Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Gaijin ❯ Chapter 20

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Okay. I give up. Due to popular reader request...here you go.


Gaijin

Part 20

Along came a Spider!

++++++++++++++++++

Welcome back true believers! Last time, we found our hero
facing impossible odds. The army of Hisami's shinobi at his back,
our intrepid hero finds himself standing face to face with none
other than Mitsuki, Hisami's loyal and deadly Kunoichi.

Trapped like a rat, surrounded on all sides! How will our
hero survive this time?!

On that note, we take you...three days into the past.

Carrot blinked and turned his head away from Mitsuki. "What?
Hey!"

++++++++++++++++++

Mei Lin smiled cheerfully as she followed behind Yamada. She was
lugging several large cases of camera and recording equipment
with her. "This is heavy."

"Well, you're on the bottom of the food chain kid, get used to
it," growled the man irritably. He had actually shaved since
she'd last seen him, and his tie and collar were both neat. He
looked much more professional early in the day. She decided that
there wasn't anything she could really do about her problem and
suffered through it. It was heavy, but not too much for her to
not bear it.

After riding in the elevator for a minute or two the pair found
themselves in a parking garage on the lowest level of the
building. The girl blinked at this and glanced around. "Are we
going somewhere?"

"Yeah, you get to have some field experience," replied Yamada
crossly. He was just as irritated as ever to have her around. It
showed in his attitude. The man walked over to a large van with a
lot of electronic equipment jutting from the roof. It also had
several markings on the side announcing that the Tokyo Sun owned
it. "Toss that stuff in the back and get in. Don't take all damn
day."

Mei Lin sighed and nodded her head as she immediately did so.

++++++++++++++++++

"Where are we?" muttered Mei Lin as she glanced around at the
room around her.

"Ah, Mr. Yamada," said a stuffing looking man with slicked
back hair and a lab coat on as he approached the man beside her.
"It is a pleasure to see you again."

"Yeah. Nice to see you too Carl," said Yamada with a half-
interested smile forming on his face. "You said you had something
to show me?"

"Yes, there are several others, but I think you'll enjoy this
one."

Yamada nodded and turned towards Mei Lin. "Stay close and
keep quiet."

The girl nodded nervously as she moved up behind him.
"Whatever you say..."

"The tour should start in a few moments, it won't be long,"
said Carl as he walked away from the pair. "Have some coffee or
something while you wait."

"Well, I'm certainly not going to get a decent cup at work,"
grumbled Yamada irritably.

++++++++++++++++++++

"Welcome to Cybertech Labs," said a wild haired young
scientist as he pushed his glasses up his nose and smiled at the
group of reporters in front of him. Mei Lin and Yamada were up
front and watched the man babble about a lot of technical things.
He said the words security, and law enforcement a lot, noted Mei
Lin as she held the camera around her neck ready for anything of
interest to pop up.

"We've heard all this before. Are you going to show us
something new or not?" asked Yamada as he interrupted the man.

The scientist blinked and looked at him for a moment as he
worked his jaw up and down. "Um...why yes. Yes we are." Cutting
his speech short, he motioned for the reporters to follow.

The group was led into a laboratory room. There were large
computers and various vats and tubes lined the walls. There were
also several small clean rooms scattered around the gigantic
room. Thick glass windows blocked the scientist from potentially
hazardous substances.

The man smiled at them as he turned to face them while
standing next to a large vat of black liquid. "Here it is
gentlemen."

"Here's what?" said Yamada dumbly.

"Why, what you came such a long way to see," said the man as
he nodded his head towards the vat.

"Yoshi, this had better not be it," said one of the men in
the back of the group. Mei Lin glanced over her shoulder to
glance at the rival journalist for a moment.

"As you can see, it's quite unassuming for what it is," said
Yoshi as he smirked at them.

"What is it?"

"The most advanced law enforcement technology on the face of
the planet," said the man as he smiled back at them. "The
ultimate in personal protection, apprehension, and stealth
technology. This, is the police officer of the future gentlemen."

Everyone looked at the black blob that bubbled for a moment
at the bottom of the vat.

"What the?" muttered Mei Lin as she peered at it for a
moment.

"It's not quite ready for human testing just yet. So, we'll
just use one of our test dummies to show you.

Everyone turned to see an enclosed chamber of glass right
next to the vat of black. Inside was a white human dummy, it
simply stood and looked like it had been taken out of a mall or
something. It had it's head turned to the side and its hand over
its shoulder as if it was hanging a jacket behind it.

A small door opened up in the bottom of the chamber and the
black liquid oozed onto the floor. It slid inside easily and
moved like a mass of gel rather than a liquid. It left no residue
in the chamber it had come from.

"What is that?" muttered one of the men in the back.

Yamada frowned as he stared into the chamber and waited
patiently.

"It's just sitting there," said Mei Lin as she leaned her
head in close to the glass and glanced back at the others.

"Um, sometimes it is a bit difficult. It was designed for
human use, and it knows the statue isn't human..." said the man
nervously. "We've just got to prod it a bit is all."

"It knows?" said Yamada as he frowned at the man.

"Yes, it incorporates the very latest in nanotechnology and
microprocessors. It's intelligent to an almost sentient level,
barely so of course, but still."

"Its like living clothes?" muttered Mei Lin in disgust as she
seemed to piece together enough of what the man had said.

"No, not really," replied Yoshi with a small shrug. "Thinking
clothes would be more appropriate. It's not really alive as it
lacks a lot of the basics needed for the title."

"Basics?" asked Yamada.

"It doesn't feel emotion, it doesn't eat, it doesn't sleep,
it doesn't reproduce... you get the idea."

"Right," muttered Mei Lin as she turned to frown at the stuff
that simply remained in a pool at the bottom of the chamber.

"I'll try to coax it onto the dummy," said the man as he
walked up to a keyboard at the side of the chamber.

Mei Lin merely nodded as she stared at the stuff at the
bottom of the floor. It almost looked like it was moving...

"Aaaaahhh!" she cried as she jumped back as the stuff moved
at an insane rate of speed. It slammed into the side of the glass
wall directly in front of her face. Everyone in the group jumped
at that, but she was the only one who had voiced it.

Yoshi smirked at her. "Careful. It can tell the difference
between a real person and a fake one. Back away a bit more, and
it should react the way we want it too."

The girl nodded once and jumped back behind Yamada. The man
rolled his eyes and sighed.

The entire group gasped at what they saw happen next. The
liquid slid across the surface of the dummy and formed what
appeared to be a full body suit, including mask, boots, and
gloves.

