The snow continued to fall gently as the blond took the megaphone offered her and, clearing her throat, brought the funnel-shaped device to her mouth. "British Library special agents Yomiko Readaman, A.K.A. The Paper, and Nancy Makuhari, A.K.A. Miss Deep, you have both been found lacking and deficient, and have therefore been selected for editing by the Head Librarian Mr. Joker." -- -Remind me again mademoiselle of how you talked me into this- -I believe it was your fear of emasculation that won the argument, monsieur- -- "We are not barbarians, however. We understand there is a young lady with you, an author, who has no part in the misdeeds done on your part." -- -Hey Goemon, how many men would you say is down there?- -Close to a hundred- -This plan of the bosses and that shop owner, what do you make of it?- -They're both nuts- -- "Therefore, if you will both come out and surrender now, we will spare the author." -- -Twelve forty-two. Three more minutes- -- -Would she really spare the author, mademoiselle?- -Doubtful. The last thing they'd want would be a living witness- -(sigh) Too bad we had to use these little beauties for this; I was planning on saving them for a little heist I had planned- -By the way, about Fujiko- -Jealous?- -No, apprehensive. Does she know what to do?- -Don't worry, Mademoiselle. You'll see- -- -Jigan, what's the time - "Twelve forty-three. Get your matches ready- -Wait, what's that- -- The front door to the house opened and a short woman with glasses and wearing a kimono stepped out onto the porch. One of the British Library agents nudged another to get his attention, and then put his hands up to his face, his thumbs and index fingers touching so that they would look like glasses over his eyes. He then stuck his upper teeth out and squinted his eyes in a cruel mockery of the woman standing in front of them. Shouts of "Nipp!" and "Jap!" began to ring out. All stopped when Wendy held up her hand. "Sumiregawa-san, I take it?" Wendy called over the megaphone. Nenene glared at the agents in front of her, her arms crossed in front of her. This was a perfect cap to two of the worst days of recent memory. After disappearing from her life five years ago, her sensei shows up out of the blue, announces she's a secret agent and has fallen in love with another agent, and then asks for a place to hide. "Sensei!" a voice called from inside, "Come back in, please!" "Nenene, don't do this!" another called. The author ignored the pleading voices coming from inside the house. Bringing up all the pain, all the hurt and frustration she'd gone through, she focused it all on the arrogant blond in front of her. "Sumiregawa-san," Wendy called, "We mean you no harm, we simply wish to..." "Impressive." the author called over, "Does it take this much backup to give you a backbone?" Wendy was taken back by the defiance in the small woman in front of her. "Sumiregawa-san, there's no need for insults, I..." "You what?" Nenene demanded, "This isn't England, you nasty tart; it's Japan! And you're on my private property. You have no jurisdiction here, and you know it!" Wendy glared at the smaller woman in front of her, "There's no need for name calling." "The two women in my home are my guests." the author called back, "And I'm not about to turn them over to you!" The blond sighed, "Very well." she called over, "You leave us little choice but to..." "Fire in the hole!" a voice with a French accent called, as literally dozens of objects began to fly down toward the black-clad agents. A large cloud of paper surrounded Nenene, pulling her in the building just as the objects, lit sticks of dynamite, went off. The thunderous explosions took out large groups of British Library agents and caused the windows of Nenene's house to implode. Nancy phased through the wall out onto the porch, two large colts in her hands, in order to assess the situation. The formerly well-ordered Library agents were running around in confusion, a few were gathered around Wendy to protect her. One of the agents, seeing Miss Deep, fired. The bullet passed harmlessly through her. As she shot the agent, five arrows with strings tied to their shafts were shot at the house from the surrounding buildings. One of the arrows crashed through a window into the living room where Yomiko and Nenene were huddled. The others all buried themselves deep into the buildings walls. As a second bullet passed harmlessly through Nancy, she