Sunday, April 10, 2005

   Before we begin I’d like to ask, what do you think of guys with earings?
Lost and Found

Episode 4
*Suichichi’s perspective*
I was meeting with a small, unpleasant man who dealt in second rate black market weapons and semi-reliable information. He had contacted me earlier saying that he had found the information I was looking for and would tell me for a very reasonable price. He chose a market in a less respectable neighborhood, one in which Rats were not necessarily confined to the alleyways, as our meeting place. He was even more nervous than usual, stalling and trying to sneak sideways glances. Of course I knew he was up to something, but the stupid simplicity of his ruse caught me off guard. Two large men, who I had tagged as being too obvious and conspicuous to be accomplices, came up, one on either side of me and looked at the merchant for direction. He gestured at me, “Him Him you fools.” he shrieked. A pair of horns emerged on each man's forehead and they underwent a muscular transformation which might have impressed a small child. I recognized them of course, a simple class of demon whose only skill is dumb brute force, and not even much of that. One said to the other, “We kill?” The second one's response was, “Ugh ” The first one said, “Mitsu kill cat?” His articulate companion replied “Ugh ” Far more quickly than either one could react I drew my whip and decapitated them both. The little man tried to run, his death was quick but most unpleasant. I immediately departed and hurried home. I knew that Kirara could easily handle half a dozen of their like, but I also knew that they would not be working alone. I found myself acutely concerned for Marlene's safety as well…

*Marlene’s perspective*
From the instant the apartment door was rammed in there were less than two seconds before I was up, armed, and at the bedroom door. I opened the door and saw Kirara struggling with a strange, large man. I put two bullets in the base of his skull, or I would have had they pierced the skin. Instead they flattened against his neck and he didn’t seem to notice. I pulled the clip and shoved an armor piercing round into the breach. My next shot took away a large part of the man’s skull. As he fell, I realize that he had horns. I only had two APRs left. Kirara nodded at me then walked out of the apartment, I followed. When we got to the top of the stairs, two armed men without horns reached the next downward landing. These two responded to bullets in a more conventional fashion then the first man had. When we got to the main door to the building, someone outside opened up on us with a fully-automatic assault rifle. I dodged for cover and started looking for an alternative exit, when the firing was suddenly cut short. I heard some one approaching the door, and got ready to pounce. It was Suichichi, walking calmly carrying a red rose dripping with blood. I nearly blew his head off. “We had better leave.” He said. “Just a minute.” I said, walking toward the dead attacker. I grabbed his gun and checked the ammo. It was a good weapon, it looked military but I didn’t know the model. The man I took it from was lying on the ground in several pieces. I took the gun and turned to Suichichi. He was straddling Kirara and gestured for me to join him. I did and what happened next took my breath away. I had expected the cat to run, so I was greatly surprised when she leaped into the air and didn’t come back down. I held tight to Suichichi’s waist and tried to tell myself that it was no different then riding a shuttle…
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