Mei Lin simply looked on with her jaw hanging down. "Carrot."

The white eyes focused on her. They were giant white teardrop
shaped things; there were also no markings on the thing's chest.
It's skin seemed to shimmer for a moment with a rainbow of colors
over the black surface as it slowly surveyed the surroundings.

"Wow," muttered one of the men behind her.

"What's it doing?" she managed to ask.

"Scanning us," replied Yoshi cheerfully.

Mei Lin shuddered a little at this, but remained silent for
the most part. It was downright creepy to feel the thing probing
her. She wasn't sure why that was, but just knowing that it was
looking at her a hundred different ways sent a chill down her
spine.

The scientist paused as he typed on the keyboard for a
moment. "All right. Time to put you back..." The door inside the
small room opened, showing the way back into the containment vat.

The thing slowly turned its head towards him and narrowed its
eyes.

"It's never done that before," commented Yoshi dumbly.

"What?" said Mei Lin as she turned to look at him.

The dull thump of the thing's fist hitting the glass made
everyone jump. The journalist all started to back away slightly
as Yoshi began to frantically work on the keyboard. "Oh shit!"

A high pitched whining sound filled the room from inside the
small chamber. What appeared to be a large tuning fork had
lowered down from the top of the chamber just over the thing's
head.

Mei Lin clicked off photos as the thing fell to its knees
under the assault of the noise inside the chamber. "Oh wow." Her
eyes were wide and she hid behind one of the desks as others
rushed by around her to assist in the containment.

The creature reared its head back in complete agony as it
glared up at the source of the sound that had brought it to its
knees. With what appeared to be great effort, the thing reached
up slowly.

"It's trying too..." started Yoshi as he increased the power
output of the device.

There was a harsh crunching sound from inside the chamber.

Yoshi was frozen in shock as he stared at the thing as it
turned towards him. It had the twisted remains of the sound
generator in its claws. "Oh fuck." A snarling sound rather like
that of a lion came from inside the thing's throat.

Yoshi took a step back as the face of the thing actually
began to ripple. Everyone slowly moved out from behind their
cover to stare at it as it stood there. It was short lived as a
powerful jet of the black liquid shot from the thing's face as it
slammed into the glass wall once again. The thick reinforced
glass cracked badly, and a single drop of the stuff began to
slide down the outer surface of the glass.

"Um, should we go now?" asked Mei Lin as she glanced at
Yamada. "It's coming out here."

"That might be a good idea," said the man as he jumped to his
feet and started running.

"Hey! Wait!" cried Mei Lin as she started to move after him.
She paused at the sound from behind her. It was a slow growling
noise. "Uh oh."

Slowly she turned to face the stuff as it oozed out of the
containment tank. Scientists were helpless to stop it as they
scurried away from the scene. Alarms had started to sound in the
building, and the creature was how about halfway out of the glass
wall. The cracks were growing ever larger and it simply sat on
the outside of the tank with its torso sticking out as it slowly
swept the area with its eyes.

Yoshi slowly approached the thing with a fire extinguisher in
his hands. "Easy...easy buddy..."

"What are you going to do with that?" muttered Mei Lin
dumbly.

"Well, there's about to be a small explosion..." said the man
as he turned to grin at her. "You should take cover." He grabbed
her shoulder and pulled her down beside him as he hid behind the
desk.

"My ride is leaving!" she cried nervously as the man fiddled
with a small remote control.

"Don't worry," said the man cheerfully. "You do realize that
we're gonna have to confiscate that camera right? Sorry." He
pressed the button on the small remote control and grinned at
her.

There was a resounding boom that filled the room as the
charges inside the tank went off. An animalistic roar sounded as
the glass and twisted bits of metal were thrown all across the
room.

"That wasn't so bad? Was it?" asked Yoshi cheerfully to the
journalists that were slowly standing up from behind whatever
cover they had taken.

The man smiled as he looked down at the ground and saw the
flaming black substance lying on the ground. "Too bad, this one
was doing really well too."

"What the hell was that!?" cried one of the men that had come
in with Mei Lin.

"We told you it wasn't ready for human testing yet didn't
we?" said Yoshi as he started to spray the flames with the
extinguisher in his hands.

"That's..." started the man angrily.

"Um...it's still moving," said Mei Lin as she peered down at
the quivering edge of the liquid.

"Huh?" said Yoshi as his head snapped around towards her.

In an instant, the black substance shot forward. It gave a
quick high-pitched roar as it actually left the ground and seemed
to throw itself at the door. Within a half second it was already
far down the hall as the door closed again and blocked their view
of its escape completely.

"Well shit," said Yoshi dumbly. He dropped his fire
extinguisher and looked around the room. "So much for this job.
Better start making a resume now."

Mei Lin blinked and looked at him for a moment. "What?"

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Yamada growled as he turned to glance back at the door he'd
just run out of. Security guards were swarming the area as he
started the engine and put the vehicle into gear.

He turned the wheel almost violently as he turned towards the
gate. "Get the hell out of my way." The guards there simply
watched as he pulled out of the parking lot and towards their
station.

As he moved up to the guard station the man walked up to the
window. "You know what's goin on? Says there's a biohazard alarm
or something."

"Not sure," he lied as he was waved through the gate. Once
outside he floored the gas and sped away.

Trees flew by as he twisted and turned down the forest road
that hid the labs from view. He breathed heavily as he started to
smirk to himself. "This is one hell of a story."

His self-satisfaction was short lived though. "What the?"

A blob of black descended from above, it slammed into the
windshield from the treetops. He screamed loudly as he saw the
two white eyes inside the thing as it cracked his windshield. He
jerked the steering wheel aside violently, and then the world
went black.

++++++++++++++++++++++

Once outside the burning building, Mao Lin continued on her
way and said nothing to them as she continued her search. The
senshi were beaten and tired, but victorious. They could all move
around under their own power without much trouble.

"We should all go home," said Ami weakly.

Rei nodded with a tired smile on her face. "It's finally
over."

Makoto pat her on the shoulder and sighed. "Come on, before
the cops show up."

The girl nodded and they moved into a nearby alleyway to
detransform.

+++++++++++++++++

Mao Lin frowned as she found herself in a quiet area of
Tokyo. It was cold, dark, and silent. She frowned as she looked
up at the clouded sky and turned off in a random direction. She
had no real leads to go on, and her sister was still somewhere in
the gigantic city. "Where are you?"

A hissing noise caught her attention and she frowned. Slowly
turning she found herself looking around in the shadows. She
readied her weapon and glanced around in the darkness. "Who's
there?"

