A.N.: Ugh. I hate writing battle scenes. Don't bother flaming me—I already know that I suck at it.
Also, I realize that I'm using a horrible mixture of the Japanese and English versions of the names. This is just the way I think of the characters, so this is the way I write them. I know it's annoying, but I won't be changing that.
Edited November 2007
CHAPTER THREE: Bars and Brawls: Part 2
Malachite's choices were limited, but he wasn't about to leave Mina in this psychopath's hands. Still, what could he do that wouldn't get them both killed? He remained frozen in place for a fraction of a second, and then he made the mistake of looking to Mina.
She was smiling. Surrounded by armed crazy man, held by another one, and with a gun pointed at her head, she was smiling.
Mina was not having a good day. She'd gone nearly forty-eight hours without sleep and then spent several more hours searching for Artemis on top of that, and she just wasn't in the mood to deal with these idiots and their guns.
Can't I have just one night of peace? Just one?
She wasn't scared, of course; she'd spent the past decade fighting monsters with fangs and monsters with claws and monsters with tentacles—and sometimes monsters with all three and more—and she was simply past the point where monsters of the two-legged kind could bother her. Even with his gun pointed at her temple, Mina was hardly afraid of her captor.
Then again, just because she wasn't terrified didn't mean she wasn't angry, and it certainly didn't mean that she wouldn't beat the crap out of him as soon as she got half a chance. The pervert deserved it, if only for the things he'd whispered in her ear when he'd first grabbed her.
The gun was still firmly in place at her temple, but Mina still risked a quick glance around. She swept her eyes across the room, assessing, weighing, counting. Nine, she determined. Only nine. That shouldn't be too hard.
And it shouldn't have been. They were senshi, after all, though Mina couldn't help losing just a little of her confidence as an all-too-familiar man suddenly took a step forward.
Malachite.
Mina began to curse silently. She'd forgotten about him, she realized, annoyed with herself for her carelessness. It'd be one thing to beat up the bad guy when only a fraction of the people here know me, but it's another when my own roommate is watching.
Just can't catch a break, can I? Oh, well…I can always say I studied Kung Fu to stay in shape for work. Black Belt Mina--talking cat and friends sold separately.
It'd be more believable than most of my excuses, anyway.
Mina blinked, very aware of the increased pressure against the side of her head. "No heroes," Pervert Man was telling her roommate, his voice cold and threatening. "Move again, and I'll kill her."
You can try, Perv. Oh, you can try.
Mina gave another mental sigh, cringing inwardly as she realized that Malachite was looking at her again. She could see how terrified he was for her—and, she didn't fail to notice, not for himself—but she didn't like his expression. Was he going to do something noble and stupid and get himself killed? He didn't exactly seem like the knight-in-shining-armor type, but it wasn't like she knew him all that well. They only lived together, after all.
She had to reassure him somehow, stave off the stupid heroics. Or would showing him that she wasn't afraid make things worse? A human girl would be terrified in her place, she knew. How would he react when he realized that she wasn't?
She smiled at him anyway. It was a natural instinct on her part, this attempt to ease his fears for her, though of course it wasn't more than just the barest curving of her lips. Still, the smile, faint as it was, also held embarrassment. I can't believe I was caught like that. Raye will never let me hear the end of it, and if she does, Haruka won't.
She knew immediately that she shouldn't have smiled at all. One quick glance at Mal's face told her how stunned he was by her lack of terror, and she wondered how much of a mess she'd just created for herself. It had to be Malachite, didn't it?
Fortunately for her, Malachite was soon being herded against the wall with everyone else, and she didn't have to meet his eyes any longer. She dismissed him—she had to dismiss him—and turned to find the other senshi in the crowd.
Haruka and Michelle were standing together, Michelle with a restraining hand on the taller girl's arm. They were watching her, waiting for orders, and Mina almost rolled her eyes at the anticipation in Haruka's. Maybe I should just let her take care of them, she thought idly. She won't hold back just because they're only human, and at least I'd be entertained.
Notquite amused, she glanced past the tall blonde to the slightly shorter one safely ensconced behind Lita's back, Raye on her right side, Amy on her left. Good. Whatever happens, Serena will be safe.