watched as the figures of three men and two women began sliding down the ropes. "Nancy-san!" Yomiko called, "What's going on out there?" Before Miss Deep could answer, one of the rapidly approaching figures, a woman, unhooked herself from the rope, unsheathing a katana as she did so. A second figure, a ronin, likewise released himself from the rope before he landed and pulled a sword out. They immediately began attacking the black-clad agents. "The cavalry's arrived!" Nancy yelled as two more figures, a woman and a man with a beard, leapt off, pulling out revolvers as they did so. As Nancy fired at a nearby agent a fifth figure, a smirking European with long sideburns and wearing a black cape landed next to her. Running up to her, he bowed before her. "Mademoiselle," he began, "Please stand back." He then turned away from her and, facing the battlefield, he flashed a maniacal grin as he opened his jacket to reveal dozens of small rockets and firecrackers. ------ "So what do we do now?" Leon asked. "You lead," Jeena purred to the officer, "I'll follow." "We know where Linna is." Nene began, giving her companion a hard stare, "Jeena and I were hoping to try to pick up on some sort of lead on Sylia." "Good luck." Daley said, "If even half the stories I've heard about Arsene Lupin are true, if he did kidnap Sylia none of us will ever seen her again." Nene was about to respond when several explosions a few blocks away caught their attention. "What in the hell was that?" Leon asked, "Are they attacking again?" Daley shook his head, "I don't know, I..." he was cut off as the night sky suddenly became ablaze with lights and color. Jeena's eyes opened wide, "It looks like a goddamned Fourth of July celebration is going on over there! I... Wait a second." Jeena said, suddenly looking very serious, "Explosions, fireworks..." she and Nene both locked eyes. "Sylia!" they both said in unison. Nene and Jeena both dug their heels into the horse they were on, taking off at full speed toward the light show. Daley and Leon followed hot on their heels. ------ "What's that?" Michiru asked, pointing at the lights blazing in the sky in front of them. Sylvie looked around as the fireworks began to send everyone in a panic again. "I don't know, but we can't stay here. Here, come with me." she said, pulling Michiru down a series of side streets and into a back alley. Once alone, she turned to the violinist. "Are you okay, beautiful?" Sylvie asked as she held the smaller girl's face in her hands. Michiru was breathing heavily, and was shaking as a result of both the cold and fear. "I think so, I..." it was then that Michiru became aware that Sylvie was running her fingers through her hair, "What are you doing?" she asked nervously. In the dark, Sylvie met her eyes. "Your eyes are blue like the ocean, do you know that?" Sylvie asked. "Your hair, it feels like silk." she said as she began to lean in towards the violinist. Michiru's eyes widened as she quickly backed away from the taller woman. "What do you think you're doing?" she demanded. Sylvie took a step back, "I... I'm sorry, I..." Michiru continued to back away, "I think I can find my way on my own from here. Thank you for taking me this far, but..." Sylvie looked sadly at the girl in front of her. "No, don't." she began. "I'm sorry if I scared you, beautiful. I'll take you home now, and I promise not to touch you again, okay?" Michiru was wary of the woman in front of her, but even more so of the crowds and chaos going on in the streets. "Doesn't look like I have much of a choice, does it?" she said unhappily. Sylvie sighed, "You lead the way, and I'll keep my hands to myself. Honest." Michiru nodded slowly, and taking Sylvie's hand once again, they went back out into the streets to find their way back to the Silky Doll. As Michiru led the way, Sylvie frowned. This was going to be harder than she thought. ------ Priss crouched down into a side stance with her right leg extended straight behind her and her left bent down. She held the hilt of her sword with both hands, the blade leaning backward at an angle so that the tip would point toward her right foot. Reika was crouched down as well, but in a kneeling position with her left knee just above the floor and her right knee bent at a ninety degree angle. Her sword arm stuck out straight in front of her, and she held the blade horizontally in front of her. She would not fail again. Irene would