"Fear" 2010, Four Years Earlier (One Year After the Carnival) Kuga Natsuki was in bed, but she was not quite yet taken by sleep. She lied awake, her body wrapped in thin sheets, staring at the open window. The white curtains dancing in the breeze as the recently graduated woman attempted to sleep. It was just too hot. The summer heat was too much to deal with. That and her recent conversation with a certain someone that had resulted in an unexpected and somewhat uncharacteristic fight. Natsuki had no problems staying asleep once she was there, but with all her randomly bouncing thoughts, playing back the scenes from the fight in her head, coupled with the heat, she was unable to fall into slumber. She sighed and shifted a bit, getting more and more fed up with this problem. She was not, and had never been, an insomniac. She was no good at this. She was going to wake up grumpy. Well, grumpier. It didn't help that she was utterly paranoid, as well. Yukino had taken care to inform all of the HiME that she had noticed a program illegally monitoring her laptop activities. She had initially thought it was spyware, but after using her hacker skills to check, it became clear that that was not the case. It was a program belonging to Searrs, meant to monitor all her emails and programs. She promptly deleted it and warned the others that Searrs was attempting to track them. Natsuki, long having lived a life that involved being on the run from such an organization, once again began to cover her tracks after thinking she was finally safe. The program had shown up on Shizuru's computer as well, and then Midori's. That nailed the three main computer users. What did Searrs want? Had their curiosity not been sated by the Carnival? The HiMEs no longer had those precious powers. She sighed and closed her eyes. She could deal with all that tomorrow. First thing. But it was not five minutes after she closed her eyes, once again unable to actually fall asleep, that she heard a small rattle or click. She paid it no mind until she heard it again. Her paranoia began to kick in at that point, and she slowly, barely, opened one of her icy green eyes. There, crawling through her second story window, were two suited men carrying pistols. She didn't snap her eyes open and bolt up, she just lay frozen, one eye opened so slightly they wouldn't be able to tell. It was Searrs. It had to be. The organization was after the HiME after all! She asked herself why a thousand times as they grew closer, and she found herself sliding her hand up, beneath her pillow. There it rested, and Natsuki waited like an animal waiting to strike. The prey would turn into predator. She held herself still, holding her breath, desperately hoping they would not notice her awake. They crept closer and closer, and when one began to reach for her, like out of some nightmare, Natsuki struck. She clicked the safety off a Desert Eagle she kept under her pillow, not feeling safe in the absence of her Elements. She was glad she bought her new guns to make up for the loss. As his hand was nearly against her bare shoulder, she swung her arm around and fired, his innards splattering to the ground and against the wall. He lurched forward, draping his dying body over her legs, his own weapon clattering to the floor. Without missing a beat, Natsuki fired again, the Desert Eagle launching a bullet straight into the second man's head, killing him immediately. He slumped down onto his knees and fell forward, decapitate, and with a thud he hit the wooden floor, blood spilling all over the place. She kicked the first corpse off of herself and grabbed her other gun, rushing into her closet and pulling on her biker suit immediately. If there was more fighting to be done, she wasn't going to do it in the things she slept in. She ducked low and daintily peered out her open window to see if they had backup. What she saw was the usual image – the walkway outside apartments with brush and trees on either side of the sidewalk. No one seemed to be... The doorknob rattled, and the door was shoved. But there were no shouts asking if she needed help, meaning it must not have been any of the other apartment residents. Screams echoed through the hall as people were shoved around, and Natsuki knew there was no way out except for down as Searrs agents threatened to kick in her door. So, as the door was indeed kicked in, she leapt from her window, hair flying out behind her while she held her guns in her hands. Her arms hooked onto a tree branch as she fell for the two stories down, halting her before anything damaging could happen. Her chest was squeeze of air against the branch thanks to the impact, and she dropped down somewhat involuntarily as she struggled for breath. She turned around as quickly as she could, ducking low and raising both guns at her window. When the two Searrs agents that were on backup duty looked out, she fired