Adventures In Parodyverse: Act Of Desperation, Part 2

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Part 1

Adventures In Parodyverse - Act of Desperation, Part 2

    Yuki was very impressed with the small army that Akiko managed to assemble in a very short time. Not because of the sheer numbers - there were only a couple dozen of them. They were all human though, and very well trained, carrying various designer hand weapons at their sides.

    "These aren't all the people I have at my disposal," Akiko explained as she inspected the assembly inside the comic book store below her safe house, "But if I'm rumored to be taking back the streets I may as well put on a show."

    "Remember," Hatman told the group, "Don't engage anyone, leave that to us. We don't want bloodshed. You're essentially just putting on a parade."

    "Yes, this a nonviolent display of power," Akiko told them. They didn't really seem to pay attention to Hatman until Akiko confirmed it for them. "Your lives are valuable to me," she added. "I wish for you all to return safely."

    They all bowed, but not quite in unison. Akiko bowed to them in return. With that, they quickly filed out the door and into the streets.

    "I trust you will watch my valuable people?" Akiko asked Hatman.

    "Will do." Yuki replied confidently as she nodded and slipped out the door.

    Hatman smiled. "I'll do my best." He headed outside after Yuki, a little worried at the trouble she might cause on her own.

    "Akiko." Chiaki bowed to her slightly. "Thank you."

    "No, thank you," Akiko bowed too. "I have no doubt that you will succeed."

    With that, Chiaki nodded and headed outdoors, sword at her side.

---

    Yuki dove for cover behind a moving van and nearly landed right on top of Hatman. She looked across the street where Chiaki hid in a doorway. Bullets were flying everywhere, and Akiko's gang rushed for cover wherever they could. "What the hell went wrong?" Yuki asked Jay.

    She looked around the corner. The Zoot Suit Gang had the horrible timing to arrive and try to take Zero Street - for real, not just a ruse like Akiko's gang was attempting - by force. Men in white suits were firing at various people dressed in jeans and a black tee-shirt with the number zero on the back.

    "I didn't know they had uniforms," Chiaki noted as she joined Yuki and Hatman, kneeling alongside them behind the van. Neither one of the latter two were entirely sure how she made it safely across the street.

    "Yuki, I know your plan called for me to keep a low profile--" Jay began.

    "Yes, put on a hat. Please." Yuki urged him.

    Jay reached into his belt and pulled out his Steelers cap, ideal for making him bullet-proof. But before he could put it on Chiaki stopped him. "Whats the matter?" he asked.

    "Gamona is here," the Psychic Samurai told him.

    He looked around the van, both directions down the street, for a hint of naked green skin. "I don't see her," he said.

    Chiaki held Jay's chin gently and pointed him in the right direction. Sure enough, it was Gamona. But Jay was stunned to see the alien assassin in a white pinstriped suit and hat, arms folded, watching the battle with a self-satisfied smile.

    "She looks...happy," Jay noted. "I bet Frankie is treating her much better than the Lynchpin did." By then he guessed, from the suit, that she was working for Frankie now.

    Yuki looked baffled as she watched over Jay's shoulder. "I don't get it," she said. "The Lynchpin must have really pissed her off if she goes to work for someone as small-time as Frankie. Akiko, that would make sense. But the Zoot Suit Gang?"

    "How do we put a stop to this?" Jay asked. He looked at Yuki, and then at Chiaki. He was still holding on to his Steelers cap, contemplating taking his chances with Gamona.

    And then the shooting stopped.

    "The Zoot Suits won," the Psychic Samurai told them.

    "How can you tell?" Yuki asked. "Are you really psychic?"

    She smiled. "No psychic necessary. I figured that out because nobody has come here and killed us yet."

    Yuki looked at Jay and laughed quietly. "She has a point."

    "I'll go and take a look," Jay offered.

    "No," Chiaki told him, her voice sounding very insistent. "Stay out of sight."

    "I'll go." Yuki stood and peeked around the corner. "At least the only ones who want me dead have already been defeated." She walked out into the street and looked over the scene.

    There were only three Zero Street Gang members on the ground, writhing in pain from gunshot wounds. The rest of them were missing. Yuki approached Frankie, noting that Gamona stood hovering over her. "What's going on?" Yuki asked Frankie.

    "What does it look like, doll?" Frankie replied, sounding a little tired.

    Yuki glanced at the street again. She wasn't looking at Frankie when he finished that phrase.

    "They got away."

    "Got away?" Yuki asked. "Three of them are down and you've taken the block. What more do you want?"

    "They'll just come right back soon as we leave," Frankie pointed out. He looked around him and noticed the Psychic Samurai and a group of sword-carrying Asian men and women. "Looks like Akiko's takin' this seriously too," he noted.

