She looked up at the sky as the first few drops began to fall, and smiled. Dark storm clouds were visible as far as the eye could see. The bad weather she'd been waiting on for days now was finally here. As the rain began to pick up a little, she went into the forest to her left. She found a swampy area about fifty meters into the woods, filled with bogs and other hazards. She then saw a cave in a hill nearby, and began to head toward it in order to explore the interior. She stopped when she felt her right foot begin to sink in something. Stepping back, she looked down at the little trap she'd almost fallen into, and began to laugh. This was going to be more fun than she ever could've wished for. The light drizzle had by now turned into a torrential downpour. The rain would be her ally, helping to obscure any evidence she might've accidentally left on her way here. She was at least an hour ahead of the little group. If they'd gone by train or boat, or if they'd traveled straight through at top speed along the most frequented roads, they would've been to Tokyo by now. But from what the Iga Clan hunting party's leader had told her, they were being trailed by the yakuza as well as by the o-niwaban. They couldn't afford to be seen in a public place such as the docks or the train depots, not with their traveling companion. And since the yakuza's influence extended to the checkpoints along the main routes, that forced her "sister" into traveling along this narrow, winding trail at a slow enough pace to escape attention. Sylia wanted to be a hero, fine. Congratulations, sis; now here's your honorary Imperial albatross to hang around your neck. Sylia was such an idiot. What the hell difference did it make what happened to Meiji Mutsuhito? As it was, the man they'd come to save was now their biggest liability, slowing their progress down to a crawl. As her hair hung in wet clumps next to her soaked white skin, she came out of the cave. It was perfect for what she needed. Once again making mental note of all the landmarks, and being careful not to step again into the hazard she'd avoided only a few moments earlier, she made her way back to the main trail, leaving markings with her katana behind her on the trees and vines as she did so. Locating the bag she'd left behind in its hiding spot, she opened it and quickly pulled out the necessary props. It ended today. The Emperor and the couple would go first. Sylia she would save for last. She wanted to savor the moment, make it last. She thought again about how much fun she'd had cutting and humiliating her in front of the Emperor and her friends. She was just beginning to become turned on by Sylia's pain and fear when that baldheaded bitch went poking her nose in where it didn't belong. Galatia had used her scabbard to poke back, and she'd fallen in a heap. Galatia once again began to chuckle to herself. Not only was Sylia useless, but obviously so were her Knight Sabers as well. Of course, seeing Sylia on all fours, cut up and gasping for air, wasn't nearly as arousing as what she had planed for her little one. Once the others were gone, and she had her to herself, and... No. Mustn't loose focus. Galatia ran the tip of her index finger along the blade of her katana. The sharp stinging pain helped to bring her back to reality. She found a tall tree which would give her a good vantage point and climbed it, being careful not to slip as the wind and rain picked up. Soon, little one. Soon. ------ The last three days had gone by fairly smoothly for the four member rescue party. Traveling incognito, and following the trail Nene had indicated in her letter, the men were making good time. Well, all except for Police Chief Toodou, who hadn't been out on a horse for this long in years. Just as Leon had suspected, the man was a desk jockey, who had to struggle to keep up with the others and who'd been dealing with chafing and saddle sores since day two. The fact that he and Leon very quickly learned they didn't like each other very much didn't help the time pass any quicker. But Toodou was the chief of the civilian police force. His men were in danger. Innocent people's lives were at stake. And there was no guarantee he would still receive a pension if Meiji was usurped from the throne. The only thing more worrisome for Toodou than his pension was the fact that his niece, who went to a missionary school in Tanzania, was finally going to be coming up to visit in a month's time. He'd never met Lisa before, and so was eagerly awaiting the event. He'd helped her raise the money for the trip, and he'd be damned if he was going to let her come into a war zone. Colonel Roland smoked his pipe as he rode his steed with the others. He was worried about whether or not he'd ever see his daughter Maria again, as well as whether they'd be able to get back in time to prevent all-out war from occurring. A short distance in front of Toodou and Roland, Leon and Daley