Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Into The Void ❯ Dark Renegade Interrogator, Reiji Zidane ( Chapter 10 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

By: MellyN

XI.

Into the Void

By: Melissa Norvell

Chapter 10: Dark Renegade Interrogator, Reiji Zidane

XI.

To go up the mountain, the team decided to dress more appropriately. Each was dressed in some type of winter attire. Valentino was the only one who didn't change.

Sari wore a navy blue coat with white faux fur around the collar, sleeves and bottom. Below that, she wore some type of white shirt that hung out from underneath, two flaps of material were in both front and back, followed by blue flares with a white wrappings around one knee.

Rubio dressed in his traditional black attire, wearing a heavy black jacket, which was unbuttoned two buttons, revealing a white sweater. The coat had a belt that went across the pant line, the pieces of fabric extended to the beginning of the leg. It was baggy and had one button on the top of each shoulder, holding down a loop of fabric. He wore his usual black slacks and shiny black shoes.

Vincent wore a green coat, with faux fur around the neck and arms; it wasn't zipped like Sari's was, exposing a black turtle neck. He wore his traditional black pants with wrappings, cowboy hat and boots with fur at the tops.

Agata wore a yellow vest and matching pants with a black stripe down either side, black shiny boots and a white shirt with large sleeves and black lace going through the tips of the lace lined sleeves.

Yaritza wore black gloves and an olive green sweat shirt with two bandannas tied around the arms near the shoulder area. Down below, there was a red skirt made with two flaps of short fabric going to mid, knee, underneath it was black, spandex shorts, going to her knees, and from then on, white wrappings covered her legs, until reaching her sandals and socks beneath.

Lastly, Ionna wore a long, brown dress that crossed in the front like a robe, the collar lined with grey frosted fur and the sleeves wide, like a wizard's costume with fur at the ends. It had fur along the bottom, not crossed completely, going back up where the fur disappeared into two black belts, criss-crossed over her hips. She wore a small black skirt and long, black socks that came up to her mid thigh, two small belts at the tops of them, buckled tightly to keep them from falling down, and black heeled boots, coming up to her mid-calf.

The winter-clad cast stood at the base of the mountain, looking up the snowy steeps. The climb ahead would be dangerous, and there were many unsafe spots dappled along the sides of the mountain.

"Let's start climbing," Yaritza instructed.

Ryouzonia had already headed up the mountain. She carefully scaled the rocks, digging into them with her claws. Sari climbed up beside of her and glanced at her with an irritated expression.

"You can fly, can't you?" She asked, twinge of aggravation to her voice. Why in the hell didn't she just use her wings? Did she know how ridiculous it looked for the one member of their team with wings to be scaling the mountain?

"I can, but an avalanche would kill me if I decided to fly the whole way up," she replied. Ryouzonia was no neophyte. She knew how the hazards of the mountains could be.

"Right," now that she thought about it, that made sense.

"Hey!" Ionna shouted over to them. "I found some corpses over here in the snow," Valentino's sister stood on a ledge, where some frost covered bodies lay.

"What are they?" Sari asked.

"Citizens from the Republic of Baztok."

Rubio walked over, looking down at them. He observed the frozen forms of those who had traversed the mountains before and failed to return home. "They're preserved in the snow," it was as if they had laid down to go to sleep and ice overcame them. It was unnerving if he stared at it for too long.

Ryouzonia pulled herself up atop of the cliff and walked over to examine them, "it's my search party."

"Man, they're frozen stiff," Yaritza stated. "At least we know what's happening to them."

"They were attacked," the bird noted, examining the bodies. "Shot with a machinegun. It takes several shots to take them down."

"If they were shot here…We should be worrying about ourselves, don't you think?" Vincent asked.

Valentino stood a bit off from the cast, but behind him lurked a blue-clad soldier, Rubio turned. His eyes widened. Then the man fell behind Valentino, revealing Yaritza on the other side.

"Nice move," Valentino complimented.

"Thank you," the red-head smiled. "Can't have you dying on me at the last minute."

"You obviously have no idea who you're talking to," Sari butted in. Was she that far out that she had no idea how infamous this guy was? She didn't even act all that impressed to meet him the other day. What was up with that?

"Hm?" The ninja looked to Sari, who held out a wanted poster with his picture on it.

"He's a con, believe it. I'd bet anything he could kick your ass so hard you'd feel it for weeks," she bragged. Yaritza might have been tough, but there was no way that she could possibly take on someone in Valentino's caliber.

