DOATEC Classified Report: Conflict Number Eight

(StarbucksMan274)

WARNING: This story contains violent crushing scenes and crude language that may not be suitable for people aged 17 and under.

NOTE from author: Hello. First and foremost, as usual, I thank you for sparing more of your time to read this. This story is loosely based on my DOA/Halo story, except I do not use Halo characters in this story. This is strictly a DOA story, albeit a weird one. I hope you enjoy this. As with all of my productions, I hereby state that all DOA characters, logos, sounds, etc. are property of Tecmo/Team Ninja and not me. Anyhow, onto the story!


Chapter One:
"Flawless Soldier"

 

 

"Cover that doorway!" Colonel Lance Roshal ordered, pointing to a door that was shaking. Two soldiers took up sides on either side of the door. When the door finally opened, a group of ninjas stood in the doorframe, swords at the ready. The two men covering the door popped out and fired into the group. They killed one ninja, but the other three made short work of them. Lance aimed up a perfect shot at one ninja's head and fired. He fell to the ground, dead. The two remaining ninjas charged him, but Lance was a veteran at ninja combat. He was known as the "Ninja Killer" in the lower ranks. His ninja kill count was around thirty. Most soldiers died in their first encounter.

One ninja threw shuriken at him, but Lance rolled and fired. He hit the ninja in the heart and killed him. The other one started swiping at him with his sword. Lance back flipped and immediately recovered. He sprayed bullets onto the ninja. He was dead before he hit the ground. Lance eased up and proceeded cautiously to the door they were guarding. He took out a cell phone, connected to the DOATEC communications channel.

"This is Colonel Lance Roshal. Confirming the deaths of two of our guys and four ninjas." Lance said into the phone.

"Roger that, Colonel. Well done. You are to assist a group out in front of the building who are hunting the remaining ninjas." A female replied. He shut the phone. He policed the dead soldiers' ammunition and walked outside to find a group of twelve men searching everywhere.

"What's your current status?" Lance asked, loudly. They turned around and looked relieved.

"Thank God, sir! We thought we were done for!" A lower ranking man said, smiling.

"What's your status?" Lance asked again.

"Well, we spotted one ninja, but he got away. We know there's more out here, but we only hear noises."

"All right, eyes up! Scan the high places. Search and destroy! Do not try and fight them by yourselves. Call us, understood?"

"Sir, yes sir!" They yelled, saluting. Lance took two men with him. Being a veteran, he knew where they liked to hide. In the trees, mainly. But they also used other cover if necessary. Lance took the men to a tree, one of the three out there. He looked up and spotted one, concentrating on the other men. Lance took his rifle and shot him. The ninja died.

"Confirm one kill!" A man with him shouted, energetically.

"Engaging hostile!" Some more soldiers yelled, somewhere ahead of them. Lance immediately saw them. Two ninjas were killing the patrol. His group fired on them. They wounded one, causing him to fall to his face. Then they turned their attention to another who was still killing the men. The other soldiers in that group were firing away, trying to hit him. Lance joined in firing at the ninja. One of their shots hit his head and killed him. That only left the wounded ninja. Lance walked over to him and pinned him to the ground by his neck. The ninja's face was covered by mouth mask.

"How many are in your group?" Lance asked him. The ninja made no effort to answer. He was experienced with this. Ninjas never answered unless they were in extreme pain. Lance took out his pistol and shot the ninja's leg.

"How many are in your group?" He asked again. Still, the ninja kept his silence. He went to shoot again, but the ninja talked.

"Wait! There's a total of seven. Three of us out here and four in the building!"

"Including you?"

"Y-Yes! Definitely including me!" He said. Lance shot the man in the head, killing him.

"Confirm three more kills. And finish your duties. I need a cigarette." Lance said, walking to the building.

Lance walked up to his office, a pack of cigarettes and a lighter in hand. He reached it on the tenth floor. He walked in, threw his gear on the floor, and walked over to his office computer. He had only been on assignment for one hour, but there was already an unread e-mail. He opened it and viewed the contents. It was Alpha encrypted. That meant whatever was in here was really important. It was from some of the top officials at DOATEC, including Professor Donovan. Oddly enough, Helena Douglas, the President, was not among the names. The e-mail told him to appear in front of them to discuss a highly classified operation at once. The e-mail was very clear in its context. Ninjas were on a rampage, and the security of DOATEC was compromised at best. It listed around twenty or so names, including his, responsible for the investigation and destruction of a ninja village. However, he found a note next to his name.

“Due to the security concerns and the safety of DOATEC, Colonel Lance Roshal will not be deploying.” He read to himself. That saved him work, and after his last battle, he couldn’t say he wanted to go out anyhow. He observed soldiers and vehicles assembling outside DOATEC. After their numbers massed somewhere around the number of the names on the list in his e-mail, they just left. No word or contact over radio. Odd, He thought. They all left, except one woman who stood there, looking around.

Lance peered out his window at her. That was Christie. Perhaps the best combat personnel DOATEC had available to it.

“Those ninjas are screwed now.” He chuckled, silently. A helicopter landed next to her and let her board. It took off immediately afterwards. It wasn’t his concern; he was staying at headquarters. Sighing, he lit a cigarette, leaned back in his office chair, and closed his eyes.

 

Chapter Two:
“Depths of the Mind”

 

Lance found himself lying on the floor, a burning cigarette next to him. Confused, he got up and put it out with his shoe. He heard something that sounding like a girlish giggle.

“Weird…” He said to himself, walking out of his office. He rounded a few corners and got to another elevator. He used it to get down to the lobby. On the way down, he noticed that DOATEC was oddly quiet today; there were little to no sounds.

The elevator finished its ride, revealing the lobby. Lance walked to the counter.

“Lance, oh, so good to see you. And how fortunate, too! You are being expected outside. I’d suggest you hurry!” She said, smiling. He nodded and exited the building. He was greeted by Christie, who was wearing some sort of bikini.

“Lance, just the man I needed to see. Come quick, I’ve something to show you!” Christie said, creating the impression nothing weird was happening. He followed her out to the middle of the DOATEC courtyard and stopped.

“I’ve brought him, master.” She said, although there was no one around.

“Excellent! So good that you did!” Another girl said, walking out of a building. The girl had purple hair and was wearing some sort of bikini as well.

“I have to go do my work! I don’t have time for this.” He protested, still confused.

“Oh, you mean DOATEC? Consider work a thing of the past.” Christie said, pointing at the tri-towers. The towers all exploded, leaving no rubble behind.

“Now, Lance. I want you to watch me closely. You won’t regret it!” The girl with purple hair said. Having nothing better to do, he shrugged and did as she instructed. A blinding flash of light ensued. When it cleared, he was now looking at the girl’s foot, blown up to who knows what size.

“That’s a neat trick. Could you teach me?” He asked.

“After this.” She replied, picking him up. She put him down on a roof. Donovan was tied to a chair, and he realized there was a pistol in his hand.

“Do what you’ve came to do.” Donovan said.

“What?” Lance asked, shocked.

“You know what you have to do. You must complete your mission to me. Kill him.” The girl said, as though he should have known this. Lance, for some reason, agreed and shot him.

“You’ve been a great help, Lance. Let me help you now.” The girl said, with something that resembled seduction on her face.

“If you deem it necessary…” He conceded. The girl laughed and picked him up again, dangling him above her head. The ground seemed to be miles away.

“Have fun, and be a good boy.” She said. She then pulled the bottom to her bikini open and dropped him. He watched as he dropped further and further down her huge body. Suddenly, everything was dark. It was then that he felt a hot surge enter his stomach.

 

 

Chapter Three:
"Newsflash"

 

“Ah!” Lance yelled, waking up to the burning cigarette on his stomach. Flicking it off, he realized that it was all a dream.

“God damn, I have to quit smoking.” He said to himself, sighing.

