[ Contents | 11. Battle Plans | 12. Truth Hurts | 13. Monster Summoning I ]

Yamucha's Student

By Dragoness Eclectic

 

Chapter 12. Truth Hurts

Saisei plunged through the door and into a large chamber filled with cables, consoles and electrical parts--some kind of laboratory. For the moment, he and Yamucha were the only occupants. He ran across the room, weaving between stacks of transformers, looking for another way out--

--the door exploded behind him!

"Crud!" Still carrying Yamucha, Saisei leaped on top of one of the transformers. There! That set of double doors had to go somewhere! He jumped down and dashed toward the doors, not slowing to glance behind him.

Saisei hit the door with a flying kick, shattering the bolt and flattening the two guards that stood behind the doors. He leaped over the sprawled guards and through another set of double doors just behind them--only to momentarily lose his footing as the floor fell away ahead of him. A flight of stairs!

He landed heavily two steps down, regained his balance, and ran down the stairs. He ignored the many landings, passing them by in favor of the bottom of the maze. Two more guards turned around to gape at him as he ran through the doors at the bottom; Saisei knocked them sprawling and ran on.

His feet pounded on the bare concrete floor as he turned down a side corridor. Saisei skidded to a halt in front of a plain grey door with 'B-37 Garage' stenciled on it. Shifting the unconscious Yamucha on his shoulders, Saisei opened the door just wide enough to look in.

He saw a large garage filled with armored cars and swarming with soldiers; no escape that way. Behind him, someone shouted; Saisei glanced back. Several soldiers filled the intersection he'd just left. Damn!

He ran on; no shelter here, nothing but unpainted cinderblock walls and naked pipes and conduits above. He passed a door to 'B-38 Garage', and kept going; he could hear the voices of soldiers and rumble of engines behind it.

The corridor ended in another grey door; this one had a red placard: 'A-1 Physical Plant'; in smaller letters below it said 'Authorized Personnel Only!' It was locked.

Saisei glanced back; soldiers were running down the hall toward him. Damn! All he needed was a chance to rest and let Yamucha recover. Once again, he smashed a door with a single vicious kick, then charged through it--and nearly fell down another flight of stairs.

He ran down the stairs and into a maze of pipes and tanks, finally slowing down as he climbed the metal ladder to a dusty, unused maintenance catwalk. He listened intently; there were no sounds of pursuit close by. He gently laid the semi-conscious Yamucha down and sat down beside him, gasping for breath.

Damn, damn, damn! Saisei cursed silently; things were happening too fast. He tore his shirt into strips and bound up the wound across his abdomen; after that, he flexed and worked his muscles.

I trained myself too well to work with the pain from the control harness, and now that the pain is gone, my reflexes are all wrong, he thought. I was losing to that cursed assassin until he hurt me--then everything worked right for a moment. Saisei leaned back against a stanchion, closing his eyes for a moment's rest...

A groan from Yamucha woke Saisei. He sat up suddenly, gritting his teeth at the pain from his stiff muscles and wounds. I should not have slept! How long have we been laying here while they searched for us? Saisei thought as he wiped caked blood and dirt away from his eyes, and then looked at his sensei.

"Yamucha-sensei?"

"I've felt better," the older warrior said weakly. He sat up slowly, looking himself over carefully. "I'm not hurt!" Yamucha was incredulous.

"No," Saisei snarled. "The doctor's machines make you feel pain without any injury." He spat over the side of the narrow catwalk. "Even the most skilled of torturers cannot go too far or too long, or they kill their victim--which ends the pain. Soliere's device.... I felt like I was being burned alive or torn apart, again and again and again. Had it been real, I would have only endured it once, for a short time."

Yamucha shuddered involuntarily. "Yeah. I thought I was in Hell."