Green eyes blinked, and then looked at the assassin in confusion, "but he looks…so fragile." This was a legendary guy? Yaritza expected someone who was a lot more intimidating, and not so lanky-looking.

"Don't let that fool you," Rubio stated. He knew firsthand how terrible Valentino was.

"He's killed millions," Agata looked to the assassin. "Which does bring up a question, Valentino?"

He looked to the militant woman, who leveled him with a serious glare.

"Did you destroy the villages I found those three at?" She pointed to Vincent, Sari and Rubio. She had been waiting to ask him that question. Now was just as good of a time as any to get it out.

"No," Valentino spoke calmly. "I happen to be caught up in a series of unfortunate events. I was on my way out of town when I ran through the village. I was settling an old score." He looked back Sari, "I saw you there too."

The girl in question blinked. "You did? Hey! Do you know who knocked me out?"

"I did," the black haired man admitted, "I didn't want you to die. You were caught up in the middle of something so innocently."

"You're the one who saved me?" Sari asked, almost in disbelief.

"Yes."

"Wow…I don't know what to say," she was baffled by his apparent kindness.

Vincent climbed in between them. "How about keep climbing?"

A vein popped out of Sari's head. She raised a fist in anger. "How about fist to face?"

"No thanks."

Valentino said nothing, just looked at the two's antics as the girl turned back to him.

"Thanks, I owe you my life," Her voice was full of gratitude. Sari was touched by that, so much so that it filled her heart full of a warmth that she hadn't felt since her parents passed away.

"You're welcome."

'Oh great….Now he's someone's hero…Then again…He's mine too.' Rubio thought somewhat jealously. "Valentino."

The man turned to look at him as eyes glared with discontent.

"You'd better back off, Rubio!" Sari warned, holding up her fist menacingly.

"No…I don't have anything negative to say," Rubio replied. "I just want to thank you."

"For what?" Valentino questioned.

"Saving me."

"I don't deserve your thanks," Valentino told her, but masculine hands grabbed his shoulders.

"Yes…You do," haunted blue eyes looked sincerely into red. "I've been acting like a jerk to you and….I'm sorry."

"You should hate me. I killed your girlfriend. I know you're still hung up on her," the stoic man replied. The sins he had committed were far from irredeemable.

There were only a few moments of silence. The only sounds that could be heard were the harsh winds blowing and the crunching of rock beneath hands and feet as they scaled the mountain.

Sari broke the silence after a few moments of contemplating the last thing the two men had spoken of in their conversation.

"Killed his girlfriend?" She asked.

"Yes, I was assigned the mission by Ibuki-sama."

"What!? But Angora was his wife! Everyone under the sun knew that!" Sari outraged.

"She was cheating on him with Rubio. So he wanted her dead," the assassin spoke seriously. He decided to let the full situation sink into their minds.

"But…Why didn't you kill me?" Rubio asked.

"It wasn't in the mission."

"Don't give me that excuse," he scowled.

This rendered the assassin speechless once more.

"Tell the truth," he probed.

"I would have killed you if asked," Valentino finally spoke. He didn't know Rubio back then, and to him his head was just another dollar in his pocket. There was no sense in being kind about it.

"I'm about to knock you out," Rubio sneered, tired of his avoidant answers. Valentino was just pissing him off the more he talked to him. Ever since he had killed Angora, the silent asshole refused to give him any kind of answers that would put him at rest. Now, he was being just as shady as he was before.

"I'd love to see you try!" Sari spoke up strongly.

'I'm confused.' Yaritza thought. 'What's this all about?'

Everyone eventually made it to a large ledge, where they took a short break. They were quiet as they rested, trying to gather strength for the next big climb. No one knew where the next large ledge would be from that point onward. As they glanced out, they could see through the falling snow that the view was spectacular. They could see many villages and towns, as well as the vast landscape that stretched out far over the horizon.

Masculine hands shot out, harshly grabbing red clad shoulders. "You are really beginning to piss me off!" Rubio shouted a wicked and feral tone to his voice.

The assassin said nothing to him, simply looking back with annulled eyes.

"Why are you so cold?" He asked. The fact that Valentino seemed to show no emotion this entire time was completely grating on him. It slowly chipped away at his sanity and he couldn't stand it any longer.

"Because you hate me," Valentino said lowly in a civil tone.

"I hate what you did. I'm just angry at you for it," his attacker replied. If Valentino thought he was just going to forgive him for taking someone's life, then he was barking up the wrong tree.