rode silently. Leon turned to his friend with a worried look on his face. "How are you holding up, Wong?" he asked. Daley took a deep breath. "It still hurts." he admitted, "But at least going out on this crazy mission is helping me to take my mind off it. By the way," he said, deliberately changing the subject, "supposing that the fair young tavern singer is there with the group, how are you going to handle it?" "How am I going to... Daley, please. You're talking to an old pro when it comes to handling the ladies." Daley smiled. Listening to Leon try to sound like he knew something about women was always good for a laugh. "You see Wong, the reason Priss hasn't given me the time of day up until now is..." "Because you're a jerk?" "Very funny. No, because she's already seeing someone. It all makes sense; that's why she won't see me and that's why she's always leaving so soon after performing at that little dive of hers. All I have to do is convince her to dump whoever he is and come with me instead." Daley looked at him funny. "You really think if she's with someone else, you could get her to leave him that easily?" Leon chuckled a bit, and then leaned over to Daley, a big grin on his face. "Of course. It's all a matter of understanding how women work. You see," he said, lowering his voice like he was some sage passing along a great pearl of wisdom to a pupil, "Women are incapable of rational thought." Daly looked at him funny. "Come again?" "They can't think straight. Once their emotions get involved, all logic flies out the window. Now that poor young woman has become emotionally attached to some looser out there. All I have to do is get her to re-direct those emotions to me instead." Daley looked at Leon and struggled not break down laughing. The man had yet to get any woman to "re-direct" anything his way since arriving in Tokyo other than a slap. Still, at least he was taking Daley's mind off his loss. "And naturally, the fact that you're on this little rescue mission will help with that, right?" "Of course. Hell, the guy she's with now is obviously a looser, or else he'd be helping her instead of us. I mean..." Leon suddenly stopped when two men came out of the woods in front of him and Daley. Three more followed, then two more came out behind Roland and Toodou. "Oh shit." Leon whispered. ------ Nene was wet, cold and miserable. Having drawn the shortest straw that morning, she was given the task of driving the wagon. Sure enough, she had to steer it in the middle of a rain storm. Even with the poncho on over her pink armor, the rain was seeping through, causing her teeth to chatter. In the wagon, Linna called out that the coffee she was cooking on the mini stove would be done soon, and that she'd pass her a cup of it to keep her warm. Ahead of her, she thought she saw some movement in the trees, but quickly dismissed the idea. They were all on edge, and were slowly becoming paranoid of every little sound or every unexplained motion among the trees and bushes they passed. And Nene was grudgingly willing to admit that she was more nervous than anyone else. Then again, she had a right to be. There was an assassin out there who had some sort of a weird crush on her, and from the way the others tried to avoid eye contact whenever she asked questions about Galatia, they obviously knew something about the woman she didn't. And it was just as obviously something bad. Coming around a curve in the now muddy path, Nene struggled with the reigns trying to keep the horse and the wagon steady, when she saw an old woman in a woven kasa hat walking along the side of the road leaning on a cane. The hat covered her features, but the way she was bent over and the shabby clothing covering her suggested a poor woman well advanced in years. The horse was almost next to the woman before Nene noticed it. The nails. The long, sharp nails. Moving fast as lightning, the betsushikime drew her katana from her "walking stick" and sliced the horse's throat open, almost decapitating it. Nene started to scream, but the figure in black was already upon her. Inside the wagon, all felt the wagon violently jolt to a halt and heard some sort of a commotion outside. "Nene?" Sylia called out. Nothing. "Nene, is everything all right?" Linna now called out. Nothing. No sound or movement. Something was definitely wrong. Priss was the first to get to the front of the wagon and look out. She saw the horse hanging from its harness that attached it to the wagon, a large pool of blood forming underneath its still gushing neck. Ahead of her, she saw Galatia holding a bloody sword in her right hand and an unconscious Nene draped over her left shoulder, the blonde's hands bound behind her back. Their eyes met for a brief second, before Galatia flicked the blood from her sword and raced off into the thick foliage. "Shit!" Priss yelled as she raced back into the wagon to grab her dotanuki. "Priss, what's going on? What's