be avenged. As Priss watched, her opponents other hand slowly slipped into her black costume. The Knight Saber shifted her weight slightly; she knew what was coming next. The next instant, her opponents hand came out of her outfit, and in a move almost too fast for the human eye to follow threw three shuriken at her. Pushing off with her right foot, Priss ran forward toward the projectiles, swinging her blade up and sideways as she did so. The blade knocked all three projectiles out of the air before they could make contact. Her opponent launched herself now at the Knight Saber, using the blade she held vertically in front of her to block Priss' blow. Priss winced in pain as the sudden, jarring impact of steel against steel caused some of her stitches to rip open. Meanwhile, out in another part of the backstage area, one of Reika Chang's security guards suddenly heard the sounds of a struggle; he began to turn around to investigate. "Hey." someone called out behind him. He turned to see an object coming toward him. "Catch!" someone yelled in Japanese. He reached out with both hands in time to catch a slightly broken white tiger mask. Before he could ask what was going on, a fist slammed into his gut, followed by a judo chop to the side of his neck. As he fell to the floor, his attacker collapsed as well, wincing in pain as she clutched her knee. Haruka's head felt like it was in a vice. She couldn't put any weight on her knee, and she was fairly certain her lower lip was split open. As she lay on the ground in a fetal position holding her knee, she heard the sound of steel clashing against steel. "Priss..." she gasped, "Hold on, I'm coming." she said as she began to make her way to the nearest wall. While Haruka was crawling over to the wall to try to get back up, Linna was frantically racing through the underground corridors of the auditorium. Finally reaching the stairs, she began to make her ascent. Back at the fight taking place, Reika swung the blade towards Priss' head, only to have the Knight Saber block it with her dotanuki. Priss then took her left hand off the hilt and grabbed Reika's wrist, her other hand still clutching the blade. She gritted her teeth as the stitches in her arms and shoulder ripped open at the pressure she was exerting. "Where is she?" she growled, trying to push the two blades back towards Reika's neck, "Tell me or I'll..." Reika suddenly shifted her weight, pulling Priss forward as she fell backward. She brought her legs up, and as the Knight Saber was about to fall on top of her, she drove her feet into the armored figure's abdomen, kicking up and flipping her over her head and onto her back. She and Priss both rushed to get back up, but Reika had a bit of a lead in the speed department. Priss brought her blade up, only to stare in amazement as Reika swung her own blade so fast it broke hers near the hilt. "Chikusho!" Priss spat out as she tossed her weapon aside. Reika smiled behind her mask. ------ "Nancy!" Sylia yelled over her shoulder, "Get Yomiko and her author friend ready to leave!" "What?" Nancy asked as she knocked an agent out, "If you think I'm going to leave the battlefield..." "Fujiko!" Jigan yelled over the battle, "I need to reload, cover me!" Wendy and her guards quickly left the field of battle. While she was upset that things had gone so awry, she still had to smile; they were still grossly outnumbered. They were as good as dead, and she knew it. As she and the others slinked away, the surviving agents began to almost instinctually organize into lines. "Hey Lupin." Goemon called over, "Got any tricks left up your sleeve?" "Unfortunately no." Lupin admitted. "Fujiko, how many would you say is left?" "About thirty." she called over, shooting two more as Jigan finally finished reloading. Sylia frowned. Unless they came up with something soon, they were going to be forced to flee into the house, at which point they'd be as good as dead. As she watched, the agents in front of the rows knelt down, pointing their handguns as they did so. The row behind them, standing upright, likewise aimed their weapons. "Shit." she whispered. "Ready, aim... Kkkklllugh!" the man calling out orders gurgled on his own blood as an arrow buried itself into the side of his neck. A rain of arrows followed, taking out more of the agents. "Yee Ha!" a familiar sounding American voice shouted. From behind the agents, a crazy one-armed woman wielding a sword