"You didn't deserve to die."

"What?" The marring of his face receded as it was overtaken with question.

"That's why I saved you," Valentino admitted.

"You know, it's great that you're working out your problems and al but-" Suddenly, the ground shook with a savage fury, nearly knocking Sari over. She stumbled back into Valentino, who in turn fell into Rubio. Their lips brushed in an accidental kiss. The assassin blushed slightly and the silver haired male looked staggered.

"Uh…" Sari felt the sweat run down her forehead. "I know you guys were all for making up but do you have to be so friendly about it?"

"Get off!" Rubio yelled, and shoved the blushing man backwards.

He turned his head limply and stumbled back a few feet, eyes slightly widened.

"I knew he was gay," Vincent shouted victoriously. He was just waiting for the opportune time to finally get that guy back for all of the homosexual comments he made towards him.

"It was an accident!" Rubio shouted in embarrassment.

"Why are you blushing?" The bounty hunter teased.

"Because that's embarrassing!!" Rubio shouted at the top of his lungs, feeling very humiliated.

"It's not like he stole your first kiss or anything," Ionna shrugged it off.

"So…" Sari looked with shifty eyes at him. "How do man lips taste?"

"Rrrrrrrrrrr!!!"

"It was just a kiss," Valentino stated. "It feels the same with anyone." It wasn't a big deal to him. There were no feelings in it, and it was just lips against lips. Why were they making a big deal about it?

Vincent gave him a questionable look. "Are you gay, Valentino? Cause if you are its cool…It's just that…I'm not. I'd like to make that clear."

Rubio glared at him.

"Love has no gender," the assassin replied.

"That tells us a lot," Yaritza's voice was laced in sarcasm. She was looking for juicy tidbits, not some cryptic puzzle to solve.

Then red, feminine eyes turned stern. "We have trouble," Ionna stated gravely as a loud rumbling could be heard getting closer to the group.

Sari looked up, and a look of fright crossed her features. "Wah!" She screamed.

"Avalanche!" Agata yelled, as a cascade of frozen rock and water tumbling towards the group of mountain climbers.

Vincent flipped out, and began running around in circles and yelling. "What do we do!? What do we do!? What do we do!?"

"Quit being stupid!" Sari yelled through the rumbling rocks as the bounty hunter stopped and looked at her.

"We've got to find a ledge," Valentino thought quickly as destruction barreled towards them.

"Why?" Sari questioned.

"If we get under the ledge, the avalanche might miss us," Agata informed.

"But we'll be buried in," Rubio stated.

Looking around, Valentino spotted a small hole in the side of the mountain. "No we won't.” He pointed to the seen spot. "If we go in there we won't be buried alive, trust me."

"We don't really have a choice," Yaritza pointed out.

"It does look deep. Let's go before we get buried. We really don't have time for an argument," Ionna settled.

XI.

As the last person entered the cove, the snow and rock covered the entrance. Everyone looked at the structure that stood in their way. They looked down the hole to see a hallway extending back into the depths of the mountain's core.

"It's a tunnel," Rubio pointed out.

"How did you know that?" Ryouzonia inquired. It was impressive that they seemed to know something like this about a mountain they claimed to never have been to.

"Looks like we have some visitors, Loreli," a deep voice intoned.

Loreli sighed. "What are you doing he-Valentino? Rubio?"

The assassin was quiet, but his opponent spoke.

"Loreli?"

"You guys…Know each other?" Yaritza asked in confusion.

"Okay!" Sari yelled. "What the crap?"

"What are you guys talking about?" Vincent was perplexed. "I mean, what the-who the? I'm confused."

"Are you two hiding something? Because quite frankly, I think you are," Agata cast a scrutinizing gaze at them.

Ionna looked casually at them. "You two have to fess up now."

"I didn't know traitor was in your vocabulary, Rubio," Zidane's cigarette glowed in the dark as the white haired man remained quiet.

"You don't like Ibuki-sama either, Zidane-sama," Valentino told him.

Rubio was still silent.

"Trying to be quiet just because you don't want anyone to know your secret isn't the best tactic," Zidane advised. If he really wanted to, he could have exposed him right then and there.

"What's going on here?" Valentino inquired. "Why are you at Mount Kayukus?"

"I really don't know," Loreli answered. She wasn't informed of much, other than to simply be there.

"Do you have any residents from the Republic of Baztok here?" Ryouzonia asked.