wrong?" Sylia asked, alarmed by the look on Priss' face. "The bitch has Nene." She said as she put her helmet on and headed out after her. "Priss, wait!" Linna yelled, as she quickly grabbed her own helmet and followed. Sylia likewise stood up and started to move toward the front of the wagon, when she remembered the Emperor. She couldn't leave him behind, and she couldn't take him along into danger. She was stuck here. ------ Colonel Roland, Captain McNichol and the others reined their horses in as a group of the most hardened-looking thugs any of them could remember seeing began to encircle them. Besides the cutthroats, there were also three or four men who looked like former samurai, and a few who didn't seem to fit in either of the other two groups. Chief Toodou looked back nervously toward the path they'd just come from where several yakuza had maneuvered themselves in order to cut off their escape route. "Chikusho (damn)!" he muttered under his breath, "Yakuza." Daley turned to the other three with him. "Follow my lead and do exactly as I say." He whispered. He got off his horse and stood straight. "Who is in charge here?" he asked. An older man stepped forward. "I am, stranger. And you are?" As Leon and the others watched, Daley altered his stance so that he was standing with one foot in front of the other, his right hand extended in front of him and his left behind his back. "I am Wong of the Left Fist." he said, as he proceeded to follow through with the elaborate yakuza introduction ritual. Being a police officer, he'd seen enough of the criminal element to know the proper way to act. The leader of the group glared at him suspiciously. "You, I could possibly see as a yakuza." he said, "But those three?" he indicated the others in the little rescue party, "They're not even Japanese." Wong shrugged his shoulders. "Hey, what can I say; Tokyo is becoming a much more cosmopolitan town nowadays. And besides, it's not as if the Left Hand had all that many members to begin with. When you're located by the seaport, you take what you can get." "Maybe so, but..." "(sigh) Look, it's not like I'm enjoying traveling here with gaijin, you know. It wasn't my idea to let foreigners join the yakuza, it was our boss'. I'm just here with them because the big man told me to bring them along." The leader looked at him with a bit less skepticism now. "So Mason really sent you to help us deal with the Knight Sabers?" Daley smiled. "Exactly, we're here because of the Knight Sabers." "Well then, welcome aboard." he said, passing Daley a bottle of sake. Toodou looked at Leon and Roland, all exchanging worried glances over what Daley had now gotten them into. "Hey," one of the others called out, "Why aren't your men drinking sake too?" "More sake for the Left Fist gang!" another called out. Daley's cheeks were beginning to turn red from what he'd already drunk when he felt chief Toodou's hand on his shoulder. "Wong-san, are you nuts?" he whispered, "How the hell are we supposed to pass ourselves off as yakuza?" "I was wondering that myself." Colonel Roland whispered over. "I told you, just follow my lead." Daley mumbled, as another bottle was passed to him, along with one for the other three. "Death to the Knight Sabers!" he cried. "Death to the Knight Sabers!" the others joined in on the toast, drinking from their sake. Leon looked over at his partner and then at the crooks and murderers surrounding him. "Well, when in Rome..." he sighed, "Death to the Knight Sabers!" ------ Nene and the others looked on excitedly as the cabin came into view. After all the dangers, all the fears and heartbreaks, they were finally back with their loved ones. The sun shone brightly down on the wary group traveling across the field. It all seemed like some sort of wondrous dream. Sylia's usually cool demeanor melted as she saw Nigel exit the cabin. She leapt out of the wagon and sprinted, bad leg and all, into his arms. As they embraced, the blonde saw Henderson now come out of the cabin, smiling as he waved to them. Then, finally, her beloved came out, smiling as he saw her. She was so happy, tears began to stream down her face as she rushed into Mackie's arms. He looked lovingly into her eyes as he stroked her face. His hand was cold as death. With a start, Nene opened her eyes; the back of her head was throbbing. She could hear thunder out in the distance, but couldn't see where she was or who was stroking her cheek. Suddenly, a bolt of lightning nearby lighted up the scene for her. She was in a cave, about fifteen feet from the entrance. And Galatia was the one softly stroking the Russian's face. The rain had caused her black eyeshadow to run down her face in sickening patterns, and her hair to hang in wet clumps along her neck and shoulders. "Oh, little one." Galatia cooed, "Dear little one; why couldn't you have come on your own?" Nene tried to swat the assassin's hand away, but found she couldn't because her