Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Gaijin ❯ Chapter 19
[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]
By: PerfectCarrot 
Anime/Manga: Sailor Moon Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Action / Adventure / Comedy / Hentai / Martial Arts | Type: Self Insertion | Uploaded On: 04.11.2004 | Pages: 17 | Words: 10.7K | Visits: 363 | Status: Completed
Anime/Manga: Sailor Moon Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Action / Adventure / Comedy / Hentai / Martial Arts | Type: Self Insertion | Uploaded On: 04.11.2004 | Pages: 17 | Words: 10.7K | Visits: 363 | Status: Completed
Gaijin
Part 19
Return to the Dark Tower.
+++++++++++++++++
Carrot smiled as he stood next to Michiru. Mamoru was out
cold, he doubted if he would run into anyone else that night.
She looked somewhat pensive and nervous as she walked along
beside him.
"Something wrong?" he asked as he glanced back at her and
took of the sunglasses he'd taken from the bar.
"Who was that?" she asked.
"Oh. Mamoru? Just some loser who has something against me. No
big deal really, he's been like that since I met him."
"That wasn't Tuxedo Mask?" she asked as she glanced back.
"Yeah, it was. His real name is Mamoru Chiba," replied the
boy with a small shrug. "He's something of a loser really. He can
get annoying at times."
Michiru nodded silently and continued to walk beside him.
They were heading back to Gia's clinic, where she had parked her
car. She paused when he grinned at her and stopped walking.
"Huh? Now what?" he muttered as he glanced back at her.
"The bruise!" she gasped.
"Huh? This thing?" He rubbed at his face absently.
"It's...almost gone," she said as she peered at his face a
little closer.
"He didn't hit me that hard," he replied with a small shrug.
The girl frowned at him. The mark was rather nasty looking
only a half-hour before. "Are you sure?"
"Yeah, that sort of thing looks worse than it really is at
first anyway," he said as he shrugged it off.
"I suppose so," she said as she nodded once. Maybe he was
right; he did seem to know a lot about that sort of thing.
Carrot smirked as he stopped just ahead of the street where
Gia's clinic was. "Well, I guess this is it. I'll walk you to
your car."
"You're not going home?" she asked as she turned to look at
him in surprise.
"Nah. That idiot got me all worked up. I'll probably go find
a drink or something and hang around," he replied as he shrugged.
"I could use one right about now."
"You drink?" she said with a slightly scandalized gasp.
"Huh? Not regularly. I'm not above a cold one now and then
though. I usually don't have time though."
She blushed and nodded. "Oh."
"Well, I guess we should..."
"I'll go with you then. I doubt if I'm going to sleep much
tonight anyway," she said as she shifted her purse on her
shoulder a little.
"Huh?" The boy seemed to think about it for a moment. "Okay,
I guess."
"I'll buy, it's the least I can do," she said as she turned
back away from the street.
"Hey. Where are we going?" he muttered in surprise as he
started after her. "You know where you're going?"
Michiru glanced back at him. "I know someone who owns a place
near here."
"Oh," said the boy as he stopped and stared at her rather
dumbly. "Okay then."
+++++++++++++++++
Carrot glanced around at the small smoky looking neighborhood
bar and frowned. It was a nice place, and actually looked rather
classy. "Never noticed this before."
"It's owned by an old friend of my father. He used to come
here a lot when he was younger," explained Michiru as she walked
in just behind him.
"Not gonna run into your old man now are we?" said Carrot as
he grinned at her.
"No, he doesn't stop by much anymore. I used to play my
violin here sometimes when I was little," said the girl as she
smiled at him. "Uncle Jiro is very nice."
Carrot nodded, not particularly interested in the story.
"Yeah. That's nice." It sounded sincere enough to satisfy her.
"Come on. I'll introduce you," said the girl as she walked
towards the bar. A few of the patrons gave them sidelong glances,
but no one really cared about the two youths being there much.
"Heya," said a large figure just behind the doorway.
Carrot blinked as he turned to face the voice. "Spike?"
"How ya doin?" said the large man as he gave the boy a wry
looking grin.
"What are you doing here?" muttered the boy as he stared up
at his large friend.
"I do some work here sometimes," replied the man with a small
shrug.
"Spike is one of my best employees," said a kindly older
voice. "Hello."
"Uncle Jiro!" said Michiru as she gave the man a warm hug. He
was a short partially bald man in his sixties. He had a cane in
his hand as he slowly moved towards them.
"Hey," said Carrot as he raised his hand in greeting.
"Well. It would make your father very upset if he found out
that you've been hanging around his type. You must be Carrot."
"Yeah. Nice to meet you," said the boy as he blinked in
surprise.
"Spike has told me quite a bit about you. Very interesting
things indeed," said the man as he gave the boy a mischievous
looking grin.
"Really? Like what?" said the boy as he glanced at the larger
man for a moment. He wasn't sure if that was good or bad.
"Nothing really important. How did you meet Michiru here? I
never expected to see her around here at this time of night. Are
your parents away?"
"Yes," muttered the girl with a heavy blush. "Carrot helped
me out yesterday."
The man arched his eyebrow slightly. "Ah. I see. You have my
thanks then."
"Sure. Anytime," said the boy quietly. He wasn't entirely
comfortable with the situation.
"What do you do here Spike? Seems kinda small for a bouncer,"
said Carrot as he turned towards the most familiar face.
"Naw. I run da bar for da old man on da weekends sometimes,"
replied the man as he shrugged.
"You can do that? You can't even read," said Carrot as he
stared at the man.
"I can, just not real good," muttered Spike as he blushed a
bit.
"You haven't been by to see Gia lately," commented Carrot as
they moved towards the bar. The old man walked behind it with
Spike at his side.
"Kinda crowded over dere," said the man as he blushed a
little.
"I suppose so. She can go over to your place ya know."
Spike blinked. "Nah. She don't like da rats much."
Carrot shrugged as a bottle was placed in front of him.
"Whatever."
"How's tings goin?" asked Spike as he glanced at Michiru. She was
looking pretty cheerful.
"Okay I guess, still got the same problems," replied the boy
as he downed half the bottle in a single gulp.
Michiru stared at him oddly for a moment and Spike grinned.
"Dat's too bad. Da boss says you can have yer old job back
whenever yer done."
"I'll remember that," said Carrot.
Michiru started coughing as she placed her own half-empty
bottle down on the counter.
"Hey, slow down," said Carrot as he patted her on the back.
"Sorry," she muttered sheepishly.
"It's not good for you to start out like that," said the boy
as he glanced at Spike.
"So? Dis chick is yer girlfriend?" said Spike.
"Huh? Her? Not really. I just met her a few days ago," said
Carrot as he glanced at her for a moment.
Michiru frowned at the larger man. "He's not my type."
Carrot found himself grinning at this. "Boy is that ever an
understatement."
"What's that supposed to mean?" she growled at him.
"Heh. Nothing, don't worry about it."
Spike chuckled at her glare as she stared at Carrot a little
irritably.
"What's so funny?"
"Nuthin," said Spike as he shook his head. "Just never
expected da kid ta hang around someone like ya. He seems more
like da type my kid sister likes."
"You have a sister?" said Carrot as he stared at the man. The
mental image he got was not pretty.
"Yeah. I never showed ya?" said the man dumbly. "Here." He
pulled out a wallet and tossed a photo onto the counter.
Carrot was surprised to say the least. It was a pretty young
girl, but she looked rather rough. She had several piercings and
a bright red leather jacket. She was standing next to a tough
looking man on a motorcycle. "She's cute. She doesn't live around
here?"
"Naw, she lives in Okinawa wit Slash ere," said the man as he
picked up the photo and put it back in his pocket.
"Good for her then," said the boy as he nodded.
"That's cute?" muttered Michiru under her breath. She didn't
look really disgusted, but seemed unable to understand.
"She's a pretty girl, probably a little rough around the
edges is all," said Carrot as he shrugged.
"Yup. She's a tough one," agreed Spike.
"I can see that," said the girl as she smiled at him warmly.
"She'd have to be to put up with Spike here," said Carrot.
"He's not the brightest of people."
"Ya got dat right! Haw!" said the man cheerfully.
Michiru gave them both an odd look and took another drink.
"I'll never understand boys."
"What's to understand?" asked Carrot.
Michiru looked at him oddly.
The boy shrugged and looked up at the larger man. "Hey Spike.
What ya thinkin about?"
"Huh? Nuthin," said the man dumbly.
Carrot looked at Michiru and grinned widely. "He means that."
The girl blushed as the joke went right over Spikes head. He
gave a casual shrug and wandered off as another of the patrons
got his attention.
Carrot looked at his bottle and picked it up before taking
another drink.
Michiru sighed and did the same as she shook her head.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++
Carrot woke up and groaned in pain. He couldn't remember the
last time he'd had a hangover. It was his first one in the new
world, and it wasn't any different than it was before. "Damn.
Forgot about..." He stopped and froze in place.
He was not in Gia's clinic, and someone had their arm strewn
across his back.
"Oh shit."
Slowly he turned his head and whimpered at what he saw.
Michiru Kaiou was naked and barely covered in the sheets of her
bed. The sunlight tore into his eyes as he stared, causing him to
squint as he slowly slid away from her across the mattress.
"This isn't happening..." he mumbled as he found himself flat
on his back on the floor as he ran out of mattress.
There was a low groaning sound above him as Michiru stirred.
He sucked in a quick breath and looked down at himself. He wasn't
wearing any pants. "Oh god. What the hell did I do?" He already
knew the answer to that and he closed his eyes.
"Huh?" muttered Michiru as she woke up. "Oooohh..."
Carrot grunted in pain as a bare foot slammed into his chest.
Michiru jumped out of bed and ignored stepping on him as she
rushed towards the bathroom.
Carrot sat up after rolling around in pain for a moment. He
glanced around and spotted his pants on the edge of the bed,
along with what was left of his shirt.
He lifted it up and stared at it for a moment. The buttons
were all ripped off of it, and the collar was actually torn. "Oh
man." He put it on anyway and slowly lifted himself onto the bed
in order to put his pants on slowly. "Today is really gonna
suck."
The sound of Michiru retching in the bathroom didn't make him
feel any better.
"So much for not being her type," he muttered under his
breath.
+++++++++++++++++++
"G...good...morning," stammered Michiru as she stood in the
doorway and blushed. She'd seen better days, and it was obvious
that she would not be doing much for the rest of the day. She was
wrapped in a towel and had nothing else on, but it didn't look
particularly attractive at the moment.