twice. One shot made it's mark, taking one of them out, but the other was wide. The surviving agent ducked back inside and Natsuki took the time to run, leaping onto her bike after a brisk run to where she kept it parked. She hadn't even grabbed her helmet, but never the less, she tucked both guns into well made holsters that she had added to the suit. Revving the engine after turning the vehicle on, she roared out of the parking lot and rocketed down the nearby highway at top speeds. And she just rode and rode, going to the one place she thought she would be able to stay at and remain safe. She went to Kyoto. Shizuru had bought a place up in the mountains under a false name, having long since wanted to get out of the public eye thanks to her Obsidian Lord influenced psychotic episode. She still went to university, but usually via online courses. Shizuru had thought herself unworthy of being in public, like a shamed and dishonored warrior or lady of nobility. At least she had not (strongly) considered honorable suicide. Natsuki would have never been able to live with herself. But that small, archaic home in the Kyoto forests was perhaps the only safe haven for either of them now. That was the day that Kuga Natsuki died, much like Fujino Shizuru had 'died' in a supposed car accident six months ago. That was the day when all the HiMEs died, the specters of each wandering around the lands of Japan, lost and without homes, constantly attempting to avoid capture and abuse. That was the day that they started being reborn as new people, time and time again, seldom having moments of peace. - - - 2014 – Present (Five Years After the Carnival) Hideyoshi Ayame sat in a Toyota Camry with her fiancé and his sister, bored out of her mind. She hated cars. She much rather would have walked. It was better for you and it did not waste fuel. The siblings talked about everything under the sun as Kaede drove them to a new restaurant that opened in downtown Kyoto. She was a chef herself, actually, but she had told them that even she deserved someone cooking for her sometimes. Her co-workers had raved, or rather ranted about competition, from this new business, and Kaede thought it would be nice to take what family she had out to dinner. She didn't mind, but she sat in the backseat impatiently with her lover, tapping on the door rhythmically. Kaede, in the driver's seat, accelerated through a yellow light, making it to the other side with time to spare, her stomach empty and growling as badly as a certain someone else's. In fact, she swore that next to her, Shiori was making those noises indeed, but louder than her own. She looked dazed and confused, maybe even in pain, partially collapsed in the passenger's seat. Kaede's boyfriend could not make it to dinner, unfortunately, overtime at work keeping him from doing so. Never the less, the company she did have was more than fine. "So where are we going, again?" Kano asked from the back as Ayame fixed her gaze on the cars around them, still looking uninterested. The two lovers could not have been more opposite. At least Ayame had stopped dressing like a man when her chest got too big for that to be logical anymore. There was no sense in walking around in pain. "To that new French restaurant I told Ayame about on the phone," Kaede replied as she stopped at another light, just before entering a tunnel. "French?" He repeated, slightly in shock. It was Shiori who voiced her concerns, though. The dark haired woman glanced at her wildly. "You aren't going to make me eat snails are you?" Kaede laughed. "That's just one of many French dishes, and no, I'm not going to make you eat anything you don't want to. I'm sure you'll find something you will like. Even with that sensitive stomach of yours, Kano." "I only like your cooking," Shiori huffed, crossing her arms. "Don't be so stubborn," Kaede replied, patting Shiori on the nose with her index finger. "Many people would kill to have a chance to eat such food. I'm sure you'll find something to like as well." Ayame sighed, ignoring the banter between the talkative people of the vehicle, again turning her eyes to the streets outside. She furrowed her brows. This time, things were different. Instead of being surrounded by traffic, vehicles were no longer following them. That would have been fine if they were in the remote section of the city, or in a rural area, but they were going into a tunnel for god sakes. Traffic should have been worse here. Kaede pulled forward, down into the tunnel. "You of all people," Kaede said Shiori as she accelerated, "should appreciate fine food, considering you're a vagabond living out in the woods." "Lots of good things to eat in the woods." Shirori's arms remained crossed, and refused to look at any of them. "Like snails?" Kano interrupted. Shiori paused, then shook her head. "No!" "Bet you've had one before." Kano began to smirk, his tone deliberately