WARNING!This chapter is a little graphic(at least I think so) so here's fair warning for the squeamish. (Or maybe it's my imagination, but I think this warrants a warning...)
Ch. 22 : And I've got things on my mind“There’s the dock.” Reina said quietly as the team sat perched upon a building across the way from their target. They had decided to scope out the lay of the land together before splitting into groups, “I count three floors total. Four men on the roof, at least three on the top floor, five on the second and the bottom is unknown.” She looked to Ai, sitting next to her for their next orders.
Those two sat kneeling on the edge of the rooftop with the others gathered in a semi circle behind them, holding onto their favored non lethal weapons. Aika and Sayu both had a single, metal baton extended and ready, while Saki held two. Jun fiddled with her brass knuckles and Eri double checked the laces on her heavy boots, her dart gun holstered at her side. Reina also had a tranquilizer in addition to a long bo staff that was also carried by Ai and Lin Lin. The younger cop had been sure to teach the girl some basics in it before handing it over to them.
“Reina, you and Sayu take the first floor main entrance; Saki and Eri take the side door. Jun, Aika, second floor and work your way up. Lin and I have the roof top and we’ll move down to help with the third floor. First floor group, wait for the signal that the other guards are taken out before you move in and we’ll all meet downstairs to help out.” Ai ordered seriously, face scowling just a little in anticipation of what they were about to do. They all headed off to do as instructed, trying to remain inconspicuous in the broad daylight.
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It was too easy for the inexperienced duo to make their way up to the roof via the fire escape that had only been guarded by two men. Ai went first up the final ladder, peeking over the brick lip of the roof and spying a man standing right in front of her, but looking away. The demo expert took the chance to get a look at the landmarks, a few very large ventilation units that made for perfect hiding spaces.
Looking around to make sure the coast was clear, Ai climbed the rest of the way up and wasted no time in swinging her staff into the back of the man’s head as hard as she could. He dropped like a rock with a muted thud and she pulled him down the ladder and onto the fire escape, motioning Lin to follow her back up.
Once they were on the roof, they skittered to the nearest unit, hiding in it’s massive shade. Scoping out the roof again, they spied one man walking in a slow perimeter and the other two leisurely talking to each other next to the door that led into the building. They decided to wait for the walking man to make his way to them before striking and then split up to deal with the other two.
They slowly tracked the walking man’s progress, trying to time their attack to when he rounded the unit they were using for cover, “Hit him hard.” Ai whispered, gesturing for Lin Lin to take the shot. Their hearts were pounding in their chests as their target made his way ever closer, gripping their weapons white knuckled. Finally, the hacker darted from her spot and swung her staff as hard as possible, the poor, unsuspecting guard walking head first into the impact.
He was out before he knew what hit him, beginning to fall towards the edge of the roof. Eyes widening, Lin grabbed the lapels of his jacket and tried to pull him backwards, his dead weight almost knocking her off her feet instead. Ai scrambled to help, grabbing Lin with one hand and the unconscious guy with her other. It took a mighty effort, but they finally managed to drag him to fall onto the rooftop, falling on their own butts at the sudden shift in weight. The quickly glanced around to see if the other guards had noticed the commotion, but they were still engrossed in their conversation.
Breathing a collective sigh of relief, the two relative rookies exchanged a look and then carried on with their plan. They split up, slowly making their way behind two a/c units closest to the remaining men and looking towards each other for the signal. Ai held up three fingers and slowly counted down; when she closed her fist, she rushed from her hiding place and swung her long weapon at the guy who’s back was turned to her, seeing Lin do the same from the corner of her eye. The guards barely had time to register what was coming from behind his buddy before they were out on the ground. Pleased at a job well done, the two high-fived and then made their way into the stair well.
The stairwell opened out smack in the middle of a long hallway, Ai cracked open the door just a smidge, straining her ears to pick up any nearby sounds. When she heard nothing, she poked her head out enough to have a look around; empty. She quickly gestured for Lin to go left and she would go right and they scampered to the end to the hallway, peeking around the corner.