"Yeah," said Carrot quietly. He was simply sitting on the bed
and hanging his head. He was already feeling a little better than
he was when he woke up, but it wasn't doing his mood any good. In
fact, it looked like he was thinking about something really hard.
"Are you all right?" she asked quietly.
"I've felt better," he replied calmly.
"Oh," she said as she sat down beside him. She didn't try to
touch him and simply frowned at the floor.
He finally got up the nerve to speak up. "Did we?"
"Yes," she replied without looking up at him.
Carrot tried his best to keep his worsening mood from
showing. He partially succeeded.
"I don't feel well," said the girl as she sat completely
still.
"Yeah, drinking too much will do it to you," he replied
calmly.
"What were you talking about, this or...that?" she asked with
a pained looking smile.
"Both actually," he replied honestly.
"This has happened to you before?" she said quietly. She
wanted to sound angry, but it just wasn't in her.
"No, but I've come close," he said with a small sigh.
"Oh."
Carrot looked at her for a moment. She almost sounded
relieved.
"Look, just get some rest, you'll feel better in a few hours.
Stay in bed."
She nodded and rolled slowly onto the bed.
He stood up and started for the door. "I'll...see you later."
He wasn't sure what to say to her.
"Will you?" she asked.
He turned to look at her, and her back was too him. He could
hear the fear in her voice.
He frowned at this as he watched her lay there. "Yeah. I
promise."
Her head moved as she nodded her reply.
"Damn," he muttered quietly as he walked out of the room.
"This is the last thing I need." He stopped and glanced back at
the door. A soft crying floated towards him. "Shit." He turned
and walked back into the doorway. "Michiru, I didn't mean it like
that. I'm sorry."
"I..."
"Look. You know my life is complicated right now. You're a
nice girl, I like you..."
"But you don't want to see me again?" she replied quietly.
"That's not it," he said as he leaned against the door. He
was floundering badly. "I'm not thinking clearly right now. I'm
not in much better condition than you are. I promise we'll talk
about it later Michiru. Just...not now."
The girl was huddled in a small ball under her sheets. Only
her head wasn't covered. "It was my first time...with a man."
Carrot nodded, even knowing she couldn't see him. He wanted
to say something smart, anything to relieve the tension. Maybe
something like, "Not your first time at all then? I feel better."
He bit his tongue and remained silent. He knew it wasn't the time
to be a smart-ass.
Finally, unsure of what else to do, he turned back into the
hall. "I'm leaving. Get some sleep. We'll...talk about this when
we're both feeling better."
He closed his eyes as he walked down the hallway. His fists
were clenched tightly and he growled angrily at his own
stupidity. His mind worked over what he could have said, what he
should have done. "Damn it."
The worst thing of all, was that he couldn't remember
anything past the third bottle at the bar the night before. "This
really sucks." He opened the door and was almost floored by the
sunlight that rushed into his face. It was going to be a long
walk home.
++++++++++++++++++
"Back are you?" said Gia as she smirked at the boy who walked
into her clinic.
"Shut up," growled the boy irritably as he stood in the
doorway. He had a dark pair of shades on his face and his dress
was more than enough to let her know how the night had gone for
him.
"Well?" she said as she smiled at him cheerfully.
"Not one word," he said as he walked past her.
"Headache?" said the woman as she followed him in.
He sat down at the table and sulked. Gia put a small bottle
of pills down in front of him. "Two, no more than that."
The boy glared at her and grabbed it. He downed three of
them, more out of spite than actually needing them. He was
already feeling a lot better, and his headache was just a dull
throb. "It's almost gone anyway."
"You're too young to be drinking," said Gia as she turned
away.
Carrot snorted. "Young." Was he really that young? He hadn't
thought about it in a while. He looked about fifteen, but his
memories told him he was much older. Which was the truth? Even he
wasn't sure exactly. "Let's see you get chased around the city by
a bomb throwing madman twenty stories over the street and see how
much you need to drink the next day."
Gia sat down and arched her eyebrow. "You've got a point."
"Good."
"Mei Lin has left already, she's at work now."
Carrot nodded silently. "Luna?"
"She's sleeping right now."
The boy stood up and popped his back while stretching his
arms out. "I've got a call to make today."
Gia nodded. "Going out again?"
"Not till tonight. I'll sleep as much as I can today though."
He frowned as she sipped at her coffee and lifted up the
newspaper.
"Be careful."
"Yeah," he replied as he walked away.
Gia frowned as he walked off. "I never knew he had it in him.
I'm gonna have to talk with him about this. It doesn't look like
it went well this morning."
++++++++++++++++++
Carrot pocketed the card he'd used to dial the number he'd
called. He was standing at a small pay phone near the clinic.
"Inspector Kajura please." He was wearing a clean set of clothes
and had his sunglasses on. His fingers tapped impatiently on the
top of the phone as he waited for it to stop ringing.
He frowned as he was put on hold. Glancing around at his
surroundings he watched the people pass around him.
"Kajura here."
"You've got what I need?"
There was silence on the other end for a moment. Carrot said
nothing and waited.
"Yeah. Where should I meet you?"
"There's an old antiques shop three blocks down from where I
am right now. It's called Misty Island Antiquities. It's a local
owned place, so you should be able to get the address out of the
phone book. You've got two hours." He hung up the phone and
turned towards the shop.
++++++++++++++++++
Kajura frowned as he glanced around the empty store. It was
closed on Saturdays, and he found himself standing alone. A half-
smoked cigarette hung from his mouth as he glanced around.
Finally he found what he was looking for. Carrot was sitting
across the street at a small cafe. He had a table and was sipping
at a cup of tea.
Kajura growled in annoyance as he crossed the street and
moved over to the table.
"You made it," said the boy without looking up from the menu.
"You told me to meet you over there."
"I was making sure you weren't followed this time," replied
the boy calmly.
Kajura growled as he ground the butt of his cigarette in his
teeth.
Carrot ignored this and continued speaking. "I didn't live
this long by not learning from my mistakes. You could do to learn
that yourself."
The man merely nodded. "Fine."
"You have what I need?"
Kajura nodded and slid a small disk across the table.
Carrot frowned at it for a moment, and picked it up. He
didn't have a computer.
"What's your plan kid?"
"You let me worry about that. You just keep your end of the
bargain, and I'll get you what you need. This is more dangerous
than you realize."
Kajura snorted at this. "Look kid, this isn't some spy
movie..." He paused when he realized he was talking to an empty
seat. "Son of a bitch."
The waiter walked over to him and placed a bill on the table.
The man growled and stared at it for a moment. "That little
shit." With a heavy sigh, he pulled out his wallet. Putting up
with the kid wasn't something he wasn't willing to do for what
he'd get.
+++++++++++++++++++++
Carrot cursed as he stared at the disk in his hand. It wasn't
a floppy; it was a small CD, not standard size either. "What the
hell does he expect me to do with this?"
The boy fell flat on his back on the rooftop he'd gone too
after the meeting. "Shit. This was useless." He turned to glare
at the tower and frowned deeply. "Son of a bitch, you owe me
again Kajura."
+++++++++++++++++++
Gia blinked. "What's this?"
Carrot merely frowned at her sourly from behind the box he
was holding in front of him. There were several smaller ones on
top of it. "A computer."
"You bought a computer?" she said dumbly as she stared at the
boxes.
"That idiot Kajura," grumbled Carrot as he pushed past her.
"You can't afford an computer!" cried the woman as she
followed after him.
"Apparently I can," he commented as he set the boxes down on
the floor. "Damn. This stupid thing was expensive too. I'm glad I
stuck that asshole with the bill at the cafe now."
Gia merely blinked and sat down at the table to watch him
unpack his new computer. "What the hell?"
"Quit starin!" snapped Carrot as he glanced over his shoulder
at her.
The woman sighed and turned her head away from him. "Never
mind. I don't want to know."
Carrot merely cursed as he dumped a huge pile of cables out
onto the floor. "Damn. Stupid Kanji, I'm gonna have to figure
this out on my own."
+++++++++++++++++++++++++
It was getting close to evening when Carrot finally managed
to get the computer up and running so he could read the disk that
Kajura had given him. It was a long and generally frustrating
process, but he managed in the end.
It seemed Kajura knew nothing about computers in general. The
idiot didn't realize that in order to view the file he'd given
the boy, Carrot would need special software. The boy grumbled in
irritation as the program came up and a floor plan of the
building appeared on the screen. "Idiot," he grumbled angrily as
he typed. The error message of the program had told him the name
of the program he'd needed to view the files. Unfortunately, it
was fairly expensive, and he was out a few thousand yen. Not that
it bothered him much really; it was more the general principal of
the idea, and the time consuming task of setting up the computer.
Luckily, he'd managed to find a keyboard with romanji, or he'd
have been in a world of hurt. As it was, typing and figuring out
what was being put on the screen was a rather slow and arduous
process.
"I hate computers in foreign languages," grumbled the boy as
he scrolled around the screen. There was a small task bar off to
the side of the map screen with a box for typing, and icons for
each level of the building. All seventy of them.
"Okay, I'm gonna need a secretary or something, preferably
one near to the ground floor. Hisami's offices take up the top
twenty floors, with the lower floors being front companies and
such."
Gia stared at the boy as he worked slowly. "Front companies?"
she muttered.
"Well, not really. I'm sure he uses them to launder money and
all that, but these are all his legitimate businesses down here.
The upper floors are his private offices. In other words, this is
where most of the more important members of his little kingdom
will have their offices. Even though they probably never even go
there most of the time."
Luna was sitting next to the pair and glanced back and fourth
between them. "Why not?"
Carrot was too engrossed in working to get irritated with the
questions, so he answered her. "Because, these are the men who
take care of what's going on in the streets. They'd spend most of
their time in those areas. Hanging around the lower underlings,
making sure things are going the way they're supposed too."
The cat shrugged and stared at the new computer for a moment.
She had no idea why, but she had an almost irresistible urge to
jump onto the keyboard. She managed to fight it back and settled
down on the ground. "So what are you looking for anyway?"
"Secretary's," he replied calmly. "Well, there are one
hundred and twenty three..."
"Well that was useless," commented Gia.