Lance woke up to the sounds of people yelling, vehicles grinding to a stop outside of their building, and a distant helicopter. Lance got up to examine the sight. The personnel didn’t look as if they had gone through a battle at all. Most of them were confused and stood ready for orders. Officers exited their vehicles and directed them inside. After, the helicopter dropped Christie off and flew away with the other vehicles. She walked inside. Lance guessed it was for a debriefing. He shrugged and went back to his computer. After searching a for a few things on the Internet, Lance had nothing better to do then realize that he had no coffee.

“Never thought a soldier’s life would be this uneventful.” He muttered, before getting up and going out the door. Before leaving, he was instrumental in slinging his rifle over his back. He walked up to the elevator and pressed the up button. Twelve seconds passed before the elevator doors yielded way to the interior of the elevator. Inside, Christie stood, looking out a window. He walked inside, pressed the top floor, and waited. After his dream, he couldn’t look at her the same way. Something didn’t feel right.

He kept his eyes to the ground, not meeting hers. Legends were often circulated about her. Some of them were completely absurd, but some were believable. Lance had heard so many; he couldn’t say which ones were real. He had heard that a guy had looked at her the wrong way and that she found him and stared him down. They said he had lost his mind and was relieved of duty. After a silent ride, the doors opened. He motioned for Christie to leave before him, feeling a bit uncomfortable having an assassin behind him. She smiled and shook her head. Not wanting anymore exchange than this, he strode out the door quickly. What she was doing was not his business, so he concentrated on walking down to the end of the hall, picking up some fresh coffee, and returning to the office.

 

Chapter Four:
"Compromised Ground"

 

Lance sipped on the hot cup of coffee as he walked down the hall to the elevator. On his way past an open door, he spotted Christie. Out of curiosity, he stood, out of sight, and listened.

"Bullshit!" Donovan yelled, pounding his fist on his part of the executive table.

"That's absurd! Soldiers just don't come from nowhere and destroy a ninja village!" A female officer said.

"You're correct. Soldiers don't come from nowhere. I heard it. There's a rogue ninja who formed an underground army. Her army destroyed the last of her clan. And if you think for a second they aren't planning to come here and take us out too, then you are a fool." Christie said.

"Christie," Donovan said, looking at her, "you are my best assassin. My most loyal, field-ready operative in service. Do you not agree that this is just a little bit weird?"

"Yes, I do. I didn't ask for it to be this way, but then again, I don't exactly control that." She shot back.

"I agree with her. If this is true, surely they will be after us as well!" A man said. The room erupted into argument and yelling.

"Silence!" Donovan called. The room fell quiet.

"I have decided to believe this. We must immediately respond. We will have all personnel on guard. Christie, you are now going to be part of a new squad. This will contain yourself, Colonel Lance Roshal, and other members that I will call. They will find you and inform you."

"And what are we to do on this squad?" Christie asked.

"You are in charge of infiltrating this base of yours and gathering intel." Donovan said. Christie glared at him. She nodded her head and turned on her heel. She walked out of the room.

He followed her, pretending not to have heard anything. She didn’t stop to acknowledge him, however.

"Wait! Wait up, please!" Lance called after her. She did as he asked and turned around to face him.

"What do you want?" She asked.

"Well, you know, I just wanted to get to know you a little better if you are going to be on my squad." Lance admitted.

"Congratulations." Christie laughed, instead of questioning how he knew about the squad.

"Come again?"

"You're probably the first person to say that to me since I joined DOATEC."

"Huh?"

"It's nothing. There's not much to tell about me. I'm an assassin, not a soldier," Christie said, glancing at him, "and don't worry. I won't be a liability. I can hold my own in combat."

"I see. Any ideas about this mission?" He asked, when an explosion sounded and shook the facility.

"Just one. Let's follow that noise." Christie said.  Lance and Christie entered the elevator and took it down to the lobby. Soldiers were running around the lobby, panicked.

“What’s going on?” Christie asked the receptionist.

“Some kind of explosion in the basement! Nobody’s real sure what’s happening!” He answered. They entered the elevator and took it down to the first basement floor. There was no damage visible.

“Colonel! What’s going on, sir?” A soldier asked Lance, as the elevator doors opened.

“Actually, I was hoping you’d be able to tell me.”

“Well, rumors are going around that something serious is going on in the bottom basement. But, no one has issued an emergency, so only certain people are allowed down there. We think it could possibly be some intruders trying to blow DOATEC sky high!”

“Thanks, I’ll have a look.” He said. The elevator once again descended into the bottom basement. The doors opened to reveal people dead. He saw no one alive. All of them had died from gunshots. Christie seemed to know where to go, so he followed her. She ran straight for the Alpha-152 containment chamber. Those doors unlocked to show Lance something he would have never thought he’d see.

 

Chapter Five:
“At Home”

 

Inside of Alpha-152’s containment chamber was a ninja, a woman with purple hair, two military officers, and Alpha-152, who was moving around freely. Lance couldn’t believe his eyes. She looked exactly like the girl from his dream. Or was it more than a dream? He asked himself.

“Hold it! This is a restricted area! Drop your weapons and surrender immediately.” Lance called, pointing his rifle at them. They looked his way and then the two officers advanced.

“No, it’s all right. We’re done here.” The woman said.

“Done? You are only here to release the clone?”

“Ha! That and much more. Actually, the process should be…oh!” She said, overcome by some kind of energy. The ninja looked confused about this, as did the soldiers. The woman fell to the ground, incapacitated.

“What are you doing here?” Christie yelled, looking at them. None of them made an effort to respond.

“God damn it! It’s a trap!” One of the enemy soldiers screamed, pointing at the girl.

“Ayane, you’ve…” Ryu started. Lance looked at her. Somehow, someway, she seemed to be getting bigger. When he saw her, she was quite a bit shorter than him, but no longer.

“Christie…” Lance said, horrified. The ninja shook his head and teleported away, leaving the two officers and Alpha-152 who simply teleported away with Ryu.

“You two! What’s going on?” Lance asked.

“I don’t know! This was supposed to be a recon op, not this! I’m sorry!” He said, throwing his weapon down.

“This is no time for an interrogation! Look at her!” Christie hissed. Ayane almost spanned the room at this point. Lance hit the alarm next to him.

“Let’s move!” Christie said. They ran out of the room and closed the door. The two officers shouted some, but they paid them no mind. The only thing that mattered was escaping DOATEC. Christie and Lance ignored the people on the way out and made their way to the lobby. After exiting the building, the towers began to shake. It wasn’t long after that when they fell in on each other, creating a giant cloud of rubble. From that cloud rose Ayane. Lance and Christie stared at her.

“Hot damn, she must be somewhere near two hundred feet at least!” Lance said, unbelievingly. Christie did not answer. She moved out of the dust and looked down at them, seeing as they were the only two people on the street at the time. She smiled and took up one knee in front of them.

“I don’t think we’ve met before! My name is Ayane!” She boomed. Lance and Christie couldn’t respond, each one too scared to think.

“I’m going to be your new master, okay?” Ayane asked them.

“W-What do you mean?” Christie asked her.

“I mean that I am going to be the supreme ruler over this planet.” She said, standing up, reaching her full height. It still scared him, and rightfully so, when she did that. Lance couldn’t get his mind to completely focus. It was stuck on the dream. How much else of it would be right?

“What about the military? Surely you can’t expect them to just sit back and watch!” Lance pointed out. She giggled.

“I’ve got plans for them! Speaking of plans, I wanted to get a little extra time with you guys since you did find out first. It would be wise to do it now. The military’s coming soon!” Ayane took one light swipe at them, knocking them out.

 

Chapter Six:
"Trapped!"

 

Lance woke up to find himself in a metallic box kind of room. He was lying on the ground, not fifty feet from Ayane. Christie was not in the room, but Lance had other things more important than Christie to worry about. The first thing that came to his mind after that was escaping from Ayane, so he began a frantic look around for an escape. That came in the form of a small door on the far side of the room. He sprinted to it and tried to open it. That did not work, as it was locked. He tried pounding, kicking, and anything else he could think of, but the door held. That was all the time he had to escape apparently. He heard a big, female yawn. Lance hid in the farthest corner of the room away from her.