"No," the scar faced man spoke," killed them all. Interrogated, then killed."

"You…" Sari growled.

Yaritza looked back and forth between Valentino and Rubio. "Valentino? Rubio? You're terrorists?"

"Forced to be. I was tortured by Ibuki-sama…and so was Zidane," his eyes narrowed on the bald man, whose eyes widened at the fact that he'd give away that information.

"Which is why I'm surprised you're still here."

Yaritza looked to Rubio.

"I was Ibuki's personal guard," Rubio admitted. Back then, he would have stated that position with pride, but now, he wore it more as a title of shame. He hated the fact that he ever came into contact with that abomination of a man.

"He wanted you dead as well, but he didn't ask me to kill you. I figured I could get out of it."

"Why? Why would he-" Rubio asked, but was cut off by a machine gun blast, almost hitting him. The former guard looked as if he'd suffered from a heart attack and turned around to see down the barrel of a machine-gun.

"Just like you to never play around," Valentino mentioned.

"Let's get down to business. I don't have time to listen to you whine about how bad life sucks. Come on, Loreli."

"Right," his accomplice began to perform an intricate set of kuji-in, hand signs used by the ninja to channel chakra, the energy that the body has within it's being to execute an attack.

She pointed her staff at the group.

"Wind Tunnel!" She commanded as powerful winds blew from the staff with force, knocking everyone back a few feet. Sari jumped back, pulling out her weapons, Ionna hurled hers through the air as the two terrorists jumped out of the way. Another earthquake took place as Loreli landed, losing her footing and falling to the ground.

Zidane looked down the hall. "Damn, that canon's about to go off."

"Canon?" Agata questioned. "Did you say canon?"

A round of the machine gun went off as the opposing team dodged the bullets yet again.

Loreli managed to get to her feet, pointing her staff at everyone once more. "Sand Blast!" She summoned another attack as everyone was covered with a blast of sand as powerful as a violent sandstorm. Vincent ran up to punch Zidane, but the bald man dodged quickly to the side. Yaritza threw shuriken, but they were deflected with ease by the scar-faced man, who looked impressed.

'Interesting,' he thought, 'she threw all of her weapons with one hand and every one of them was all aimed for a vital area. Impressive.'

Noises could be heard from down the hall as many soldiers began to fill the depths of it, pouring down the corridors in pursuit of whoever intruded.

Loreli turned around to see the soldiers. "Now the cavalry charges in," she sighed.

"Well, it's time to go," Zidane ordered as the two disappeared into a large puff of white smoke.

"Cavalry?" Agata asked.

"That's the cavalry?" Sari's sardonic tone cut in.

"Yeah…" Rubio dead panned.

"We're going to die," Vincent stared at the soldiers.

"No we're not! Yah!" Sari charged at the group, rushing them head on.

"This actually is the best method. Let's go," Agata agreed with Sari as they all ran into the group of terrorist soldiers, proceeding to beat up and kill the soldiers. Valentino ran through the group swiftly, slicing them into bits with his long sword. Rubio began to beat them up, clashing his katanas with his weapons. Ionna threw her weapon through the masses, striking unsuspecting soldiers and anything that got in her path. Sari began slashing at the enemy with her swords, taking out several soldiers and Agata went to work with her bokatta, the echo of the wood could be heard as it cracked across human flesh. Vincent was fist fighting the soldiers, delivering hard blows to their vital areas. Yaritza threw her pinwheels through the air; they soon made contact with a few guards, ramming themselves through their foreheads. Ryouzonia flew powerfully through the masses, taking them out with her scythe.

Hisamichi was in the crowd. He saw the two guards get taken out, and then hid behind a nearby wall. He yelled as he ducked behind the structure. The red head then peeked back around the corner, setting his sights on a particular girl with green-blue hair, making her way through the masses with skill and speed.

Blue eyes softened on her figure. 'She's so pretty. Like an angel,' he thought wistfully as he stared in awe.

XI.

A puff of white smoke appeared on the mountain top. The wind was blowing the heavily falling snow. The amount of snow on the ground came up two inches past their ankles. A large canon was placed a short distance behind them. It was a simple canon with a large barrel. Followed by a small station which controlled it by computer. The whole canon was sat on a platform, which could be maneuvered in a circle to position the battles to face any direction but up or down.

"Do you think alerting the troops will work?" Loreli asked.

"If it doesn't, I switched the floor numbers and signs. Let's begin the sequence," Zidane stated.