"Where the hell did Kajura get this? This is directly out of
the Hisami building's database!" muttered Carrot as he stared
down at the screen. "This isn't just a floor plan, it's a
personnel tracker also. I'm not sure how up to date it is though,
it would have gotten updated regularly if it was still hooked up
to the system."
"What does that mean?" asked Luna dumbly.
"It means that this could be a year old," replied Carrot. "I
doubt if Hisami's personal staff has changed that much though,
but the staffing of the lower floors might be completely
different."
"So?" asked Gia.
"You're right, it's not important. Besides, I've found what I
want."
"What's that?" asked Gia irritably.
"There are over a hundred secretaries in the building, but
only three in the top twenty floors. One for Hisami himself, that
crazy ninja chick's mom I'll bet. Not touching that one with a
pole. One for the senior vice president, that one is a
possibility. Plus, one for the Chairman of the board? Carrot
blinked in surprise at that one. "Hisami isn't sitting on top of
his own company? That's a surprise. Wonder who that might be?"
"I haven't got a clue," said Gia with a small shrug.
"It was rhetorical," muttered Carrot under his breath. "In
any case, that's the one closest to the ground floor. Floor
fifty."
"So that's the one?" asked Gia.
Carrot nodded, that's where I'll try first. If I run into a
problem, I'll move to the one on floor fifty-three."
"So you're..." muttered Gia.
"Going then," agreed Carrot with a serious looking nod.
"What? Now?" said Gia dumbly.
"That's right," said the boy calmly. "It's still early enough
in the evening that I should be able to make it in while a lot of
the employee's are going home. That will mean security is more
lax, because of everyone wandering around the building."
"Oh," muttered the woman with a small sigh. "I'll have some
clean bandages and a few splints ready when you get back."
Carrot paused as he grabbed the doorknob and hung his head.
"You realize that I hate you."
Luna just looked confused at the exchange. "What's he whining
about? We both know he'll need them."
"I'm not sure," said Gia with a small shrug as the boy walked
out the door and ignored them.
++++++++++++++++++++
It was a chilly evening; a wind blew across the city, as
Carrot stood on a rooftop that overlooked the tower that loomed
high into the sky in front of him. He frowned as he pulled the
pair of binoculars in his hand away from his face and turned his
gaze to the ground. "Shit. I can't see much from here. I guess
I'm just gonna have to wing it, like last time."
He jumped down to the sidewalk and landed neatly in the
shadows. His body seemed to melt out of them as he strolled
forward, unnoticed by any of the people around him. He looked up
at the fortress of iron and glass and simply stopped to take in
the scope of his task. "This is gonna be a real chore." With a
heavy sigh, he strolled right through the front doors of the
building and casually walked into the thinning crowd that was
exiting the building.
++++++++++++++++++++
The security desk never noticed his passing as he walked into
the lobby and to the elevators. He smirked to himself as he
strolled against the crowd along the edge opposite the security
desk.
He paused in the center of the rows of elevators and glanced
around. They were in heavy use at the moment, but that was the
least of his concern. Inside each one, was a small security
camera in the back corner. They hadn't been there the last time
he'd been inside the tower, and it could pose a problem for him
if he wanted to sneak up to the upper floors.
He snorted and shifted back slightly to an unused corner of
the area. There were several long hallways between the rows of
elevators that led to lower offices on the floor. Traffic to and
from these offices was almost non existent. He stood there
mulling over the new problem for a moment. He could try to climb
the stairs, which probably also had several cameras he'd have to
avoid.
"That's a long damn climb too," he commented to himself as he
looked around the place he was standing. A wry grin formed on his
face as he noticed a large ventilation shaft opposite him. "I'll
bet that goes..."
+++++++++++++++++++
Carrot grunted as he squeezed through the opening into the
larger shaft that moved vertically up and down. He looked around
and coughed as the dust from his entrance filled his lungs for a
moment. He was inside the elevator shaft; the elevator itself was
below him hanging from the cables. It was dark, pitch black
almost, but he could see enough to know that the elevator wasn't
that far below him.
He shifted himself into a crouching position with his feet on
the edge of the shaft he'd just climbed though. It was tricky,
but he managed to keep his balance long enough to grab the cable
that would lift the elevator up and down. "Now what?" he said to
himself as he realized that he had no control over where the
elevator would go.
He landed on top of the roof silently and sat to mull over it
for a moment. Looking around at his surroundings he frowned.
There was a maintenance ladder that appeared to go all the way
up.
"Shit," he grumbled under his breath as he slunk over to it
and gripped it hatefully. "This is really gonna suck."
++++++++++++++++++++
An hour and a half later...
Carrot was sweaty, irritable, and his arms and legs burned in
agony as he hung from the metal rungs that seemed to fall into
infinity below him, unfortunately, they seemed to reach just as
far in the other direction. "Shoulda taken the god damn stairs,"
he cursed. The clothes he'd been wearing when he'd entered the
building were discarded now, hanging from the rungs some distance
below him, covered in sweat. The white shirt and tie were little
more than a disguise he'd used to get into the building in the
first place. His Spiderman costume was much better suited to
sneaking around and he was now wearing it.
Unfortunately, it was hot and heavy, due to the armor sewn
into the chest. His mask was tucked into his pants and his feet
were sore due to the insufficient padding in the soles. They were
little more than slippers, made more for moving quietly rather
than comfort.
He turned his head and groaned painfully as he hung for a
moment to rest. The floor number was painted on the opposite wall
in large yellow numbers. "Thirty seven." He had to go all the way
to fifty.
"Damn it, you owe me big Kajura," he growled under his breath
as he continued to climb.
+++++++++++++++++
An hour later...
"Ah! Ah ha ha ha ha! Fifty! Ha ha!" gasped Carrot as he
stared at the numbers opposite him on the wall. "I made it! Ha ha
ha!" His laugh was tired and he wiped his brow with his arm as he
hung there for a moment enjoying his triumph.
That was when he realized that there was a huge mechanical
door in front of him, and that the air vents had stopped about
ten floors below him.
"Son of a bitch!"
+++++++++++++++++
Another half-hour passed...
Carrot growled as he grunted angrily. He had an axe in his
hands that he was using to wedge between the two doors of the
elevator. It groaned and creaked as he shoved the doors apart
with all his might.
He'd had to go ten floors down, shove himself into another
air vent, and then find the axe in a fire station next to a large
hose. He'd thought about using the stairs to get up to the next
ten floors. Unfortunately, when he'd checked the stairwell, he'd
noticed a number of security cameras between himself and his
objective. After resting for a few minutes, he'd gone back to the
elevator shaft with the axe and made the ten floor climb to reach
the doors again.
The door opened enough for him to wedge his hands inside, he
strained as he pried them apart with all his might and shoved
himself through. It took a bit of effort, but he managed to
squeeze through the opening. The doors closed behind him and he
lay flat on his back in the hallway with the axe in his hand.
"Ha! I made it!" He grinned as he lay there panting and
stared at the ceiling. After a moment, he crossed his eyes as he
realized something. There was a red beam of light about three
feet above his head just over his nose.
"Huh?" He turned his gaze down the hall and sighed heavily.
There were dozens of them. "Oh man. Can't I catch a break?"
+++++++++++++++++++
It turned out that the laser alarms were only present in the
first few hallways of the floor, mostly around the elevators. He
was relieved to say the least. "Now, where the hell am I? How do
I get where I'm going?" He pulled on his mask as he started
walking.
He frowned as he glanced around himself in search of a
landmark. He had some idea of the general area of where he needed
to be, and only a little about the maze of cubicles and offices
he had to navigate. He wasn't too worried, the place looked
absolutely deserted.
"Okay. This way I think." He started walking and froze in
place. A blue circle of light was present on the floor; it was
wide and covered a huge area. He rolled and dove for cover as it
moved across the ground in a curving manner.
"What the hell? Searchlights?" he muttered as he waited for
it to pass by him. He slowly peered over the low wall of the
cubicle he'd hid in. He was expecting to see a security officer
with a flashlight or something. There was nothing there though.
"What the hell?"
He frowned and stayed where he was, mulling over this new
development. "Some kind of motion sensor, or a new security
device?" It could pose a large problem if it was something he
didn't know about.
Slowly, he waited for the beam to pass a second time and
peered over the ledge again. He could see the beam now, coming
from a corner of the room. In fact, he could see three others
just like it. "Huh?"
He was looking at a security camera. It took him a moment to
realize it, but that was indeed what it was. "I can see where
it's pointing?" he muttered dumbly. It seemed as if the security
cameras all had a dim light on them to illuminate the area they
were scanning. That was stupid though, it made them much easier
to avoid. He thought back to the infrared beams and frowned.
"Those should be invisible too. Something's not right here. Some
sort of new power? Maybe something similar to my Spidersense?" He
frowned as he thought about it.
The whole mess was starting to make sense now. His powers
were growing stronger, he'd been able to see the infrared beams
when he first came to the tower, then his body developed the
alert system it now had, and now he could see where the security
cameras were pointing. It was similar to the way his iron pole
had once been a much flimsier metal pipe. Once he'd picked up the
pole in Hisami's office, he'd never created another pipe. It then
evolved into the wires he used as transportation. He noted that
he did not lose the ability to create iron poles either. His
fighting skills had grown sharper in a relatively short amount of
time, and it was taking less and less time for him to recover
from a injury. Even when it was what most people would consider a
serious injury.
"This is fucking strange," he commented too himself as he
looked at his hands for a moment. "What's happening to me?"
+++++++++++++++++++++
"Mitsuki, come," said the Oyabun as he stood up from his
desk. The window behind him was long ago repaired and he peered
out at the city. "It is time for bed."
The woman turned to look at him for a moment. "As you say."
She bowed placidly and waited for him to walk by.
"Go do the rounds, I shall meet you," he said calmly, as if
giving the time of day.
"Yes," she said as she strolled silently from the room and
into the outer office.
As soon as the door closed behind her she frowned.
"Something..." There was a noise, so slight that she almost did
not notice it. It seemed to be a humming sound. "Where?" She
glanced around, looking at the ceiling first. It sounded almost
like something mechanical that was having a problem. She'd have
to call maintenance to fix it in the morning.
She paused under the air conditioning vent and frowned. The
sound was not coming from the vent. Standing still and closing
her eyes she cocked her head. "Where are you?" She slowly turned,
halfway expecting to find a computer running, or a printer
perhaps. There were several such devices in the room at various
points. They were all silent though.