"Ah. What a nice nap." Ayane commented.

"Lord..." He said to himself. Ayane looked around herself.

"Lance! Where are you? We can have so much fun! Come on out! Don't be afraid." She said, as if she was coaxing an animal. Lance wasn't moving. She would come to find him before he moved.

"Oh, my. I suppose we can play hide and seek then. Good idea!" She said, standing up. His eyes widened. Lance's mind went blank. It couldn't comprehend what he was seeing. He got a sense of vertigo just by looking at her. Since the rest of the room was lit, it wasn't hard to find him. Ayane spotted him and smiled.

"My, my. Lance, I found you."

"S-So you did." He responded.

"What did I tell you? The Miller Process is potentially flawless. Just like me!"

"I..."

"Aren't you happy to be a pet to a girl as beautiful as myself?"

"This can't be happening..." He muttered.

"Of course you are. I just have to warn you. This room gets pretty cold at night."

"What?"

"I said this room gets cold at night. You'll need some place to stay to keep warm."

"Well, there's nowhere to stay."

"You know, under desperate situations, people can share body heat."

"You have to be kidding me."

"Not at all."

"No, you will not have your way with me. I have moral standards."

"They'll be put to the test. Starting in one minute." Ayane said, pushing a button on a device in a carrying pouch. Relax, you are from the military. It's not like you haven't seen cold weather before. You'll manage without that slut. Lance thought, reassuringly. Ayane walked over to a corner of the room and sat down. One minute passed. Lance felt the comfortable temperature get colder. It happened rapidly. His breath became visible in seconds.

The temperature continued to drop. It was now too cold to resist. He shivered.

"Good night." Ayane giggled, watching him shiver. She stretched out and laid down on her side, with her face facing Lance. She put her hands under her head and laid her head down. Her eyes closed and didn't reopen.

He shivered and sat down. The cold continued as the lights dimmed to create a fairly dark environment, although Lance could still see well enough. He looked at Ayane. She looked so comfortable. He closed his eyes and saw the little angel and devil arguing in his mind.

"Resist! It's morally incorrect!" The angel said.

"But she looks so warm. Besides, she's not that bad looking anyhow." The devil added.

"That doesn't justify that!"

"But of course it does. This is survival. He must sleep very close to her to live. Surely this environment practically guarantees that he won't live until tomorrow if he refuses her help."

"That still is not the answer. Lance," The angel addressed him, "tell him you won't give in."

"He's right. I want nothing to do with her." Lance said, as though they were real.

"Lance, look at her, right now." The devil said. Lance did so and looked at Ayane. She had a peaceful smile across her face as she rested.

"Tell me she is not warm. Warmer than you at least. At this rate, you'll contract hypothermia and die anyways."

"Lance, pay him no mind!"

"C'mon, Lance. She's so warm."

"I must survive." Lance said, getting up and starting a walk over to her. Ayane rolled onto her back in her sleep, but kept right on sleeping. He reached her. Ayane looked even more intimidating up close. He hadn't realized how small he was compared to her. He began to feel the heat coming off of her. Making a decision for the better of his health, he climbed up the side of her suit and onto her stomach. Lance walked into the middle and laid down. He felt demoralized. Broken down, even. He was warm though. He looked backwards at her. Something similar to a victorious smile starting forming on her face. He put his hands behind his head and fell asleep, reluctantly.

 

Chapter Seven:
"Proprietary Ownership"

 

Lance awoke just as Ayane herself was waking up. She yawned and looked down at him, still lying on her stomach. He felt completely ashamed of himself. Lance had never doubted what he ever did, until this day.

“Good morning, pet.” Ayane said, smiling. Lance kept his silence. He knew the pride he abandoned that he could have had if he had only stayed away from her. He had nothing to say even if he wanted to talk.

“Don't I even get a hello?” She asked.

“Do you need one?” Lance asked her.

“Of course. I did keep you alive.”

“Fine. Good morning.”

“That's better.” She said. He immediately realized he was still lying on her, so he got off.

“When do I leave?” He inquired, looking back at her.

“You can leave whenever I get what I want out of you.”

“What do you want from me?”

“That is the question, isn't it? What do I want from you? I suppose a little bit of satisfaction.” She replied. Before Lance got to question her further, the door was broken down. Lance strained his eyes to see Christie. He could barely believe it. She had come back for him. He felt even worse now than he did.

“Christie, what a surprise!” Ayane exclaimed. Lance ran from his spot. He knew Christie was here to escape.

“Hey, hold on! You aren't going anywhere!” She yelled. Christie motioned Lance out of the room, so Lance ran with Christie to the elevator. She hit the button.

“Get back here!”

“Christie, what’s going on… Lance started.

“Don't worry about it, I’ll explain later.”  Christie said. The elevator opened up to reveal twelve armed men, pointing rifles out the door. Something was behind them, but Lance couldn't make it out.

“You aren't leaving. Back in the Ready Room!” A soldier ordered. Lance looked at Christie, who was bewildered. They were led at gunpoint back into the room where Ayane was waiting for them. Upon looking through the broken down door, Lance saw the soldiers installing a much newer and sturdier door.

“What is this, Ayane? What are you doing?” Christie asked.

“Just having a little bit of fun.” She replied.

“Fun…” Lance snorted.

“Oh, yes. You see, we can now proceed with my scheduled activities now that you are mine."

"I am not yours!" Christie yelled.

"Come on, don't be like that."

"Why not?"

"Because it would really help how I view you. And I believe that takes priority over anything."

"Fine, what will you do with us?"

"You're going to play with a friend of mine."

"Who is that?"

"You may call it by its formal name, Alpha-152."

"Shit..." She said, backing up.

"Bring it in!" Ayane yelled. The door behind them opened up, as the guards threw a teal, translucent person into the room. It teleported onto Ayane's shoulder and looked at her. Lance was terrified. He knew what it was capable of. Ayane smiled.

"Alpha-152, be good and have some, ahem, fun with them, okay?" Ayane said to it. It then teleported onto the ground.

"Lance, let's team it!" Christie shouted. When it ran at Christie, Lance dove at it. He caught it and brought it to the ground. It kicked him in the jaw, very hard. He staggered away. Since it was preoccupied with Lance now, Christie jumped into the air and launched two kicks at it. She used the last one to propel her away from it. It fell to the ground.

When it stood up again, it fired some kind of energy field at Lance and Christie. Lance flew into the wall, which was a good distance away from them. He violently collided with it. The impact took a lot of the fight out of him. Alpha-152 teleported in front of him and kicked him against the wall again. He coughed up blood and began losing his senses. As if it wasn't enough, it picked him up and elbowed him against the wall again. Lance couldn't even manage keep consciousness. He blacked out.

Lance awoke to the smell of leather and a dark environment. He also heard men ordering people around.

"Hello?" He asked, coughing.

"Lance, you're up." Christie said.

"Am...I dead?"

"Death would be preferable. No, we're in a carrying pouch on Ayane's hip."

"Why?"

"Well, after you blacked out, Alpha-152 turned on me. Like you, I was beaten. Except, I sort of pretended to be knocked out. I heard Ayane talking to herself about a plan of some kind. Then I blacked out for real. I've been out for a while. I only wish I could see where we are; I doubt we're still in the Ready Room. She was moving an awful lot." Christie explained.

"I still have my knife. Let me cut a hole." Lance said, finding his combat knife. True to his word, Lance cut a small peek hole in her pocket. When he looked out of it, he saw men running around on the forest floor. He identified it as the ninja forest. The men were all soldiers with rifles.

"Christie, I think she's in the ninja forest. There's a lot of soldiers running around, so I think that they are gearing up for a war." Lance told her.

"But with who?" She asked. That question was about to be answered.

"Enemy contacts! Open up!" A soldier screamed. Gunfire and yelling filled the air.