Saisei got to his feet and stretched, then began running through the stationary katas. "Yamucha-sensei, I am not sure what to do next. We are somewhere in their base, and I think it is the one on my island, because one of the powerful ones that I sensed there is here--I faced him in the lab. I do not know what he is called, but he is half-machine, and a master of the Crane School. I also recognized one of their sergeants, the man called Haze; he was one of those who attacked my village." He was also, Saisei thought, the man who murdered my parents and machine-gunned me.

"Haze?" Yamucha started. "He was with Lunch in the bar. What happened there, anyway? We had them beaten, and then... I don't remember a thing."

"Friend Yamucha, I think your 'friend' Lunch betrayed you," Saisei said reluctantly. "We were drugged. They wanted us for something--whatever it was the doctor was experimenting with."

"They wanted me for something!" Yamucha growled. "I don't like being tied down on an operating table and 'experimented' on!" His expression turned suddenly thoughtful. "I wonder if that is what it was like for Seventeen and Eighteen..." He shook his head and looked at Saisei. "We need find out what they're up to, put a stop to it, and get out of here."

Saisei's face was somber. "These dogs killed my family, Yamucha. I will not be content just to thwart them and escape." He knotted his fists as the old anger stirred within him. No. Hatred and vengeance were not part of the Way; he would not surrender to them. Right Thought, Right Mindfulness...

Saisei calmed. No, hatred was not part of the Way--but justice was. There was something cold and implacable in his voice as he spoke. "Friend Yamucha, it must end now. The Dark Ribbon Army must be stopped, and we will stop it."

"Whoa! Ten minutes ago I was their prisoner, and now we're ready to take them on ourselves? And what's this 'Dark Ribbon Army' business?" Yamucha scowled, emphasizing the hatched scar on his left cheek. "Any relation to the Red Ribbon Army?"

Saisei looked puzzled. "I don't know; the Army is named after their leader, a man they call Colonel Dark. He is the other strong one, but his power is hidden; it cannot be sensed. I can only guess at it from a few things he has done. Together, though, we are stronger than either of them."

Yamucha got to his feet and started running through his own exercises, loosening stiff muscles and joints. "Hmmm... Colonel Dark? That resembles the kind of names the old Red Ribbon used--they were all named by colors--but not quite."

"Perhaps," offered Saisei, "this Dark Ribbon Army resembles your old Red Ribbon Army, but not quite."

A noise from below cut off further conversation. A door clanged somewhere; the echoes reverberated off of the pipes all around. The sound of booted feet hurrying thudded on the concrete floor below.

*      *      *      *

Many stories above Lunch paced around the Command Center. It would be a few hours yet before the attack was launched, and there wasn't anything for her to do yet. She'd checked her weapons, the jetcopter was ready, and she was far too wound up to sit quietly and wait. With everything about to happen, but not happening yet, Lunch was bored.

Finally she decided that she might as well eat before things got started. As she turned to leave, Lunch glanced at the master console. It was still on.

Lunch's eyes narrowed as she regarded the console quizzically. What had Jerome been working on? Perhaps he had information on Soliere's project with Yamucha. Lunch pursed her lips and glanced at the monitors. No one nearby.... Lunch smirked as she threw the switch that sealed the Command Center. Now, no one but Jerome could disturb her.

The blonde woman frowned at the master console. Jerome had stopped in the middle of watching a video: "Cell Games: File 3". Lunch viciously stabbed the rewind key with a long forefinger and started to watch the show.

*      *      *      *

"Mist," Tao Pie Pie addressed his apprentice through the communicator, "take over the search on Level J for Soliere's missing subjects. Turn the search for the twins and that idiot cat over to Haze. I will escort Soliere to Dock Two for tonight's operation. Over"

"Yes, sir," crackled Mist's voice. "Over and out."

Tao Pie Pie turned away from the ruined door of the base's physical plant and returned to Soliere's laboratory.

"Are you ready?" There was an impatient edge to the assassin's voice; babysitting Colonel Dark's pet scientist was a boring job that earned no bonuses. He would rather be killing someone, preferably a martial artist. Pie Pie liked killing people who thought they were skilled; he liked showing them what skill really was--and collecting a huge fee for it.