Her eyes went wide as she found the source. She slowly turned
her head towards the sound and stepped back.
The glass was still broken as it hung there on the wall. The
singe ruby eye glared at her on the hilt of the blade as it
simply remained where it was. She stepped towards it and frowned
deeply as she saw several tiny tendrils of electricity moving
across the hilt.
"He's here!" she muttered quietly as she stepped back away
from the blade. "It can't be!" Her hand went down to the blade at
her side reflexively as she glanced around the room. "Damn."
Without another word, she strolled out of the office and into
the dark hallways.
++++++++++++++++++++
Carrot frowned as he looked at the fork in the hallway. It
wasn't the first time he'd run into a place like this, and he
tried his best to continue in the same general direction. It was
difficult to tell though. There was a lot of floor space in the
offices, and even more hallways. "Son of a bitch. Where the hell
am I?" he grumbled under his breath. With a heavy sigh he put the
axe in his hand on the ground blade first. He balanced it on his
palm for a moment and then stepped back, letting it fall to the
ground. He looked in the direction it was pointing and pointed
with his finger. "This way? Okay then. Off we go." He picked it
up and continued on his way.
++++++++++++++++++++
Far below, on the thirtieth floor...
"Kei."
The girl frowned as she opened her eyes, annoyed that someone
would disturb her meditation. "What is it?" She was sitting in a
lotus position staring at the wall in front of her in her room.
It was little more than a small dresser and bed with a tiny
closet in the corner.
"We have a visitor," said the tall bulky shadow that melted
into her room from the doorway.
She frowned at him and did not speak.
"He's in the building. Your mother claims to have sensed
him."
"Sensed?" muttered Kei irritably.
"He probably tripped one of the silent alarms. She didn't say
what floor he was on though," said the man calmly as he chuckled
slightly. "In any case, I'm going to deal with it."
"The old man is near there isn't he?" asked Kei as she turned
back towards the wall.
"Possibly, but I doubt if he'll interfere."
"Why wouldn't he?" asked Kei sourly.
"Because he knows that I have the school here. Why bother?"
said the large man as he turned away. "I'm going to take my
shinobi and find him. He'll not escape."
"Yes he will, and I'll be sure to remind you of that when you
return in shame," said the girl calmly.
The large shadow uncrossed his arms slightly and frowned
suddenly. "You think too much of the skill of a single man... or
perhaps... you wish him to escape?"
"Of course. He's mine. Only I will kill him in the end. Even
Hikyu failed, and you saw what they did to him."
"Hikyu was weakened by those monsters, he was destined to
fail."
"Even if that is true, he defeated my uncle when he was at
his strongest. You won't succeed where he failed. You'll try
anyway, and he'll kill you as well."
The large ninja growled hatefully. "I'll bring you his head
and make you eat it for those words."
Kei merely smiled and closed her eyes again. "I'll have my
plate ready when you return uncle."
The ninja growled hatefully and backed into the shadows once
again, leaving her in peace.
"Our destiny lies together boy," said Kei to herself. "I
don't know why that is, but it is the truth. Only I can kill
you."
+++++++++++++++++
Carrot grumbled as he stared at the web of lights below him.
He was staring down into the office he needed to enter. "All this
security for some loser's office?" he muttered dumbly.
He was sitting in an air vent just above the office. There
was a heavily guarded glass door that led into a small security
room. It required a key card to enter, and then a handprint to
move into the actual office from there. It was absolutely
ridiculous.
The only thing that made it worse was the fact that there was
an airshaft in the center of the office that led into the air
conditioning system. Carrot guessed that the heavy security was a
later addition to the office. He wasn't sure he wanted to know
why they felt the need to add it.
With a heavy sigh he lifted the grate out of place and set it
aside. He had one of his wires firmly tied to a pipe just above
the airshaft. He'd actually ripped a hole in the thin metal to
find something to latch onto. It hadn't been that difficult,
especially with the aid of the axe he'd gotten from the emergency
fire station.
He hung upside down and slowly slid his way into the room.
The web of light was spread out across the floor and up and down
the doorway to enter. He had little to worry about as he hung
upside down and stopped himself in front of the screen.
With a grunt of effort, he flipped himself over and squat
down in the computer chair in front of the machine. With a snort
of disgust he reached behind it and turned it on.
"Come on. Damn," he muttered as he waited for it to boot up.
He blinked as a screen came up with a text box on it. There was a
small lock on the corner of the message. It was all written in
kanji, he couldn't understand anything more than the word
'enter'. "Shit." He glanced down at the keys and frowned, it was
a Japanese keyboard. "Bloody hell."
After a moment of cussing, he looked up at the corner of the
screen and frowned. There was a post-it note with a row of kanji
on it stuck there.
"No way. There's no way," he muttered as he tried to find the
kanji on the keys. He typed experimentally, and found that the
kanji shifted and changed as he typed. He had to backspace a few
times, but eventually he found the right combination through
trial and error. "Okay." He hit 'enter' and held his breath.
The next screen was illegible as well, but he sighed as he
realized that it was indeed the password. "So much for high
security. Jeez, you'd think they'd fire the moron that did
something like this after spending all this money on this much
crap."
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a disk. He'd
brought along several different kinds, but there was a standard
floppy drive so he used that one.
There were only about seven icons on the screen, and they all
looked like office software of some kind. He clicked around
several times and found the kanji for Hisami on a few of them.
Without thinking about it too much, he copied them to the disk.
It was fairly painless; they were little more than text documents
really.
After shifting around a bit, he continued to copy anything he
found that seemed like it was small enough to fit on the disk
easily. There wasn't really that much there in all honestly.
Mostly long boring looking pages of text that had no real meaning
too him.
Finally, he found something that looked interesting. "Hey. I
think this is it." He scrolled down and smiled. It was a table
like page, with Hisami's name all over it, and times with what
looked like mostly names and places. "This is it." He was fairly
certain of it and had an evil looking grin on his face as he
copied it to the disk.
He glanced up at the wire and moved to pull himself up before
he blinked and looked back over his shoulder for a moment. The
hallway was empty and he had little to worry about at the moment.
There were no guards, and it seemed as if Hisami was relying on
technology to protect this level of the building. "Smooth
sailing."
+++++++++++++++++++++
Carrot pulled himself into the shaft again and carefully
replaced the grate. It was easy enough to do, as it wasn't even
screwed in. It just sort of sat in place with sort of clips that
wedged into the vent itself. He smirked to himself as he started
to crawl through the dusty vent back the way he came. "This
espionage stuff isn't too hard." He slid out of the vent and
turned a corner.
He froze and crouched low with his eyes wide with shock at
what he saw.
There was about twenty figures dressed in black entering the
doorway on the opposite side of the sea of cubicles.
"Fan out. Search everywhere," said the largest of them as he
stood in front of the door and waved his arm out.
The smaller shinobi stood upright and bowed to him deeply
before turning and moving into a silent patrol of the floor.
"Oh shit!" said Carrot as he glanced back behind him. He
backed away and frowned as he slid into the darkness. Going
forward was not an option at this point, he had to find a place
to hide and lay low quick. Unfortunately, that probably wasn't a
good idea and he knew it. The shinobi would be looking in places
like that. "Where did I screw up?" he muttered under his breath
as he slunk through the shadows, almost unconsciously avoiding
any of the red beams or searchlight like patterns of the security
cameras as he moved away from the closing shinobi.
Finally he hit a wall; there was nowhere to go. He was
screwed. "Fuck! Think Carrot, think!" He turned his head and
blinked. He was standing right next to the entrance to a fire
escape.
++++++++++++++++++
Carrot cursed as his legs burned. His breath was short and he
was sweating badly. He knew what was below him, just behind him.
The army of shinobi was climbing steadily after him. He hadn't
been spotted yet, but he knew it was only a matter of time before
he ran out of room to run. Hopefully, they would give up before
they reached the top floor. He doubted it though and grit his
teeth as he pushed himself as hard as he could in his flight.
Running really sucked, but it was his only option.
He paused for a moment as he realized where he was. In front
of him was the door to Hisami's office. He glanced back over his
shoulder and growled angrily as he stared at it for a moment.
Finally, he turned and rushed up the stairs higher into the
building.
That room was the last place he wanted to go. He barely
escaped with his life the last time he went in, and picking the
lock again was out of the question. He doubted if he had time
anyway. He simply moved upward, not caring about how much noise
he was making. The security cameras stopped about ten floors
behind him anyway. If they found him at this point, there was
little he could do about it.
Finally, out of breath and out of ideas, he hit the last
door. "Shit." He glanced behind him and frowned. "Guess this is
it, no turning back now." He rushed up to the door and pushed it
open in a full sprit.
He staggered out onto the rooftop and fell onto the gravel
face first as he lost his footing due to the loose surface. He
pushed himself up on his hands and slowly raised his head.
The rooftop was a wide-open space. It was easily fifty yards
in every direction. There was a twenty by fifty building behind
him, housing the air conditioning system as well as the
elevators. A large radio antenna rose a hundred feet above the
surface of the roof over the roof on top of it. He was in the
center of the building lying on his chest. There was nowhere to
hide up here for him.
To make matters worse, a dangerously familiar voice sounded
in front of him as he looked up. "Welcome. I've been expecting
you."
Kei's mother was standing about ten feet in front of him with
her hand on the hilt of her blade. She had a dark smile on her
face as she stared him down coldly. "You'll not escape this
time."
Carrot growled as he slowly rose to his feet and returned her
glare from beneath his mask.
"I admire your choice of clothing," she commented as she
arched her eyebrow.
"Yeah. I've heard a lot of that lately," he replied with a
deadly calm to his tone.
Mitsuki slowly drew her blade.
Carrot crouched low and spread his arms wide.
"You've changed your fighting style?" she commented idly as
she noticed his stance was much different.
"I call it the Spider's Fang," he replied simply.
Shock was immediately clear on the woman's face.
"Impossible!"
Carrot wasn't sure what to make of that, but he remained in
his stance and started to sway back and forth calmly. "Shall we
get this over with? We'll be having company soon."
Mitsuki's face hardened and she frowned deeply at him. "Yes.
This time I shall destroy you!"
Carrot tensed his body and prepared himself. He was in a
world of shit and he knew it. The deadly kunoichi was in front of
him, there was an army of shinobi behind him, and he was seventy
stories above the street with nowhere to go. "Son of a bitch. How
the hell am I gonna get out of this one?" he muttered to himself
angrily.