taunting. "I have not!" "Then how do you know they're bad?" He continued on, almost laughing. "Quiet." Shiori went back to looking away, stubborn as ever. Kaede laughed for a moment until she refocused on the road. It was then she noticed the odd scene around her. There weren't any cars at all in the tunnel. This was during rush hour. Had she missed some sign that said the tunnel was closed? Could there have been trouble ahead? She darted her eyes around, and to the rear of the car, but she was certain she hadn't seen anything saying the tunnel was going out of commission for the evening. So she kept on driving. But, she noticed that Ayame had a distressed look on her face as well, so she decided to speak. "Did you see a noticed about the tunnel being closed? This is puzzling." The redhead continued to dart her eyes all around, uncomfortable. Ayame did not respond for several long moments, watching movement at the tunnel entrance they had just gone through. She noticed two large black vehicles following them at high speed. "Pursuit vehicles behind us and closing. Searrs." Searrs, at long last, had found them again. For four years, they had bounced around Japan, working odd jobs and completing school through several different institutes as they changed identities to avoid capture. Searrs was resilient, always finding them again after several months. This had been their fifth set of names. Again, they became hunted prey, and again they were forced to flee like a timid gazelle in the face of a lion. Kaede hissed a swear word and accelerated as fast as the Camry would allow, getting up to a hundred miles an hour before she noticed something even worse. The other end of the tunnel was blockaded by police, those units no doubt bought off by Searrs. She gritted her teeth and then gave the others a warning before hitting the breaks and making an abrupt U-turn, racing in back towards the two SUVs, almost playing a game of chicken with them. One skidded to a halt, but other shot by in the other lane before coming to a halt. Kaede slammed on the breaks to prevent hitting the one in front, and now found herself trapped between the two of them, unable to back up as the other closed in as tightly as possible. She would still try, by ramming into the rear vehicle. She put the car into reverse, and just as she was about to hit the accelerator, Shiori shouted out to her. "Mai! Look out!" The redhead looked to the front of the car again, her eyes widening as she saw a tall brunette woman dressed in some kind of green robe. She stood in front of the car calmly. She didn't look like a usual Searrs agent. All the occupants of the car felt frozen under her gaze, unsure of what to do. Mikoto and Akira immediately wanted out to fight, but before they could, the mystery woman acted. Her action, however, caused everyone to widen their eyes in shock. A large chain mace materialized in her hands, like an Element. But they no longer had their powers, and all twelve natural HiMEs had been accounted for. Was this another Alyssa, despite being older? The woman, perhaps around Mai's age, lurched forward and gave the mace a mighty swing, the ball of the weapon smashing into the hood of Mai's car. The vehicle shook with the forceful impact, the engine smoking and overheating. It broke down a few second later, the car going dead. The robed woman smiled, tearing the mace back to her hand. That was the last straw. Now Mikoto and Akira simply had to fight to give Mai and Takumi a chance to escape. Alongside the woman, five standard Searrs thugs stepped out from the SUV, each armed with a non-lethal weapon of some kind. Akira withdrew a knife from her boot, but Mikoto was without a weapon. Not minding that, both exited the Camry on opposite sides of the car and charged forward without hesitation. Mai and Takumi exited, but hung back, the former untrained in non-HiME combat and the latter too sickly to be of much use. But the two combatants, however, were well trained enough to handle anything thrown at them. Akira used her dagger and rushed the closest one. He attempted to use his taser on her, but she was simply to fast. She pivoted out of the way, and using the momentum, she slammed the dagger into his neck, and he went down. A second attempted to beat her unconscious with a police baton, but she lashed out with her arm and tore into his shoulder. It was a non-lethal wound, but it would keep him reasonably out of the way. Mikoto, on the other hand, landed a flying kick against a third man, knocking him to the ground and forcing the wind from his lungs. While still down, she kicked his jaw, rendering him unconscious. The fourth agent rose a can of mace to spray at her, but she broke into an animal like crawl and leapt up before he could, staying out of range. As she leapt up, she sent a massive uppercut into his face, taking him out as well. Only a fifth remained, and Mikoto practically