Both saw one guy walking away from where they were currently were, slowly patrolling the third floor, and turned to indicate it to each other. Ai nodded and motioned for them to go in for the kill, both running on light feet after the guards and clobbering them over the head. They drug them across the tiled floor back towards the stairwell and into an empty office.
“Let’s search the rest of the floor for the last guy together.” Ai suggested and they slowly made their way down the hallway, back to back, checking each of the rooms they came upon thoroughly. When they had made it back to where the stairwell was and still no sign of the last guy, they paused, letting their guard down.
“Where is he?” Lin asked, poking her head into the closest room again, Ai peering over her shoulder, “Do you think Tanaka-san was wrong?” A sudden click of metal made them freeze, the unmistakable sound of a hammer being cocked echoed in the hallway.
“She wasn’t wrong.” Said the missing guard menacingly, “Now, come out into the hallw-gerk!” He was cut off as a powerful blow from behind sent him sprawling to the ground.
“Looks like you guys could use a little help.” Jun commented cheekily as Aika relaxed her baton at her side.
“Thanks,” Ai sighed, pressing a hand to her chest, “Is the second floor taken care of?” When she received nods from her companions, she grinned, “Alright, time to give the signal.
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Eri fidgeted with her dart gun, adjusting her grip as she and Saki stood outside the side door, “What do you think the signal will be?” she finally asked the other girl. They had been surveying as much as they could and had deduced that there were only three men inside the door, but who knew how many farther in.
Saki shrugged and before either could say anything else, the sound of glass breaking caught their attention and they looked up to the unconscious body of a guard fly from the second story. They weren’t the only ones who heard the noise and they heard the concerned chatter of the other guards as they came close to the side door.
Both smirking at their luck, the two girls kicked in the metal doors as hard as they could, the force sending two of their opponents to the ground. A well placed dart sent the third one out before he could even think to retaliate and Saki knelt down to bash the one closest to her with her double batons. As he tried to scramble to his feet, Eri casually shot another dart into his head and he flopped backward, out cold.
“Too easy.” Saki remarked and they headed farther into the building.
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Reina and Sayu exchanged a glance as the body hit the pavement behind them. The guy would undoubtedly live, but her would have a few killer aches when he woke up. They’d been standing rather quietly before, savoring the tension between them, when the signal had landed near them. Now the charged into action, busting through the doors and running into the first open room, which looked like it was meant to be an office.
Two men stood inside, looking up in surprise at their intrusion, but the girls marched over to them, brandishing their weapons before they could raise any firearms. Reina’s bo staff made contact with the guard’s knee first, sending him down, before connecting with his head.
Sayu jabbed her baton into the second man’s gut and as he bent over in pain, pulled her knee up hard, one hand on the back of his head insuring that she met her mark. Both men collapsed to the floor in what was only an instant. The girls grinned and shared a high five before moving on.
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The larger group burst from the stairwell into the main room in a flurry of action, immediately meeting a group of five men leaning up against some crates. On the far side of the room were four more men who looked up at the commotion, but had no chance to move before the other doors in the room burst open to admit Sayumi and Reina and Eri and Saki.
Having the advantage of reach, Lin and Ai took the two men farthest away, extending their staffs into a practiced thrust that landed on gut and chin respectively. Lin swung her weapon upwards as her opponent bent double and connected with his forehead, while Ai had no need to when the guard hit the ground face first.
Aika and Jun drove forward towards the last three, the thief swinging her baton widely and the hitter jabbing both fists at once. One of Jun’s reinforced knuckles came into solid contact to the nose of the guy on the right, blood spurting out as he gave a cry, while the other just barely missed the slightly faster guard. Not missing a beat, Jun recovered with the hand that had missed and sent it careening into the jaw of the wounded man, knocking him flat.
The unharmed guard fumbled at his belt for his sidearm, dropping it in his haste. Both looked at the gun on the ground and then up at each other, the man grinning sheepishly and putting his hands in the air in the motion of surrender. The hitter just chuckled and planted her fist hard enough in his forehead to send him out cold.
Aika had missed with her first strike, but pressed the attack, her wild, wide swings keeping him off guard enough to not be able to retaliate. Finally, she stepped forward, kicking upwards hard, and the man groaned, crossing his eyes and clutching his sensitive parts. As he sunk to the ground, Aika smirked and gave one last swing, delivering a mighty blow to the head.