He didn't have time to think about it as Mitsuki charged
forward with her blade slicing at him.
+++++++++++++++++++++
TBC...
Heh. Know the true evil that is the cliffhanger!
Bwahahahahahahaaaa!
Next time: Well, that's fairly obvious isn't it?
Part 19
Return to the Dark Tower.
+++++++++++++++++
Carrot smiled as he stood next to Michiru. Mamoru was out
cold, he doubted if he would run into anyone else that night.
She looked somewhat pensive and nervous as she walked along
beside him.
"Something wrong?" he asked as he glanced back at her and
took of the sunglasses he'd taken from the bar.
"Who was that?" she asked.
"Oh. Mamoru? Just some loser who has something against me. No
big deal really, he's been like that since I met him."
"That wasn't Tuxedo Mask?" she asked as she glanced back.
"Yeah, it was. His real name is Mamoru Chiba," replied the
boy with a small shrug. "He's something of a loser really. He can
get annoying at times."
Michiru nodded silently and continued to walk beside him.
They were heading back to Gia's clinic, where she had parked her
car. She paused when he grinned at her and stopped walking.
"Huh? Now what?" he muttered as he glanced back at her.
"The bruise!" she gasped.
"Huh? This thing?" He rubbed at his face absently.
"It's...almost gone," she said as she peered at his face a
little closer.
"He didn't hit me that hard," he replied with a small shrug.
The girl frowned at him. The mark was rather nasty looking
only a half-hour before. "Are you sure?"
"Yeah, that sort of thing looks worse than it really is at
first anyway," he said as he shrugged it off.
"I suppose so," she said as she nodded once. Maybe he was
right; he did seem to know a lot about that sort of thing.
Carrot smirked as he stopped just ahead of the street where
Gia's clinic was. "Well, I guess this is it. I'll walk you to
your car."
"You're not going home?" she asked as she turned to look at
him in surprise.
"Nah. That idiot got me all worked up. I'll probably go find
a drink or something and hang around," he replied as he shrugged.
"I could use one right about now."
"You drink?" she said with a slightly scandalized gasp.
"Huh? Not regularly. I'm not above a cold one now and then
though. I usually don't have time though."
She blushed and nodded. "Oh."
"Well, I guess we should..."
"I'll go with you then. I doubt if I'm going to sleep much
tonight anyway," she said as she shifted her purse on her
shoulder a little.
"Huh?" The boy seemed to think about it for a moment. "Okay,
I guess."
"I'll buy, it's the least I can do," she said as she turned
back away from the street.
"Hey. Where are we going?" he muttered in surprise as he
started after her. "You know where you're going?"
Michiru glanced back at him. "I know someone who owns a place
near here."
"Oh," said the boy as he stopped and stared at her rather
dumbly. "Okay then."
+++++++++++++++++
Carrot glanced around at the small smoky looking neighborhood
bar and frowned. It was a nice place, and actually looked rather
classy. "Never noticed this before."
"It's owned by an old friend of my father. He used to come
here a lot when he was younger," explained Michiru as she walked
in just behind him.
"Not gonna run into your old man now are we?" said Carrot as
he grinned at her.
"No, he doesn't stop by much anymore. I used to play my
violin here sometimes when I was little," said the girl as she
smiled at him. "Uncle Jiro is very nice."
Carrot nodded, not particularly interested in the story.
"Yeah. That's nice." It sounded sincere enough to satisfy her.
"Come on. I'll introduce you," said the girl as she walked
towards the bar. A few of the patrons gave them sidelong glances,
but no one really cared about the two youths being there much.
"Heya," said a large figure just behind the doorway.
Carrot blinked as he turned to face the voice. "Spike?"
"How ya doin?" said the large man as he gave the boy a wry
looking grin.
"What are you doing here?" muttered the boy as he stared up
at his large friend.
"I do some work here sometimes," replied the man with a small
shrug.
"Spike is one of my best employees," said a kindly older
voice. "Hello."
"Uncle Jiro!" said Michiru as she gave the man a warm hug. He
was a short partially bald man in his sixties. He had a cane in
his hand as he slowly moved towards them.
"Hey," said Carrot as he raised his hand in greeting.
"Well. It would make your father very upset if he found out
that you've been hanging around his type. You must be Carrot."
"Yeah. Nice to meet you," said the boy as he blinked in
surprise.
"Spike has told me quite a bit about you. Very interesting
things indeed," said the man as he gave the boy a mischievous
looking grin.
"Really? Like what?" said the boy as he glanced at the larger
man for a moment. He wasn't sure if that was good or bad.
"Nothing really important. How did you meet Michiru here? I
never expected to see her around here at this time of night. Are
your parents away?"
"Yes," muttered the girl with a heavy blush. "Carrot helped
me out yesterday."
The man arched his eyebrow slightly. "Ah. I see. You have my
thanks then."
"Sure. Anytime," said the boy quietly. He wasn't entirely
comfortable with the situation.
"What do you do here Spike? Seems kinda small for a bouncer,"
said Carrot as he turned towards the most familiar face.
"Naw. I run da bar for da old man on da weekends sometimes,"
replied the man as he shrugged.
"You can do that? You can't even read," said Carrot as he
stared at the man.
"I can, just not real good," muttered Spike as he blushed a
bit.
"You haven't been by to see Gia lately," commented Carrot as
they moved towards the bar. The old man walked behind it with
Spike at his side.
"Kinda crowded over dere," said the man as he blushed a
little.
"I suppose so. She can go over to your place ya know."
Spike blinked. "Nah. She don't like da rats much."
Carrot shrugged as a bottle was placed in front of him.
"Whatever."
"How's tings goin?" asked Spike as he glanced at Michiru. She was
looking pretty cheerful.
"Okay I guess, still got the same problems," replied the boy
as he downed half the bottle in a single gulp.
Michiru stared at him oddly for a moment and Spike grinned.
"Dat's too bad. Da boss says you can have yer old job back
whenever yer done."
"I'll remember that," said Carrot.
Michiru started coughing as she placed her own half-empty
bottle down on the counter.
"Hey, slow down," said Carrot as he patted her on the back.
"Sorry," she muttered sheepishly.
"It's not good for you to start out like that," said the boy
as he glanced at Spike.
"So? Dis chick is yer girlfriend?" said Spike.
"Huh? Her? Not really. I just met her a few days ago," said
Carrot as he glanced at her for a moment.
Michiru frowned at the larger man. "He's not my type."
Carrot found himself grinning at this. "Boy is that ever an
understatement."
"What's that supposed to mean?" she growled at him.
"Heh. Nothing, don't worry about it."
Spike chuckled at her glare as she stared at Carrot a little
irritably.
"What's so funny?"
"Nuthin," said Spike as he shook his head. "Just never
expected da kid ta hang around someone like ya. He seems more
like da type my kid sister likes."
"You have a sister?" said Carrot as he stared at the man. The
mental image he got was not pretty.
"Yeah. I never showed ya?" said the man dumbly. "Here." He
pulled out a wallet and tossed a photo onto the counter.
Carrot was surprised to say the least. It was a pretty young
girl, but she looked rather rough. She had several piercings and
a bright red leather jacket. She was standing next to a tough
looking man on a motorcycle. "She's cute. She doesn't live around
here?"
"Naw, she lives in Okinawa wit Slash ere," said the man as he
picked up the photo and put it back in his pocket.
"Good for her then," said the boy as he nodded.
"That's cute?" muttered Michiru under her breath. She didn't
look really disgusted, but seemed unable to understand.
"She's a pretty girl, probably a little rough around the
edges is all," said Carrot as he shrugged.
"Yup. She's a tough one," agreed Spike.
"I can see that," said the girl as she smiled at him warmly.
"She'd have to be to put up with Spike here," said Carrot.
"He's not the brightest of people."
"Ya got dat right! Haw!" said the man cheerfully.
Michiru gave them both an odd look and took another drink.
"I'll never understand boys."
"What's to understand?" asked Carrot.
Michiru looked at him oddly.
The boy shrugged and looked up at the larger man. "Hey Spike.
What ya thinkin about?"
"Huh? Nuthin," said the man dumbly.
Carrot looked at Michiru and grinned widely. "He means that."
The girl blushed as the joke went right over Spikes head. He
gave a casual shrug and wandered off as another of the patrons
got his attention.
Carrot looked at his bottle and picked it up before taking
another drink.
Michiru sighed and did the same as she shook her head.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++
Carrot woke up and groaned in pain. He couldn't remember the
last time he'd had a hangover. It was his first one in the new
world, and it wasn't any different than it was before. "Damn.
Forgot about..." He stopped and froze in place.
He was not in Gia's clinic, and someone had their arm strewn
across his back.
"Oh shit."
Slowly he turned his head and whimpered at what he saw.
Michiru Kaiou was naked and barely covered in the sheets of her
bed. The sunlight tore into his eyes as he stared, causing him to
squint as he slowly slid away from her across the mattress.
"This isn't happening..." he mumbled as he found himself flat
on his back on the floor as he ran out of mattress.
There was a low groaning sound above him as Michiru stirred.
He sucked in a quick breath and looked down at himself. He wasn't
wearing any pants. "Oh god. What the hell did I do?" He already
knew the answer to that and he closed his eyes.
"Huh?" muttered Michiru as she woke up. "Oooohh..."
Carrot grunted in pain as a bare foot slammed into his chest.
Michiru jumped out of bed and ignored stepping on him as she
rushed towards the bathroom.
Carrot sat up after rolling around in pain for a moment. He
glanced around and spotted his pants on the edge of the bed,
along with what was left of his shirt.
He lifted it up and stared at it for a moment. The buttons
were all ripped off of it, and the collar was actually torn. "Oh
man." He put it on anyway and slowly lifted himself onto the bed
in order to put his pants on slowly. "Today is really gonna
suck."
The sound of Michiru retching in the bathroom didn't make him
feel any better.
"So much for not being her type," he muttered under his
breath.
+++++++++++++++++++
"G...good...morning," stammered Michiru as she stood in the
doorway and blushed. She'd seen better days, and it was obvious
that she would not be doing much for the rest of the day. She was
wrapped in a towel and had nothing else on, but it didn't look
particularly attractive at the moment.
"Yeah," said Carrot quietly. He was simply sitting on the bed
and hanging his head. He was already feeling a little better than
he was when he woke up, but it wasn't doing his mood any good. In
fact, it looked like he was thinking about something really hard.