"Right," Loreli confirmed, sitting at the controls of the canon and beginning to punch the buttons in. "Firing sequence set to ten seconds."

"If they make it up here, they'll deal with me," the bald man settled. He had nothing but time and opportunity on his hands. Getting Valentino back in Ibuki's custody would be well worth it.

XI.

"I don't get it," Rubio stated in confusion after everyone ran down the hall. "We're right back to where we came from."

The group was in the middle of four hallways. They had been running around through the sets of hallways and came back to the same point.

"Hmmm…" Valentino put a finger to his chin in thought.

"But we followed the signs," Sari replied.

"Well, evidently, they are wrong," Ionna noted.

"We can't just run wherever. We'll get into more trouble," Vincent advised. What were they trying to do, get themselves killed?

"Maybe someone changed the signs," Agata informed, deep in thought. It was possible that they were trying to trick them on purpose.

"Someone definitely doesn't want us to be at the top of this mountain," Yaritza replied. "I wonder what they're hiding up there."

"They could be planning to bury us alive in here," the white haired woman's voice turned grave.

"You're right," Sari agreed.

"E-Excuse me," a shy, slightly stuttering and nervous voice intoned, "I can help you."

The bird looked over her shoulder to see a red-headed man standing a bit far off, holding a large gun.

"You're one of them. Why would we trust you?" Ionna asked.

"Heh, I think we should kill him," Yaritza smiled deviously.

Hisamichi let out a high pitched yell, sounding very much like a woman. "Please don't!" He begged.

'I knew this was a bad idea! Since when did I get so noble? I need to be in the psychotic ward!' He berated himself mentally.

"You afraid?" The ninja asked.

"Of course he is!" Sari pointed out. "He saw what we did to his buddies over there and is afraid he'll get it next."

"You're not right. They aren't my friends," Hisamichi admitted. "I-I don't really want to be a terrorist. I'm working here because Ibuki-sama will blow up my village if I don't. This mountain is having avalanches because of the laser canon on top."

"Canon?" Agata asked.

"Ibuki plans on wiping out everyone in the vicinity to make a massive terrorist base and convert the survivors to terrorists," Hisamichi informed them. "Zidane-sama and Loreli-sama are tricking you. Don't you see?"

"What do you mean?" Ionna asked.

"Zidane-sama changed the signs so that by the time you get up there, the job would have been done."

"What about the people of the Republic of Baztok who came over here?" Ionna asked.

"We killed everyone who wasn't supposed to be up here. There are no survivors. If you want to save millions of people, you'd better hurry. They went to set the timer off, and who knows what they set it for."

Valentino took off down the hall shortly before Hisamichi was done.

Sari glanced at the red head, "thanks."

"You're welcome," he blushed.

"Shit! What's that supposed to mean?" Vincent asked as he ran down the hall.

"It means run your ass off! That's what it means!" Sari yelled.

"And hope this mountain doesn't explode," Ionna was worried about that possibility.

"This is a set up," Valentino informed the group.

"What?" His sister asked.

"These people are part of a sacrifice."

"Huh?" Rubio intoned.

"Hollow hallways, big rooms…Think about it. This canon will sink into the mountain because the mountain isn't strong enough to support it. It's been hollowed out. When it goes off everyone here will die."

'Oh hell,' Hisamichi thought. 'I heard that and I'm so out of here!' He took off running down the hallways, attempting to find a way out. 'I just hope that she'll be okay…'

He thought as he ran out of the mountain.

"We've got to stop that canon from firing," Vincent rounded the corner; a flight of stairs going to the ceiling was to his right.

"There are some stairs!" Rubio shouted indicating where the stairs were.

"Let's go!" Yaritza shouted as they all began to ascend the stairs.

Yaritza climbed the ladder first, and everyone else followed suit. Upon reaching the top, there was a large door on the ceiling.

"Hey, there's a door up here," the ninja observed. Then the whole mountain shook violently as the she clung to the ladder. She screamed as everyone below her tried desperately not to fall.

"Was that it?" Sari asked, looking to Yaritza.

"I doubt it," Ionna noted. "But this place is falling apart."

Vincent climbed past Yaritza and tried to push the door open, the veins in his arms visible through his skin. "It won't come open," he finally said.

"You're not doing it right," Sari squeezed past him, trying to pry it open herself but to no avail, while the bounty hunter gave her an 'I told you so' look.

"Really?"

"Shut up!"

