"You what?" Priss asked apprehensively, "What in the hell could you possibly have to say to Linna-chan?" "That is between me and her." As she looked on, Linna began to feel that she recognized Leon from somewhere. It was strange she hadn't noticed it before, but somehow she knew that they'd met before. "Bullshit it's just between you and her!" Priss said, her unease growing as she noticed the searching look Linna was giving the man in her tent. "Does your mom let you kiss her with that mouth?" Leon asked Priss sarcastically. He shrank back a bit when he saw the angry look in her face." "My mother died of small pox she contracted from a gaijin when I was ten, you insensitive son-of-a..." "The British compound!" Linna cried out. Both Priss and Leon gave her black stares. "Don't you remember?" Linna asked Leon, much to his surprise, "I and two of my friends from the Geit okiya were being rudely accosted by some of your men, and you came to our defense. You and Officer Wong." Leon was shocked. "You... you were one of the geisha?" he asked incredulously. Linna then turned to Priss, and smiled. "It's okay, you can leave. I'll be alright." Priss looked at her beloved for a moment before turning suspiciously to Leon. "If you try anything, and I mean anything, with her while I'm gone..." "I won't, Priss-chan. And I'm sorry about bringing up your mother..." "Wait a second, back up." Priss said, her eyes narrowing. "What did you just call me?" "Um, Priss," Linna jumped in just in time, "Please let Leon-san say what he has to say to me in private." Priss turned back to her, and put her hand up to her cheek. "I'll be outside if you need me." she said as she walked out, leaving the two of them alone together. In the awkward silence that followed, Linna watched as Leon paced back and forth, putting his thoughts into order. "Captain McNichol?" Linna asked a bit nervously, "What did you want to talk to me about?" Leon took a deep breath, and looked at the young woman in front of him. "Priss. I want to talk to you about Priss." "Oh, yeah. Look, I'm sorry. She's like that around a lot of guys though, and..." "No, you don't understand. You see, I saw the two of you down by the brook, and..." "You were spying on us?" Linna asked, a bit annoyed. "Look, I saw you, alright. And now, we have a problem." "We?" Linna asked, "I've never gone around snooping on others." "Damn it, shut up until I'm finished, will you!" Leon said angrily, finally loosing his patience. "Look, I saw Priss first, and what you and her are doing is sick, so I..." "What do you mean it's sick? We love one another, we..." "That's not love! Love is something a woman is supposed to feel for a man, not another woman!" "I don't know if Priss and I are supposed to feel what we do for each other or not, but we do. And I'm not giving her up just because you said so!" "Listen, woman." Leon said threateningly, "If you know what's good for you, you'll back off. Priss is mine, and..." "‘Priss is mine?' Since when?" Linna asked, now just as angry as Leon was. She was starting to understand just why Priss had such a low opinion of the jerk in front of her. "I said back off." "Over my dead body." "That can be arranged." Leon said in a low, threatening tone intended to scare the young maiden off. Linna stared at him blankly. "Are... Are you challenging me to a duel?" she asked, taking a step back. Leon smiled. All he had to do was put a scare into her it seemed, and she wilted. "Exactly! I'm challenging you to a duel." he said rather smugly. Linna looked away from him down at the ground. A feeling of joy began to fill Leon. Now he would watch as she tearfully admitted defeat and... Linna looked back up. "Very well," she said, staring straight into his eyes, "I accept." "What?" Leon was taken aback. He never expected her to call his bluff, let alone end up actually dueling her for Priss. "Well, I..." "But now is not the time. We wait until the Emperor is safely back in Tokyo, and then we'll fight one another for her. I warn you, though; I won't lose Priss easily." "Now wait a minute!" Leon said, suddenly realizing things had got out of hand, "I don't think..." "As challenger, I leave the choice of weapons up to you." she said, turning her back to him, "Now please leave." Outside the tent, Priss stood with her arms crossed and an angry expression on her face. She turned as she heard someone approaching, and saw Nene coming up to her. "(Yawn) Good morning, Priss." As Nene saw her fellow Knight Sabers sour expression, she stopped in her tracks. "Is something wrong?" Priss turned away from Nene and back toward Linna's tent. "Leon and Linna are in there ‘discussing things.'" "Oooh..." Nene said. She was well aware that the British Army Captain had his eyes set on Priss. If he had somehow learned of Linna and Priss' relationship, this wouldn't be pretty. "I'm giving them exactly five more minutes before I..." she was cut off by Leon coming out of the tent, his face wearing an odd expression. He quickly strode to the other side of camp and entered his tent. Priss, seeing this, quickly went to Linna's tent, alarmed that something might have happened. Nene went to Leon's, to try and get his side of whatever occurred. ------ "A duel?" Nene asked, shocked by what she was