One of the goons returned with a pillowcase full of stolen jewelry and wallets, and although he kept his fingers locked around her wrist, the Pervert's attention was momentarily diverted. Mina watched him from the corner of her eyes, but she also allowed her gaze to wander very briefly towards each of the senshi. Her blue eyes held a message, and her attention lingered just long enough to catch their nods of agreement.
Pervert must have liked what he'd found in the pillowcase, though, because he gave a barking laugh so sudden that even Mina automatically glanced his way. Moron,she thought. He hasn't even tried to cover his face, and unless he plans to kill us all, there are far too many witnesses in this room. He'll never keep what he's stolen. Doesn't he know that?
Judging by the pleased laugh, he obviously didn't.
Mina hadn't made a sound, but perhaps the man had sensed that she'd turned her head, because his grip suddenly tightened on her arm. She blinked, startled by the strength of it, but even that didn't bother her quite so much as what she found when their eyes met. Something glinted in his that gave her pause, made her look a little more closely at him. Something isn't right with this man, she slowly realized. He's human enough—I'd know if he wasn't—but…I don't know. Maybe he's just crazy.
No, she decided an instant later, not insane. She'd seen insanity before. This wasn't it. And what about his strength? It wasn't quite….normal, either. His hold on her arm was painful, and no human should have been able to hurt her.
Her only excuse, later, would be that she'd been distracted by the strangeness in his eyes, that she'd been so caught up in what she'd seen that she hadn't thought to jerk away in time. She was genuinely surprised when he suddenly pulled her towards him, crushing her body against his, and then, horror of horrors, crushing her lips against his.
Grossgrossgrossgrossgross…
He tasted…bad, like moldy cheese mixed with morning breath. If he hadn't been holding her too closely, she probably would have gagged. As it was, she knew she'd never get the taste out of her mouth. He's going to hurt for this!
The kiss, mercifully, didn't last for more than a moment. He spent a few seconds trying to push his tongue past her lips, but she'd clamped them shut with every bit of the superhuman strength she possessed, and he soon grew bored with simply pressing his mouth against hers. He pulled back, his expression dark as she fought the urge to wipe her mouth and cleanse herself of his touch. She didn't try to hide her disgust, however, and his glare quickly deepened to something a lot like hate. "Maybe I'll take you with me when we go," he hissed at her, his voice low so that only she would hear. "Just you and me and my gun. You'll wish you'd been nicer to me, then, won't you?"
She almost rolled her eyes. Please. If I were human, I'd kill myself before I let you take me anywhere. And since I'm not human, I'll kill you first!
Another of the goons approached, and he dared his master's anger long enough to hold out his own pillowcase of stolen goods. The Pervert glanced down, his grip on Mina still bruising in its intensity.
Mina looked away herself, angling her head just enough that she could meet Haruka's eyes, gave a brief, sharp nod of her own.
Time to take these bastards down.
Mal's heart had leaped into his throat as Greasy Hair had dragged Mina to him, knowing the man wouldn't be content to stop with just a kiss. Mal would risk getting himself shot before he allowed anything more be done to her, but what could he really do? Nothing, or at least nothing that wouldn't risk Mina.
He'd do something anyway.
Mal turned, subtly and instinctively, to look for the others. Jed was only a few steps away, and while Mal knew he'd been hopelessly drunk only a few moments before, the younger man's face was completely alert now. He caught Mal's gaze, the seriousness in his eyes all the silver-haired man needed.
He couldn't see Zoi or Nephrite, but knowing them as well as he did, he felt safe assuming they were also waiting for a chance to strike back.
Once again, Mina acted first.
Malachite turned his eyes back towards Mina just in time to watch the kiss end. Greasy Hair was glaring hard at the blonde, Mina glaring right back, disgust evident in every line of her face. The man whispered something to her—something that only made the disgust increase—and then turned aside to examine his latest henchman's takings.
Mina made her move while he was distracted, her eyes immediately searching out someone in the crowd, her head jerking in a decisive nod. Mal guessed that it was a signal, of sorts, though it must have been just as much a signal for Mina, because in the time it took for Mal's heart to stop beating, she suddenly threw herself against her captor.