"Let me handle this," Ionna jumped on the ground and throwing her weapon upwards. It crashed into the door, the force knowing it off of its hinges and flinging it up into the air, then sending it crashing into the snow as the two terrorists on the mountain looked at it. Everyone climbed through as the snow poured into the hole. Everyone stood in the snow, facing their enemies.

"Where's the canon?" Yaritza asked.

"Don't tell me this is the wrong way!" Sari yelled.

"I hope to hell not!" Vincent shouted back.

"I see it," Agata pointed through the fog that some of the snow had caused. "It's over there."

Everyone headed toward the canon, snow crunching below their feet. Another violent shake came from the mountain, sending all tumbling down in the snow.

"Ugh. Damn it!" Zidane cursed. "The repercussion of this canon's fire will collapse the mountain."

"We've got to get out of here," Loreli noted gravely.

"Ibuki is a dead man if I get out of commission for this!" Zidane snarled.

The two terrorists began to run, trudging through the snow to get back to the opening. Zidane's foot hid some rocks, but they were unsteady and it caused the ground to cave in below him. He sank through the snow, falling several feet below, along with rocks of all sizes and a ton of snow. Loreli reached down and attempted to grab his hand, but could only feel his finger tips graze her as he slipped away. Hazel eyes watched in dismay and sorrow as her friend disappeared below.

"Zidane-sama!" She cried out, and then turned from the scene. On the verge of tears, she tried to push the feeling to the back of her head. "I've got to get out…I can't worry about him. That's not what he'd want me to do." Then a thought hit her as her eyes widened. She had forgotten about Udo, who lay in a coffin in the mountain. "Udo-sama!" She took off running past Rubio, who shot around.

"Hey! Who's that?"

"Out of my way!" Loreli shoved him to the side quickly and disappeared down the hole.

"Is that the terrorist girl who was with Zidane?" Sari asked.

"We don't have time for her," Ionna was bent on one thing. "We've got to get to the canon."

"Rubio, get your sorry carcass up and hurry!" Sari looked down to the man.

Valentino jumped into the seat at the master computer.

"What are you doing?" The bounty hunter asked.

"We have three minutes left. I have to deactivate the sequence," Valentino stated.

"But that's cryptic military work. We don't have time for that!" Agata shouted.

"Then what's your idea?" Ionna asked, looking to her.

"I'm thinking on it…"

"I thought we didn't have time for that."

"…"

"Break it!" Sari yelled.

"What if we break it and can't fix it, then it will still fire," Rubio mentioned.

"We can't risk it! We'll have to crack the code. Nothing we can do can penetrate the canon itself, so we'll have to break the computer down and blow the canon up later," the ninja told them as the assassin swiftly went to work, pushing buttons.

The end of the canon began to glow with a luminescent white color as it charged for the blast. A dark blue eye widened as the white haired woman's head snapped to Valentino.

"Valentino! How much time is left?"

"One minute and fifty nine seconds."

Rubio climbed in another seat, "here, let me do this."

XI.

Loreli pushed on the heavy lid of the coffin as it slid off slowly. "Ugh!"

The canon's glow began to get brighter.

"It's almost done," Valentino pushed more buttons...

"Twenty-two seconds," Rubio counted down.

The female terrorist was running through the halls. It was like a mad house. Frantic and frightened soldiers all pushed past one another to attempt to get out. The girl and her pointy haired friend whom she draped over her back, were bounced around like pin balls before they made it out.

"Finally!" She running a distance away from the mountain, and then performing the ninja art of Replacement to get them away a good distance. "Now we won't be affected by the blast. It's about to fire."

The glow disappeared, and the canon looked inactive. The soldiers outside looked on in question.

"What?" Esta snapped in anger. "What happened? Is the canon defective?"

'She did it,' Hisamichi smiled. 'What a girl!'

The assassin sighed and wiped his brow.

"He did it," Agata was relieved, while Rubio shot him an annoyed look. Again, Valentino made him look like an idiot and ripped any shining moment he had from him.

"Whoo hoo! He did it!" Sari celebrated, jumping up into the air.

"Yeah!" Yaritza cheered, putting her fist victoriously into the air. "Right on! Way to go Valentino! You're the man!"

"I can't believe it….Amazing," Agata was in awe. "Simply amazing."

"Whew!" Vincent sighed in relief. "No one died."

"Great job Valentino….Great job," Ionna smiled in content.

Their mission had been accomplished and everyone had been saved.

TBC