Chapter 26- Showdown

The trip was underway. Hagi rode in the passenger seat- a place the girl called, "Shotgun." Lulu wanted the honor of the seat, but her height as well as her photosensitivity would have made the ride unbearable and deadly. The sleeper was the perfect place for her. She could draw the curtain to separate her from the front of the cab. She was enjoying the back of the cab as it had its own personal air conditioner and a bed to flop on and play games on her smart phone.

True to her nature as a truck driver, they left at precisely 10 am and the trip was already mapped out. She included all the places they'd need to stop for gas or to get a hotel room for the night. They would make it to Denver by 3 am the next day if she followed the schedule.

Not being a truck driver, Hagi thought that amount of driving was a bit much, but she just smirked and told him to leave the driving to her. "We'll make it to Denver by 3 and then we'll head on to Kanorado, Kansas. It's the closest town to the park where these monsters were spotted. We would arrive around 6 am."

Hagi frowned and commented, "That would be too close to daylight for them. They would be stronger from feeding during the night."

She pointed at the map and informed him, "Hello! There's nothing there!"

"I do agree the area is not heavily populated, but they can be resourceful. They are not above feeding on animals," Hagi responded.

She smirked as she pressed the gas down, pushing their speed to 80 miles an hour. Responding to his unasked question, she said, "If I push this rig, we may save a couple of hours. That would put us there at 4 am instead." She looked at him as she kept one eye on the road. "Would that be better for you, Hagi?" she asked with a bit of venom in her voice.

He did not respond as he turned his head to the scenery whizzing by them on the other side of the window. He thought about what it would be like when they returned to Okinawa. She would settle in as he went to Saya. Though he did not show it, he was apprehensive about this awakening. How was he going to explain this to her?

Letting his eyes rest on the scenery, he tried to think back. His mind wandered over the many times he visited the unknown woman in the hospital. He recalled that when she was attacked all those years ago.

There was the sound of gunfire and grotesque screams as humans transformed into chiropterans. There were some special operatives that were helping the Red Shield. They were shouting that they needed Saya to fight.

He saw his daggers hit their mark on one of the beasts and noticed as it fell, it was merely a child. He could hear Saya's scream of rage as she tore through the place, sword killing anything it touched. Her red glowing eyes would strike terror into the hearts of any human- she was on the hunt.

She tore through a piece of material, perhaps a curtain and saw young girls, no more than 13 years old. They were all Vietnamese girls. He had to use his powers to dash across the way and to the room, but when he arrived, the place looked to be painted in blood. Dead bodies littered the rows of hospital beds, all hanging at impossible angles. All of them were killed with deep gashes that severed limbs and heads. Hagi came to a conclusion as he saw each bed had IV stands near them, "They must have been receiving injections of the drug that turned them into chiropterans." They were just children.

His attention turned to the sound of a terrified scream. Saya was before a cowering girl. The brown eyes of said girl were widening in terror as Saya brought the blade over her head. He dashed and caught the blade, but not before it had made its way 3 inches into the girl's skull. Her lifeless body fell to the floor as Saya brought the blade back up.

She growled at her chevalier- he had stopped her from killing. That was her purpose right now. She was a weapon. Her red eyes blazed as she looked upon her chevalier. The sounds of the special ops screaming beyond the confines of this place caught her attention.

Hagi groaned, "Oh no," as he was tossed aside and his queen charged into the night with a snarl. Saya was out of control and it was his fault. He had told her to fight. He had given her his blood. It was his fault she was out of control.

When it was all over, the operatives were all killed and Saya was asleep again. After he ran off, he found a doctor in the forest. Someone he vaguely recalled asking for his blood to awaken her. The urge to tear through the man's throat was causing his remaining hand to twitch.

"You!" he snarled as he grabbed the man by the collar and lifted him off the ground. The man's whimpers of terror were lost on the angry chevalier. He wanted to snap his neck… he wanted to sink his teeth into the artery and watch the man bleed out. This man's blood was tainted and worthless. He was about to move, but something behind the man caught his attention.

A girl in a hospital gown was laying on the ground behind him, a huge gash in her head. He slowly released the man in his grasp and moved toward the girl. Something was special about the girl- he could feel it.