growled at him, pausing in her assault to size him up and vice versa. He wielded a non-lethal shotgun and leveled it at her. She rushed. He fired. "Mikoto!" Mai screamed in fear, holding her hands to her mouth. But she froze when she saw Mikoto stand through the shot, the bean bag bouncing off her arm. It hurt like hell, but she gritted through the pain. After all, she had to save Mai. While he pumped the shotgun to fire again, she sprinted forward, backhanding him. She followed up with a trip kick and a massive finishing punch to the head, knocking him out. The last agent was down! The robed woman with the mace, however, stalked forward, spinning the weapon over her head. It was Akira who was the closest, and held her knife close to her own body in preparation for an attack. A materialized weapon on a potential HiME or not, she was not going to be so easily defeated. The mace was released at Akira, and she rolled out of the way, the weapon crashing into the road below. Akira sprang forward while the weapon was still down, and slashed at the woman. She held up the chain in defense, catching the blade before it could hit her. She drew the mace close to her again, and deflected another knife attack. Akira tried to punch, but was kicked back. This woman certainly had some skills. At last, with Akira a distance away, she spoke. "Lay down your arms immediately and I will not have to seriously damage you before taking you in. We do not intend to harm you at all. Just come peacefully." "Who are you?" Akira demanded. She chose not to answer that question. "Surrender, now." As the exchange was going on, Mai and Takumi were edging their way to the now empty SUV in front of Mai's Camry. Mai slowly got in the driver's seat, Takumi getting in back, and she waved Mikoto and Akira to follow. Mikoto and Akira stood next to each other in front of the apparent enemy, neither ready to back down. They had to distract her long enough to get in and speed away. Mikoto leapt up attempted to land a flying knee kick into the woman's torso, but she smacked Mikoto away with the handle of her weapon, the cat woman falling to the ground. Akira attempted to throw a punched, but it was blocked expertly and then countered with another. Akira blocked it and kicked, the blow landing on the other woman's shin. It didn't seem to phase her. The ball of the mace was sent in response, and Akira ducked under it, throwing an uppercut while the woman was busy trying to stop the weapon's momentum. She ducked back and out of the way, deciding to elbow Akira to get her away. It certainly worked. The elbow came down hard, but not hard enough to knock her out. She stumbled back as Mikoto tackled the woman from behind, locking her arms around her neck. "Akira! Get in!" Takumi cried. Akira had no choice. She was dazed and could not adequately fight. She stumbled into the SUV's open door and was pulled up by her fiancé, leaving Mikoto to find a way to follow along. The woman attempted to pull Mikoto off by grabbing onto her hair, but she would not budge, arms tight around her neck. At long last, Mikoto let go and kicked the woman in the back, sending her forward. Mikoto then leapt into the SUV and Mai sped off, Takumi closing the open door. As Mai drove to the unblocked tunnel entrance they came in, the mace hit the back of the SUV, smashing in the very back of the vehicle and leaving a large dent. Mai struggled to regain control and succeeded, accelerating away at top speed, heading for the city limits. She turned to Akira, the one who was always in charge of their defense and protection. "Where do we go?" "Where else?" Akira replied, rubbing the side of her head. "Go for the mountains, to Shizuru's." Mai nodded. "Okay. Mikoto, are you all right?" "Yup!" Mikoto smiled wide, but had a hand clamped around her shoulder, where the beanbag round had hit. A hefty bruise was forming underneath her shirt. "Who was that woman?" Takumi asked. Akira laughed bitterly. "Go ask her again and see how it goes. My head..." Takumi frowned and brought a halfway unwilling Akira into his arms, not really knowing what else to do. He spoke to his sister, instead. "Mai, I'm really getting tired of all this... running." Mai frowned as she drove, watching out for bought off police and Searrs. "I know, Takumi." Her eyes then widened. "Oh, god, my laptop!" "What?" Akira asked, also nervous. "My laptop is in my car. With all the HiMEs email address and phone numbers. We have to go back!" Mai looked for a place to make a U-turn. Akira shook her head. "No! We do not stand a chance. It was hard enough keeping up with her already. Trying fighting and recovering a laptop at once. We'll come back with Shizuru and Natsuki." "But what if they confiscate it all before then and search it?" Mai asked. Akira flipped open her cellphone. "I'll simply have to call the others and give them a heads up to change their numbers and providers." A