No answer came and she snorted in disgust. She kept her
weapon ready though and turned away.

A slight shuffling noise caught her attention behind her and
she paused. "I won't ask you to show yourself again coward."

She turned and stared in the direction the noise had come
from.

"What the?"

The last thing she remembered was seeing a pair of deadly
white eyes and feeling a strong blow to her chest. "What the?!"
She lashed out with her mace and felt a slight resistance, but it
was like pushing the weapon through water almost. Her strike was
redirected, and the force of the blow sent her into a pile of
garbage.

Several minutes later, she woke up and glanced around. "Wha?"
She was alone once again.

+++++++++++++++++

Haruka stood outside the burning building. Her face contorted
as she stood among the crowd of dazed and confused victims. Some
of them where crying, others were sort of frozen in a horrified
state. What had just happened to them was beyond imagination.

She paused when she realized that there was a face missing
from the crowd. The senshi walked out of the building and were
given a large area of clearance. A tall Chinese woman was with
them, and they spoke to each other for a moment. It didn't take
long for them to disperse after the sirens started in the
distance.

She looked around and ignored them as she desperately
searched
through the faces around her. "Michiru?"

"She's not here?" muttered her date as she staggered over to
her
side.

"Damn!" growled Haruka as she ran towards the doors of the
building. She stopped cold when a plume of flames erupted from
inside, blocking any that wished to enter. "No!"

"What's going on?" muttered the blonde girl as she staggered
up to her side.

"You stay here! I'm gonna go see if there's an emergency exit
or something! Michiru is still inside!"

"What?" muttered the blonde dumbly as her date ran around the
side o the burning building. "Hey!"

Haruka ignored the girl's cries as she rushed around to the
back of the building. The door was there, but the smoke billowing
out from underneath told her that it was probably blocked off as
well. She rushed up to it anyway and jerked back as she placed
her hand on it and felt it burn her skin in an instant. "Damn!"

She almost didn't notice the feminine scream from above.
"What the hell?" As she looked up, she saw them. The boy and
Michiru flew from the rooftop, jumping. "No! You'll be killed!"
she muttered in angry horror as she ran towards where they would
land.

The boy's hand shot out and a think wire snagged one of the
nearby buildings. He swung skillfully down to the sidewalk and
landed with Michiru safely.

"Huh?" she muttered as she realized that the pair was safe.

Michiru said something to the boy, and he passed out on his
feet, crumpling to the ground in her arms.

Haruka wasn't sure what to do. She started walking towards
them, but found herself a little too slow as the girl pulled him
towards one of the cars that was parked behind the building.
There was a small parking lot there for the performers. "Hey!
Wait!"

Michiru either ignored her, or didn't hear her at all. The
girl pulled him into a small car and slid into the driver's seat.

"Damn!" growled Haruka as she glanced around. She paused when
she realized that her car was parked just across the street.
Without really thinking about it, she rushed over to the vehicle
and jumped inside.

Turning over the engine she stepped on the gas and put it
into gear to follow. "Damn him." She felt an unexplainable rage
well up inside her, along with a feeling of relief she couldn't
place either.

Following them wasn't difficult, Michiru was a defensive
driver and didn't exceed the speed limit. They turned into the
streets of Tokyo and pulled away from the chaos of the burning
concert hall.

++++++++++++++++++

Several minutes later, Haruka was following behind Michiru on
a rather quiet road.

Michiru stopped at a traffic signal and waited patiently,
either not noticing or not caring about the car that was
following her.

Haruka frowned as she stared at the license plate of the car
in front of her. A thumping noise caught her attention and she
frowned. "What the?" She glanced up and gasped at what she saw. A
shadowy figure was sitting on top of the roof of Michiru's car.

"No! It's another one of those..." She quickly opened the
door to her car and got out.

The creature slowly turned its gaze towards her. She took a
single step back at the sight of its eyes. "Oh shit."

She turned to run back into her car, fear totally gripping
her heart as she spun around quickly. She felt a strong blow to
her back and fell to the ground, unsure of what had happened to
her. "What the?" She blinked her eyes, her back hurt, but it
wasn't serious. She turned her gaze forward and blinked.

Michiru's car was pulling forward as if nothing had happened.
She slowly staggered to her feet and glanced around. There was no
sign of whatever that was. "No way. It's..." She slowly staggered
back and frowned. "What the hell was that?"

+++++++++++++++++++

Carrot smirked as he looked at the steps before him. He was
waiting patiently at the gates with his arms crossed over his
chest. He had a pair of sunglasses over his eyes and watched the
path to Haikawa Jina calmly.

Rei Hino came into view down the street and he stood upright
with a somewhat cruel look in his eyes. "Next."

Rei noticed him about ten feet before she reached the steps.
"You!" Shock was clear on her face as she froze in place. "You
died!"

"Heh. Yeah," he replied calmly. He made no move to approach
her and stood in a relaxed pose.

There were people everywhere. The girl growled and backed
away. "Damn."

"I'm not here to fight this time Mars," he said as he pulled
the sunglasses off his face. "I figured I'd warn you though."

Rei put up her fists and stepped back into a loose defensive
stance.

"You really think you can take me Hino? Don't forget you're
surrounded now, none of those nasty powers. Even then, you'd
still lose, or I'd escape. Your friends aren't here to back you
up this time."

The girl relaxed but her glare hardened. "What do you want?"

The boy simply cocked his head in a rather self-satisfied
looking grin. "He knows."

"What?" stammered the girl in confusion.

"You pushed me too far last time," he replied with a small
shrug. "That was too close for comfort."

"We'll..."

"You're probably grounded or something," replied the boy with
a shrug. "No big deal, it'll probably take some time before you
can talk the old man into letting you go out again. Well, maybe
not you, the old man probably knew; he didn't seem that
surprised. Minako and Ami's parents were though. You should have
seen the looks on their faces when I gave them these and laid it
out for them." He held up a set of photographs. Some of them were
of the senshi in their civilian forms, while others were of them
in their transformed state. The poses in all the photos were
exactly the same. "You wouldn't believe how difficult it was to
get these. I started way back when you tried to kill me the first
time."

"You..." stammered Rei as complete horror washed over her
face.

"Yeah. Next time, I might decide to spread the info a bit
wider," he said as he put his glasses back on. "See that you
don't forget my warning this time."

"You'll pay for this," she sputtered at him angrily.

"Maybe I will, maybe not. I'm still not through yet. Usagi
has been behaving herself lately, but that's not really her
fault..."