"Are you all right?" she asked quietly.
"I've felt better," he replied calmly.
"Oh," she said as she sat down beside him. She didn't try to
touch him and simply frowned at the floor.
He finally got up the nerve to speak up. "Did we?"
"Yes," she replied without looking up at him.
Carrot tried his best to keep his worsening mood from
showing. He partially succeeded.
"I don't feel well," said the girl as she sat completely
still.
"Yeah, drinking too much will do it to you," he replied
calmly.
"What were you talking about, this or...that?" she asked with
a pained looking smile.
"Both actually," he replied honestly.
"This has happened to you before?" she said quietly. She
wanted to sound angry, but it just wasn't in her.
"No, but I've come close," he said with a small sigh.
"Oh."
Carrot looked at her for a moment. She almost sounded
relieved.
"Look, just get some rest, you'll feel better in a few hours.
Stay in bed."
She nodded and rolled slowly onto the bed.
He stood up and started for the door. "I'll...see you later."
He wasn't sure what to say to her.
"Will you?" she asked.
He turned to look at her, and her back was too him. He could
hear the fear in her voice.
He frowned at this as he watched her lay there. "Yeah. I
promise."
Her head moved as she nodded her reply.
"Damn," he muttered quietly as he walked out of the room.
"This is the last thing I need." He stopped and glanced back at
the door. A soft crying floated towards him. "Shit." He turned
and walked back into the doorway. "Michiru, I didn't mean it like
that. I'm sorry."
"I..."
"Look. You know my life is complicated right now. You're a
nice girl, I like you..."
"But you don't want to see me again?" she replied quietly.
"That's not it," he said as he leaned against the door. He
was floundering badly. "I'm not thinking clearly right now. I'm
not in much better condition than you are. I promise we'll talk
about it later Michiru. Just...not now."
The girl was huddled in a small ball under her sheets. Only
her head wasn't covered. "It was my first time...with a man."
Carrot nodded, even knowing she couldn't see him. He wanted
to say something smart, anything to relieve the tension. Maybe
something like, "Not your first time at all then? I feel better."
He bit his tongue and remained silent. He knew it wasn't the time
to be a smart-ass.
Finally, unsure of what else to do, he turned back into the
hall. "I'm leaving. Get some sleep. We'll...talk about this when
we're both feeling better."
He closed his eyes as he walked down the hallway. His fists
were clenched tightly and he growled angrily at his own
stupidity. His mind worked over what he could have said, what he
should have done. "Damn it."
The worst thing of all, was that he couldn't remember
anything past the third bottle at the bar the night before. "This
really sucks." He opened the door and was almost floored by the
sunlight that rushed into his face. It was going to be a long
walk home.
++++++++++++++++++
"Back are you?" said Gia as she smirked at the boy who walked
into her clinic.
"Shut up," growled the boy irritably as he stood in the
doorway. He had a dark pair of shades on his face and his dress
was more than enough to let her know how the night had gone for
him.
"Well?" she said as she smiled at him cheerfully.
"Not one word," he said as he walked past her.
"Headache?" said the woman as she followed him in.
He sat down at the table and sulked. Gia put a small bottle
of pills down in front of him. "Two, no more than that."
The boy glared at her and grabbed it. He downed three of
them, more out of spite than actually needing them. He was
already feeling a lot better, and his headache was just a dull
throb. "It's almost gone anyway."
"You're too young to be drinking," said Gia as she turned
away.
Carrot snorted. "Young." Was he really that young? He hadn't
thought about it in a while. He looked about fifteen, but his
memories told him he was much older. Which was the truth? Even he
wasn't sure exactly. "Let's see you get chased around the city by
a bomb throwing madman twenty stories over the street and see how
much you need to drink the next day."
Gia sat down and arched her eyebrow. "You've got a point."
"Good."
"Mei Lin has left already, she's at work now."
Carrot nodded silently. "Luna?"
"She's sleeping right now."
The boy stood up and popped his back while stretching his
arms out. "I've got a call to make today."
Gia nodded. "Going out again?"
"Not till tonight. I'll sleep as much as I can today though."
He frowned as she sipped at her coffee and lifted up the
newspaper.
"Be careful."
"Yeah," he replied as he walked away.
Gia frowned as he walked off. "I never knew he had it in him.
I'm gonna have to talk with him about this. It doesn't look like
it went well this morning."
++++++++++++++++++
Carrot pocketed the card he'd used to dial the number he'd
called. He was standing at a small pay phone near the clinic.
"Inspector Kajura please." He was wearing a clean set of clothes
and had his sunglasses on. His fingers tapped impatiently on the
top of the phone as he waited for it to stop ringing.
He frowned as he was put on hold. Glancing around at his
surroundings he watched the people pass around him.
"Kajura here."
"You've got what I need?"
There was silence on the other end for a moment. Carrot said
nothing and waited.
"Yeah. Where should I meet you?"
"There's an old antiques shop three blocks down from where I
am right now. It's called Misty Island Antiquities. It's a local
owned place, so you should be able to get the address out of the
phone book. You've got two hours." He hung up the phone and
turned towards the shop.
++++++++++++++++++
Kajura frowned as he glanced around the empty store. It was
closed on Saturdays, and he found himself standing alone. A half-
smoked cigarette hung from his mouth as he glanced around.
Finally he found what he was looking for. Carrot was sitting
across the street at a small cafe. He had a table and was sipping
at a cup of tea.
Kajura growled in annoyance as he crossed the street and
moved over to the table.
"You made it," said the boy without looking up from the menu.
"You told me to meet you over there."
"I was making sure you weren't followed this time," replied
the boy calmly.
Kajura growled as he ground the butt of his cigarette in his
teeth.
Carrot ignored this and continued speaking. "I didn't live
this long by not learning from my mistakes. You could do to learn
that yourself."
The man merely nodded. "Fine."
"You have what I need?"
Kajura nodded and slid a small disk across the table.
Carrot frowned at it for a moment, and picked it up. He
didn't have a computer.
"What's your plan kid?"
"You let me worry about that. You just keep your end of the
bargain, and I'll get you what you need. This is more dangerous
than you realize."
Kajura snorted at this. "Look kid, this isn't some spy
movie..." He paused when he realized he was talking to an empty
seat. "Son of a bitch."
The waiter walked over to him and placed a bill on the table.
The man growled and stared at it for a moment. "That little
shit." With a heavy sigh, he pulled out his wallet. Putting up
with the kid wasn't something he wasn't willing to do for what
he'd get.
+++++++++++++++++++++
Carrot cursed as he stared at the disk in his hand. It wasn't
a floppy; it was a small CD, not standard size either. "What the
hell does he expect me to do with this?"
The boy fell flat on his back on the rooftop he'd gone too
after the meeting. "Shit. This was useless." He turned to glare
at the tower and frowned deeply. "Son of a bitch, you owe me
again Kajura."
+++++++++++++++++++
Gia blinked. "What's this?"
Carrot merely frowned at her sourly from behind the box he
was holding in front of him. There were several smaller ones on
top of it. "A computer."
"You bought a computer?" she said dumbly as she stared at the
boxes.
"That idiot Kajura," grumbled Carrot as he pushed past her.
"You can't afford an computer!" cried the woman as she
followed after him.
"Apparently I can," he commented as he set the boxes down on
the floor. "Damn. This stupid thing was expensive too. I'm glad I
stuck that asshole with the bill at the cafe now."
Gia merely blinked and sat down at the table to watch him
unpack his new computer. "What the hell?"
"Quit starin!" snapped Carrot as he glanced over his shoulder
at her.
The woman sighed and turned her head away from him. "Never
mind. I don't want to know."
Carrot merely cursed as he dumped a huge pile of cables out
onto the floor. "Damn. Stupid Kanji, I'm gonna have to figure
this out on my own."
+++++++++++++++++++++++++
It was getting close to evening when Carrot finally managed
to get the computer up and running so he could read the disk that
Kajura had given him. It was a long and generally frustrating
process, but he managed in the end.
It seemed Kajura knew nothing about computers in general. The
idiot didn't realize that in order to view the file he'd given
the boy, Carrot would need special software. The boy grumbled in
irritation as the program came up and a floor plan of the
building appeared on the screen. "Idiot," he grumbled angrily as
he typed. The error message of the program had told him the name
of the program he'd needed to view the files. Unfortunately, it
was fairly expensive, and he was out a few thousand yen. Not that
it bothered him much really; it was more the general principal of
the idea, and the time consuming task of setting up the computer.
Luckily, he'd managed to find a keyboard with romanji, or he'd
have been in a world of hurt. As it was, typing and figuring out
what was being put on the screen was a rather slow and arduous
process.
"I hate computers in foreign languages," grumbled the boy as
he scrolled around the screen. There was a small task bar off to
the side of the map screen with a box for typing, and icons for
each level of the building. All seventy of them.
"Okay, I'm gonna need a secretary or something, preferably
one near to the ground floor. Hisami's offices take up the top
twenty floors, with the lower floors being front companies and
such."
Gia stared at the boy as he worked slowly. "Front companies?"
she muttered.
"Well, not really. I'm sure he uses them to launder money and
all that, but these are all his legitimate businesses down here.
The upper floors are his private offices. In other words, this is
where most of the more important members of his little kingdom
will have their offices. Even though they probably never even go
there most of the time."
Luna was sitting next to the pair and glanced back and fourth
between them. "Why not?"
Carrot was too engrossed in working to get irritated with the
questions, so he answered her. "Because, these are the men who
take care of what's going on in the streets. They'd spend most of
their time in those areas. Hanging around the lower underlings,
making sure things are going the way they're supposed too."
The cat shrugged and stared at the new computer for a moment.
She had no idea why, but she had an almost irresistible urge to
jump onto the keyboard. She managed to fight it back and settled
down on the ground. "So what are you looking for anyway?"
"Secretary's," he replied calmly. "Well, there are one
hundred and twenty three..."
"Well that was useless," commented Gia.
"Where the hell did Kajura get this? This is directly out of
the Hisami building's database!" muttered Carrot as he stared
down at the screen. "This isn't just a floor plan, it's a
personnel tracker also. I'm not sure how up to date it is though,
it would have gotten updated regularly if it was still hooked up
to the system."
"What does that mean?" asked Luna dumbly.