Time neither sped up nor slowed down, though it stopped moving normally in the instant Greasy stumbled under the blonde's unexpected weight. She must have been counting on the stumble, though, because she used the momentary distraction to twist out of his grasp. She pulled away, but only far enough to give herself room to move. Her foot came up, lashed out, caught Greasy in the stomach. She'd acted so swiftly that he never had a chance to block her, and he doubled over for the second time in one night, face twisted in pain.
The second man started as his leader went down, dropping his bag and lifting his weapon. Mal froze, watching with horrified eyes, waiting for the gunshot that never came…for Mina was on the move again, striking out before Greasy had done more than gasp out a curse. The second man became the recipient of another kick, this one lightening quick and noticeably lower than Greasy's.
Gunman Number Two didn't even get to swear; he simply crumbled, becoming a rather boneless heap on the ground. He'd somehow held onto his weapon, however, and Mina waited only until he'd finished falling before she deliberately stepped on his hand. Mal was grateful that he was too far away to hear what must have been the crunch of breaking bones, but he could only continue staring as she kicked the gun out of reach.
Greasy was almost back on his feet by then, and from the look on his face, he would cheerfully have put a bullet through Mina's pretty hide while her back was turned. Mal opened his mouth, intending to call out a warning, but the girl didn't seem to need that, either. She spun once more, this time slamming an elbow into the back of Greasy Hair's neck. He, too, dropped his firearm, his eyes rolling back into his head as he slumped over onto the floor.
The whole thing had taken less than a minute.
Mina bent and took the first man's gun, tucking it under her arm for safekeeping. He noticed that she hadn't put the safety on, but then he didn't know if she knew how, or even that she should.
The blonde straightened, looked up and just happened to meet Malachite's eyes.
Mal started breathing again, but only with difficulty. He no longer expected Mina to be afraid, but he'd thought she'd have at least a little nervousness or anger in her expression, and she didn't. Her features were completely devoid of emotion, though her eyes were hard. She gazed at him for an instant, and then turned those eyes to the crowd, searching once more.
That brought him back to himself, reminded him that Mina hadn't been the only one threatened…and there simply wasn't any way the other goons had failed to notice their leader's fall. He forced himself to glance over his shoulder, expecting to see half a dozen firearms pointed at Mina, found instead what was, somehow, slightly more unnerving.
The gunmen were no longer an issue.
Mina's friends must have been as quick to attack as Mina herself, because it had taken just as little time for them to bring down the other men as it had for his roommate. On one side of the crowd, a beautiful and vaguely familiar woman was kneeling beside an unconscious man, pulling his gun from his hand and carefully searching his clothes for other weaponry. Beside her lay another man, his face pressed into the club's floor by the foot of a tall, blonde youth.
The youth was worth a second glance, if only because he, too, looked strangely familiar. The man couldn't have been much older than Mina himself, but the smile curving his lips was smugly cocky. He was looking in what Mal suspected was Mina's direction, and after a second or two, the smile widened into what could only be a grin of triumph.
Maniacal triumph. Creepy maniacal triumph.
Malachite tore his eyes away, wondering if those two had been the ones Mina had signaled for help—if that had even been a signal, and why would Mina have been signaling anyone?—and, if so, if this was one of the psychotic friends Mina had warned him about the first day they'd met. The man, at least, certainly looked psychotic…
Mal made a mental note to avoid the blonde man in the future. And his girlfriend. And possibly Mina, if he could. They were all crazy.
He looked further into the crowd, eyes lingering on a dark-haired girl in a red dress. She, too, was bent over a fallen gunman, her fingers prodding through his clothes, presumably also in search of other weapons. She was touching him as little as she could, her fingers moving gingerly through his jacket. Beside her, a very tall brunette was doing the same to yet another man, her cheeks and eyes flushed with adrenaline. She was also grinning, though since her smile seemed more appreciation for the fight than anything else, it wasn't nearly as creepy as the blonde man's had been.