"How dare you?! You've got no right too..." snarled the girl
as she tensed her body.

The boy merely turned his back on her. "You relieved me of
any burden when you started trying to kill me." He put his hands
into his pockets and glanced back at her. "By the way, did I also
mention that I know who the princess is, and where the Silver
Imperium Crystal is? Too bad you've got such bad tempers, or I
might have told you."

"What?" Rei's angry face fell in an instant. "You...know?"

"I know everything, things you don't even comprehend yet.
Like the identity of Sailor Uranus, Sailor Neptune, Sailor
Saturn, and Sailor Pluto. You won't see them for some time yet
though. I know what Beryl wants in regard to you, I know who the
enemy really is, I know who Tuxedo Mask is, what he wants, and
who he was, I know... where Luna is. See you around Hino."

"Luna?!" Rei lunged for the boy, but he vanished from in
front of her eyes in a blur of motion. "No!" She looked up and
saw him sitting in a tree branch over her head.

"Heh. Want me to share?"

"You bastard!"

"Maybe, but you're still in the dark. I think I like it that
way," he replied as he jumped back into the branches of the small
forest that surrounded the shrine grounds.

Rei looked up at the steps to the shrine and then back to
where the boy had disappeared. "Who is he?" She slowly turned
towards the stairs and started her climb to the shrine. "Damn.
How does he know all this? Is he bluffing? Are there other
Senshi?"

She raised her head and froze in place. Her grandfather was
standing in the doorway to the shrine with his arms crossed over
his chest and a small frown on his face.

"Rei."

She swallowed hard and tried her best to smile.

++++++++++++++++++++++++

Rei found herself sitting in her room alone. She wasn't sure
what to make of what had just happened to her.

"Rei, be careful," said the old man simply as he handed her a
broom and wandered into the shrine.

"What? What happened just now?" she muttered under her
breath. She shook her head and sat down. Spreading her arms
across the mattress she closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
Her entire body was shaking, something she couldn't explain. She
was excited, afraid, and pensive. There had to be more to it than
that.

After all, her grandfather wouldn't just ignore something
like this...would he?

She stood up and walked over to open the window. Hopefully it
would calm her nerves to get some fresh air. She closed her eyes
and leaned against the windowsill as she took slow deep breaths.
She was already feeling better.

Then came the second part of the equation. "What about the
others?" She stared forward into the tree line of the shrine.

She did that for a long moment, simply thinking and watching
the breeze sway the trees. "I..."

That was when she noticed something in the trees. "What?" she
muttered in confusion.

It was a pair of white eyes hidden in nothing but shadows.

"What the hell?" she muttered dumbly as she stepped back.

They were still there, and seemed to focus on her.
"Spiderman?" she muttered as she remembered the last place she
had seen eyes like those before.

She glanced behind her and climbed out the window after only
a second of thought.

"Is it you? Why would you be here?" she muttered to herself
as she jogged out towards the trees. She stopped suddenly when
she remembered that she had kissed him. "Wait. Is it because..."

She paused again when she realized that the thing had not
moved, and it was still hidden in the shadows.

"Hello?" she muttered as she started to think about what she
was doing. She stepped pensively into the tree line and frowned.
"Is that..."

The thing moved forward, rushing at her.

"What?!" she cried in shock as it charged her. She turned
away to run back towards the shrine, but it was too fast. "No!"
The last thing she remembered was a powerful blow to her back.

She woke up an hour later in her own bed. "Oh..." She gently
touched her forehead and frowned. "What happened? Some sort of
dream? A vision?" She looked at her hands and frowned again. They
were dirty. She stood up and looked into the mirror on her
dresser.

"No. Not a dream." She had a smudge on her face as well.

++++++++++++++++++

Usagi Tsukino stared at the moonlight above her from her
window in silence. Tears fell down her face as she simply sat and
watched the sky above her. "I was helpless..."

She shivered in the breeze that blew into her room, pushing
her sheer curtains into the air dramatically. "There was nothing
I could do. That thing...it just..."

Her thoughts were cut off as she gazed out over the rooftops.
A black clad figure jumped across the roof in front of her and
landed lightly on the highest point. It seemed to be crouching
almost and stared directly at her.

"Maybe I couldn't do anything...but you were there...weren't
you?" she whispered silently. A light smile crossed her face as
she gazed at the figure in front of her. "Thank you."

The thing had definitely not heard her.

"I only wish I could have helped. I will find a way!" She
closed her eyes in silence for a moment and sighed. She paused
when she opened her eyes again and frowned. "He's still there?"

Spiderman was still sitting on the rooftop. He was still
looking at her.

"What the?" she muttered as she stood up and blushed.

The dark figure stood up and jumped again. Usagi breathed a
sigh of relief, but it was short lived.

She realized that he was heading right for her. "What?" She
started to stagger back as the thing moved closer.

That was when she saw the gaping maw and rows of sharp teeth.

"You're not!" she whispered as loudly as she could. "No!"

The thing landed in front of her window and she saw it in all
its horrible glory. Grotesquely muscular, with a huge gaping maw
that had rows and rows of sharp pointed teeth.

Her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she passed out
cold as it landed in front of her window and stared at her from
just outside.

+++++++++++++++++++++++

Present Day...

Carrot found himself staring at Mitsuki. He scowled coldly as
she stood silently waiting for him. "You're a real buzz kill ya
know that?" he muttered as he stopped his slow swaying and
clenched his fists.

"You are more and more surprising boy," she commented as she
steadied herself after his revelation. "The Spider's Fang? The
style is lost, there is no way that you have discovered such a
secret."

Carrot blinked. "Really?"

"Die!" she snarled as she dashed forward and slashed at him
with her blade.

Carrot launched himself into the air and backwards. He
flipped and landed on top of the concrete wall that made up the
small building behind him. "I just made that up actually."

"You take me for a fool!?" she snarled as she turned to face
him after her missed strike.

"I'll just take your word for that," replied Carrot as he
felt the familiar tingle of his spider sense and jumped again.
A mass of shiruken landed where he had been before
and he flipped onto the gravel lightly off to the Kunoichi's
right side. "Lady, you're really starting to bug me."

"I'll do more than bother you boy," she spat as she whirled
around and sent a wide arc of seven throwing knives. Carrot
merely shifted to the side and moved between two of them as they
passed him. He flicked his wrist as he did so and the woman
gasped as she deflected the small metal spike and wire with the
hilt of her blade. "You've improved."

"And you haven't," he replied calmly.

"You're still just a boy, I'll destroy you yet," she replied
icily as she readied her sword again.