hands were tied behind her back. Panic gripped her as she looked around the dark interior of the cave the assassin had brought her to, her eyes slowly adjusting to the darkness. Ignoring the pain in the back of her head where Galatia had no doubt knocked her out, she attempted to scream out for help. Only muffled sounds came out. Galatia, it would seem, had taken the time to gag her as well. "Galatia!" a voice called from outside the cave. "Get out here, you bitch!" Nene realized it was Priss. Galatia picked up her katana and stood up. "Don't go away. I'll be right back." She said as she ran out the cave entrance. Now alone, Nene began looking around for something she might be able to use to cut her cords, as thunder once again ripped through the sky. Outside, Priss was looking around the swampy area she now found herself in. A movement to her left caught her attention, as she got her dotanuki up just in time to block Galatia's katana. Priss assumed a defensive stance as Galatia held her sword in her right hand, her left twirling the scabbard like a baton. "Where is she?" Priss demanded. "Where's who?" "You know who! Nene! Where's Nene!" Galatia didn't answer. Instead she suddenly came at Priss with her scabbard, hitting her hard in the ribs. She then swung her katana around, just missing Priss neck as the Knight Saber once again got her dotanuki up in time. Now it was Priss' turn; she pressed the attack against Galatia, coming at her with thrusts and jabs. Galatia was continuing to use her sword and scabbard together to block and re-direct her blows, all the while subtly re-positioning her and Priss nearer to the naturally-occurring deathtrap she herself had almost slipped into earlier. Linna now came out of the woods and into the swamp, pulling out her two swords as she did so. Priss saw her love out of the corner of her, and in the split second of distraction, Galatia gave her a roundhouse kick to her abdomen, sending her backward. She dropped her sword as she fell. "Priss!" Linna screamed. Priss tried to get up, but somehow couldn't. It felt as if something was holding her down, pulling on her. Looking around, she finally realized what was happening; she was in quicksand up to her naval, and she was sinking fast. Galatia looked down at the blue Knight Saber and smiled. She then placed herself between Linna and Priss. The scenario was perfect. Each would watch the other die; one by her sword, the other by slow asphyxiation in quicksand. "Your friend over there isn't very bright, is she?" Galatia quipped to Linna. She then tilted her head slightly back to address Priss, all the while keeping her eyes on the green-clad figure in front of her. "Priss, is it? Priss, I wouldn't try struggling to free yourself, dear. It'll only make you sink faster." "You fucking..." "Priss-chan, hold on!" Linna yelled, as fear for her love's safety began to grip her. "Heh, hold on? Hold on to what?" Galatia hissed. "You want to save her, you come through me. And this time, it'll be more than just your nose I'll break." ------ Sylia looked anxiously out the wagon front. The puddle of blood under the horse was already almost completely washed away, and the thunder storm was showing no signs of letting up. As she turned around, she saw the Emperor pull a pistol out of a trunk in the wagon. "Meiji-domo, what are you doing?" "What does it look like I'm doing? I'm going out there to fight." "But you can't do that. She's a trained assassin, and..." "Linna-san saved me from an extremely dangerous situation once. I am honor bound to her for that, and to the rest of you. I will not sit here and do nothing while that monster kills her and the others. Now are you coming or not?" Sylia could see that the Emperor was adamant about going out, and was loath to use the same technique on the Imperial Ruler of Japan that she had on the telegraph operator a few days ago. "Very well, Your Majesty. But you will stay out of the fighting. I'll help Priss and Linna, you must find Nene. No matter what happens to us, find her and get her out of here." "Yes, Sylia-san understood." "Good, then follow me." she said, as both her and the Emperor exited the wagon and ran out into the woods, a bolt of lightning once again lighting up the sky above them. ---To Be Continued--- End Notes: Once again, for those playing at home (and those poor souls unfamiliar with the original Bubblegum Crisis OVA)- Chapter Twelve: Raven appeared in episode four of the series. He was the owner of Raven's Garage, and basically took care of the Knight Sabers' bikes and other mechanical needs. Sort of like Nigel in 2040, except there was no romantic ties between him and Sylia. I'm not sure why I made him the sensei of the dojo Sylia trained at, except that it gave me a good excuse to throw him into the mix. Chapter Sixteen: Lisa, Chief Toodou's niece, appeared in episode eight of the original series.
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