The thief and hitter high fived cheerfully and Lin bounced over to latch onto Ai as they all turned to find the last four opponents summarily dealt with.
“Way to go, guys!” Ai called out as the group hopped over the low crates to join up in the middle of the warehouse.
“Looks like we found what we came for.” Reina chimed in, pointing to a massive stack of 2X4 boxes against the far wall that were stamped with ‘Military Surplus.’ One box stood out from the rest, waiting on a tabletop, apparently removed from the rest of the pile to have been inspected. Ai made her way over to this one and grabbed a nearby crow bar, easily prying open the top. What she saw inside made all of the mirth drain from her face.
“Check the other boxes.” she ordered, tone brooking no arguments and the group scrambled to do as she asked, picking up crow bars and hammers to do the job. Each pulled out and pried to crates open as Ai removed one of the boxes contents and examined it in her hand.
“What is this?” Aika asked, lifting a brightly colored video game controller in the shape of a small shot gun.
“A decoy?” Saki murmured, pulling out a tiny child’s cowboy revolver. She clicked the trigger a few times and the chamber rotated.
“This can’t be, my intel was good!” Reina cried, throwing an orange capped Beretta replica to the ground, “My man-!”
“Is probably dead.” Eri finished for her, sliding the lid back into place.
“But why would someone go through all this trouble?” Jun asked quizzically. They all jumped when Ai suddenly shoved the crate full of toy guns to the floor violently, spilling the contents over the concrete.
“Can’t you see!? They wanted us out of the manor! They’ll attack the manor now! They’ll attack…” she choked on her words, sending a panicked look to the group, “Risa.” she finally breathed out, as though pained.
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Reina pushed the van’s gas petal to the floor, the vehicle charging valiantly back to the mansion. Inside the girls all clutched various firearms to their chests, solemn looks on their faces. Sayumi suddenly gasped out from the passenger seat, directing everyone’s attention to a plume of thick black smoke that rose from over the tree line. Unconsciously, they all turned to Ai, watching the worry flood her features and then leave, a murderous look remaining behind. Her resolve seemed to solidify and it gave them strength, they were determined not to lose the manor. Or Risa.
The van screeched to a stop in front of the gate, now hanging off it’s hinges, panting in exertion and the girls all piled out, taking just a second to assess the scene. The large, beautiful front grounds which used to be lush and green now bared scorch marks and blood stains. The extensive fountain spurted red, a body floating in it face down. All across the property, screams rang out; of pain, of fear, of loss. Glints of shell casings littered the grass, shining in the midday sun.
The manor itself was riddled with bullets holes and blood, bodies hung half out of windows and the front doors were blown right off. The whole third floor was engulfed in flames, smoke pouring from every broken window. The girls saw suited men chasing down housemaids, laughing all the while as if they were playing a game and then shooting them in the back when they got too tired. The ones that survived, immobilized, were pinned down and raped, screaming and sobbing hysterically throughout the heinous act.
Any gang members were hunted down mercilessly and either shot or stabbed to death, and those were the lucky ones. As the girls moved into the house, gunning down every Tanaka member they saw, they spied a few men with flame throwers strapped to their backs making their way slowly through the rooms and corridors to set fire to everything and everyone in their path.
Coldly, Ai took aim at one with his back turned, smirking at a few young, cowering cooks in the corner of the kitchen, “So you’re chefs, huh? How about I do some cooking now?” he chuckled, fingering the trigger.
The demo expert unloaded on him with her assault rifle, tearing into his back and immediately paralyzing him before killing him outright, the flame thrower tank hissing as the flammable gas escaped, but not exploding, “Get out of here.” Ai commanded the frightened girls, “Go! Run!”
They heard louder screams coming from out in the backyard, so they headed in that direction. It was a massacre, Tanaka members were mercilessly murdering the innocent household workers and ganging up on the actual members of the Niigaki group. Even when they tried to surrender, they were still killed, execution style. Ai shook her head and took aim at the nearest Tanaka member, shooting him in the head and watching it explode like an overripe melon, “Kill them all!” She ordered cruelly, marching out farther into the yard, the others not hesitating to follow her order.