"It means that this could be a year old," replied Carrot. "I
doubt if Hisami's personal staff has changed that much though,
but the staffing of the lower floors might be completely
different."
"So?" asked Gia.
"You're right, it's not important. Besides, I've found what I
want."
"What's that?" asked Gia irritably.
"There are over a hundred secretaries in the building, but
only three in the top twenty floors. One for Hisami himself, that
crazy ninja chick's mom I'll bet. Not touching that one with a
pole. One for the senior vice president, that one is a
possibility. Plus, one for the Chairman of the board? Carrot
blinked in surprise at that one. "Hisami isn't sitting on top of
his own company? That's a surprise. Wonder who that might be?"
"I haven't got a clue," said Gia with a small shrug.
"It was rhetorical," muttered Carrot under his breath. "In
any case, that's the one closest to the ground floor. Floor
fifty."
"So that's the one?" asked Gia.
Carrot nodded, that's where I'll try first. If I run into a
problem, I'll move to the one on floor fifty-three."
"So you're..." muttered Gia.
"Going then," agreed Carrot with a serious looking nod.
"What? Now?" said Gia dumbly.
"That's right," said the boy calmly. "It's still early enough
in the evening that I should be able to make it in while a lot of
the employee's are going home. That will mean security is more
lax, because of everyone wandering around the building."
"Oh," muttered the woman with a small sigh. "I'll have some
clean bandages and a few splints ready when you get back."
Carrot paused as he grabbed the doorknob and hung his head.
"You realize that I hate you."
Luna just looked confused at the exchange. "What's he whining
about? We both know he'll need them."
"I'm not sure," said Gia with a small shrug as the boy walked
out the door and ignored them.
++++++++++++++++++++
It was a chilly evening; a wind blew across the city, as
Carrot stood on a rooftop that overlooked the tower that loomed
high into the sky in front of him. He frowned as he pulled the
pair of binoculars in his hand away from his face and turned his
gaze to the ground. "Shit. I can't see much from here. I guess
I'm just gonna have to wing it, like last time."
He jumped down to the sidewalk and landed neatly in the
shadows. His body seemed to melt out of them as he strolled
forward, unnoticed by any of the people around him. He looked up
at the fortress of iron and glass and simply stopped to take in
the scope of his task. "This is gonna be a real chore." With a
heavy sigh, he strolled right through the front doors of the
building and casually walked into the thinning crowd that was
exiting the building.
++++++++++++++++++++
The security desk never noticed his passing as he walked into
the lobby and to the elevators. He smirked to himself as he
strolled against the crowd along the edge opposite the security
desk.
He paused in the center of the rows of elevators and glanced
around. They were in heavy use at the moment, but that was the
least of his concern. Inside each one, was a small security
camera in the back corner. They hadn't been there the last time
he'd been inside the tower, and it could pose a problem for him
if he wanted to sneak up to the upper floors.
He snorted and shifted back slightly to an unused corner of
the area. There were several long hallways between the rows of
elevators that led to lower offices on the floor. Traffic to and
from these offices was almost non existent. He stood there
mulling over the new problem for a moment. He could try to climb
the stairs, which probably also had several cameras he'd have to
avoid.
"That's a long damn climb too," he commented to himself as he
looked around the place he was standing. A wry grin formed on his
face as he noticed a large ventilation shaft opposite him. "I'll
bet that goes..."
+++++++++++++++++++
Carrot grunted as he squeezed through the opening into the
larger shaft that moved vertically up and down. He looked around
and coughed as the dust from his entrance filled his lungs for a
moment. He was inside the elevator shaft; the elevator itself was
below him hanging from the cables. It was dark, pitch black
almost, but he could see enough to know that the elevator wasn't
that far below him.
He shifted himself into a crouching position with his feet on
the edge of the shaft he'd just climbed though. It was tricky,
but he managed to keep his balance long enough to grab the cable
that would lift the elevator up and down. "Now what?" he said to
himself as he realized that he had no control over where the
elevator would go.
He landed on top of the roof silently and sat to mull over it
for a moment. Looking around at his surroundings he frowned.
There was a maintenance ladder that appeared to go all the way
up.
"Shit," he grumbled under his breath as he slunk over to it
and gripped it hatefully. "This is really gonna suck."
++++++++++++++++++++
An hour and a half later...
Carrot was sweaty, irritable, and his arms and legs burned in
agony as he hung from the metal rungs that seemed to fall into
infinity below him, unfortunately, they seemed to reach just as
far in the other direction. "Shoulda taken the god damn stairs,"
he cursed. The clothes he'd been wearing when he'd entered the
building were discarded now, hanging from the rungs some distance
below him, covered in sweat. The white shirt and tie were little
more than a disguise he'd used to get into the building in the
first place. His Spiderman costume was much better suited to
sneaking around and he was now wearing it.
Unfortunately, it was hot and heavy, due to the armor sewn
into the chest. His mask was tucked into his pants and his feet
were sore due to the insufficient padding in the soles. They were
little more than slippers, made more for moving quietly rather
than comfort.
He turned his head and groaned painfully as he hung for a
moment to rest. The floor number was painted on the opposite wall
in large yellow numbers. "Thirty seven." He had to go all the way
to fifty.
"Damn it, you owe me big Kajura," he growled under his breath
as he continued to climb.
+++++++++++++++++
An hour later...
"Ah! Ah ha ha ha ha! Fifty! Ha ha!" gasped Carrot as he
stared at the numbers opposite him on the wall. "I made it! Ha ha
ha!" His laugh was tired and he wiped his brow with his arm as he
hung there for a moment enjoying his triumph.
That was when he realized that there was a huge mechanical
door in front of him, and that the air vents had stopped about
ten floors below him.
"Son of a bitch!"
+++++++++++++++++
Another half-hour passed...
Carrot growled as he grunted angrily. He had an axe in his
hands that he was using to wedge between the two doors of the
elevator. It groaned and creaked as he shoved the doors apart
with all his might.
He'd had to go ten floors down, shove himself into another
air vent, and then find the axe in a fire station next to a large
hose. He'd thought about using the stairs to get up to the next
ten floors. Unfortunately, when he'd checked the stairwell, he'd
noticed a number of security cameras between himself and his
objective. After resting for a few minutes, he'd gone back to the
elevator shaft with the axe and made the ten floor climb to reach
the doors again.
The door opened enough for him to wedge his hands inside, he
strained as he pried them apart with all his might and shoved
himself through. It took a bit of effort, but he managed to
squeeze through the opening. The doors closed behind him and he
lay flat on his back in the hallway with the axe in his hand.
"Ha! I made it!" He grinned as he lay there panting and
stared at the ceiling. After a moment, he crossed his eyes as he
realized something. There was a red beam of light about three
feet above his head just over his nose.
"Huh?" He turned his gaze down the hall and sighed heavily.
There were dozens of them. "Oh man. Can't I catch a break?"
+++++++++++++++++++
It turned out that the laser alarms were only present in the
first few hallways of the floor, mostly around the elevators. He
was relieved to say the least. "Now, where the hell am I? How do
I get where I'm going?" He pulled on his mask as he started
walking.
He frowned as he glanced around himself in search of a
landmark. He had some idea of the general area of where he needed
to be, and only a little about the maze of cubicles and offices
he had to navigate. He wasn't too worried, the place looked
absolutely deserted.
"Okay. This way I think." He started walking and froze in
place. A blue circle of light was present on the floor; it was
wide and covered a huge area. He rolled and dove for cover as it
moved across the ground in a curving manner.
"What the hell? Searchlights?" he muttered as he waited for
it to pass by him. He slowly peered over the low wall of the
cubicle he'd hid in. He was expecting to see a security officer
with a flashlight or something. There was nothing there though.
"What the hell?"
He frowned and stayed where he was, mulling over this new
development. "Some kind of motion sensor, or a new security
device?" It could pose a large problem if it was something he
didn't know about.
Slowly, he waited for the beam to pass a second time and
peered over the ledge again. He could see the beam now, coming
from a corner of the room. In fact, he could see three others
just like it. "Huh?"
He was looking at a security camera. It took him a moment to
realize it, but that was indeed what it was. "I can see where
it's pointing?" he muttered dumbly. It seemed as if the security
cameras all had a dim light on them to illuminate the area they
were scanning. That was stupid though, it made them much easier
to avoid. He thought back to the infrared beams and frowned.
"Those should be invisible too. Something's not right here. Some
sort of new power? Maybe something similar to my Spidersense?" He
frowned as he thought about it.
The whole mess was starting to make sense now. His powers
were growing stronger, he'd been able to see the infrared beams
when he first came to the tower, then his body developed the
alert system it now had, and now he could see where the security
cameras were pointing. It was similar to the way his iron pole
had once been a much flimsier metal pipe. Once he'd picked up the
pole in Hisami's office, he'd never created another pipe. It then
evolved into the wires he used as transportation. He noted that
he did not lose the ability to create iron poles either. His
fighting skills had grown sharper in a relatively short amount of
time, and it was taking less and less time for him to recover
from a injury. Even when it was what most people would consider a
serious injury.
"This is fucking strange," he commented too himself as he
looked at his hands for a moment. "What's happening to me?"
+++++++++++++++++++++
"Mitsuki, come," said the Oyabun as he stood up from his
desk. The window behind him was long ago repaired and he peered
out at the city. "It is time for bed."
The woman turned to look at him for a moment. "As you say."
She bowed placidly and waited for him to walk by.
"Go do the rounds, I shall meet you," he said calmly, as if
giving the time of day.
"Yes," she said as she strolled silently from the room and
into the outer office.
As soon as the door closed behind her she frowned.
"Something..." There was a noise, so slight that she almost did
not notice it. It seemed to be a humming sound. "Where?" She
glanced around, looking at the ceiling first. It sounded almost
like something mechanical that was having a problem. She'd have
to call maintenance to fix it in the morning.
She paused under the air conditioning vent and frowned. The
sound was not coming from the vent. Standing still and closing
her eyes she cocked her head. "Where are you?" She slowly turned,
halfway expecting to find a computer running, or a printer
perhaps. There were several such devices in the room at various
points. They were all silent though.
Her eyes went wide as she found the source. She slowly turned
her head towards the sound and stepped back.
The glass was still broken as it hung there on the wall. The
singe ruby eye glared at her on the hilt of the blade as it
simply remained where it was. She stepped towards it and frowned
deeply as she saw several tiny tendrils of electricity moving
across the hilt.