The doctor explained, "I don't know how it is possible, but she somehow survived. I think it's the serum Diva's side is using to create the chiropterans. She's breathing even now."

Hagi crouched at her side and noted that her arm band had the date 03-23. The year was rubbed off so he assumed it was a birthday. He helped the doctor to settle in and take care of the girl in some abandoned camp near a village.

Hagi recalled the girl was taken to Bach Mai Hospital shortly after the doctor that was caring for her died in 2000. He had visited the hospital every other year on March 23- including the one when Saya awakened.

He did not recall touching her in any way other than the time he carried her to the camp in 1972.

Hagi was brought back to the present when some loud electric guitar blasted through the speakers and a man began shouting the most insane lyrics he'd ever heard.

She laughed as she noticed the chevalier flinch at the first chord blaring through the speakers. "Gotcha!" she shouted over the loud music. It only amused her more when he seemed to just keep the usual expression and turn his steel-blue eyes to the road in front of them. The hands in his lap now rose and crossed over his chest.

This brought on even more laughter as she tried to ask, "A-are yo-you sulking?"

"No," he responded and turned his eyes to the window next to him. Can't he cross his arms over his chest without being accused of something?

The first song wasn't even over and his eye was already twitching in annoyance. He reached up and pressed a button on the device, knowing it would change the song.

She slapped his hand away, scolding, "Uh, uh, uh, I'm driving so I get to listen to my music."

He glared at her and responded, "That is not music." He then flicked his hand over the ipod and changed the song again and this time a softer melody emitted from the speakers. The slower rock ballad was one she liked anyway- it was her ipod after all.

The chevalier knew he really hadn't won anything here. He knew that all the music on the device were songs she liked. He mentally made a note to be certain that when they stopped for the night or day, he would play the cello a little longer than normal.

Their mission was to get to a park located off of Road 51 in Kansas. There had been numerous sightings and chiropteran activity noted there. David said that operatives have discovered they were congregating there. They did not know why this was happening, but the trio was glad of it. This meant that they could eliminate the entire threat to the US in one night, if they didn't all get killed.

Hagi glanced at the mysterious girl next to him. She looked so much like him, she even had some of his mannerisms from when he was a child. He recalled that same attitude and temperament in himself before he was bought by Amshel. The decade at the Zoo had taught him how to reign in his temper and how to carry himself as a gentleman. He briefly wondered if he would have turned out like her if he was never brought there.

As the sun was setting, he noticed her increasing her speed. His eyes widened slightly as he commented, "You are going to get pulled over."

She smirked as she flicked the volume on the ipod. She patted the small black device on the dashboard. "You ever heard of a radar detector?"

He was grateful for the lower volume in the music, but his ears were still ringing a bit. He shook his head slightly.

She smiled, "Of course not." She then leaned back and sighed before she answered, "You sure are behind the times. Radar detectors are like that thing in your head that tells you when a chiropteran is around. This thing tells you when a cop is around- and it's the best of the best. This baby can detect a cop two minutes before the cop can even see me. If this bad boy beeps, I'll slow down- no ticket."

The chevalier nodded and his gaze wondered back to the window. All this modern technology was just too much.

It was around 1:20 in the morning when they drove into Denver and her device began beeping in a steady rhythm. He could feel the powerful machine slow. "We are making good time. We should be there about 3:30am."

He nodded and then asked, "Do you think you will be able to fight after driving this long?"

She smirked, "We could stop at a rest stop when we get out of the city. I know one that's really big. It has a lot of room for sparring and since it's this late, everyone will be sleeping."

~0~

Lulu jumped down and gave her stiff back and shoulders a good stretch. Her giant axe glinted in the moonlight where it rested on a fence rail. Mary Frances donned a dark cloak that fell behind her to her ankles. The hood came down over her eyes as she pulled out a long staff and pressed it to the ground. This caused a metallic click to resound in the night air as an over sized scythe blade opened up.

Lulu smiled as the image reminded her of Moses. She then smirked as she recalled all the changes they had made to Mary Frances' arsenal. Hagi was in for a surprise.

The chevalier stood before the two girls in his usual tailed coat as he shouldered the cello case he had removed from the trailer earlier.