As Saki began to make her way out to join them, to her right, three people came down the stairs in suits. She turned and took out two of them instinctively, but paused, pointed her rifle at the third one. Maimi gave her a wide eyed look of fear, eyes crossing slightly as she focused on the barreled leveled at her nose. They froze, regarding each other in silence, then Maimi turned and ran up the stairs, Saki hot on her heels.
As they came to the hallway in the east wing second floor, the Tanaka captain picked up speed, but Saki paused, reaching behind her to pull out her baton and extend it in a swift movement. She took only a moment to aim and then let it fly true, striking Maimi in the back of the knee. The much taller girl toppled to the ground and Saki sprinted over to her, rolling her over and punching her hard across the cheek.
“How could you take part in this?!” The little Niigaki Captain cried, tears welling up in her eyes as she buried her fist in her lover’s abdomen again and again. Finally, Maimi seemed to gather the strength to push her off, planting her feet up in the middle of Saki’s chest and kicking hard. The smaller girl flew through the air and landed against a half open door, swinging it all the way open and falling inside.
Groaning, Maimi rose and stumbled over to Saki, grabbing her by the collar and picking her up easily. The Niigaki Captain kicked hard, aiming for ribs, her left foot bounced off a hip, but her right made contact and air whooshed from Maimi’s lungs as she dropped her lover. The smaller girl immediately dove forward, fists flying in a frenzy. Maimi brought her arms up to shield herself and was slowly forced to back away, stumbling over the edge of the couch and causing one of Saki’s blows to miss it’s mark.
The Tanaka girl took advantage of the miss and lunged forward, grabbing onto the still extended arm and pulling Saki towards where her force was already heading, driving her knee up hard in the process. It drove home into the smaller girl’s chin, clacking her teeth together audibly and knocking her dizzy for a crucial moment. Maimi pressed the attack, raining kicks against her lover’s lower unprotected half.
Saki stumbled, reaching down to try and fend off the assault, but Maimi just switched her target, now kicking higher into shoulders and chest. The Niigaki Captain fell backwards, balance lost, and hands immediately grabbed her collar again, hoisting her up. Saki kicked ineffectually, her feet bouncing harmlessly off Maimi’s elbows. Looking to where the Tanaka girl was heading, Saki ‘s eye’s widened when she saw the window. The other girl was intent on throwing her out of it!
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Eyes narrowing, Ai leveled her rifle at the frantic Tanaka member that was trying to crawl away on his hands, broken legs hanging uselessly behind him, “Please! Mercy!” he cried, clawing the grass and dirt.
“Mercy?” Ai scoffed, “Would you show us any? Have you?” She kicked him over onto his back to glare at him in the eyes, wanting him to see his killer fully before she pulled the trigger and pumped three rounds into his heart.
The grounds fell quiet as the rest of the Tanaka members in the backyard had been dealt with. A sudden bellowing laugh caught all their attention and the girls turned to the place where the back double doors had previously stood. “Wow, I’m impressed.” Akio applauded, “I had to admit I didn’t think you had it in you. Though, she knew you would come.” He yanked hard on something held in his right hand, revealing that he had Risa’s hair in his grip, still attached to the gunner.
Ai gasped, taking in the sight as her lover was dragged on her knees painfully to kneel in front of Akio. Blood poured sluggishly from numerous wounds across her body, her left sleeve was ripped off and dark bruises marred the lightly tanned skin of her upper arm, slashes criss-crossed her torso and thighs, showing more bruising beneath her clothes. Her head hung low and one hand weakly grabbed onto the eldest son’s wrist.
“She was quite adamant, you know. ‘Ai-chan will come for me.’ she insisted to me again and again, no matter how many times I hit her and cut her. She must love you very much, but she was right, here you are. And now you’re going to die.” He shook his captive, gaining a mewling cry, “Put your weapons down and kneel down in a line facing me here.” When they hesitated, Akio pulled a pistol from the place next to the hilt of a short sword and pointed it at Risa’s head, “Do it!”