Beside them both were two more girls, tiny and impossibly slender, the final man at their feet. Both girls were grinning sheepishly, looking extremely uncomfortable as those around them cheered whatever they'd done to knock out a grown man easily twice their size, but they didn't seem any more shaken than Mina had been.
Even two against one, they don't look nearly strong enough to have fought back. The man, yes, and the tall girl, maybe—and that dark-haired one looks absolutely vicious right now—but these two?
Mina warned me about her friends, but apparently, she didn't tell me the half of it.
He almost shook his head, wondering why he always seemed surrounded by the crazies, and turned back to Mina.
He found himself looking down the barrel of a gun instead.
Once Mina had ascertained that none of her senshi were hurt—of course they hadn't been hurt—and that the threat to the other dancers had been removed, she'd bent once more over the men she'd attacked. They were still unconscious, and as hard as she'd hit them, they probably would be for quite some time. They deserved it, the idiots.
She shrugged, standing and taking one last glance around the room. Several of the dancers were staring back at her, eyes wide with both awe and the adrenaline rush that came with fear, and she sighed.Better avoid this place for awhile, she decided rather tiredly. At least until something else happens and they have better things to gossip about.
She tucked the gun a little more firmly under her arm, turned and began making her way to Serena. She glanced once at Malachite as she passed, but her roommate was too busy watching the other senshi to notice that she'd even moved. Poor man. He was all ready to play the hero, and instead he has to watch as a bunch of girls take on his opponents. That can't be good for his manly pride.
At least he didn't get the chance to do anything stupid.
She'd taken only a few steps before she caught movement out of the corner of her eye, and she quickly glanced back over her shoulder, eyes instinctively going to the place where she'd left her former captor.
He was gone.
Note to self: Next time, make sure the man is actually unconscious before walking away…
Damn it.
He was on his feet, moving as quickly and steadily as though she'd never hit him, and after only a few steps, he bent and retrieved the second man's gun…the one she'd completely forgotten about.
I really should have picked up that gun instead of just kicking it away. Second note to self: Stop kicking guns. It's just a stupid idea all around.
Mina's own eyes narrowed, though she wasn't at all surprised when he lifted the gun and leveled it at the spot between Malachite's eyes. Mal was standing right in the line of fire, after all. That settles it—all men are idiots.
Still, the man's aim was too even, too swiftly taken, and Mina thought again of that glint of not-quite-insanity in his eyes.
Not the time to dwell on that. Not the time to think at all, really, or to weigh her options.
Not that she had any.
Mina didn't have time to think, or to plan. She was acting purely on instinct as she shifted the gun under her arm to her hand, as she took aim and pulled the trigger before the man could.
The bullet exploded outwards, slamming into the man and knocking him back, just a little. Blood blossomed from the wound, the bullet passing through his body and sending the blood splattering out into the space behind him.
She hadn't missed. She never missed.
She already wished she could have missed.
The gunman looked down at his chest, surprise evident in his dark face, and then he looked at Mina. Whatever had been in his eyes earlier was gone, drained away with his blood and his life, and he was able to stay on his feet for only a second before he fell again. This time, he didn't move.
Nobody said anything. Nobody moved, or breathed. The silence was intense enough to be painful.
Mina continued staring at the fallen man long after he'd died, her face pale, her expression unreadable. She, too, said nothing, though she eventually pried the gun from her own fingers, flicked on the safety and moved it back under her arm. She glanced up at Malachite, her eyes hard and almost cynical, his confused. "Take the gun from him," she finally said, jerking her head towards the dead man, her voice low but still commanding.
He did. It never even occurred to him to do anything else.
Her eyes flickered once around the room, pausing briefly on her senshi and then on Malachite and his friends. "Where's Mac?"
The big man had been shoved into the very back of the crowd, but now he stepped forward, his face pale and his eyes wide.
"You might want to call the police now," Mina told him.
Joke of the Day: (If y'all have any jokes or funny stories, I'd love to hear 'em. I think I'm going to start adding them onto my chapters, just for laughs.)
Those who live by the sword…get shot by those who don't.
It is said that if all the cars in the world were lined up, some idiot would still try to pass them.