 

Chapter Eight:
"New Combatants"

 

Lance was thrown back when Ayane started running. Soldiers screamed.

"Is she crushing them?" Christie asked.

"I can't come up with a better idea." Lance agreed.

"Who are they fighting? I don't think DOATEC knows where they are located yet."

"Beats me. Maybe we can overhear something." He said. Bullets began perforating threw Ayane's pouch. They went through the fabric and out the other side.

"On second thought, maybe we should escape." Lance suggested. Christie nodded.

"The only issue is that we'll never get down. Being at her present height, we'd be killed in the fall."

"Perhaps she'll pass by a tree that we can jump onto. Either way, I think it beats getting shot to death in some girl's pocket." He said. Christie smirked and nodded. Lance cut some more of the fabric as Ayane continued kicking soldiers. He made the hole wide enough to escape out of.

"Okay," Lance yelled, over all of the fighting, "when you see a tree, jump! I...I'll see you again hopefully." She waved. Lance spotted a low tree incoming. He prepared himself and made a jump of faith. He made it with relative ease. As he slid down the trunk of the tree, he watched Ayane run into the distance.

Dead soldiers, ammunition, and rifles lay scattered on the ground. Lance picked a rifle and a few clips off of the ground before going towards Ayane. His trip was easy, as there was no resistance to deal with. He looked at the rifle he was holding and froze. The rifle was a carbine model using five point five six millimeter ammunition.

"That's a United States rifle." He muttered to himself. He had no clue why they'd be involved. This had nothing to do with them. After Ayane had killed their soldiers, they had every right to retaliate and declare war. Lance could very well be in the middle of World War Three. He began running until he spotted Christie similarly descending down a tree trunk.

"Christie!" Lance called, rushing up to her.

"Lance, good to see you again." She remarked.

"Christie, these soldiers..."

"What of them?"

"They...they belong to the United States."

"The U.S.?"

"Yeah."

"Why are they here?"

"I can't say that I know. But this is serious. Ayane could be starting World War Three."

"You think?"

"Well, yeah. Once word of their retaliation breaks out, the U.S. can declare war on them. Surely both sides will rally allies."

"And we need to be gone."

"Exactly."

"You have any idea where we are?"

"No, do you?"

"I wish I did." Christie sighed.

"C'mon then. Let's see if we can find any United States soldiers. Just be ready to surrender." He instructed. They walked around the forest for a while until they were fortunate enough to spot a crude camp, occupied by U.S. personnel. Lance threw his rifle to the side and approached the camp.

"Excuse me!" Lance yelled, approaching the camp.

"Hold it! Not a step further! Men, handcuff them!" A soldier ordered. Christie and Lance allowed the soldiers to handcuff them and bring them into camp.

"You...you're not with the enemy?" He asked.

"No. We were prisoners from their base." Christie said.

"I see. Things are going to get hot in a while. Can you fight?"

"How do you think we escaped?"

"Yes...right. Grab a rifle. Soldiers, release them." He commanded. The men saluted and removed their handcuffs. Lance and Christie were presented with rifles and two spare clips.

"I should have asked this previously, but is there any particular branch of service you two excel in?" The officer asked.

"I'm mainly used to grunt fighting." Lance said.

"I have been passed particularly well in sniping." Christie said. Lance looked at her. She was probably right. Assassinating didn't involve running in with guns and shooting everything in sight. As he gazed at her, he thought of all the people she probably killed with a simple bullet to the head.

"A sniper, eh? Good, we were oversupplied. Not enough accurate people."

Christie was given a rifle that Lance recognized as a PSG-1 upon returning her carbine. Additionally, Christie received a walkie-talkie and ammunition for the sniper rifle.

"You have free reign to camp anywhere you feel comfortable. The walkie-talkie is to radio in if you see anything. And God speed." He said. Christie smiled and walked off to a tree. The man turned to Lance.

"So where are you two from originally?" He asked. Lance hesitated. He didn't know if it was safe or not to tell him he was from DOATEC. Lance decided that there was little the man could do to him there, so it was safe. Although, he could make himself more innocent.

"I'm a mercenary for Interception PMC. I'm currently fighting for the interests of DOATEC." Lance lied.

"A merc? And your partner?"

"I...don't exactly know her whole story. But I think she is a mercenary for a different PMC then mine."

"Okay. That'll have to do for now. Hold up, I'm getting a page." He said, checking a communicator on his shoulder.

"Go ahead."

"This is that girl from before. I am reporting a lot of enemy contacts. Too many to count. No vehicles, just infantry. Should I engage?" Christie's voice said. The officer paused briefly.

"Normally, I'd say yes, but since you aren't part of my squad, engage at your own will."

"Roger." She said, clicking the walkie-talkie off.

"Let's go, men! They're coming!" The officer yelled. Soldiers from all around the camp scrambled together and picked up their weapons. They started putting up portable shielding devices. The battle was started by one shot. A sniper shot that rang out clear and distinct. The enemy soldiers fired on them. Lance smiled briefly and returned fired.

 

Chapter Nine:
"Slipping Away"

 

“Two to your right!” Lance announced to a man next to him. Lance fired upon two enemy soldiers, trying to flank them. They died promptly. Wave after wave seemed to flush over them. People were dying left and right until the enemies stopped coming. After the last shot had been fired, they eased up just a little bit.

“We…held them off…” The officer said. Christie hopped down from a tree, the sniper rifle over her shoulder.

“Excellent shooting, both of you. If you'd care to accompany me back to command, I'll see to it that you receive a medal…”

“Sir! You have to see this!” A man yelled, pointing ahead. Rumbling began coursing through the ground beneath them. A sure sign of a girl they didn't want to see. Sure enough, Ayane appeared at the base of their camp. She looked at all of her dead men.

“Are you the ones who killed them?” Ayane asked, pointing to her soldiers. No one moved or said anything.

“I asked you a question!” She yelled.

“Yes, we did…” The officer said.

“Who do you think you are? Someone who can just come on in and kill my men when he feels like it?”

“I represent the United States, for your information. I will ask for your surrender. You must realize you cannot win.”

“Oh, you'll soon see that I can. And allow me to demonstrate.” Ayane said. She slammed her boot down on a machine gun encampment, instantaneously killing three men.

“Fire at will!” Someone shouted. A barrage of gunfire followed. While her clothes were now effectively filled with holes, Ayane herself was unharmed. She paused to laugh at them.

“You think you can hurt me? Sorry, but that's a one-way deal!” She said, running through the camp. Ayane destroyed many of the buildings and killed plenty of men.

“C'mon, let's go!” Christie said to Lance. They ran off into the forest, attracting the attention of Ayane.

“Lance? Christie? You're supposed to be in my pocket! Get back here!” She shouted, giving chase. The rumbling stopped, so Lance and Christie looked behind them while running to see why. Ayane was simply standing in one place, watching them run away.

"Huh?" Christie said, although she kept running. Lance couldn't say that he cared; all that mattered was getting away from her. They must have gotten at least several hundred feet from her when the ground shook violently all at once.

Following that, Ayane landed about one hundred feet in front of where they were heading. As a result of her jump, something similar to an earthquake happened. Lance and Christie were all but helpless to fall down. The rumbling stopped, and Lance looked up at Ayane. She stared down at them, smiling broadly.

"Now where exactly are you guys heading?" She asked. Realizing this was a rhetorical question, Lance and Christie held their silence.

"Come now, just come with me. You've already seen how I..." Ayane started. She was cut off by about twenty assault helicopters.

"Not now, guys. Just go on and pretend you didn't see anything." She said, sighing.

"Unfortunately for you, the United States does not turn a blind eye to terrorism! We will give you a full ten seconds to lie down on the ground with your hands behind your head before we open fire." One of the men in a helicopter said. Lance spotted something hopping from tree to tree by Ayane’s head. But it moved too fast. Suddenly, some leaves fell out of a tree and the hopping thing was gone. He wondered what it was, but he had more important issues on his hands.