ran into the ranks and began slicing and cutting indiscriminately at anything that moved. She was soon joined by a woman carrying a naginata and dressed in samurai armor, a bow slung over her shoulder. "The Knight Sabers!" one of the men shouted upon seeing Nene. The other agents, now caught between Sylia and Lupin's gang in front, and Jeena and Nene in the rear, panicked. They broke ranks, running in all directions. Sylia and Goemon ran forward, each cutting more down as they ran towards them. Nene and Jeena were likewise dispatching the enemy, when Leon and Daley finally arrived to find the streets stained red and littered with dead men in black suits. Sylia buried her blade in a man's chest, twisting her body as she pushed him away. As she took a few steps back, she felt someone bump up against her. She quickly spun around, just as the other was coming around with a blade as well. Less than a second later, she found herself face-to-face with Malso, each with their respective blades at each other's necks. ------ Linna finally reached the door, forcing it open with her shoulder. She found herself in the theater, with the stage to her right. From behind the curtain, she could hear sounds of an altercation taking place. Forgetting about her own safety, she ran toward the stage to get on the other side of the curtain. In the meantime, Priss assumed a defensive stance as Reika rushed toward her, sword held overhead. She brought the blade down with all her might, only to stare wide-eyed at her opponent. She'd heard of the "blade-catch," of course, but had always thought it little more than a myth, a legend passed down between martial artists. Until now. Somehow, Priss had managed to stop the blade from connecting by catching it between the palms of her hands. Priss let out a growl as she forced the blade up and away from her, blood running down her arms from her now badly cut palms. As she struggled, she saw Reika's eyes through her tiger mask. "Stop." Priss grunted out, "You understand some Japanese, I know you do. Stop this now!" Reika scowled at her as she continued to try to force her blade down. "Why?" she asked. "Knight Sabers kill sister. Why I not kill Knight Sabers?" "For... The same reason you... didn't kill me before." she managed to get out, "You're not a killer!" Reika took a step back, allowing Priss to release the blade. She studied the woman in the blue armor in front of her intently, "What you mean?" she asked. "Your eyes." Priss said, breathing heavily as she tried to ignore the pain in her hands, "You don't have the eyes of a killer. Not yet." Before Reika could respond, a woman ran out from behind a curtain toward them. "(No! Stop!)" Linna shouted in Chinese. She ran over, placing herself between Priss and Reika. "Linna-chan!" Priss cried, fear gripping her heart as she saw her beloved in harm's way, "Get back, don't..." "(The Knight Sabers didn't kill your sister.)" Linna said, walking closer to Reika, "(It is you behind that mask, isn't it Reika?)" "(I... Yes, it's me. And you're wrong, the Knight Sabers...)" "(The Knight Sabers were at the Nishi Hoganji Temple to rescue the Emperor, who had been taken there as a captive by members of the yakuza working for Brian J. Mason, head of Genom International in Japan. Your sister was caught in the crossfire during the rescue mission.)" Reika stared at the young woman in front of her. "(And how do you know all this? You were there, but how do you know that Genom was involved, and that the Knight Sabers weren't the ones hired by them?)" Linna took a deep breath, "(I... I can't say. You have to trust me though; the Knight Sabers are not your enemies. Genom is. The yakuza were working under their orders to...)" before Linna could finish, a hand grabbed her by the shoulder and yanked her off to the side. "Linna, I said get back, damn it!" Priss said, letting go of her beloved. Turning back to her opponent, she met her stare, "You say I and my fellow Knight Sabers killed your sister. I don't know if it's true or not, but if you're so hell-bent on killing me, fine. But let Linna here go." "Priss, no!" Linna shrieked. Reika walked over to the Knight Saber. "You... You die... for her? Why?" Priss shrugged her shoulders, "I... I love her." she answered, "Sometimes, love calls for sacrifices." Reika looked hard at Priss, then at Linna. "(You're one of them, aren't you?)" she asked. Linna didn't answer. Reika looked down as she