"He's here!" she muttered quietly as she stepped back away
from the blade. "It can't be!" Her hand went down to the blade at
her side reflexively as she glanced around the room. "Damn."
Without another word, she strolled out of the office and into
the dark hallways.
++++++++++++++++++++
Carrot frowned as he looked at the fork in the hallway. It
wasn't the first time he'd run into a place like this, and he
tried his best to continue in the same general direction. It was
difficult to tell though. There was a lot of floor space in the
offices, and even more hallways. "Son of a bitch. Where the hell
am I?" he grumbled under his breath. With a heavy sigh he put the
axe in his hand on the ground blade first. He balanced it on his
palm for a moment and then stepped back, letting it fall to the
ground. He looked in the direction it was pointing and pointed
with his finger. "This way? Okay then. Off we go." He picked it
up and continued on his way.
++++++++++++++++++++
Far below, on the thirtieth floor...
"Kei."
The girl frowned as she opened her eyes, annoyed that someone
would disturb her meditation. "What is it?" She was sitting in a
lotus position staring at the wall in front of her in her room.
It was little more than a small dresser and bed with a tiny
closet in the corner.
"We have a visitor," said the tall bulky shadow that melted
into her room from the doorway.
She frowned at him and did not speak.
"He's in the building. Your mother claims to have sensed
him."
"Sensed?" muttered Kei irritably.
"He probably tripped one of the silent alarms. She didn't say
what floor he was on though," said the man calmly as he chuckled
slightly. "In any case, I'm going to deal with it."
"The old man is near there isn't he?" asked Kei as she turned
back towards the wall.
"Possibly, but I doubt if he'll interfere."
"Why wouldn't he?" asked Kei sourly.
"Because he knows that I have the school here. Why bother?"
said the large man as he turned away. "I'm going to take my
shinobi and find him. He'll not escape."
"Yes he will, and I'll be sure to remind you of that when you
return in shame," said the girl calmly.
The large shadow uncrossed his arms slightly and frowned
suddenly. "You think too much of the skill of a single man... or
perhaps... you wish him to escape?"
"Of course. He's mine. Only I will kill him in the end. Even
Hikyu failed, and you saw what they did to him."
"Hikyu was weakened by those monsters, he was destined to
fail."
"Even if that is true, he defeated my uncle when he was at
his strongest. You won't succeed where he failed. You'll try
anyway, and he'll kill you as well."
The large ninja growled hatefully. "I'll bring you his head
and make you eat it for those words."
Kei merely smiled and closed her eyes again. "I'll have my
plate ready when you return uncle."
The ninja growled hatefully and backed into the shadows once
again, leaving her in peace.
"Our destiny lies together boy," said Kei to herself. "I
don't know why that is, but it is the truth. Only I can kill
you."
+++++++++++++++++
Carrot grumbled as he stared at the web of lights below him.
He was staring down into the office he needed to enter. "All this
security for some loser's office?" he muttered dumbly.
He was sitting in an air vent just above the office. There
was a heavily guarded glass door that led into a small security
room. It required a key card to enter, and then a handprint to
move into the actual office from there. It was absolutely
ridiculous.
The only thing that made it worse was the fact that there was
an airshaft in the center of the office that led into the air
conditioning system. Carrot guessed that the heavy security was a
later addition to the office. He wasn't sure he wanted to know
why they felt the need to add it.
With a heavy sigh he lifted the grate out of place and set it
aside. He had one of his wires firmly tied to a pipe just above
the airshaft. He'd actually ripped a hole in the thin metal to
find something to latch onto. It hadn't been that difficult,
especially with the aid of the axe he'd gotten from the emergency
fire station.
He hung upside down and slowly slid his way into the room.
The web of light was spread out across the floor and up and down
the doorway to enter. He had little to worry about as he hung
upside down and stopped himself in front of the screen.
With a grunt of effort, he flipped himself over and squat
down in the computer chair in front of the machine. With a snort
of disgust he reached behind it and turned it on.
"Come on. Damn," he muttered as he waited for it to boot up.
He blinked as a screen came up with a text box on it. There was a
small lock on the corner of the message. It was all written in
kanji, he couldn't understand anything more than the word
'enter'. "Shit." He glanced down at the keys and frowned, it was
a Japanese keyboard. "Bloody hell."
After a moment of cussing, he looked up at the corner of the
screen and frowned. There was a post-it note with a row of kanji
on it stuck there.
"No way. There's no way," he muttered as he tried to find the
kanji on the keys. He typed experimentally, and found that the
kanji shifted and changed as he typed. He had to backspace a few
times, but eventually he found the right combination through
trial and error. "Okay." He hit 'enter' and held his breath.
The next screen was illegible as well, but he sighed as he
realized that it was indeed the password. "So much for high
security. Jeez, you'd think they'd fire the moron that did
something like this after spending all this money on this much
crap."
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a disk. He'd
brought along several different kinds, but there was a standard
floppy drive so he used that one.
There were only about seven icons on the screen, and they all
looked like office software of some kind. He clicked around
several times and found the kanji for Hisami on a few of them.
Without thinking about it too much, he copied them to the disk.
It was fairly painless; they were little more than text documents
really.
After shifting around a bit, he continued to copy anything he
found that seemed like it was small enough to fit on the disk
easily. There wasn't really that much there in all honestly.
Mostly long boring looking pages of text that had no real meaning
too him.
Finally, he found something that looked interesting. "Hey. I
think this is it." He scrolled down and smiled. It was a table
like page, with Hisami's name all over it, and times with what
looked like mostly names and places. "This is it." He was fairly
certain of it and had an evil looking grin on his face as he
copied it to the disk.
He glanced up at the wire and moved to pull himself up before
he blinked and looked back over his shoulder for a moment. The
hallway was empty and he had little to worry about at the moment.
There were no guards, and it seemed as if Hisami was relying on
technology to protect this level of the building. "Smooth
sailing."
+++++++++++++++++++++
Carrot pulled himself into the shaft again and carefully
replaced the grate. It was easy enough to do, as it wasn't even
screwed in. It just sort of sat in place with sort of clips that
wedged into the vent itself. He smirked to himself as he started
to crawl through the dusty vent back the way he came. "This
espionage stuff isn't too hard." He slid out of the vent and
turned a corner.
He froze and crouched low with his eyes wide with shock at
what he saw.
There was about twenty figures dressed in black entering the
doorway on the opposite side of the sea of cubicles.
"Fan out. Search everywhere," said the largest of them as he
stood in front of the door and waved his arm out.
The smaller shinobi stood upright and bowed to him deeply
before turning and moving into a silent patrol of the floor.
"Oh shit!" said Carrot as he glanced back behind him. He
backed away and frowned as he slid into the darkness. Going
forward was not an option at this point, he had to find a place
to hide and lay low quick. Unfortunately, that probably wasn't a
good idea and he knew it. The shinobi would be looking in places
like that. "Where did I screw up?" he muttered under his breath
as he slunk through the shadows, almost unconsciously avoiding
any of the red beams or searchlight like patterns of the security
cameras as he moved away from the closing shinobi.
Finally he hit a wall; there was nowhere to go. He was
screwed. "Fuck! Think Carrot, think!" He turned his head and
blinked. He was standing right next to the entrance to a fire
escape.
++++++++++++++++++
Carrot cursed as his legs burned. His breath was short and he
was sweating badly. He knew what was below him, just behind him.
The army of shinobi was climbing steadily after him. He hadn't
been spotted yet, but he knew it was only a matter of time before
he ran out of room to run. Hopefully, they would give up before
they reached the top floor. He doubted it though and grit his
teeth as he pushed himself as hard as he could in his flight.
Running really sucked, but it was his only option.
He paused for a moment as he realized where he was. In front
of him was the door to Hisami's office. He glanced back over his
shoulder and growled angrily as he stared at it for a moment.
Finally, he turned and rushed up the stairs higher into the
building.
That room was the last place he wanted to go. He barely
escaped with his life the last time he went in, and picking the
lock again was out of the question. He doubted if he had time
anyway. He simply moved upward, not caring about how much noise
he was making. The security cameras stopped about ten floors
behind him anyway. If they found him at this point, there was
little he could do about it.
Finally, out of breath and out of ideas, he hit the last
door. "Shit." He glanced behind him and frowned. "Guess this is
it, no turning back now." He rushed up to the door and pushed it
open in a full sprit.
He staggered out onto the rooftop and fell onto the gravel
face first as he lost his footing due to the loose surface. He
pushed himself up on his hands and slowly raised his head.
The rooftop was a wide-open space. It was easily fifty yards
in every direction. There was a twenty by fifty building behind
him, housing the air conditioning system as well as the
elevators. A large radio antenna rose a hundred feet above the
surface of the roof over the roof on top of it. He was in the
center of the building lying on his chest. There was nowhere to
hide up here for him.
To make matters worse, a dangerously familiar voice sounded
in front of him as he looked up. "Welcome. I've been expecting
you."
Kei's mother was standing about ten feet in front of him with
her hand on the hilt of her blade. She had a dark smile on her
face as she stared him down coldly. "You'll not escape this
time."
Carrot growled as he slowly rose to his feet and returned her
glare from beneath his mask.
"I admire your choice of clothing," she commented as she
arched her eyebrow.
"Yeah. I've heard a lot of that lately," he replied with a
deadly calm to his tone.
Mitsuki slowly drew her blade.
Carrot crouched low and spread his arms wide.
"You've changed your fighting style?" she commented idly as
she noticed his stance was much different.
"I call it the Spider's Fang," he replied simply.
Shock was immediately clear on the woman's face.
"Impossible!"
Carrot wasn't sure what to make of that, but he remained in
his stance and started to sway back and forth calmly. "Shall we
get this over with? We'll be having company soon."
Mitsuki's face hardened and she frowned deeply at him. "Yes.
This time I shall destroy you!"
Carrot tensed his body and prepared himself. He was in a
world of shit and he knew it. The deadly kunoichi was in front of
him, there was an army of shinobi behind him, and he was seventy
stories above the street with nowhere to go. "Son of a bitch. How
the hell am I gonna get out of this one?" he muttered to himself
angrily.
He didn't have time to think about it as Mitsuki charged
forward with her blade slicing at him.
+++++++++++++++++++++
TBC...
Heh. Know the true evil that is the cliffhanger!
Bwahahahahahahaaaa!
Next time: Well, that's fairly obvious isn't it?