Ayane laughed. "Your ground forces didn't fare all to well against me. What makes you so confident?"

"Ten...nine...eight..."

"So, you're not leaving then?"

"Seven...six...five...four...three..."

"All right, have it your way. I'll let you fire at me until you run out of ammo, but then it'll be my turn."

"Two...one...zero! Fire!" The pilot shouted. The helicopters circled around her and then fired. They used their missiles and machine guns in conjunction with each other. The explosions were starting to give Lance a headache. He knew if Ayane had that much confidence that she would probably not be injured.

As he thought, Ayane was unharmed.

"You know, you guys remind me of those little gnats that fly around you. You're small, black, and really annoying. Way back when, I used to kill those things. No reason to stop now." She said, grinning. She took two swipes at the choppers, effectively downing fifteen. Before the other five were able to escape, she intentionally swung at four of them. They all exploded. Right when the last one was about to escape, Ayane grabbed the tail of the helicopter and carefully brought it to her face.

"I know you can hear me in there so listen well. I'm feeling rather generous today, so I'm going to leave you to messenger duty instead of killing you. Send this message to your president, tell him that unless he'd like to get on my bad side, he should call off his forces." Ayane said to it.

"I will do no such thing! The United States Air Force bows to no one!" The pilot yelled. Lance forgot just how loyal army members were, and how stupid. He expected Ayane to throw the chopper to the ground or something. Instead, she smiled and looked interested at the chopper.

"I like you. Come on out of there." She said, affectionately. There was no answer, but he heard the chopper disengage and a door open.

"There you are! Hmm...you won't be needing this then." Ayane said, throwing the helicopter carelessly behind her. Lance and Christie both heard the distant explosion.

"What do you say we be friends?" She asked, smiling. They were watching Ayane's face to determine the answer. When she frowned, they knew he said no. In what seemed to be a rage, she threw the pilot into the distance. Lance just realized they could have escaped in the time they spent listening to her.

"Now then, oh yes, Lance and Christie." Ayane said, looking down at them.

"Attack!" Someone yelled. A force of about one thousand DOATEC soldiers ran forward and fired at Ayane. She immediately turned her attention to them and their destruction. A jeep drove up to them and stopped. There was only a driver and a man with a rifle in it.

"Roshal, Christie, pile in. Professor Donovan requires your presence." The soldier in the passenger seat said. They didn't hesitate in climbing aboard. And before Ayane even realized they had moved, they were on their way to DOATEC headquarters.

 

Chapter Ten:
"Breakthrough"

 

Lance and Christie made their way down the long hall to where Donovan would be waiting. Because the one they had came from originally was destroyed, they were now heading off to one that was positioned underground in another part of the city. They wasted no time with knocking, considering the circumstances, and proceeded in.

"You two! What in the name of Christ did you do?" Donovan asked.

"Intelligence gathering." Christie shrugged. Donovan cast a glare at her.

"Whatever. More importantly, what the hell is a ninja doing blown up to such proportions?"

"I don't know or care." Christie said.

"Um, I believe I know." Lance said.

"Well, out with it!" Donovan yelled.

"It's something called the Miller Process. As I'm sure you are aware, sir, they stole Alpha-152. What they did was use some kind of energy transfer device to give Alpha's energy to the ninja girl. I do not know why Alpha-152 will not listen to us, but that is a minor matter now. It no longer contains its power."

"Miller's Process? Hmm...do you know who I am, Colonel?" A man dressed in a white lab coat asked him.

"No, I don't believe I've ever met you before."

"Colonel, I am Jeff Miller, creator of the Miller Process."

"Well met, Doctor Miller."

"Likewise, I was always afraid my process would be used for something such as this. But finding the cure is relatively easy, although requires some risk."

"What is it?" Donovan asked.

"In order to counteract the effects of the process, I will make a formula. It will effectively reverse the process over a period of time. I will give you the specifics later. I have everything except one element."

"And that is?" Christie asked, anxiously.

"I will need a sample of the subject's DNA."

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Christie blurted out.

"Christie, calm down!" Donovan ordered.

"Shut your fucking mouth! He and I were nearly killed by her. And now we have to go back and grab some of her DNA?"

"Miss, please. Anything will do, a piece of hair even." Miller said. Christie was still furious. So furious that she shoved past Lance and exited the room.

"Colonel, you and Christie are responsible for obtaining this. I hope you can reason with her." Donovan said, dismissing him. Lance wasn’t in the mood to get on Donovan’s bad side, so he put his feelings toward him aside and walked away. He heard Donovan’s voice in his mind, “You and Christie are responsible for obtaining this.” He was sick of it. No matter how much he got paid after this mission, it wasn’t worth it. This wasn’t even their place to be intervening. The United States Army was there now. Lance thought it’d be a better idea if they just stayed out, but orders were orders, and he had a mission to complete. He ran towards Christie, as she stormed down the hall.

“Christie! Wait!” Lance yelled at her. She stopped and looked at him.

“Where are you off to?” Lance asked.

“Anywhere but here. You heard that bullshit. We are supposed to go right back to Ayane and take a piece of hair. Why should I listen to that?” She protested. Lance agreed with her in his mind, but this way a mission that involved him, so he suppressed it.

“Hey, there’s probably worse things we can be doing…”

“Are you serious? What’s next? Strap bombs to ourselves and run at her?”

“Don’t give ‘em any ideas!” He laughed. She cracked a small grin.

“C’mon! We can do it. We’ve accomplished so much together. And even though I’ve known you for all of a couple days, we’ve been through so much. And I vow to you that I will stand by you until the end.”

“Truly?”

“Without a doubt.”

“Fine, but only because I believe you.”

“Well, that’s a start.”

“Where should we start?”

“Good question. Hmm, let’s try locating Ayane first…” Lance suggested, when something impacted the ground above them. The impacts got lighter and lighter as they seemed to move away from them.

“It’s always when we’re in DOATEC.” She said.

“Lance! Christie! Come out! I know you’re in this town somewhere! Come out and play!” Ayane shouted. The officials ran out of the conference room Lance and Christie came out of. Donovan looked horrified.

“She’s come for us! No, she’s come for you two! Get out of here! Do something!” Donovan yelled at them. Christie smiled and turned around to face Donovan.

“You know what? Why don’t you tell me where to start? I mean, I’ve only been doing this dog work for…what, a week now? Just shut up, and give me and him time.” Christie shot back at him. Donovan was probably too shocked to respond, because he didn’t say anything at all.

“This way! We need to get out of the building. She’ll probably knock it over if we give her too much time.” Lance said, pointing to the elevator. Christie nodded and followed Lance into the elevator. The doors shut, and it started a slow journey up to the lobby, which in this case, was the basement of an abandoned office building.

“You weren’t actually concerned about the safe house, were you?”

“No, our lives, more or less.” He replied. She nodded again and took a deep breath. When the elevator finally opened its doors, something shook the buildings surrounding them. Lance guessed it was Ayane. He was about to leave through the front entrance when Christie said, “Wait! She’ll be watching that way. Let’s go out through the service entrance.” He thought that to be a good idea so he followed her. After exiting through the back door, Ayane apparently was getting sick of waiting. She began her rampage through the city, destroying buildings unfortunate enough to be in her sight.

“We got to move. There’s no reason to stay.”

“Wait,” Lance said, “what of Dr. Miller?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, if he doesn’t make it out of there alive, this DNA will be for nothing.”

“Ha! Don’t worry about them. Chances are Donovan put his tail between his legs and called all high personnel into a secure room. They’ll be fine as long as Donovan doesn’t do anything too stupid.” Christie explained.

 

Chapter Eleven:
“More Surprises”

 

“Okay then. Let’s get somewhere safe. Then we can discuss the task at hand.”

“Sounds like a plan. Hmm…how about that red building over there?”

“Sure, let’s move.” Lance said. The two of them started down a back alleyway to get past Ayane’s view.