Carrot tensed his body again and waited for the attack. He
knew it would be rather stupid to just charge her. "Damn. I don't
have time for this!" He remembered the force of ninja searching
the building just behind him. It wouldn't take more than a few
minutes for them to find there way up to where he was.

"You're should worry more about the immediate danger!"
snarled the woman as she jumped at him and slashed with her
sword.

Carrot reacted quickly, he spun and ducked under the blade as
she slashed around wildly after landing in front of him. Finally
he spun around behind her and lashed out with his foot.

Mitsuki didn't react in time and received a blow to her rear
for it. She stumbled forward and slowly turned to face him with
her blade held defensively towards him. "What are you doing?"

Carrot was still squatting as he had managed to put some
distance between them with his attack.

"You're playing with me?" she said out loud, more to herself
than him.

"You think I got some kind of death wish?" he muttered a he
stared at her dumbly. Luckily for him, the woman didn't hear, and
his mask disguised the look on his face.

"You will pay dearly for not taking me seriously!" she
snarled as she charged him again. This time her blade was in her
hilt with her hand resting on it lightly.

"Oh shit!" said Carrot as he jumped almost straight up and
performed a back flip over the super fast strike. His hand shot
out almost instinctually as he passed over her, driving a line
into the ground as he did so. He came down behind her and she was
pulled to the ground by the wire. Carrot landed with his hands
almost touching the ground and spun around to face her again.

Mitsuki growled angrily as she spun the blade around in her
hand and cut the metal wire with surprising ease. She jumped up
with the sword thrusting forward. Carrot barely managed to duck
out of the way and roll to the side as she hacked down with it
after the defensive maneuver. "So fast!" muttered the woman as
she stepped back in a defensive position again.

Carrot was staring at her again, trying to find some kind of
opening to run away or take her out quickly. Unfortunately, she
was quite good at what she did, and none had yet presented
itself. "Look, I'm sorry I kept your daughter out so late all
those times. Would it make you feel better if I got her back home
before ten from now on?"

"You won't make light of this," said Mitsuki as she smirked
at him. Her sword was once again inside its hilt with her hand
ready for the fast draw strike.

"I swear! I never touched her!" said Carrot as he backed away
slightly.

"As fast as you are, you're still a coward. You look to run
from battle. Give up, there is no escape."

"Sure there is, I just haven't figured it out yet," said the
boy lamely.

"The costume does suit you though. I can see why my daughter
is so interested in you."

"It's not what you'd call a healthy interest if you get my
meaning," said Carrot as he felt the tingling forming on his
chest.

Mitsuki charged forward and stabbed straight at him. The
blade strike was almost too fast to see.

"You'll not escape me! I finally have you cornered!" snapped
Mitsuki as she cut a clean gash into the wall with her sword and
resheathed it in a single fluid motion.

"Oooh. That looks like it might have left a mark," muttered
Carrot.

"What?" said the woman as she realized she missed him.

Carrot was looking down at her from the roof of the concrete
structure again.

"Very well!" she snarled as she jumped up near to where he
was. "You're more skilled than I had thought, but you're running
out of room, and time."

Carrot nodded slowly. "Yeah, I know it."

"Ah, a wise ass until the end. Hold still and die!"

"Only if you promise it won't hurt!" said Carrot as he jumped
over the sword strike that she used to punctuate her last
statement.

He landed on the ground and blinked at the high pitched
screaming that started to sound behind him. "Huh? What the?"

Mitsuki was shaking violently, spit was flying out of her
mouth as her hair started to smolder. She had slashed into a
large metal box that was labeled 'High Voltage'. Carrot had been
standing directly in front of the decal and she hadn't seen it.

"Oops," he said as he watched her fry. Her skin was turning
black and smoking badly by this point. The smell was horrible and
he backed away slowly as she began to shoot sparks. The screaming
had stopped at least, but it wasn't a very pleasant thing to see
either. "Oh shit. Sorry lady."

Finally she stopped and crumpled down to the ground. Liquid
oozed from her body as the skin cracked and flaked away from what
was left of her. She was little more than a blackened skeleton
with bits of flesh and fried skin.

That was when Carrot realized that he had a major problem.
The woman's death had caused a major problem with the power
inside the building. It would no doubt tell the ninja searching
for him inside exactly where he was within a few moments. "Crap!"

As if in answer to this, the door below him burst open.
Dozens of shinobi rushed onto the rooftop with their weapons
drawn. "Son of a bitch."

Almost as one, they all whirled around to face him. He
realized that speaking was probably not a good idea.

"Um, hi guys. Is my costume okay? It's a little different,
but the invitation only said to wear black..."

A huge ninja with hulking shoulders walked calmly out of the
door and into the center of the mass of shinobi. Without even
turning to face him he spoke. "Kill him."

"This is really gonna suck," noted Carrot as they started
leaping towards him.

The ninja quickly surrounded him, he didn't even notice
himself take up the fighting stance as he simply waited in the
center of them. All his attention was focused on his body, and
the tingling sensation that would warn him of where the first
attack would come from.

They moved like a swarm. Carrot jumped forward and slammed
his foot into the chest of one of the ninja. The man was sent
flying back off the edge and onto the gravel roof. A female ninja
quickly followed him as the boy swept her feet out from under her
before he jumped into the air over the shinobi to avoid a sword
strike.

Dozens of weapons were trained on him in an instant, waiting
for him to come down onto them. Without even thinking about it,
Carrot shot out his wrist and snagged the top of the antenna that
loomed overhead. He swung over the mass of black clad figures and
landed on the opposite side of the roof. As he came down, an iron
pole appeared in his grasp and he readied himself.

"Come on."

The large ninja merely stared at him and pointed. Twenty
shinobi stood around him and they all moved forward.

Carrot was backed against a wall. He had nowhere to go, a
seventy-story drop was all that waited behind him and ahead was
an entire army of ninja. It was fast and furious as they
converged on him. All his energy was focused in blocking strikes
and weapons as he carved a path of destruction through them. His
spider sense making his dodging ability almost inhuman.

"What?" said the large ninja in shock as he watched his ninja
fall one by one. The iron weapon the boy was using was crude, but
very effective. He could hear the sound of bone breaking as the
boy beat his way through the crowd. He kept a wide space around
him with the reach of the weapon. His enemies were all armed with
Katana, and throwing weapons. The latter was swat aside with the
iron pole, or dodged without much trouble, causing even more
carnage within the battle as friendly fire became almost as
dangerous to the ninja as the iron pole.