"Yes, yes. I'm downloading the new control programs into firmware now; it will only take a few more minutes to verify them," Doctor Soliere fluttered a hand in Tao Pie Pie's general direction.

Tao Pie Pie's mouth pursed, looking as if he'd just swallowed something sour.

Doctor Soliere recognized that look. "Sorry. I know you're not interested in technical details," he said flatly and turned away from Pie Pie's empty machine eyes to busy himself at the computer console.

Moments later he removed a cartridge from the console and waved it around. "This is it--the attack programs for Gojira, Barugon and Rodan. All I have to do is load it into the master controller at Dock Two, and--POW! The People's Republic won't know what hit them!" Soliere exclaimed with an almost childish glee.

"Wonderful," Tao Pie Pie said sarcastically as he hurried Soliere out of the laboratory.

*      *      *      *

"You lying BASTARD!" Lunch raged at the heedless master console screen. "Tienshanhan was alive all this time, and you never told me! You son of a bitch! You're dead, Jerome!"

Lunch ran down the hall, back into their personal quarters. She dragged a small duffel bag out of her closet and tore through the rooms, tossing all the weapons, jewelry, and money she could find into it. A set of fatigues, blue jeans, t-shirts and sturdy shoes followed.

For a moment she stared at the nice dresses Jerome had given her, smooth silk and rich satin. Only for a moment; then Lunch ripped them off their hangars and threw them all on the floor in a big pile, except for two mink stoles. Those, she put in her bag.

Her lips drew back from her teeth in a feral snarl; she jumped onto the pile of fine dresses with both booted feet and stomped and ground the fine cloth under her boots. It wasn't enough. Lunch grabbed two bottles of fine perfume that Jerome had given her and upended them, shaking their contents out on the dresses; then she flicked the gold lighter he'd given her and tossed it on the perfume-stained dresses. The alcohol from the perfume ignited quickly.

Lunch started away, then turned back and gingerly grabbed the gold lighter out of the merry little fire, then left by way of the secret door into Dark's office. He wasn't there, of course--but his private safe was, and Dark had been careless. It didn't take Lunch more than a few minutes to disarm the alarms and open the safe; many years ago she'd learned how to read a safe combination while across the room and pretending not to look at the person entering it.

The green-eyed blonde smirked as she quickly riffled through the contents. Numbered bank account books, several hundred thousand zenni in cash, and a box of large, apparently flawless diamonds went into her bag without hesitation. Lunch frowned at the plastic box full of microchips, and the unlabeled mini-CDs--who knew what they were for, or what she could get for them? She shrugged; she could figure it out later, and if Dark had them in his safe, they must be valuable. She tossed them in the bag and zipped it shut, slung her submachinegun at the ready, and marched out of the office.

Now, where the hell was Dark keeping Yamucha? Probably in the brig down on Level F....

*      *      *      *

"Acknowleged. Over and out." Haze wiped the dust off his face with his good hand. Now he was supposed to take over searching the ducts on Level D for a dead cat and two dead midgets while Mist.... While Mist did what? What did Tao Pie Pie want Mist upstairs to look for someone else who'd escaped--

Oh shit! Haze thought. Sweat broke out on his brow. That little shit I thought I killed--he's escaped! He must have survived--I forgot to lock the cell door--he just walked out. Shit! Shit! Shit! I've got to take care of this!

"All right, boys," Haze growled to the squad. "We've been ordered to continue this search on Level F, in the brig area. Get a move on, you slobs!" Haze led the way up the stairs, making sure he had a full load of magazines for his submachinegun. He had a feeling he'd need them soon; there were far too many guys he couldn't trust to keep their mouths shut in the squad.

*      *      *      *

CONTINUED IN CHAPTER 13. Monster Summoning I


[ Contents | 11. Battle Plans | 12. Truth Hurts | 13. Monster Summoning I ]

Disclaimer: See Credits.

Copyright 2001 by Dragoness Eclectic