conversation between Akira and Yukino ensued, while Mai sped through the city, avoiding major roads, and heading to Shizuru's secluded home in the woods north of the city. She just hoped everything would be all right. Damn. She should have grabbed her laptop. Why didn't she? Stupid, stupid, stupid... She gritted her teeth and drove on, regardless. If she couldn't fight without her Elements, then she could at least get them to a safe place before Searrs found them again. How she wished she had those Elements back. She curesed herself, the once great and powerful HiME now rendered helpless. - - - Behind, in the tunnel, the woman dropped to her knees as gold energy sparked around her, feeling almost as if she was in pain. Crying out, she deactivated her equipment, her armored robe and her weapon de-materializing and vanishing into thin air. The brunette was left with just her normal Searrs uniform, and she stood on shaky legs, looking back to the remaining SUV. The doors slid open and she held out her arms in confusion. She could have taken them! Had the wave field lasted longer, she could have tossed the chain mace again. "What happened? I almost had them!" She demanded. The man inside bowed his head in apology. "I am sorry, Topaz, but the Emulator was not able to sustain the field any longer. It overloaded and had to be shut down." 'Topaz' sighed in irritation. "That thing is too damned unstable for real combat. Can't you up the power and make it last a bit more?" "It's still experimental, miss," he said. "Any major alterations and it could be rendered unusable. You'll have to talk to Smith. It's his baby." One of the other two women sitting in the car shook her head. "You fought against HiME without their Children or Elements and still lost them. You must go back to training immediately." "They didn't defeat me," Topaz defended angrily. "I could have had them, I said, if that field would have lasted a minute longer!" The other woman said nothing, and Topaz marched back to the SUV with a pissed off expression, climbing in and taking a seat. That other woman looked back to the car, however, and smiled a bit. "I think I have an idea. Shin, do you think you can get the Emulator recharged in the next few hours?" "Certainly." "Good." - - - Kitahara Meiko maneuvered her bike down the dirt road leading up to her place of residence. It was secluded and out of the way, as its actual owner had wanted. Sometimes Meiko asked if she wanted to move back into the city. Every time, she got a smiled and politely turned down. But that was okay. Meiko didn't really mind. It just meant a longer commute, which meant more time to ride her bike. All that was just fine with her. Except this dirt path. It did nothing for her tires. The bike was meant for the street, and it was almost unbearably bumpy on dirt. But she always made it, and parked the bike in a small garage specifically designed for the vehicle next to the traditional Japanese house, only big enough for the two of them. Lanterns lit the outside, no real electricity running through the building except for a wireless network. Because they needed their internet like they needed air. But everything else was archaic, like stepping into a house built centuries ago. She left her bike and helmet behind, ascended up the few steps to the house, slid open the door, and entered. She moved down the tiny entry hall and into the living area, the entire house illuminated with candles. As she entered the living area, a chestnut haired Kyoto woman now named 'Kashima Sayo' tossed up a bottle of beer, which Meiko caught without difficulty. She expected it, though it was usually the other way around. Meiko had to stay late at work, unfortunately. The shop needed her to work on a bike's busted tail pipe before clocking out. She sat herself on the floor next to Sayo, smelling cooking dinner in the other room. "How was your day, Natsuki?" Ah, Kyoto-ben, how beautiful it was to hear. She looked down at Shizuru, who was lying on her back, stretched out on the floor, taking a drink from her own bottle. Natsuki smirked. "Shouldn't you be paying attention to the food you're burning?" "Ara! Natsuki thinks my cooking is that bad?" She frowned up at the biker. She laughed a bit. "You would be better if you embraced the mayonnaise lifestyle." "You keep that stuff away from me." She took another swig. Natsuki lied down next to her, taking a drink of her own beer. "And how was your day?" "I landed a contract with JASDF for them to buy ten more F-6's. Glory be to the defense industry now that America's given us the go ahead for an entirely independent army. A good day," Shizuru cheered in monotone. Right out of university, she had been recruited to Mitsubishi Heavy Industry's military branches, responsible for supplying equipment to the Japanese Self Defense Forces. The company had been completely won over by her graceful and adoring personality. It'd