Finally Carrot stopped and spun around while standing
straight up. He raked the ground with the bottom of his pole as
he turned and looked up at the hulking ninja before him.

"Impressive," said the man as he nodded once. "You are as
skilled as I had heard to beat that many of my swordsmen."

"The sword is the queen of the battlefield, but the staff is
king!" replied Carrot calmly. His heart was racing, his costume
was cut in several places, but he was still much more intact than
he'd thought he'd be by this point. "Holy shit! That was
awesome!" he thought to himself through the adrenaline rush.

"Shoot him," said the large ninja calmly.

Carrot blinked as he staggered back towards the edge of the
roof. The ninja he'd left on the rooftop were now standing up
with bows and arrows pointed at him. He hadn't felt his spider
sense warn him yet, but they weren't aiming directly at him yet.
The large ninja had his hand raised to hold them back for a
moment.

"Where will you go now?" asked the man as he chuckled at the
boy in front of him. "You're skilled, but even you can't escape
this." Ninja were still pouring onto the rooftop from behind the
man, more than enough to replace those the boy had just beaten
easily.

"Can't escape?" said Carrot as he smirked at the man and
glanced over his shoulder.

"You're finished boy. I will allow you to die with honor. A
fitting gift, for a warrior as skilled as yourself." The man
nodded towards the edge of the roof.

"Die? You forgot one thing," said Carrot. "Something I almost
forgot myself."

"What is that?" was the amused sounding reply.

"I'm Spiderman," said Carrot as he tumbled back off the roof
and spread his arms wide.

"What?" said the large ninja as he ran forward. "No!
Impossible!"

Carrot dove straight down off the edge of the roof. He felt
the force of the wind against his face as he fell towards the
street. He spun in mid air so that he was facing upwards and
tensed his arm as he realized that the street was getting a
little too close for comfort. His wrist shot out and he caught a
nearby rooftop with his wire. The line went tight almost
immediately and he struggled to hold on as he curved violently.
The force of his movement almost threw him off the line as he let
go and shot out another within a split second. He was rocketing
over the street at a speed he never imagined as he strained
painfully to control himself and slow down. "Damn!"

A streak of black shot in front of him and he barely managed
to shoot out another line to change his direction. He sliced
sideways in the air and took a curve faster than he really should
have been able too.

"Miss me?" said a familiar voice.

Carrot whirled around and tossed a line behind him. Rather
than swing downward, the force of his movement actually caused
him to go higher into the air as he changed direction. He felt
his joints strain to hold together under the pressure of the
movement.

Kei curved upwards gracefully as she passed under him with
her wings spread wide. "Hmmm. You're faster than I remember you."

"Son of a bitch! Haven't I had enough?" snapped the boy as he
moved away from her. He searched around wildly for any trace of
her as he moved over the street.

++++++++++++++++++++++

Mei Lin sighed as she sat at a small cafe near to the paper's
main office on her lunch break. She looked somewhat bored and
sleepy as she read the paper that was spread out before her.
"Things were much more interesting when I first started."

She paused when she realized that there was muttering going
on around her. People were standing and pointing at something in
the air behind her. "Huh?"

Carrot shot over her head like a bullet. She'd never seen
anyone move that fast before. "What the? Hey! Where are you
going!?" she called out to him.

Almost in answer to this Kei blasted overhead with her wings
spread wide.

"Oh," said the girl as she blinked. She grabbed her jacket
off the back of her chair and quickly tossed a few bills onto the
table she had been sitting at. "No way am I gonna miss this!"

She jumped into the van parked on the corner and closed the
door behind her. A dumbstruck looking young man in his twenties
stared at her. "I thought we were on lunch break?" He had a cup
of coffee almost touching his lips as he looked at her.

"Break's over! Move it!" she snapped as she punched him in
the arm. She began digging through a camera bag at her side
feverishly as she opened the window on the roof of the vehicle
with her left hand.

++++++++++++++++++++++

Carrot shot almost straight up the side of a building with
quick jerking motions from his arms. They burned as he worked the
muscles feverishly. He was climbing straight up the side of the
building with Kei hot on his heels.

"Stop running," she snarled angrily as she pushed herself a
little harder. "There's no way you can keep up this pace!" Truth
was, she wasn't sure how he was outrunning her in the first
place.

Carrot finally ran out of room and flipped onto the rooftop
just in time to avoid being skewered by Kei's knife as she
blasted over his head like a rocket.

"Holy shit!" he muttered to himself as he looked up into the
sky.

"Maybe you could use some help?" said an unfamiliar voice.
Carrot froze in place as he heard it. It was distorted and
sounded somewhat amused actually. "Who?"

A tall dark figure seemed to melt out of the shadows. It was
a muscular looking man in a costume almost identical to his own.
There was no spider on the chest, but the eyes were shaped almost
the same way. The only difference was they weren't made out of
reflective plastic, but appeared to actually be woven into the
cloth itself.

"Um, Hi?"

The figure blinked and stood still for a moment, it seemed to
regard him for a moment. "You...seem familiar."

"Huh?" muttered Carrot dumbly. He quickly turned his
attention to the sky and swallowed. Kei was turning about and
taking her time doing it as she watched them from above. "Sorry
mister. I gotta go." He ran towards the edge of the roof and
gasped as he dove off the edge.

The black clad figure simply stood there in silence as it
watched Kei move into pursuit of him again.

"That voice...are...no! It can't be!" A low angry sound
started to form in the back of its throat. "Spiderman!" Slowly
the face of the figure split, rows of sharp teeth formed and its
eyes seemed to tear themselves apart as their edges became jagged
and wild. "It can't be! I'll...We'll..."

"So, Spiderman is it? We'll see about that." Slowly a white
spider formed on the front of the thing's chest. "We'll see about
that indeed."

+++++++++++++++++++

Carrot was starting to get annoyed. Kei was always just
behind him. He could actually feel the edge of her knife pass
close behind him at times as he changed altitude and direction as
much as he could to throw her off. "Shit! This isn't working! I
can't lose her!"

Kei laughed as she moved up beside him. "Not so easy to lose
me this time is it?"

"Have you been practicing?" he commented snidely as she
hacked the line that he was pulling himself along with in two.

"Of course," she replied simply. "It's a shame I won't need
this costume again after I've killed you."

"Oh, I'm sure you can find a use for it!" said Carrot in an
almost cheerful tone. "That old guy probably loves it!"

Kei's face turned angry in an instant. "Don't speak of what
you cannot comprehend!"

