Legend: "(...)" Japanese dialogue. ------ Sylia held the heavy quilt folded up under her left arm as she reached for the heavy book with her right. The passageway now open, she slowly crept down the spiral staircase, and began to survey the room. It didn't take long to find them. Linna and Priss were lying atop their discarded clothes. Linna was in a fetal position, her back snuggled against Priss' chest. She was using Priss' right arm as a pillow, while the other arm was draped around her waist. Both seemed to be sleeping soundly. Sylia unfurled the quilt, knelt down, and carefully covered the two with it. As she was getting up, Priss' hand left Linna's side and gently grabbed Sylia's hand. "Thank you." she whispered, giving her hand a friendly squeeze. Sylia smiled. "Hey, what are friends for?" Priss placed her arm back around Linna as Sylia quietly snuck back out. ------ Mason sat in his office brooding. He knew either Nigel Kirkland or Sylia Stingray had the gun. He'd tried the friendly approach, and got nowhere. Weighing his options, he immediately ruled out both the yakuza and the men he and Chairman Rosenkreutz had brought with them from Europe. Both were effective, but sloppy. He needed a group who knew something about secrecy, about how to leave no trace or evidence behind to implicate Genom International in any foul play. A knock on the door suddenly grabbed his attention. "Enter." he ordered. "Mason-sama." a visibly shaken member of the yakuza said as he came in, "The o-niwaban is here." "Good. Show the gentleman in." he said smiling. O-niwaban, "one in the garden." It was the common slang term for a ninja. Once the secret agents of the Shogunate, they'd been forced to become freelance, much like the wandering ronin who once served as samurai under the country's daimyos. A few minutes after he left, a tall man dressed in a black kimono and hakama pants came in. His eyes were just visible under his woven kasa (rush hat), the rest of his face obscured by a black scarf. "What do you want of the Iga Clan, gaijin?" "Among other things, a gun." "A gun? You waste the time of the heard-but-never-seen for a gun?" "This is a most special gun, o-niwaban. You see, we know that one of two people have it." "And they are?" "Nigel Kirkland, proprietor of the Kirkland Stables. The other is a Miss Sylia Stingray, owner of a dress shop called the Silky Doll. Use whatever means are necessary, but get me the gun." "I see. Very well. Will there be anything else?" "Yes, there is one other." "The Knight Sabers?" Mason raised an eyebrow. "Exactly. I take it you know them, then?" "Of them, yes. So far the o-niwaban Iga Clan and the Knight Sabers have yet to cross paths. One thousand yen each for Stingray and Kirkland, three thousand each for the Knight Sabers." ---The Following Evening--- Nigel Kirkland sat in his parlor reading a book by Sir Isaac Newton on astronomy, when he heard the dog outside barking frantically. As he looked up from his book, the dog yelped out a short cry of pain, and then nothing. Silence. Sneaking over to the window, he saw the dark figures slowly coming from fifty yards away towards the house. 'Ninjas!' Nigel realized, as he rushed to the basement. Locking the door behind him, he hooked up the booby trap, ran down the stairs, and pulled the large wall breaker down. He then frantically began telegraphing a short message to Sylia as he heard movement upstairs. He pulled back the carpet, opened the trap door leading to the abandoned mine shaft, and literally ran for his life. Four minutes later, the o-niwaban broke through the basement door, tripping the wire that knocked the bottle of nitroglycerin over off the shelf and onto the floor next to the gunpowder barrels. The explosion took away all trace of the ninjas, the house, and any evidence of what had gone on there. ------ Sylia was closing the door to her shop as Nene walked in. The Knight Sabers had decided that tonight would be the night they'd disappear as they went out for the emperor. In the large underground lair, a horse and buggy was being loaded with the necessary supplies by Priss and Linna. Sylia smiled as she pondered whether it would've taken the two this long to load the cart if they weren't romantically linked. She was by no means foolish enough to think that, since this morning, all the two of them were doing was loading the cart. Just then, the large Swiss cuckoo clock started tolling at the wrong time. Sylia looked up, and ran over as a piece of paper with dashes and dots cut into it began to slide out a slit in the bottom of the clock. "Henderson, Nene, come in here quick!" She yelled. As the two came into the store, Sylia read the slip of paper. Sylia Iga Clan Run "Henderson, get Mackie quick, and get down in the tunnel. Nene, come with me." she commanded as she ran as fast as she could in a corset, heels and bustle back to the