finished, raising his baton and starting to trace in the air.
"People make their own choices – you can't blame yourself for what they do and you can't let them blame you" Xu had told her time and again. "You accepted your share of the blame, so don't let anyone use you as a punching bag for their own guilt – or I'll have to see to them!"
Drawing strength from her absent lover, Fujin had also begun tracing a glyph at her side, but with an enormous amount of mental discipline (learned, fittingly enough from Xu in one of their tutorials), she managed to send a second blast of (admittedly rather weak) force howling at his body.
He took the bait – ceasing his spell he moved to dash aside her attack, leaving her free to cast her primary spell. The glyph flew out... and struck home! With a rush of success, she pulled sharply, hearing the squeal as the spikes dragged across the floor. He started, but it was too late. She snapped the current upwards...
A pained groan was all she could hear as he crawled on all fours to his mangled baton. Seeing his bloodied hand, he suddenly scrabbled at his face, apparently checking his good ear was still intact. Satisfied, he let out a relieved laugh which slowly turned to despairing sobs.
Advancing slowly, her Boomerang raised, Fujin saw that neither he nor his weapon were in any condition to fight on. It was up to her therefore, to decide what to do with him. He'd come here to kidnap or hurt Xu, her bodyguards had been brutalised - she wasn't even sure the girl was still alive. And Xu was missing, perhaps... she shook the thought from her head.
People like him deserved no mercy... And yet to see him now, his mind and body broken, he seemed more pathetic than wicked. Twisted by hatred, lost in his delusions... She was reminded uncomfortably of Seifer. Or for that matter... without Xu, who was to say it couldn't have been her, one day?
"PLEASE – ENOUGH! DO NOT WANT TO DO THIS..." she said, lowering her weapon. This wasn't who she wanted to be - she was no executioner. She just wanted Xu back.
Looking back, she clicked the lights on and spread her arms slowly in a show of peace. Carefully, she laid the Boomerang down at her feet. His eyes followed it down and his shoulders seem to sag with relief as it touched the floor.
"UNDERSTAND ATTACK ON GIRL, NOT INTENDED... ACCIDENT..." she began, wracking her brains for how to do this. "BUT GIRL WAS STILL ALIVE – COULD HAVE HELPED!" she argued. "WAS YOUR DECISION TO TRY AND FINISH JOB; YOUR CHOICE TO COME HERE... DO THIS..." She gestured to the wounded students.
His only response was to shake his head, rocking back and forth as he nursed his bleeding hand. She was trying to get him to see the truth, but realised she could push him all the way over the edge if she didn't watch out. In class, it sometimes helped to set a task that the pupil could attempt to get back in her good books... maybe it would work here...
"BUT STILL HAVE CHOICE - CAN MAKE BETTER CHOICE NOW!" she pleaded. "WHERE IS XU?! PLEASE TELL - SIMPLY WANT END OF THIS!"
Oh, what was the use?! He wasn't going to tell her - she was hopeless at this sort of thing. Xu could have convinced him, if she'd had all the facts... But she couldn't waste any more time. She'd have to subdue him and...
Suddenly he looked up at her. For a second, she thought she recognised that look of contrition her students sometimes gave her when they knew they'd been bad. She might have gotten through to him...
Suddenly a siren sounded far below them and the Garden abruptly lurched into motion, sending them both flying. As she struggled to her feet, Fujin saw him scramble frantically to one of the doors down to a lower floor, where he paused silhouetted in the doorway.
"If she dies... then it will be because of you – YOU!" he insisted, as if trying to convince himself also, before pulling himself through the door.
"STOP! WHERE IS XU?! TELL, PLEASE!!!" she shouted desperately after him.
Attempting to move forwards, she staggered sideways into the wall, her legs still adjusting to the sudden motion of the ground below them. Stifling a scream of angry, tearful frustration, she punched the wall and collapsed wearily against it. Why hadn't he just told her where to find her; hadn't they suffered enough?!
She'd used up a lot of mental and physical energy getting here and she was starting to feel the effects. Her borrowed power from her patron was all but spent... But she had to keep moving, keep believing. He'd said 'If she dies...' after all, which suggested that wherever she was, Xu was still alive.
So swallowing down her misery, she pushed herself up and made for the door to Xu's room... to their room. If he was telling the truth, then there was nothing to fear by making certain that it was empty. But she had to be sure...
As she stepped up, she caught sight of Xu's badly wounded bodyguard and realised she'd need to see to her before she left. First however, she had to make check Xu wasn't in there. Flicking on the light, she saw that the place was an absolute mess – along with her bodyguards, Xu had clearly not gone quietly.
Seeing this room that held such recent, blissful memories defiled like this, was tremendously upsetting to her. There was it seemed, little blood in here however, which was a small comfort at least. Quickly checking the bathroom and small side kitchen, she was left with only the bed area...
The sun was blazing against the drapes, making them appear golden as she approached, her heart pounding in her ears. 'Just do it quick!' she ordered herself, and swiftly ripped them open... nothing!
So this was a kidnap, not an assassination... She suddenly gave a relieved sob, but bit it back just as quickly. It was a relief not to find Xu among the wounded... or worse, but that meant it was all the more important to keep moving! But where would they take her... and why were they doing this?
He'd said that this was all because of her... that she'd brought this danger to Xu. Was that the truth? If so, then Xu's blood would be on her hands... No, no; it wasn't going to come to that - she couldn't give up! Xu would be furious with her if she found out she was doubting herself like this! She was going to find her; she just had to think.
Hurrying back to the corridor, she remembered the girl and bent down to inspect her injuries, as she went over the situation in her head. The Garden was mobile, so the kidnappers were either trapped here or they were pursuing them right now. That left her with two possibilities – follow the intruder downstairs, or use the intercom in Xu's office to try and contact someone for information...
The girl's injuries were messy, but appeared relatively superficial to her admittedly untrained eye. She'd need to stop the bleeding, but... oh, she didn't have time for this! Xu needed her – she couldn't be standing around here!
"CANNOT... HELP! ASSISTANCE!" she shouted frantically.
If she left her in this condition, she'd be no better than that wretched creature she'd just fought... And besides, what would Xu say if she found out! Remembering she'd seen some bandages in the bathroom, she hurried up to fetch them. Got to hurry, got to hurry...
"H... Headmistress..." the girl stammered, reaching up to push Fujin away weakly, as she hastily tried to dress the wounds.
"HOLD STILL – AM IN HURRY!" Fujin snapped impatiently.
"No... the Headmistress..." the girl choked suddenly, waking up enough to speak. "... Said they were flying her out... the 2nd floor gallery... go..."
Flying her out?! Then they... She had half risen, when she saw the girl's head flop onto her chest. She needed to get down to the 2nd floor gallery straightaway, but... what about these two; she couldn't just leave them like this... could she?
Noticing her hesitation, the girl grabbed her by the arm, straining to stay awake. "Listen... to me! She's more important!" the girl insisted. "Especially to you... it's human nature, there's no shame in admitting that! Now... go save her!" the girl breathed, pushing her away forcefully.
Amazed at the girl's courage, Fujin handed her the bandages, clutching her arm in thanks.
"WILL SEND HELP..." she promised, standing up.
"Oh no, you're not sending... urrrgh... ahhhh.. uggrrhhh!"
Spinning around, she caught sight of one of the guards from the stairs as he was suddenly lifted into the air and smashed headfirst into the ceiling. An iron combat pole which was sticking out from the door to the emergency stairs, was pulled from the man's stomach area, allowing him to collapse to the ground.
"Damsels in distress, my specialty, ya know?!"