Carrot smirked under his mask. "Gottya!" He flipped into the
air and she passed under him with her blade reaching for him.
"Oh, I'm sure I understand. I mean, a guy that old has to take
what he can get right?"

Kei actually managed to land against a wall and kicked off of
it in order to change her direction in the air in an instant.
"You could be as lucky if you wished!"

"Well, It's a nice offer, but I probably couldn't afford the
payments," he replied calmly.

The girl dove at him and he dropped like a rock. Without even
really meaning too he came down on top of a light pole about ten
feet above the street and balanced there by squatting down.

Kei was forced to turn away from him and growled as she
pulled herself upright and landed on the sidewalk lightly. "You
won't escape me so easily."

"You call this easy?" he said as he looked directly at her.

"Having trouble catching your breath?" she replied snidely.

"Hey lady..."

"Spiderman!"

Kei and Carrot both stopped talking when they heard it.

"Okay Carrot. Maybe you are a little crazy, but you're not
really Spiderman after all. I mean, it was just a little fun
right? Nothing to worry about, I mean come on..."

Kei turned to look at the boy as he started talking to
himself. The huge dark figure that had appeared on the street in
front of them was almost forgotten for a moment. She turned to
face him and frowned. "Who are you?"

"Venom," said Carrot fearfully.

The creature looked up at him, it had almost completely
ignored Kei as it stood glaring at him. "Venom?"

Kei stared at the man warily. At least, it looked like a man
anyway. The mask was starting to creep her out a little, and
she'd never seen the boy shake as much as he was.

The thing chuckled as it stared at the boy. "We don't like
that much, but it seems to suit us."

"I think I've finally lost it," muttered Carrot as he jumped
down off the light pole and tensed himself between the two.

"Who is that?" said Kei as she smirked at the boy.

"Not who, what," replied the boy as he spared her a glance.

Kei frowned and stepped towards the thing. She pulled out her
knife and flipped it around her wrists a few times. "He's mine."

The dark thing turned to stare at her for a moment. It
regarded the knife calmly and snorted. "Stay out of our way."

"I think not," said Kei as she readied herself.

Venom merely turned his attention towards Carrot again and
frowned.

The boy was gone.

Kei hadn't noticed this yet and prepared to attack if the
thing moved towards her.

"You lost him," said Venom calmly.

Kei blinked as she seemed to realize something. The creepy
mask was moving its mouth as it spoke. "What the?"

"You lost him, and those weapons are illegal," said Venom as
it turned to face her.

"What is this? Some kind of joke?" snorted the girl
irritably.

"We're going to have to confiscate them," said Venom as it
turned to face her.

Kei frowned. "Come and take them, if you can."

The creature merely pointed its arm at her. "Very well."

She didn't even have time to scream. A thick gray liquid shot
out of the top of the thing's hand and covered her torso in an
instant. It quickly became solid and formed into some sort of
rope that surrounded her and tied her arms down. "What the?"

"Carrying concealed weapons is illegal," said Venom calmly.

"What the hell are you doing?" screamed Kei angrily.

"Why, we're arresting you for obstruction, and carrying a
concealed weapon of course." The creature grinned at her as a
police badge appeared on its chest.

"What?" muttered Kei in shock as her eyes went wide. "No! No
way!"

The creature's monstrous form seemed to melt away. A man
appeared before her dressed in a police uniform. He looked
completely nondescript, with a plain uniform and a thick
mustache. He hefted her up by the ropes that bound her and
started walking.

"You can't do this to me!" she screamed angrily. "Who the
hell do you think you..."

"Quiet please, we're thinking," said the cop as he squirt
more of the gray liquid over her mouth from his wrist and
silenced her. Kei struggled weakly and was carried away.

Venom smiled as he noticed a squad car sitting nearby. He
calmly walked towards it with his prisoner in hand.

The two cops inside the car looked on dumbly.

"Hi. Got something for ya," said Venom cheerfully as he
plopped Kei down on the pavement in front of them.

The two men looked at each other and then back at him again.

++++++++++++++++++++

Carrot was shaking badly. He had quickly moved up into the
safety of the shadows above the scene after Kei and Venom had
started arguing. "Oh shit! I knew this was a stupid idea! I just
knew it! Great job Carrot! You asshole!"

He squeezed his eyes shut in anger and frustration. "I should
have known something like this would happen. What an idiot. I'm
not really Spiderman! I can't take this! Who is that asshole
anyway? Now I've got another moron after my ass, and I don't even
know who it is! Crap...I...AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH
HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!"

Carrot had looked down. He was currently on the bottom of a
ledge above the street. His hands and feet were sticking, holding
him in place.

+++++++++++++++++++

Carrot staggered into his home. He had a huge scowl on his
face as he walked into the room and found the three girls staring
back at him.

"How was your day?" asked Mei Lin cheerfully.

Carrot slowly turned his head towards her. It was now early
morning and he had a guitar case in his hand. His eyes were
bloodshot and he was wearing a trench coat over his costume.

"What's that?" asked Gia.

"A guitar," he replied with a shrug.

"Yeah...but why?" said Luna as she sat up from where she had
been lying down on the table.

"I felt like it," replied the boy with a small shrug.

Gia slid the black medical bag behind her back almost
casually.

"I saw that," grumbled Carrot as he turned to stare at her.

"Well, we thought you might need it..." said Mei Lin
cheerfully.

"I'm fine," snorted Carrot as he walked past them. "It's not
like you care anyway. You're not my family."

Gia stood up and slapped him hard across his face.

The boy blinked and stared at her for a moment. "Wha?"

Without another word she turned away and walked towards the
kitchen.

Mei Lin and Luna simply watched the scene silently and turned
their heads away from him.

Carrot rubbed the spot lightly and said nothing.

"That bad huh?" asked Mei Lin.

"I hurt all over," he said with a heavy sigh. "I'm still all
in once piece though."

The girl nodded. "You're a very good hero of justice Carrot."

The boy frowned at her as he turned towards his room. "Hero
of justice?" He frowned at that and turned to look at the girl.
She looked uncertain about it and turned her gaze away from him.
Finally he simply smirked at her. "All right kid. You want it,
you got it."

Even Gia turned to stare at him as he walked into the office
and closed the door behind him.

"What was that about?" asked Luna.

"I'm not sure," said Gia as she frowned.

"Well, I'm sure he'll tell us about it tomorrow. I did manage
to get a few pictures after all," said Mei Lin as she smiled at
her cheerfully.

"Maybe," said Gia as she hugged herself a little and stared
at the door. "I'm not sure what to make of him."