hearing. "The two of you agreed to a duel for Priss?" "Hey, I was tricked into it!" Leon said, trying to defend himself. "Leon poo, listen to me; whether you like it or not, Priss and Linna are in love." "Yeah, but why? What the hell does that hairless freak have that I don't?" "Urgh! Leon, I don't know why Priss loves her. The point is, she does. Now think; if you kill her, what do you think Priss' reaction is going to be?" Leon hadn't thought of that. "I... I don't know. But I can't back down now. Not to a woman." Some movement at the tent flap caught their attention, as Daley came in. "(yawn) Hey, what's all the commotion about in here?" "Huh? Oh, nothing. I..." "Leon has challenged Linna to a duel." "What?" Daley asked, not believing what he'd just heard. "I was tricked into it." Leon offered weakly. "Are you insane? Do you realize what Emperor Meiji will do if he finds out about this?" "The Emperor? Shit! I forgot about him." Daley scratched at his facial hair, "What I wouldn't give for a razor." He mumbled. Turning back to Leon, "Alright Leon, tell me exactly what happened from the beginning." ------ "What do you mean you can't tell me." "Priss-chan, please. Leon and I only talked. He didn't try anything." Priss studied her face. "I believe you, but I need to know what was said." Linna looked at her love, and sighed. She could be so overprotective. It was one of the things she loved about her, of course, but it could be bothersome at times. She went over to her, and stroked her cheek as she looked into Priss' worried face. "Priss, we..." "Wake up time!" Colonel Roland's voice boomed outside the tent. "Time to break camp and move out." ------ He'd traveled the last stretch by boat, unseen by the owner of the schooner or his crew. Arriving last night, he realized he had no idea where his target was or even if he was still in Tokyo. He'd spent the night in an alley in one of the seedy parts of the city, and as he woke up in the morning chill, he heard footsteps coming toward the alley. Disappearing into a doorway, he watched and listened. "Where's Arinori?" a voice asked. "He should've rejoined us by now." "Did you tell him where the rendezvous point was?" another voice responded. "Of course I did, I..." "Miamoto, Toshifusa, I'm back." "What the hell kept you?" the first voice asked. "More importantly, did you find the location of..." "The Imperial Royal Family? Yeah, I found them." Arinori answered, "There in hiding at a beachside home owned by a Dr. Nambu. But there's a problem; their bodyguards are ninjas." "Ninjas?" the second person asked, "what clan are they affiliated with; Iga, Koga...?" "No, they appear to be unaffiliated with any of the major clans. I was only able to learn a little bit about them. They all wear clothing that resembles birds. Sometimes one, sometimes five; the white shadow that moves unseen..." "What?" the first man asked, interrupting him. "Look, save it till we get back to Mason, and then we'll..." "Mason?" the young man from the doorway asked, "He's still here in Tokyo, then?" The three members of the yakuza pulled out their hidden daggers, all facing toward the doorway. "Who are you?" one of the men angrily shouted. His eyes widened in fear as the Iga clan apprentice came out wearing his black hakama pants and kimono top, his eyes just visible under his straw kasa hat, the rest of his face hidden by his scarf. "I am the angel of death." he said as he unsheathed his sword, "I have come for the man named Mason. Where is he?" A short time later, he climbed up to the top of the building, leaving behind the three bodies of Mason's henchmen. As he got to the roof he smiled for the first time in weeks. As far as he knew, he was the last member of the Iga clan. And for that, Mason would now pay. ------ The three former daimyo rode in the front of the pack, followed by the seven ronin and the fourteen yakuza. Both the daimyo and ronin disdained being sent out with the gangsters. They were former feudal lords, former samurai. They were now traveling openly with the dregs of society. There was still unease about the fact that a group of four strangers had fooled them so easily as to sneak into their ranks. They were almost positive it was because of the "Left Fist" gang that the cabin the three gaijin were staying at was a smoldering cinder by the time they'd arrived. No supplies or weapons were left. As a result, they still only had the riffles being carried by two of the yakuza, and the big gun. The Gatling gun was luckily hidden from view when the four imposters entered their camp, or else they probably would've destroyed it too. "Where are we, exactly?" one of the daimyo asked. "I'm not sure." A ronin answered. Turning back towards one of the yakuza carrying a riffle, "Zuiken, come over here." The man rode over, "Yeah, whaddya want?" he asked. "Go to the top of that hill over there," the ronin said, pointing to a small hill three miles up the path, "and try to see where we are." The yakuza mumbled something under his breath as he rode off. ------ Sylia was riding her horse alongside Nigel, her helmet tied to her saddle behind her. She had insisted on being alongside the others when the time came. While she uncharacteristically slouched in her saddle, she was able to walk on