“Hey, you two! Get out here before…” Ayane yelled when she stopped suddenly. Lance heard some tanks and infantry start firing. The military was back.

“You there! Cease and desist by order of the coalition army!” A man with a British accent yelled.

“Die!” Ayane yelled. They heard her run, so that meant they were engaged in battle.

“Let’s hurry!” Christie said. They ran full-out to reach the red building. When they walked in, there was nothing but a staircase so choosing what to do became easy.

“Let’s go to a middle floor.” Lance suggested.

“Okay.” Christie replied. They ran up three or so floors until they reached a room, into which they walked in to. Lance locked the door and followed Christie into the living room. She was already lying down on a couch. Lance sat down on a chair adjacent to her.

“So, to discuss the mission…”

“You know, Lance, just a day off, that’s all I ask…”

“A day off?” He asked. It was an important mission and Christie was usually ready all the time. He wasn’t sure why she asked this, but he didn’t see an immediate threat. DOATEC would be destroyed anyhow. The only thing that mattered was Ayane’s destruction.

“I guess it couldn’t hurt.” He said.

“Wonderful.” Christie said, closing her eyes.

“Christie.”

“Yeah?”

“Aren’t you British?”

“Yeah, I am, why?”

“Well, I just wondered why you aren’t in the United Kingdom.”

“I’ve had some…differences there. I’d rather not discuss it.”

“Oh, whenever you’re ready then. I mean, if it’s a sensitive…”

“Shh! Listen!” She hissed. Lance put his hand to his ear. He heard running and a mix of voices. Their door was almost opened, except for the fact that Lance had locked it.

“It’s locked, sir!” A man said, hurriedly. Christie looked at him with wide eyes. He returned the stare. The voices seemed to have stopped, or at least that’s what they thought. One minute later, a small explosion blew the door in. The men rushed into the room to find Lance and Christie.

“Civilians, we need to use this building. We’ve been running from that girl…”

“Yeah, sure. How’s the saying go? An enemy of your enemy is your friend.” Christie said.

“Great! All right men, unpack here. This is a temporary base.” They saluted and moved in. There was about ten of them, but they managed to find room. One man stayed behind to talk to them.

“You, mate, you’re British?” A British man asked her.

“Yes, at one point. I haven’t been there in a long time, however…”

“No matter. Cheers, mate.” He said, moving to a corner of the room to drop his gear. Christie got up off her chair and went over to him.

“We need to leave. The last thing we want is a bunch of military guys attracting attention.”

“Let me go take a look. I’ll be back soon.” Lance said. With that, he walked out of the room and down the staircase. He then peeked out of the door to look at the scene. What he saw horrified him. Across the streets, bodies were scattered, vehicles were scattered and burning, not to mention the damage to buildings. Ayane was busy taking the ruins of the tri-tower facility apart, piece by piece. He heard something, though. Something that reminded him of soldiers. That something emerged from the edge town. They didn’t wait for her to acknowledge them. The men fired at her. On the roof, however, he spotted a person. Someone dressed in all black. He thought it to be a sniper, but he saw no gun. The person suddenly jerked their head towards him and ran off.

“How odd…” He muttered.

Upon looking at her face, he could tell this was getting to her. She was angry, authentically angry. Most of the time she saw this as a game; Lance thought it might be the turning point. Ayane reached her hand out and opened it in the direction of the soldiers.

“All of you! I am sick of your interruptions! Follow my supreme command! Abandon your country and join me!” Ayane yelled. A purple wave of energy washed over the men and knocked them to their feet. It took them a little over five seconds to get back up, but when they did, Lance was shocked. The men walked up to her and bowed down.

“Great! Now, find Lance and Christie and kill any resistance!” She ordered. She again shot the energy over them. They saluted and walked off in all directions. Lance ran back inside the building and inside the room.

“Ayane’s got more surprises. Apparently, she can mind control people. She just did it to like five hundred soldiers! Let’s find a different room.” He said to Christie. She nodded. The two of them left the room and headed upstairs. They ran into a room on the second to top floor. Eventually they reached another room and rammed the door down. It offered a nice window view of the tri-towers, or what was the tri-towers. They were now no more than little stubs out of the ground.

“Good, let’s get the door back up and stay here.” Christie said. He agreed and together they put the door back into its frame.

“Don’t you think that those soldiers will come looking for us?” He asked her, as they walked into the living area.

“They shouldn’t. If they do, they need to prioritize better.”

“Great point. Hey, there’s a man by the tri-tower ruins…” Lance said, looking out the window.

“Hmm?” Christie asked, absentmindedly.

“There’s some kind of commando by the tri-tower entrance. He looks armed, but he’s not with the coalition.”

Christie sighed and walked over to the window. “Hey, I know him…”

“Is he a threat?”

“Probably too stupid to be a threat.” She laughed. Lance raised an eyebrow and continued looking at the commando.

“Still, I suppose he’d be better off with us…”

“That’s the enemy commando, codenamed Bayman! He’s after Professor Donovan!” Lance said. Christie seemed to be suggesting that they team up with an enemy agent.

“He knows as well as we know that he’ll die if he isn’t informed of the situation soon. He’s probably being stupid and going after Donovan. Let’s go get a new ally.” Christie said, walking out the door. He followed her, confused.

 

Chapter Twelve:
“Ambushed”

 

Lance and Christie proceeded across the street, while Ayane tore through the city. He started questioning himself whether it would have been better for a foreign military to invade or not.

“Freeze! Under the authority of the supreme leader Ayane, you are ordered to drop weapons and stop anything challenging her power. You have ten seconds to comply.” A man said, holding up his hand. Twenty more came, aiming at them. Lance raised his hands, and dropped his rifle. The group created an attention getter, which may have been Ayane’s aim from the beginning.

“What do we have here?” Ayane asked, towering over them. Lance didn’t like having to look up her titanic body just trying to get a glimpse of her face.

“Orders, ma’am?” The man who stopped them asked.

“Continue patrols. Who knows how many others are out there?” She said, dismissing them. The soldiers walked away.

“You have continued to elude my grasp, something that doesn’t make sense. Nothing ever does though. What will make sense is you coming with me so that I do not have to chase you again. I grow tiresome of your behavior.”

“Then stop this. Stop it all.” Lance said.

“This is the beginning of a new world! I am the crafter of this said world.”

“You will gain no cooperation! There is no one who would surrender to you.” Christie replied.

“Resistance will be destroyed until there is none! There are few people that have posed enough threat to even be considered a threat. You two have the glory of populating that list.”

“And continually so! We will never bow our heads to you!” He stated, boldly.

“For that, you have now justified what I am about to do. You two will need to undergo some serious behavioral changes! Right here, right now!” Ayane said, pinning them to the ground with her hand. With her other hand, she grabbed Christie.

“You’ll be next, don’t worry.” Ayane laughed. She placed Christie in a carrying pouch, which seemed to be repaired from their escape. Ayane then took Lance and held him very close to her face. He hated the feeling of being so small compared to her.

“Now, let us continue as planned, Lance.”

"This isn't going to end well." Lance said to himself. He nodded slowly. She sat down and put her legs in a circle fashion, preventing him from escaping. This made Lance, like any other man, scared. Unfortunately for him, his discomfort only seemed to make her happier.
"Pain time." Ayane said, cracking her knuckles.
Ayane gently put her finger on him and pressed until he fell to the ground. Once he was there, she kept her finger there to restrain him.
"Okay, captive,” She said, seeming to derive pleasure from the word, “I'm feeling rather generous today. I'll give you a choice. Do you want the air torture or cut torture?"
"I’ll never give in to you!"
"I love making decisions for you." She said, giggling. She moved her finger up so that it covered his mouth and his nose. He futilely struggled against her. He felt lack of air kicking in when a minute rolled around. She knew that too, probably because he wasn't struggling as hard. She looked around her finger at him, curiously. She then moved her finger back down.
"Bastard!" Lance yelled, regaining his breath.
"Do we have to do that again?" She asked him.
"No!"
"All right, I’m going to check your pain tolerance."
"Uh-oh.”
"Take your shirt off." She instructed.
"With all due respect, it's kind of hard to comply when I can't move." He said, vapidly. Ayane rolled her eyes. She moved her finger and allowed him to get up. Lance complied with her order. Ayane began taking a piece of metal off of a building and seemed to be sharpening her nail. John found out why. When she stopped, he couldn't remember seeing many things that were sharper. Carefully, Ayane ran the sharpened nail across his upper arm. He felt extreme pain but he managed to refrain from screaming.