lowered her sword. "(I've been lied to.)" she muttered, "(An evil person would not be so quick to lay their life down for another.)" Just then, a backdoor opened, and someone limped in. Both Linna and Priss allowed a gasp to escape as Haruka, her face stained red with blood and her tie wrapped around her head, slowly came into the room. "S... Sorry I'm late, I..." she collapsed before she could finish. ------ Nene and the others were all breathing hard. As the dust began to settle, she saw Nancy on the porch of a house being joined by Yomiko and a stranger wearing glasses. She also saw several other strange people; one was an elegantly dressed gentleman with long sideburns, and another was a ronin of some sort. As she continued to scan the scene, she suddenly saw something that made her blood run cold. There, about thirty feet away from her, were Jeena and Sylia, each holding a sword up to the other's neck. The pink Knight Saber tossed her naginata aside as she grabbed her bow and aimed an arrow at Malso. "Jeena!" Nene shouted, getting everyone else's attention, "Put it down!" As the others slowly took in the situation taking place, Jeena suddenly found several more weapons aimed at her. Sylia looked Jeena in the eye, and swallowed hard. "Jeena," Sylia said in a low voice, "Jeena, we agreed you couldn't have me yet, remember?" Jeena looked around at the angry faces and weapons pointed at her, then back at Sylia. "You never told me why." Jeena said. "Maybe, if you'd just..." Sylia looked at her puzzled. "Malso, what are you talking about?" Sylia asked. "Why?" Jeena asked, her face suddenly taking on a sadness that was usually hidden beneath her rough exterior, "Why did you do it?" Sylia took a deep breath. She'd been reliving the memories of that night over and over ever since the former Knight Saber came back into her life. "She begged you, pleaded for you to come help her." Jeena continued, her eyes now welling up with tears as her voice cracked, "You were closer than I was. Why?" She was the leader of the Knight Sabers. Ultimately, no matter what the situation may have been, she was responsible. She'd caused the death of one young woman and the loss of an arm of another. "Damn you. She believed in you. I believed in you. Why?" she continued, tears now running freely down her cheeks. Sylia couldn't answer. She closed her eyes, and heard in her mind Hibiki calling her all over again. She'd had the chance, and blown it. Jeena watched her former leader's reaction, and her face hardened "Rule eight." Jeena finally said. The others gathered round with their weapons pointed at Jeena all looked confused. "Mademoiselle?" Lupin asked. "Malso-san?" Yomiko queried, "What are you talking about?" "Put your sword down!" Nene yelled, still holding the bow taught, "Please." she whispered under her breath. "Knight Sabers rule number eight; keep in contact with other members regularly. You lost contact with Hibiki-chan." She then looked directly into Sylia's eyes, "Rule eleven; the penalty for violating any of the ten rules listed above is death." she said, lowering her sword as she continued to glare at the woman before her. As she sheathed her weapon, Sylia likewise lowered her katana. "So that's it." Sylia said, suddenly understanding Jeena's obsession with vengeance, "Rule eleven." "The penalty for violating any of the rules listed above is death!" Jeena repeated. "You came up with the rules, Sylia." she added bitterly, "All of us, you, me and Hibiki-chan, we all swore allegiance to it. And since you don't seem to be in any hurry to perform seppuku, it's now up to me as the last of the surviving original Knight Sabers to enforce rule eleven." Lupin, overhearing the conversation taking place, realized that he hadn't simply kidnapped an ally of Yomiko and Nancy; he'd actually managed to abduct the leader of the Emperor's Knight Sabers. He began to scratch his chin, thinking of all the implications involved, when he was pulled out of his thoughts by Sylia's voice. "I told you before," Sylia began, "You can't have me yet. I'm not done yet. Tokyo is still in danger. Once the threat is dealt with however, if you think you can enforce rule eleven you're more than welcome to try." she finished, turning around and walking back toward Lupin and his gang. Jeena turned and made her way back over to Nene, wiping the tears from her face as she did so.
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