her own. Slowly, she was finally showing signs of recovery. She looked around at the others, and frowned. Something was going on, but she couldn't put her finger on it. Captain McNichol kept looking over in Linna's direction, Priss kept looking at both of them, and Nene and Daley had exchanged worried glances. She wasn't used to being kept out of the loop, and she didn't like it. Mackie was riding alongside of Nene and the wagon. Mackie had tried to smile at her earlier, but was met only by a worried face. He chalked it up to her being worried about the upcoming fight, and left it at that. Chief Toodou, riding on the opposite side of the wagon, watched as Colonel Roland rode up alongside of Sylia. "What's going on with them?" he whispered, motioning discreetly to Leon and Linna. "You noticed it too?" she whispered back. "I don't know. But once this mess is over with I intend to find out." Emperor Meiji, riding alongside Daley, kept the wagon constantly in view. If danger threatened, he'd been told to get in there and stay hid until the coast was clear. He didn't like it, of course. Hiding was unbecoming the Imperial Ruler of Japan. But he didn't have much choice in the matter. Coming around a large oak, they saw a small hill a short distance ahead of them. Sylia rode her horse out in front and held up her hand. "Everyone, listen; there's a chance the enemy could use a hill like this for cover, waiting on the other side to ambush." she said, sounding a bit like the Sylia of old. "We need a volunteer to go up and make sure it's safe." "I'll go." Nene said as she stood up in the wagon front. "It'll give me an excuse to get off this stupid wooden seat and stretch my legs." Sylia looked at her thoughtfully. "Very well, but be careful. If you see anything dangerous, come back at once." "Yeah, yeah." she mumbled as she grabbed her bow and slung her arrows over her shoulder. As the group watched her walk off toward the foot of the hill less than a mile away, Mackie rode up to his sister. "Sis, are you sure it's okay sending her out like that?" Sylia turned to her brother and smiled. "She's done this sort of thing before, Mackie. She's a Knight Saber, and tougher than she looks." ---A Short Time Later--- Nene was glad to get away from the tension filled atmosphere back with the others. She still couldn't believe how stupid Captain McNichol was. He might be a brave man and a good officer out on the field, but he was totally clueless when it came to women. What was he thinking; Linna wasn't going to back down to a challenge for Priss. Of course, he wasn't going to back out of it either; it was a matter of honor to him, and he'd loose face if he backed down to a woman. Nene sighed. Men could be so stupid at times. Coming to the top of the hill, she looked at the Fall foliage and smiled. A flock of birds flew overhead in a V formation as the sun shone down. Judging by where the sun was in the sky, she guessed it to be about noon. Over in the brush, she heard some movement. She looked over to her right and saw a man on a horse with a riffle. By his distinctive clothing, she instantly recognized him to be a yakuza. Looking at her, the gangster recognized her pink armor as belonging to one of the Knight Sabers. She quickly grabbed an arrow and brought her bow up just as the yakuza was aiming his gun at her. His gun went off as she let the arrow go. The next thing Nene knew, she was falling backward, something feeling like it had exploded in her left shoulder. She landed hard, knocking the wind out of her. She didn't see the now riderless horse gallop past her in a panic, or its blood-stained saddle. As she looked up at the sky, she was only aware of three things; the pain in her shoulder, the coppery taste of blood in her mouth, and the single tear running down her left cheek. ------ "What was that?" Mackie asked. Linna and Priss exchanged worried glances, and they were off. Leon rode after them, followed by Daley and Sylia. The Emperor quickly dismounted and went into the wagon. Colonel Roland cocked his riffle and rode full charge ahead as Nigel turned to Chief Toodou and Mackie. "You two, stay here!" he ordered. "What?" Toodou yelled angrily. "Since when do you give orders around here? I..." "The Emperor needs you here to guard him, damn it!" Nigel said excitedly, "Now stay here!" And with that, he was off after the others. ------ "Shit! What the fuck just happened up there?" an older gangster who was missing several of his front teeth asked "Zuiken must've run into trouble." the ronin who'd sent the hapless yakuza out answered. Turning to the others, "This is it, men. Forward!" The sounds of galloping horses and men shouting war cries echoed throughout the woods as the men charged forward toward the hill. ---To Be Continued--- End Notes: Bad news, folks; there may be an unfortunate delay between this chapter and the next. I'm moving into a new apartment, and the next chapter may not be up for two or three weeks. Rest assured, though, that I will put chapter 22 out as soon as I am humanly able. Also, for those playing at home: Dr. Nambu and the ninjas guarding the Imperial Royal Family- come from Science Ninja Team Gatchaman
Back to Bubblegum Crisis: Meiji Index - Back to Bubblegum Crisis Shoujo-Ai Fanfiction