Observing him almost playfully, she did the same thing again but across his back. Again, Lance kept silent. He could feel acute pain coming from his arm and his back. Blood began running from the wounds. Ayane again ran her nail across his arm except it was about two inches away from the last cut. The only way he kept himself from screaming was by biting his tongue. He didn't notice but he was biting so hard that it was now bleeding too. She then put a little more force and speed into in. He couldn't remember his body ever hurting this bad, ever. He resorted to panting as hard as he could. His arm hurt so bad that just thinking about moving it made even more pain enter it.
"Oh, looks like you are a bit tougher than what I was expecting. As ill luck has it, I just don't get any satisfaction by watching you try to absorb that. I want to hear you scream." Ayane said to him, maliciously. She then proceeded cutting him across the back and arm, alternating between the two. She must have cut him three or four more times after that. Lance just couldn't take anymore. Ayane made one last agonizing cut across his back when he finally yelled as loud as he could. He couldn't hold it in anymore. Ayane laughed evilly.
"Again!" Ayane yelled, seeming to be ordering someone who wasn’t there. She made one more agonizing cycle, cutting his arm and back again. He yelled again. After they had stopped cutting him, they sat and watched him. He sat there, holding his arm. Lance felt his rapid breathing. He couldn't stand to look at her.
"Okay, I think you get the point that you shouldn't run away. You're done. Let’s exchange you with the assassin." She commented. Before she grabbed him, he got a hold of his shirt. Ayane wasted no time in taking Christie out and putting Lance inside the pocket she had been in. She dropped him in there carelessly and buttoned it up.
"Damn you…” He said to himself, angrily. He heard Ayane’s booming voice talking to Christie, but it faded out to a whisper as Lance gathered his thoughts. He couldn’t stand it. Some girl had decided to just use some process to grow to unprecedented heights and take over. She had taken him and broken him down to his core. And now he was sitting in her carrying pouch, holding his still bleeding wounds on his arm. He hated her, everything about her. Her attitude, looks, everything. He promised himself that he would unleash that anger.

“Stop!” Christie yelled, apparently screaming from her cuts as well. He was going to unleash it all on Ayane.

 

Chapter Thirteen:
“Multi-Billion Dollar Playground”

 

Christie had stopped screaming, and Ayane had stopped laughing. Lance knew she was through. Ayane reached inside her pocket and pulled him out, dropping him on the ground next to Christie, who had her shirt on again.

“So, children, what have we learned?” Ayane asked them, playfully.

“That you must be destroyed.” Lance whispered to himself, darkly.

“What was that?” She asked, shortly.

“Nothing, I said absolutely nothing.” He lied. Ayane shrugged. Christie was bleeding about as bad as he was. Her normally perfect skin was covered in her blood.

“Halt! We represent the City Self-Defense Force! By order, you are ordered to surrender and offer no resistance!” A man yelled. Lance looked around, finally seeing them. Snipers were lined up across the rooftops of buildings, regular infantry were either garrisoned in nearby buildings or emerging from them, surrounding her.

“You can’t be serious!” Ayane laughed at them.

“I’m too serious! Comply!” He ordered. She spotted him up above with the snipers. Ayane picked the man up off the roof, prompting the soldiers to take close aim, even considering their target. Ayane glared around at them. It was enough to stop them from firing, as they stepped back.

“Listen to me. I am in the middle of something very important…” Ayane said, in a low voice. Lance and Christie were staring at them, when five soldiers quietly approached.

“It is our duty to get you out, so run! Please, I know we were screwed from the very moment we got out mission. At least don’t make our deaths in vain.” A soldier whispered quietly.

“…and I do not appreciate interruptions regardless of who it is from. I’ve shown my superiority to the U.S., so I don’t see how you are going to make a difference.” She continued.

“A very valiant thing to do. God speed.” Christie said, running into the mesh of buildings. Lance followed her closely.

“And now I leave you with this. I can turn a blind eye to you guys, or I can kill you. Run along and don’t be a bother…”

“Enough talk, demon! Have at thee!” A soldier yelled, vigor strong in his voice. Gunfire and yelling broke out. They were dying, just as the man said. Christie led him through a back door and into a building. She crouched on the ground, right underneath a window. Lance followed suit.

The yelling and shouting died out slowly.

“Lance…Christie! I thought I taught you better than this! Come out, and I won’t have to punish you!” Ayane shouted, across the town. Christie shook her head and stayed down. After a minute, she began moving across the town.

“C’mon, let’s go get Bayman before he falls victim to Ayane as well.” She said, sneaking to the front door. Lance didn’t question her; she probably had a reason

 

 

Chapter Fourteen:
“…And That’s How It Is”

 

After sneaking around the town for the better part of two hours, Lance and Christie finally reached the tri-towers. Bayman still appeared to be looking for an entrance. Christie looked back at Lance and smiled.

“How do you expect to kill my employer when you can’t even find an entrance?” Christie called to him, mockingly. Bayman took his rifle off of his back and pointed it around, shaken.

“Over here, stupid.” She said, emerging from the shadows of the alley Lance and her had found.

“Christie, I-I…” Bayman said, stepping backwards.

“Under any other circumstances, I’d rush you and steal that rifle. However, the situation merits that we temporarily put aside our work.”

“I’m not that stupid!” He said, keeping his rifle pointed at her. Lance noticed that the rifle he was holding didn’t have a clip in it. She frowned and stood her ground. Lance emerged, holding his own weapon at the ready.

“Who the hell are you?” Bayman asked Lance.

“Colonel Lance Roshal of DOATEC.” Lance replied, shortly.

“So that’s what this is, Christie? A distraction to kill me.”

“I could have done that myself.” She said, shaking her head and approaching him. He again motioned to his rifle. Christie froze.

“You aren’t taking me! I’ll kill you here and now. That will definitely make my job easier!”

“Firstly, if you fire on either one of us, the other will take you down. Secondly, the rifle you are holding is not even loaded.” Lance said, grinning.

“What?” Bayman asked, looking at it, “Damn…”

“What were you saying about being stupid?” She asked, laughing.

“Ah, damn it. Kill me here, make it quick.”

“I would love to. Don’t think for a minute I wouldn’t pull the trigger in a heartbeat. But, you just happen to be in luck. I have another threat that I need a lot of help against. And unless you’d like him to shoot you,” Christie said, motioning to Lance, “you’re going to help us. You’re going to help us until it’s all said and done. Only then will we deal with this.”

“I guess I don’t have much say in this.” Bayman said, smiling.

“Not much at all.” Christie agreed, laughing. Without any warning at all, a man dressed in all black dropped down right in the middle of them. He landed gracefully on his knee and palm.

“Hey, you’re that ninja guy!” Lance exclaimed.

“I prefer Ryu over ninja guy, however, I have little time for trading names.” Ryu answered.

“I thought you were gone for good!”

“I am not distracted from my true mission.”
”You are the Hayabusa ninja, correct?” Christie asked, formally.

“I am called many things. That is one of them.”

“Great.”

“I have exposed myself to you in hopes that we may cooperate. I have my own reasons for wanting revenge against Ayane. If you would accept, I will join you. However, if you should decline, I will fight you here. You DOATEC employees cause problems for me. Your deaths will do nothing but make my journey easier.”

Lance frowned, held his rifle higher, and backed up. He hadn’t expected this.

“We accept. We don’t need any more problems. We have too many as it is.” Christie said, waving her hand.