also gotten the company several contracts over the last few years. Some people sold cars. Some people sold bikes. Shizuru sold tanks and fighters. "Does this mean you can afford my new bike?" Natsuki inquired. She sniffed the air, the food smelling good. Not Western, of course, but it would make due. "Ara, you buy your own toys, little girl," Shizuru countered. "I'm buying a ne—" Shizuru was cut off by the sound of screeching tires, headlights partially shining through the thin walls of the house. Shizuru and Natsuki sprang up from the floor and headed outside, sliding open the doors to see a black SUV coming to an unceremonious halt outside the house. Assuming that it was Searrs, Shizuru raced inside a bit and opened a glass case containing three different types of pole-arms, a naginata, a bardiche, and a voulge. She withdrew the bardiche and sprinted back out, holding the weapon out in preparation for a fight. Searrs had found the one place that had remained safe for so long? Damn it all. No one was going to hurt her or her beloved. Natsuki was moving behind her, no doubt finding her guns. She stepped forward, still in her business suit from work, and slowly stepped down the stairs until she was on the small rock path she had made when she first moved into the home. She stared at the tinted windows of the car, attempting to see who was inside, but it was too dark. She glared further, swinging the bardiche once to make a point of some kind. Natsuki appeared in the doorway, guns trained on where the driver would have been sitting. "Show yourselves," Shizuru demanded, "lest I cut your vehicle asunder to get you out." The door opened, then, and out stepped... Mai. Shizuru could not kill Mai. So she withdrew the bardiche and slammed the end into the ground, putting a hand on her hip. "Shizuru! We're in trouble!" "You are driving a stolen Searrs vehicle, so I would imagine so," Shizuru replied. She then motioned towards her home. "Come inside." Natsuki lowered her guns as Mikoto, Akira and Takumi stepped out, sighing in relief. But knowing that her home was safe from harm didn't give her peace for long given how distress the other four were. She stepped to the side and allowed them to enter. They took a seat on the floor of the living area, and Shizuru returned her weapon to the case. She promptly left to make tea and take dinner off the heat, while Natsuki took the leadership role in discovering what had gone wrong. Natsuki had stepped up, despite her previous distrust of teams, and had become something like a guardian to all the HiME after Searrs began to pursue them. "I'm sorry, I was going to call, but I wasn't done with calling the others," Akira said. "Searrs found us, and are now currently in possession of Mai's laptop with all the HiME's email addresses and cell numbers." "Then you have to lose those phones immediately. They may be tracking them through GPS," Natsuki replied immediately. "Take out the batteries and open them up. I can get the chip out. How did Searrs find you?" The three with phones offered them and did as they were told while Mai explained. "We were driving to dinner when we entered a blocked off tunnel. Searrs had sealed the other end and trapped us. Searrs sent vehicles after and blocked us. Then... Natsuki, there was some kind of HiME there that materialized a weapon! She and several agents tried to take us in." "HiME?" Natsuki repeated. "But there's only supposed to be twelve. Is she like Alyssa?" "Sort of, I don't know," Mai stammered. "She's older. Our age. But I've never seen her before. She held off both Akira and Mikoto, injuring the two of them without her really taking a hit." "Anything serious?" Natsuki asked, looking to the both of the fighters. They shook their heads, and Natsuki sighed as she tried to take in all the information. "You didn't happen to call Miyu and ask if there were any more artificial HiMEs, did you?" Akira shook her head, "No, she didn't answer her ph- well, she didn't answer herself." It must have been lovely being able to take calls using your own robotic head. Shizuru entered the room again a moment later, carrying a tray of tea and cups, and with meticulous care she distributed the liquid to all of the guests, and then poured some for herself and Natsuki. She sipped delicately on the cup after Mai had taken her own sip, and then said, "If your computer has such valuable information, then it must be recovered before Searrs can use it to pinpoint us." "You, Natsuki, Mikoto and I need to go assault that tunnel and get it back," Akira said. We're the ones with weapons and we can fight well enough without a dependence on our HiME powers. "I should stay with Mai and Takumi," Mikoto said, leaning forward and glancing at the redhead. "Someone might try to get them here." "Yes, that's a good idea. You stay here and defend this area. Stay outside and keep a lookout. You're at home out in the