Hey! It's Chapter 17! Much faster this time huh...

Well I won't keep you too long just a question or two first alright?

First off should I post sketches of my characters, locations, weapons, etc. to my DeviantArt (which can be found by checking my profile)?

Next it's not really a question but I'd like to express my deepest gratitude to you all, my wonderful readers for continuing to read my story and I'd especially like to thank Hydrocity3 and Fire lord 626 for posting so many reviews for my chapters since my story first started.

...That's all now. I'll let you get with the story since I'm sure that's all you're here for so without further ado here is... CHAPTER 17!

Chapter 17

Business and Mysteries

Underneath Rinto Laboratories

September 24th – 21:02

The so called 'disintegration cannon' looked like a mess and all it had done so far was blow up three robots, a support column and an auxiliary generator.

The professor stared at the decimated cannon and said ambiguously, "Hmm… These repairs aren't going as well as I thought they would…"

"Maybe that's because you keep testing it!"

"But if we don't test it, then how will we know that it works?"

Riko stood there staring at him like he was insane when all of a sudden they heard a shout. "Wait! Are you insane!"

Soon after that the ceiling (more than thirty feet above them) exploded.

Underneath Rinto Laboratories – Falling Rubble

21:08

I felt myself falling, in a daze I looked around and saw Haimaki jumping off of pieces of rubble with Zelko gripping his fur and screaming. Vaguely I saw Tatsu leaping towards me. As I felt him collide with me I blushed deeply when I felt his arms grab me and pull me close to him. When my head reached his chest I blushed even deeper. He was warm, like a fire in the middle of winter.

Dimly I heard a scream from below and a shout of rage, something about someone's roof. Though I didn't care just then; I just enjoyed lying in Tatsu's arms, feeling his warmth.

I felt Tatsu jumping around from on piece of rubble to the next though all I did was snuggle up closer to him. I looked up at his face and saw his smile; with a start I realized how he was holding me. He held me in what could only be seen as bridal style; I got very uncomfortable in that moment. I hoped that no one, especially Tatsu, had seen me blushing and smiling as I had snuggled up to him. I blushed again at just the thought of it.

I looked down wondering how much farther there was left to fall and thankfully we were nearly there.

Underneath Rinto Laboratories – Decimated Labs

21:09

Upon landing on the ground, Tatsu cheerfully said, "Hey Riko, long time no see."

I on the other hand was still blushing madly due to the fact that he still hadn't put me down.

Riko was looking back and forth from Tatsu to me and then back to Tatsu. She looked as if she was about to cry.

All of a sudden one of the side doors exploded as Momo came barreling straight through it. A few seconds later and Amalia came rolling through the destroyed doorway.

Momo continued running until she had tackled Riko to the ground screaming, "I've been looking for you for days!" Riko squealed in joy and hugged Momo tight with every ounce her strength.

An eccentric looking man in a lab coat suddenly spoke up, "What is going on here? Why are all of you people in my lab?" He stopped suddenly and looked at his new skylight and said, "And what the hell did you do to my roof!"

Amalia got up awkwardly and ran over to the strange man and said, "Umm… Dr. Tokumi, my name is Amalia Rotzenburg. I'm supposed to be your new lab assistant."

When she finished speaking, Dr. Tokumi looked from her to Riko then back to her. "Then who is this? If not my new lab assistant?"

Momo spoke up, "This is Riko, and if you've been holding her here then I swear I'll slice your head off!"

"Why I never! You had better watch your tongue little lady, if you plan on leaving here alive that is." He pulled a remote out of one of his pockets and fingered a large red button. "Speaking of which… Which one of you delinquents destroyed my roof?"

Tatsu finally let me down and stepped towards Dr. Tokumi. "That would be me. I hadn't realized that this lab was still in use considering the state of the building upstairs."

The doctor stared at Tatsu in shocked silence for a moment or two then finally said, "Well then… I suppose that one could come to that conclusion due to the lack of a janitorial staff… but how will you fix all of the damages?"

Tatsu smiled and calmly pulled a large red gemstone from one of his pockets and said, "Will this be enough?" I stared at him incredulously. I'd never seen such a large ruby before.

Dr. Tokumi took the stone into his hand gingerly , marveling at the gems size, color and weight. I didn't blame him, the stone looked beautiful. Dr. Tokumi suddenly looked at Tatsu with a shine in his eyes. "Do you think that you'd be interested if I said that I had a nice proposition for you?"

Tatsu smiled and said, "I might. But that depends on what you could offer."

"Well that would depend on what you want. For example if you want something destructive, a recent tenant of mine gave me some blueprints that I guarantee won't disappoint."
Tatsu stopped for a moment and said slowly, "Who was this tenant?"

"Some old fellow named Gainen. Usually he is out here helping me but I haven't seen him today…"

Tatsu suddenly grinned and for a moment he looked utterly demonic. "Could you tell me where I might find him? I'll offer you a more than fair deal for any service you could provide afterwards."

I looked at Tatsu quizzically. It seemed that he had other plans than just finding Gainen.

Dr. Tokumi grinned like a mad scientist and said, "I gave him the rooms through that door over there." He pointed towards a dimly lit corridor then turned and walked over to Amalia, who up to this moment had been watching Riko and Momo, her face was a deep crimson color.

Tatsu started walking towards the corridor and I, not knowing what else to do, followed him.

Rinto Laboratories – Corridor B-01

22:14

As we walked through the empty, dusty corridors, I couldn't help but wonder what Tatsu was planning or for any matter, where he'd gotten that enormous ruby.

Tatsu opened every door in the corridor and as we moved deeper into the building he sped up.

I gently grasped his shoulder and said, "What's with all the hurry? If we've got him cornered then we can easily take our time right?"

Tatsu turned to look at me and made a sad attempt of a smile then said, "Knowing him he's either already gone or nearly ready to leave."

"Why is it so important that we find him?"

"If he reports to any other Runic that I'm here, the results would be catastrophic."

"What do you mean?"

He stopped again and said, "Listen, there are a lot of people who want nothing more than to see me dead."

He turned to continue walking and without thinking I grabbed his wrist and stopped him. "I don't care… I just want to help you… So just let me. Alright?"

He turned to look at me and I saw that his eyes were full of sorrow. Quietly he said, "I can't risk it… He'll send the entire army after me. It doesn't matter to him who dies in the process. To him I'm the last obstacle in his quest for ultimate power." He shrugged me off and continued to walk down the corridor. Leaving me staring at his back, wondering what he meant.