Ai could barely hear him, eyes locked so intently on Risa as they were, begging her silently to lift her head and let her know that she was alright. As if sensing this, the gunner jerkily raised her eyes from the ground, something that seemed to be with colossal effort, and made eye contact with her lover. She had a shallow cut on her jaw and eyebrow and there was a gash on her lip, but she’d never looked so beautiful to Ai than at that moment. Slowly, Risa shook her head in the negative, begging the demo expert to not give up.
Ai was just satisfied that her beloved bean was alright, “Go ahead.” she motioned to the others and they began to slowly put their weapons down.
“Good, now over here.” Akio demanded, pointing with the barrel of his pistol to a spot just a the bottom of the stairs that led to the backyard. Ai was the first to comply, the others following suit uneasily. When they were all kneeling, the eldest Tanaka son smirked, “Good, now, who’s first?” he chuckled, pointing at each girl in turn, “Eenie, meenie, minie, moe.” he chanted, finally landing on Ai, “You are it.” the pistol cocked back loudly.
Without any warning, Risa reacted to the sound, whipping her seemingly useless arm around to grip the sword hilt that was sheathed on his belt. In a smooth motion, she brought it high behind her head, blade skyward, and Akio gasped as they hair in his grip suddenly went limp with nothing now attached to the other end. Risa continued her arcing motion, the sword sinking into his gun hand and knocking his shot astray, his bullet and thumb flying to the side.
Akio cried out as the captive he thought he’d beaten into submission twisted around on the balls of her feet and thrust his own sword into his gut, his air choking off in pain, “You were right about one thing, Akio.” Risa hissed, turning the sword painfully and pulling with all her strength to slide it through his soft belly, “I do love her, very much.” the eldest Tanaka son looked down uncomprehendingly, hands going down to clasp his stomach. Risa pulled the sword out of him and he jerked, choking now on the blood welling up his throat. He moved his hands away from his wound and stared at his intestines falling on the outside.
Reina cringed as he fell to the ground, looking away from her brother’s unseeing eyes. Sayumi grabbed her gently and helped her up, gently leading her back to their weapons. Ai lunged forward and embraced her bloody lover, sharing a short and sweet kiss, “Let’s finish cleaning up the rest of the trash.”
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“We’re enemies now.” Maimi whispered, pausing at the window. “I’m sorry.” she looked at her lover with teary eyes, then hoisted her higher.
Saki was ready and grabbed onto the thick window pane, using the leverage to pull herself even higher, the hands popping free of her collar. She wrapped her legs around Maimi’s neck and twisted hard, sending the taller girl flying out the already broken second story window herself. The Tanaka girl gave a cry that was quickly cut off with an oof as she hit a prickly bush and bounced off, hitting the ground hard enough to knock the wind out of her.
Slowly, Maimi crawled to her feet as, above, Saki righted herself and the lover’s met eyes, both more than a little relieved. Suddenly, gunfire erupted downstairs and Maimi turned her attention to the lower level, her mother running out of the building with a few bullets chasing after her. Erino grabbed Maimi and yanked her in the direction of the gate, “Akio’s dead! He’s dead, let’s go!”
They were quickly followed by the surviving lieutenants and gang members, all running frantically for their lives. They were followed by the angry occupants of the manor, gunning down as many of them as they could before they scurried off the grounds. Looking down, Saki saw Ai, Risa and the rest emerge from the broken doors, the gunner and demo expert with their arms wrapped around each other, “Hey!” she called down, “The manor’s still on fire.” she motioned upwards, but they seemed unconcerned.
“It’s alright, we still have the hotel.” Risa explained, smirk on her bloody face, still dragging the short sword behind her, glinting red in the sunlight, “And soon, we’ll have a new manor to play around in. The Tanaka manor will be ours!” she pumped her fist in the air, the sword flashing, and the rest of the gang cheered.
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I actually wasn't planning on posting this tonight, but a sudden burst of inspiration helped me complete it. So here you go!
BTW, here are some awesome banners, courtesy of Kawaii Beam!
Thanks girl! *patpats*
Topic: Black and Blue (Ch 34 6/4 The End!) (Read 153063 times)