trees, you'll have a good chance of noticing anything abnormal. The rest of us will head to the tunnel and see if we can't get that computer back before Searrs takes it away for good. A fake HiME there or not, the three of us should be fine," Natsuki explained. "Natsuki-san," Takumi spoke up, holding up a hand. When he had the biker's attention, he continued, "I know we all have to deal with the threat from Searrs and that it's not just our burden, but... I am getting tired of having to run around because of the Carnival. Mai is too, though she doesn't say it. Don't you think... maybe, I don't know, that it's time for the HiME to unite and fight against Searrs, rather than just run?" "Takumi," Mai tried to chastise, but Natsuki prevented her from spewing out a lecture. She shook her head. "I know. And if Searrs is making fake HiME like Alyssa... well, now would be a time to fight back. Mai, will you do me a favor?" "Of course." "While we're gone, would you email the other HiME and ask them whether any of them are willing to fight?" The order was simple and to the point, and Mai nodded in response. "I don't expect all of them. Yukariko is still MIA, Shiho is devoted to her studies, and Yukino will only support us electronically... but that's enough. The rest may be willing." "Actually," Mai said, "some of them did express a desire to fight. Midori's getting off work at the museum to investigate the area. I don't know when she'll get there. Nao is, as always, eager to attack. Seeing as she's so comfortable on the streets, she might even be there already. The others... well, yes, I'll email everyone again to get an official stance. You want them to meet up here?" Natsuki moved to a closet and found two extra clips for her weapons. "No. Downtown, at our usual place." "Okay." Mai glanced around, finding Shizuru's laptop, and got to work immediately. "Akira, will you be needing anything of ours for the... mission?" Shizuru asked, tilting her heads towards the ninja. She shook her head. "I'm fine." Natsuki reclaimed holstered her guns as Shizuru reclaimed her bardiche, the biker moving towards the entrance to her home. "Well, then, we should probably be off as soon as possible. Akira, you may ride in my car. Natsuki will obviously take her bike. If we can retrieve Mai's laptop without incident, all the better. If fighting occurs with your artificial HiME, then... attempt a non-lethal defeat." "Understood." Akira was up off the couch in no time, exiting. Shizuru followed, bardiche in hand. "You will be riding with me, Akira. I will show you to my car." "Take the license plates off," Natsuki warned. "Of course." Shizuru winked and then led Akira to a garage where a post-gasoline Jaguar lied in wait. While Akira climbed into the passenger's seat, Shizuru made quick work of removing the plates to prevent it from being tracked down by any member of the bought off police. At the same time, Natsuki climbed on her still slightly warm bike and started it up again, slamming the helmet back onto her head. She looked to Mikoto, who stood in the doorway, and said, "Mikoto, you keep a close eye on the others. Prevent any non-HiMEs from entering the area, but try not to kill anyone save for perhaps shades if they show up armed." "Okay!" Mikoto replied cheerily, Natsuki having referred to the nickname they gave standard Searrs agents. The feral woman ascended up a tree and seemed content on remaining there. Natsuki flipped her visor down and pulled out of the small building where she kept her bike. She waved her hand forward, Shizuru taking the signal to pull ahead in her sports car. The Kyoto native led the way down the dirt road and onto the highway that led into the main city, Natsuki eventually roaring ahead and taking point, screaming towards the tunnel that Mai and the others had left behind. They had run for a very long time, stalked through the city like wild animals. But with this new and very real threat of another Alyssa, now was the proper time to turn the tables and become the hunters. First District's destruction had slowed Searrs' progress, but now it was time to take out the foundation once and for all. All it's research, all it's experiments, and all it's corruption. With Natsuki at the helm, a new and very different hunt had begun. - - - Next Episode: Three little princesses and not one, but three Otome battling it out in a close quarters brawl. Will HiME reinforcements arrive? Notes: They're just proto-Otome. They don't really have the same abilities, just fledgling ones. No flight, slightly different, less effective robes. What really remains the same is the weaponry. Connections will be further explained as the 'episodes' progress, naturally. Goals for series - Explain what HiME neglected to (Nagi and Mashiro, the Obsidian Lord, and so forth), and bridge the fictious gap between HiME and Otome.
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