Lulu gave a childish smile as she vanished in a blue streak. Her axe glinted from the fence rail as she was brought to a stop by a single jeweled dagger that had pinned her cloak to the fence rail.

Mary Frances turned and noticed that he now had another two daggers at the ready in each hand. Before he could move, she leapt into the air and flipped, avoiding his next dagger. As she was upside down, she caught the handle in her hand and fired it back to the source as she landed on the roof of the restrooms.

The dagger whizzed toward him. Both his hands came up and clapped the dagger between them before it touched the end of his nose. His face remained calm as he dodged three metal objects that sliced past him like circular saws.

"Damn!" she spat as she caught the two daggers in each hand. She had hoped to connect one of those sickles, but he managed to dodge them all. "Time to pull out the heavy artillery!" she murmured as she clicked a small button on the staff. The metal blade of the scythe came up as well as a second pair of smaller blades beneath it. They now had black designs etched into the blades. She reached under her cloak and moved faster than she had before, releasing three sickles in rapid succession- all aimed at the tall chevalier in the distance.

Lulu opted to sit on a fence rail and watch the battle unfold. She had sensed the tension in the air around them even before Hagi left. This battle had been brewing for some time now and Lulu would rather not interfere. She had seen how strong Mary Frances had become in such a short time. The princess may even rival her father in strength. Her weaponry would be a marked advantage in this battle.

The Schiff girl watched eagerly for the battle to commence as she admired the improvements that were made to Moses' scythe. She nearly wiggled in anticipation to see how Hagi would handle those razor sharp sickles Gary had made for her. She briefly gave a thought to what Hagi would think of the improvements Gary had made to her own arsenal as well before her eyes returned to the battle.

Hagi saw the glint of the objects just before he thrust his cello case in front of him. He heard three metal thuds and felt the push of their impact, but he wasn't out of the woods yet. He felt her presence before he turned quickly with a dagger in hand. The dagger sliced nothing but air as she was now on his other side.

The cello case dropped as he transformed his right hand into a claw and caught the blade of the scythe. The metal clang of his chiropteran claw meeting the steel scythe resounded through the air. Her expression scrunched in effort as she tried to push the blade forward to slice through his claw.

The blade of the scythe came down to the ground as she righted herself. He had vanished from the spot, causing her to growl in frustration. As she turned to where she felt him, four daggers rapidly fired at her. She brought up the scythe just in time to block the metal darts in four rapid sounding clangs.

Lulu was getting worried. The two were becoming increasingly aggressive. They were chiropterans, but if they exerted themselves too much, they wouldn't be able to fight.

Hagi rushed the girl, but was caught off guard as she rose with a smirk. What was her game? Just as he approached her, she thrust something at him. They looked like small metal balls, but he didn't see the netting in the darkness. His hands went up to find that he was trapped in something that resembled a fisherman's net. She still had that wicked smirk as she pulled something from her cloak he did not recognize.

This was enough. Lulu jumped between them and kicked the device from Mary Frances' hand. "We're fighting chiropterans, not each other. Remember?"

The girl glared at Lulu and mumbled, "Damn it all to hell, Lulu, I almost had him!" Hagi was pulling the net from himself and came to his feet.

"Yeah, but that would've drained his energy to the point where we'd have to postpone the fight a few days," Lulu scolded. "And besides, that thing hurts like hell!"

Hagi was surprised at the curse word that came from the Schiff girl.

"Oh, don't look at me like that, Hagi," the lavender haired girl told him. "If you get shocked by that thing, you'll be cussing too."

The girl removed the hood of her cloak and wiggled her eyebrows as she rolled up the net and put it back in the pouch on her belt. "It should be illegal and probably is, I'm not sure. Jack built it for me. It's a wire cast net that can deliver a ten million volt punch- all over your body!"

Hagi wondered why these mechanics had helped build these weapons for her. They were not with the Red Shield and they had no reason to know anything about chiropterans. He and his daughter needed to have a little talk.

~0~

The weaponry was gathered and placed in the sleeper as they all gathered around the trailer of the truck. Mary Frances took out a pack of cigarettes and put one in her mouth. Her hands dug into her pockets for the lighter. She then pulled them out and reached into her back pockets- nothing. She began to search around the cab and the trailer, but she couldn't find it.