    Without a word, Chiaki nodded at Gamona, keeping her eyes fixed on the alien assassin. Gamona nodded in return, but didn't seem nearly as concerned by Chiaki's presence.

    "What's the deal with Gamona?" Yuki finally asked.

    Frankie smiled. "Word is a lot of the Zero Street Gang are powerful metas," he said. He pointed at Gamona. "Sometimes ya gotta cover all the bases." He then glanced around at his own gang, noting that they seemed unharmed. "Now that we hit 'em with a nice show of force they'll take us seriously. Send a more poweful wave."

    "Guys, you're going to have to get out of here," Yuki said. "Someone's going to get hurt."

    "You!" Gamona suddenly bellowed.

    Yuki turned around, and noticed her looking directly at Hatman, who was wearing a Steelers cap. "Stay right there," Yuki warned Gamona. "Frankie!" she tried prodding him to stop the alien assassin.

    Chiaki had her own way of discouraging Gamona. She was gripping the handle of her sword, and was certain that Gamona noticed. Especially when she could see that the green woman's posture began to relax. "I think we can set aside our past differences," Chiaki said calmly as she took her hand away from her sword. She smiled as she joked, "The suit is a nice look for you. Perhaps you've changed inside as much as outside."

    Gamona looked at her in shock. She expected the Psychic Samurai to react to her with more anger, or perhaps violence. Especially after what she did to Hatman at their last encounter. But she also read the Lynchpin's file on her, about how she seemed to have power over people through manipulation. She never understood how powerful it was until now, when she found herself frozen by confusion. "Why are you being...nice to me?" she asked.

    "The most formidable warriors are the most polite." Chiaki told her, "It's the ones who are rude, who brag too much, and are too loud, that are no threat whatsoever."

    A rare moment presented itself when Gamona smiled out of amusement, though she didn't reply. Chiaki had an interesting and very disarming way of stating the obvious.

    "And I believe we have a much more pressing danger to attend to," Chiaki noted. She looked down the street where a large group was heading toward them.

    "This aughtta be fun," Frankie announced.

    "Here we go," Yuki whispered quietly in an almost warning tone.

---

    Jay watched in awe, never having seen a true Samurai at work. Groups of several men were attacking at once, carrying various hand weapons. Chiaki disabled them several at a time. She didn't have superhuman speed or reflexes - Jay had no problem following her movements. It was like a dance, in fact, she moved as if she were one with the sword.

    The strange part to Jay was that Chiaki seemed to be fighting several metas, people with enhanced speed or reflexes, or weapons that were a part of their bodies. She still anticipated them. She was still winning. And that impressed Jay enormously.

    Yuki relied on brute force. She plowed into several of them at once, and simply picked them up and threw them like they were nothing more than crash test dummies. She was much faster than any of them, even the metas, and had better senses. They never had a chance against her, even with the numbers they had.

    Gamona, oddly enough, was only drawing massive amounts of blood and knocking people unconcious. Being an assassin was in her blood but somehow she found these street thugs, even the metas, to be beneath her talents, and did just enough to get them out of her way.

    "We're doing okay," Chiaki suddenly told Jay as he watched Gamona. "We don't need the Lair Legion's help yet."

    Jay looked over to where Chiaki had been fighting earlier. All of her opponents were writhing on the ground bleeding or unconcious. She took the opportunity to speak to Jay. "Huh?" he asked.

    "I know why you weren't fighting," she explained, "You were assessing to see if we were in over our heads." She smiled at him slyly when he seemed shocked she knew that. "Don't worry, Jay, I'm not complaining. You're a leader, it's your job to assess."

    "Maybe I should just ask you guys if we need help next time," he joked.

    "It's an idea." Chiaki joked as she smiled.

    "Good news guys," Yuki suddenly interrupted. "I zoomed in on where that last group came from. I know where their hideout is."

    "Let's go," Hatman announced, encouraging Yuki to lead the way.

---

    "I don't get it," Yuki whispered. They were inside the building the last group came from, and entered through the very same door. But the building was completely vacant. Akiko's entire gang, Chiaki, Hatman, and Yuki herself had just finished searching it from foundation to roof.

    "Maybe they're other-dimensional," Hatman suggested. "We could get Liu Xi in on this."

    "No," Yuki and Chiaki said in unison. They looked at each other...and being the less assertive one, Chiaki remained silent and allowed Yuki to speak. "We're missing something," Yuki said. "Something that's right under our noses."

    Chiaki's eyes widened and she turned to Akiko's men. "Get out! Get out now, go back to safety!"

    "What's going on?" Hatman asked.

    Before the first of Akiko's men made it to the door, the first shots were fired through the walls of the building. The enemy was outside, that's why they couldn't be found in the building! Several of Akiko's men fell with the first wave. Yuki saw a bullet zip past her and she tackled Chiaki and Hatman into a corner.