Luna was about to say something when a loud screech made her
stop. Her hair was standing on end as the sound of a guitar
blasted through the home.

"What the hell?" said Mei Lin as she jumped up from her seat.

"Aaaaaahhhhh! What the hell is that?" cried Gia as she put
her hands up to her ears against the sound.

Gia rushed up to the door and opened it, only to find Carrot
standing with the electric guitar hooked up to an amplifier.

Her jaw dropped as she watched his hands work almost
violently down the guitar.

He turned to smirk at her and sang along with the tune he was
playing. "Livin easy, livin free. Season ticket on a one way
ride! Askin nuthin, leave me be! Takin everything in my stride.
Don't need reason don't need rhyme. Ain't nuthin I'd rather do!
Goin down! Party time! My friends are gonna be there too! I'm on
the highway to hell! Highway to hell! We're on the highway to
hell! Highway to hell!"

"What the hell are you doing?" cried Gia over the noise.

Carrot paused and stared at her. "Huh? It helps me relax."

"Wow! You can play guitar?!" cried Mei Lin cheerfully.

"Well, I'm no Angus Young..." said the boy with a small
shrug.

"Where the hell did you get this?" screamed Gia.

The boy looked at the guitar. It wasn't anything special
really, a small amp that put out a good amount of noise, and the
surface was a lacquered black. It was a relatively simple
electric guitar. "I bought it on the way home today. I had a long
night, and I realized that I haven't had one in a while."

Gia frowned deeply at this.

"What?" muttered the boy.

"Can't you play something quieter?" asked Luna.

"What for? We don't have any neighbors or anything," said the
boy as he looked down at her.

"What about us?" snapped Gia.

Carrot started to play a riff on his guitar and started
singing again. The song was terrible, but it drove his point
across once he started to add words. "Oh Spike! Spike!
Spiiiikkkeeee!"

Gia blushed badly, Mei Lin looked somewhat confused, and Luna
merely snorted.

"Still don't like it? Well..." Carrot grinned at them and
pulled out a pack of cigarettes from the coat pocket. He popped
one in his mouth and lit it casually.

Gia growled. "Those are bad for you."

"So am I," he replied calmly as he started to play again and
puffed on it.

"Stop that awful noise!" snapped Luna as she watched.

Carrot switched songs in an instant and grinned at her.
"Yeah." He played a little more before and started singing.
"Heavy decibels are playing on the guitar. We got vibrations
comin up through the floor. We're just listinin to the rock
giving too much noise. Are ya deaf? You wanna hear some more.
We're talkin about the future, forget about the past! It'll
always be with us! Never gonna die! Never gonna die! Rock and
roll ain't noise pollution! Rock and Roll ain't gonna die! Rock
and Roll ain't no pollution! Rock and Roll, it will survive!"

Gia rolled her eyes and turned down the amplifier before she
walked out of the room.

"Man. That sucks," said Carrot as he stared at the amp. With
a small shrug he kept playing and continued to smoke while Mei
Lin and Luna watched in a sort of stupefied confusion.

"Well, it's certainly interesting anyway," said Luna.

Mei Lin merely shrugged.

Carrot smirked to himself as he stared at the pair for a
moment as he tuned it a little more after finishing his song. He
smiled to himself and shook his head. "Guess they care after all.
Go figure that one out." He gave a small snorting laugh and
turned his attention back to the guitar.

+++++++++++++++++

Michiru stared at the doorway in front of her and frowned.
Behind her, Spike stood glancing around. He wasn't comfortable,
it was easy to tell. She was dressed far too nicely to be in the
neighborhood they were in.

"You sure about dis?" asked Spike nervously.

"Yes. It's something I've got to do," replied the girl
simply.

"I can't leave ya here, so I guess yer jest gonna haveta come
in," said the man with a heavy sigh as he opened the door.

"Yes," said the girl as she nodded at him. "I need to meet
him anyway. I might have to come back."

Spike looked really uncomfortable with that statement and
ushered her inside the doorway quickly. "Let me do da talkin."

She ignored him and walked up to the counter. "I need a
weapon."

The balding man with thick glasses turned to look at her.
"Pardon."

"I am here, to buy a gun," said the girl simply. She put a
large wad of cash on the counter and smiled sweetly.

"What do you think this is? A candy store?" snorted the man.

"No," said Michiru calmly. "I think this is an expensive
candy store." She laid another pile of bills down next to the
first one.

The man arched his eyebrow and glanced at her.

Spike was sweating bullets and said nothing as he watched.

"You with her?" asked the man as he looked at Spike.

"Um...er...yeah. Kinda."

"All right. I've got something I can give up," said the man
with a small shrug. "If you think you can handle it, you can have
it."

Michiru nodded and glanced at the door that opened up.

"You can wait here," he said to Spike.

"Hey," said the large man as he grabbed Michiru's arm. "You
ain't goin back dere witout me."

Michiru arched her eyebrow and glanced at him and then back
to the old man.

With a small sigh the man opened the door a little more and
motioned for them to follow.

+++++++++++++++++++++++

Three shots, three clean holes in the paper target. Two where
the eyes would be, and another in the crotch area. It was the
second target used, but to be fair, she'd only used the first one
to make sure the sights were aligned correctly.

The old man who had been behind the counter simply stood with
his jaw hanging down.

Michiru stood with the large silver revolver in her hand and
checked it over with her eyes casually. "This is exactly what I
need."

The man nodded. He'd intentionally given her a large caliber
firearm in order to dissuade her from pursuing the matter and get
her to leave him alone. She'd taken to the weapon in five shots.

"You've...don dis before?" muttered Spike.

"Once or twice," said the girl with a small shrug. "My father
has a few business friends in America. A place called Texas. I
used to go with him sometimes during school breaks."

"Is it to your liking?" asked the old bald man nervously.

"It'll work," replied Michiru as she spun the chamber around
and cocked the hammer back. "I'd rather go with something with a
few more shots than a revolver, but I suppose I shouldn't be
picky. It's less likely to jam this way anyway."

The men nodded dumbly.

"What ya need this for?" asked Spike nervously.

"I've been having problems lately. I need to take care of
it," said the girl with a small shrug. "Don't worry. It shouldn't
cause too much trouble." She twirled the weapon around her finger
and smiled. "Do you have a holster for this?"

+++++++++++++++++++++

Carrot paused and sat up from his nap. For some reason he
felt slightly chilly and a tingling sensation was running down
his spine. "Weird." He yawned and lay back down and covered
himself with the sheets a bit more.

+++++++++++++++++++++

TBC...