Making her way to the other side of the truck, she continued to search the ground. Suddenly, a gust of wind brushed by her and snatched the cigarette from her mouth. She rolled her eyes and groaned, "Hagi, I know you did this. Give me back my cigarette… and my lighter."

The chevalier leapt down from the top of the semi and stood before the girl. She offered him a glare as she shoved her hand in front of him, palm up, demanding her items.

Noting Lulu was on the other side of the truck, he whispered, "You are not old enough to smoke aside from the fact that it is not good for you."

"I'll do as I damn well please," she hissed.

He shook his head slowly and responded, "You are a minor and you are my responsibility until you are 18."

She scoffed, "Your responsibility? You ran out on not one but two daughters. Is this what you call responsible?"

He turned to face the light breeze that blew across the dry land. He responded lowly, "I did not know about you or the other child. I am sorry."

"Well," she said coldly, "now that you apologized, I guess your conscience is clean. Guess what? I have a class A driver's license and a birth certificate that says I am old enough to smoke. Now, you are an adult and I am an adult. Give me back my lighter and my smoke or I'll just go buy more."

"You are not an adult," Hagi retorted in his usual, expressionless tone.

She then lunged at him and reached into his jacket. He grabbed her hand and squeezed, causing her to shout a curse. She turned quickly and kicked him in the side, causing him to release her arm.

The girl gave a shout of triumph as she retrieved her cigarette and lighter from the pocket she knew he had put it in. She made her way to the other side of the truck as she kept flicking her lighter with little success. The chevalier's lip twitched for a moment as he heard her shout out, "Shit! What the hell did you do to my lighter?"

She noticed that the lighter was completely drained of lighter fluid. Not only that, he had somehow soaked her cigarette in water. The nerve of that guy.

~0~

The two girls then donned their hoods and took off. He was a bit taken aback by this and reached out, grasping Lulu's wrist. "Where are you going?" he asked.

"To hunt," Lulu responded simply. She then added, "I know the Red Shield provides for us, but this hones our skills. It makes us better at hunting."

Hagi was torn as he released Lulu. What should he do? He did not like the idea of feeding from humans, but that was what these two were doing.

Reluctantly, he disappeared in a blue streak and followed them. Someone had to keep an eye on the two. As he came closer to Mary Frances, he watched as she elegantly leapt from place to place. He could plainly see she was completely adapted to using her powers and not afraid at all.

"How long have you been using your powers?" he asked her.

She was taken by surprise by the question. She then answered sadly, "Since I was 7. They gave me transfusions when I was a baby and as I was growing up. When I was 7, this boy was bullying me a lot. He tried to grab me and I bit him. It caused me to go into a frenzy. After that, I thought I was a vampire of some sort."

"All the other kids were terrified of me because I looked so different, but they didn't know that I really was the kind of monster nightmares are about. I was a beast," she said. "I noticed that I could move very fast and jump very high. The more I tried, the better I got."

When she noticed his stern expression, she added, "Look, if you're worried about the hunting, don't. Lulu insisted that I don't kill anyone, so I can only take small amounts from them. It makes things a bit more challenging, but with all the skills she's taught me, I'm up for a challenge."

"You've killed people." It was more of a statement than a question. He recalled all those men in LA that were drained of blood and then suddenly recalled how they were lured into the alley. At that moment, a wave of shame washed over him- his daughter was a prostitute- like his mother.

She nodded and continued, "I'm not proud of what I did, but I did it to survive. I was a teenager all alone in the world." She noticed Lulu was far enough ahead of them. She spoke bitterly, "How else was a 12-year-old girl supposed to make a living for herself? I couldn't get a job much less an apartment."

Hagi kept an even expression and demanded, "Tell me why you left the place you came from."

"I was an abused orphan child that didn't fit in. I figured anything is better than this," she explained before she dropped to one knee and pulled her cloak off. An idea had come to her head. She would hunt tonight in her old way.

"Watch and learn," she muttered as she made her way to a corner where two streets met and spoke to a woman standing there. She was offered a cigarette and a light. Causing Hagi to shake his head slowly.

She moved down the street a ways and was quickly approached by a car. To Hagi's surprise, she got in and was driven off a distance. He immediately leapt to the building nearby and followed them. All the while he wondered what the girl was thinking.