library. Nene followed, not quite as fast in heels as Sylia was. Entering the passageway, Sylia and Nene ran down the spiral staircase. Getting to the bottom, they saw Linna and Priss continuing the packing job they'd been working on since morning. "Priss, Linna, get your armor on now!" Sylia barked as she grabbed a stick of dynamite and quickly put it in the pocket of her petticoat. She then tied an obi (kimono sash) around her waist, and slipped her sword in it. Finally, she grabbed two loaded six-shooters, handing one to Nene. "Sylia, what the hell's going on?" Priss asked. "O-niwaban." Sylia answered. Both Priss and Linna's eyes widened at that. "Nene, grab the large canister of kerosene and follow me." Sylia ordered, as she and Nene now ran back up the stairs, Sylia hoping against hope that they'd have enough time to put things in order. Coming out of the passage, the commotion she heard taking place in the store told her that her hopes were dashed. "(Where's the gun?)" "Henderson, what's going on? Who are these people and what are they saying?" "Quiet, Master Mackie. (Sir, I don't know what gun you're referring to.)" Sylia kicked the door open. "Hit the floor!" she screamed, as she opened fire on the three ninjas surrounding her brother and butler. "Henderson, Mackie, get in the back now!" Sylia ordered. As they got up off the floor, a shuriken flew from out of nowhere and lodged itself in Mackie's right shoulder. "Urgh! S... Sis..." Mackie said before passing out from the pain into Henderson's arms. "Mackie!" Nene cried. Behind Mackie and Henderson, Sylia could now see more of the black clad figures seeping in through the door and windows. "Shit! Henderson, get Mackie out of here! Nene, give me the kerosene canister!" She yelled. Taking the can from Nene, she threw it at the o-niwaban, shooting it in the air. The can exploded into a fireball, setting fire to ninjas, dresses and kimonos alike. "Nene, up the stairs! Now!" Sylia commanded, ignoring Nene's tears for Mackie and her own fears for her brother's safety. As more ninjas began coming in, she pulled out the stick of dynamite and tossed it in their direction, then followed Nene up the stairs. The dynamite, upon impact with the already spreading first floor fire, blew up, causing the store front to explode in a sea of fire, glass, wood and body parts. Reaching the second floor, Sylia quickly fished out the key with trembling hands. Fighting with the lock, she and Nene could now hear still more coming up the stairs. The o-niwaban Iga Clan was furious with the two women. Not only was their stealth and secrecy now thrown out the window because of them, but twelve of their number were dead. Nene began providing Sylia with cover using her gun, as she finally managed to get the door open. "Bloody persistent buggers, aren't they?" she quipped as she locked the door behind her and a now nearly hysterical Nene, holding a smoking spent pistol. Down in the lair, smoke was starting to seep in as Linna and Henderson were tending to Mackie. Priss was loading the last of the supplies on the coach. "Henderson," she said, "take Mackie to the rendezvous point." "But Miss Priss, what of you and Linna?" "Me and Linna are going up there to help Sylia and Nene." "Right, our sensei needs us and we..." *RAT TAT TAT TAT TAT !!!* "Holy shit!" Priss exclaimed. Linna, upon hearing the frightening new noise, immediately ran up the stairs to rescue her sensei, Priss following. *RAT TAT TAT TAT!!!* "What is that? A gatling gun?" Linna asked. "No way. I've heard the sound of a gatling gun before. It didn't sound anything like that!" *RAT TAT TAT TAT TAT TAT TAT!!!* "Hold your breath." Priss said, before she opened the door. Both she and Linna were almost knocked backwards by the fiery blast of hot air and smoke that erupted into the passageway. Up in the room, Nene was crouched in a corner, her hands over her ears and her eyes burning from the smoke in the room as she began coughing. Sylia's teeth were clenched as she used the machine gun to keep the ninjas at bay. The wall across the room from her was pockmarked with bullet holes. She could hear movement once again. Ignoring her stinging eyes and ringing ears, she once again pressed the firing mechanism. *RAT TAT TAT click click click "Oh shit." she said in a low tone as she looked at the empty ammo belt. Pulling her dotanuki from its saya (scabbard), she stepped out from behind the gun. "Nene, get up. If we're going to die, we die standing up." The thick black smoke in the room and the hall became thicker as the five o-niwaban slowly crept in. Two immediately went after Sylia; a third lit an explosive devise and tossed it at the wall, blowing a hole out to the streets. As the other two ninjas surrounded an unarmed Nene, he took his long obi, tied it around the gun, ran over to the opening, and lowered the weapon to the waiting hands