    And when the gunfire stopped, almost all of Akiko's men had fallen. And Chiaki was crying.

    "It's my fault," she whispered silently. "It's my fault...I led them to their deaths."

    "What happened to the zoot suit gang?" Yuki asked in the confusion, seeming not to be paying attention.

    "It's my fault," Chiaki whispered again. "I must avenge them."

    "No, Chiaki--" Hatman held her tightly, trying to calm her down. But he found that she was already calm, very focused, and very angry. "No," he said in a quiet, reassuring voice. He looked into her eyes and saw the anger, sadness, and frustration. Those weren't just Akiko's men, they were her friends. People who were important to both Chiaki and Akiko.

    "Let me," Hatman said as he snapped the Steelers cap on his head. He frowned as he crashed through a brick wall and began grabbing anyone with a tee-shirt that had the number zero on it and slamming them into each other and nearby fixed objects, ignoring that the others were shooting at him.

    "That looks fun." Yuki nearly left Chiaki to join him, but then realized that would only encourage and incite the still angry Chiaki to violence.

    Hatman returned a few minutes later. "Most of them escaped," he said. "There were too many to capture, but I did get a few. Unfortunately they're all ex-cons so it'll be difficult to get information out of them."

    "What happened to the Zoots?" Yuki asked again.

    "They're as smart as you give them credit for," Jay told her as he removed his Steelers cap. "They knew the cops would be coming and they disappeared." He looked at Chiaki and asked him, "Are you okay?"

    Chiaki gave him a slight smile as she stood, straightened her clothing, and wiped away the remaining tears. She took Jay's hand and led him to the door. "Come with me," she said.

---

    Jay found himself led back to Akiko's safe house by Chiaki. He was very nervous, knowing just how badly the pink Yakuza gangster could react to some of her best men being killed. But he also noted the lack of a frown when Akiko greeted him and Chiaki. Yuki was still on Zero Street talking to the police.

    "I'm sorry, I failed you," Chiaki whispered to Akiko. It wasn't a fearful whisper, more like Chiaki felt personal disappointment. "Most of your men were killed."

    "That's very unfortunate." Akiko sighed. "Still, they swore to obey me, and they knew it would entail some danger."

    Chiaki looked at Jay, sitting next to him on the floor across from Akiko. "He avenged the fallen men."

    Akiko raised an eyebrow and looked at Jay, considering Chiaki's words. "Would you like some tea?" she asked calmly.

    "Sure," Jay replied. He didn't hesistate to take a sip of green tea from the cup placed in front of him by Akiko herself. It would have been rude to hesitate, and possibly deadly.

    "So tell me, how did these murderers die?" Akiko asked a direct, pointed question.

    "Akiko!" Chiaki scolded.

    Jay seemed embarassed all of a sudden. He never would have expected Chiaki to scold the master of the Yakuza underworld, and her former employer. It was amusing, how the two behaved like sisters, yet he didn't want to show any sign that he found it funny.

    "You know he doesn't kill," Chiaki told Akiko. "Don't tease him like that, it hurts him."

    Don't tease him? Jay felt more confused than ever...until Akiko smiled at him warmly.

    "You did well, Hatman," Akiko said. "You've earned a place in my family." She gave him a slight bow.

    "Thanks." Jay raised his glass and returned the slight bow before sipping more tea.

    Yuki finally came walking in, entering as if she had been there dozens of times rather than just once. The guards seemed shocked at how quickly she went past them, but relented when they remembered her from last time. "So what do we do now, oh fearless leader?"

    "I'm not sure," he admitted. "The zero street gang keeps appearing like ghosts, wreaking havok, and vanishing just as quickly."

    "They're behaving like trained soldiers," Yuki observed. "With soldiers' weapons provided by the Lynchpin."

    Jay nodded. "That scares me even more. Because if they're being trained..."

    "...then this is much bigger than we think," Yuki completed. "We're just target practice. I think they're operating out of Zero Street becase it keeps them under the radar."

    "Brilliant theory," Akiko said. "However, Frankie of the Zoot Suit Gang already came up with that much. That is why he has been making such drastic preparations."

    "Preparations for what?" Jay asked.

    Akiko looked at Chiaki, and then back at Jay. "For a war."


TO BE CONTINUED

-- Story written and copyrighted (C) 2006 by Jason Froikin, and may not be
-- reprinted without permission.
-- Yuki Shiro designed by Jason Froikin, based on designs by Masamune Shirow
-- Liu Xi Xian and the Psychic Samurai are original design by Jason Froikin
-- Lara Night is an original creation by Jason Froikin

Post By Anime Jason Sat Dec 31, 2005 at 12:10:44 pm EST	Subject Adventures In Parodyverse: Act Of Desperation, Part 2

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