below. "No!" Sylia screeched, trying to fight through the two o-niwaban dueling her to stop the weapon from being taken. After the gun was seized, the ninja jumped out, leaving his four companions to finish the job. Which they no doubt would've, had Priss and Linna not rushed the room at that moment. Swords and arms flew in a flurry of cutting and slashing. When it was through, the four ninja lay dead. "We've got to get out now!" Linna shouted over the rapidly approaching flames. Priss grabbed Nene, who was now almost blinded by the smoke, and leapt with the girl to the streets below. "Sensei, come on!" Linna pleaded. "Mackie... the gun... my, my God..." "Sensei, he's still alive, but we won't be if we wait any longer." Sylia, her face blackened by the smoke, turned to Linna and nodded. They both leapt from the opening in the wall mere moments before the floor collapsed. ---Four Days Later--- "How is he, Nigel?" "Hell be fine, Sylia. The wound's been cleaned thoroughly and his fever's now under control." Holed up in the small safe house in Yokohama, Sylia looked on worriedly as Mackie slept. The other three Knight Sabers were waiting for her outside. "I... I have to go now, Nigel. If I don't see you again..." she was cut off as Henderson embraced her into a long, drawn out kiss. They held each other for what seemed like hours, before finally pulling apart. She then exited the safe house, and joined the others in the wagon as Priss drove the horses forward. ------ Colonel Roland was lost in the letter he was reading when he heard the knock at the door. "Come in." He ordered. "Sir, Captain Leon McNichol and Police Inspector Daley Wong reporting." "Good. Please come in." Daley saw the letter in the garrison commander's hand. "I'm sorry; we didn't mean to interrupt your reading, sir." "Not at all, Wong. Just a letter from a doctor friend I made during the beginning of the Second Afghan War. I was stationed there before my promotion and subsequent reassignment here. He helped me out with a gunshot wound. Poor chap was later wounded himself. "Really? Is he all right?" Leon asked "Yes, thank you. He's fine. He says he's back in London sharing a room with a bit of an eccentric detective at, let's see..." he said, scanning the letter, "221 Baker Street. Now then, what do you have to report?" "Sir, we've gone over the place with a fine toothed comb. We've found the charred remains of close to twenty individuals, a secret underground cellar of some sort, and now have far more questions than answers." "For instance," Daley now put in, "Almost all the bodies we found have stab or gunshot wounds, meaning they died before the fire consumed them. There's no trace whatever of any female remains, meaning Sylia was not in the building as it was consumed." "Hmmm... Sylia Stingray is gone then, is she? She's not the only one." "Sir?" Leon asked. "My secretary, Nene Romanova, disappeared about four days ago as well." Leon quietly pondered that. He then remembered Priss stopped appearing at the tavern around that time. Sylia and Nene were both European, Priss' father was American. Could there be a connection there? "I see. Well, continue your investigation and let me know what you find." Colonel Roland ordered. "Sir, may I speak to the Colonel in private?" Daley now asked. "Hmm? Yes, of course. Leon, wait for Daley outside, will you?" "Sir, yes sir." Leon said as he left. Colonel Roland turned to Daley. "Now, what can I do for you?" "Sir, I humbly request that you transfer me to another partner." "I see." "For the last week or so Daley has become increasingly hostile to me. I can't for the life of me figure out why, either." Colonel Roland stood up and began pacing the room in front of Daley. "He hasn't told you why?" "Sir, no sir." "It's because he caught you hugging another man." "Caught me hugging another man? I knew you Europeans were a bit different when it came to that sort of thing, but you mean to tell me it makes things that uncomfortable for Captain McNichol?" "Yes, unfortunately it does." "I see... I think I'll take back my request for a new partner, sir." Ten minutes later, as Leon and Daley left the Garrison, Daley turned to his partner. "I talked with Colonel Roland. Leon, why didn't you just tell me that seeing me hugging my family friend made you uncomfortable?" "Because I... Family friend?" "Hai. We grew up together, our families being neighbors and all. He'd come up to visit. You saw me hugging an old pal goodbye, and apparently jumped to some sort of false conclusion." he lied. "Well damn, Daley, I'm sorry about that. If I'd known that..." "Forget it. Want to go get something to drink?" "You buying?" "Don't I always?" "Sounds good to me. Lets go." ---To Be Continued--- Terminology for ninja used in this chapter came from a glossary in the back of a Lone Wolf and Cub manga.
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