“We’ll need a base camp to plan and crap.” Bayman said, motioning to Ayane. She was now busy knocking down buildings as she ran around town.

“I have a place in mind. Come.” Ryu said.

 

Chapter Fifteen:
“A Logical Plan”

 

“So, essentially, what you are saying is that we must get some of Ayane’s DNA to destroy her?” Ryu asked, leaning against a wall.

“Yeah, I think that the easiest way would be to get a hair or something.” Lance said.

“That’s still not going to be an easy task.” Ryu pointed out.

“Our journey thus far hasn’t exactly been a walk in the park either.” Christie replied, pacing up and down the room slowly.

“How are we going to do this then?” Bayman asked, rubbing his chin.

“That is the question, isn’t it?” Lance sighed.

“It will have to be quick. She has received training, so it will be quite difficult to do.” Ryu said, gazing out the window.

“Well, we can’t make noise either. Hmm, I think I might have an idea.” Lance said.

“It is?” Christie asked.

“Well, she’s is looking for Christie and I so I doubt she’ll leave the town. If one of us gets on top of a building, we should be able to jump onto her when she walks by. From there, we’ll just get a piece of hair, and wait for her to either sit down or walk by another building.” He explained.

“Sounds easy enough.” Bayman agreed.

“Your plan does not allow for any errors.” Ryu said.

“I don’t think any course of action will.”

“All right, I think we all agree that Lance’s plan is the way to go.” Christie said, “I guess the only thing left to do is to decide who shall execute it.”

“I’ll do it.” Lance said, immediately.

“Confident?” She asked.

“No, I just figure since it was my plan, I should be the one to do it.”

“Not alone, I will accompany you.” Ryu said, standing up.

“That’s not necessary. It will just make it easier to detect us.”

“Correct, however, if you should be detected, I’m sure you wouldn’t mind some help.”

“If you’re okay with it.” He conceded.

“I would not have offered if I did not have the intention of helping.”

“So what are me and stupid going to do?” Christie asked.

“Who’s that?” Bayman asked her.

“Take a wild guess.” She answered. He looked around the room as they stared at him.

“That was cruel, woman!” He laughed. Christie joined him in laughing.

“We’d best make our move now. Ayane is an unpredictable foe at best, so it would be more beneficial to us to make our move now.” Ryu said, glancing out the window.

Lance nodded. “Yeah, let’s move.”

“What if you don’t return?” Christie asked. Lance hadn’t expected her to say anything like this. She was an assassin, for her to show emotion towards any other human being was extremely rare. Perhaps it was Lance and she was only concerned about his mission, but Christie seemed to be acting more like a human as of late.

“We will.” Ryu said. Having said these words, Ryu and Lance left the room and walked up to the roof.

 

Chapter Sixteen:
“Moment of Reckoning”

 

The wind lashed against Ryu and Lance as they stood near the edge of the roof, scanning for Ayane. The midday sun was being obscured by dark, ominous rain clouds. It was almost like night.

“A storm is blowing in. Will that affect your abilities?” Lance called over the wind.

Ryu looked at him, almost with an expression of being offended. “I’ve seen much worse. You had best worry about yourself.” Lighting flashed across the sky, followed by a loud crackle of thunder. Below them, the soldiers Ayane had mind-controlled were sweeping the alleys and such.

“There she is. About one hundred meters from the DOATEC tri-tower ruins.” Ryu said, pointing her out. Lance looked over to see her emerging from behind a building. Ayane was indeed frustrated. Most of the time when Lance saw her, she was always smiling as if she was the best. Now, as she went through each building, she was scanning more intently and keeping any smiles off of her face.

“Get down.” Ryu said, flatly.

“Why?” Lance questioned, not seeing how it would help.

“Just do it, you’ll be thankful that you did.”

“Okay…” Lance said, going prone. Ryu closed his eyes and then opened them up again. He performed an odd sort of hand motion. Like magic, a fireball zoomed away from him and hit Ayane in the face.

“Ah!” She said, holding her hand over the spot where it had hit.

“That came from somewhere over there!” Ayane concluded, heading towards them. Ryu also went prone. When she was just about to pass by them, Ryu motioned for them to move. Lance joined Ryu in jumping off of the building and onto Ayane’s shoulder, inches away from their objective.

“Waste no time, get it done.” Ryu said, looking up at her face.

“I will.” He replied, taking out his knife. After a tiny bit of sawing with his combat knife, he got a piece of her hair loosened, however, it seemed to be bound still to the rest of the hair. Confused, he carefully tugged at it. Still, it held. He then quickly jerked it. With a great recoil, it separated, giving him a piece of DNA. That wasn’t all it gave him though. It seemed that he also got her attention as well. Ayane looked from the one shoulder to her next and was quite quick in spotting them.

“Lance? And…Ryu? What the hell?” She asked, stopping.

“Let’s go! Take my hand!” He yelled, urgently. Lance did exactly that and watched as Ayane’s palm came closer and closer to grabbing them. The next thing he knew, he was zipping through darkness. With a thud, he landed on something hard.

 

Chapter Seventeen:
“Determining Factors”

 

Lance opened his eyes to a welcoming sight. Surrounding him were Ryu, Christie, Bayman, and Donovan.

“Professor?” Lance asked, confused.

“Colonel, it’s a damn good thing you’re not dead.” Donovan replied. Lance looked at his right hand to find it still clutching a piece of Ayane’s hair.

“Lance…” Christie started.

“What is it?”

“Miller, he’s dead.”

“You can’t be serious!” Lance shouted, standing up. All of their work was for nothing. All of the stealth, the action, all of it, for nothing.

“Miller was killed in the evacuation.”

“What about you?” He asked Donovan, angrily.

“Professor Miller was not a cleared personnel. He did not have the proper access to get into the immediate panic room. By protocol, he was required to go with all other personnel.”

“The hell he didn’t! You know, you just wasted an entire building! An entire branch of DOATEC is gone! And it’s your entire fault! You couldn’t guard Alpha-152, you can’t give us proper support, and now you can’t even save the only hope to end this shit! What are we going to do now? Do you have the formula to reverse this? Huh? Do you? Do you?” Lance screamed at him.

“Colonel, I have nothing like that. I don’t control that.”

“What the fuck do you control then? You just sit in a chair and let others do it for you?”

“He’s a psychotic man, Colonel. What can I say? I’ve tried to get rid of him; I really have. He’s a burden we’ll all have to shoulder.” A female voice came from the doorway. Lance looked over and felt his jaw drop. Standing in the doorway was a blond girl he knew as Helena. To him, that was President Helena. She was in charge of it all. Donovan didn’t say anything but glared at her. Christie was also staring at her. Their gazes worried Lance. Nearly everyone in the room was targeted by someone. Donovan had to be concerned with Bayman possibly Helena too. Helena had Christie to worry about. Ryu probably wanted to kill everyone there regardless. Lance didn’t like the room at the moment.

“Miss President, what are you doing here?” Lance asked, saluting.

“I’m here to right his wrongs. I have, in my hand, the formula for the reversal to the Miller Process.”

“So you’re going to hold it hostage until you get what you want, huh?” Christie asked her, resentfully.

“That does seem to be a good idea, now that you mention it.” Helena replied, airily.

“Or I’ll just take it off of your dead body!” Christie said, starting towards her. Helena, Lance guessed, was prepared for just an occasion. She pulled out a standard issue pistol and was instrumental in aiming straight for Christie. Bayman then took Donovan in a headlock and backed away from them. Ryu and Lance looked at each other.

“What are you doing?” Helena asked Bayman.

“You shoot her and I’ll kill him!”

“Do that now. He’ll be next anyhow.” She said, grinning. Christie inched towards Helena, very cautiously.

“Take another step and I’ll make that your last!” She yelled. Lance got in the middle of them.

“Hold it! Everyone stop!” Lance shouted. He had, on one hand, stopped the fight. Now, however, everyone was looking at him.

“We have another problem without you people tearing each other apart. To be quite honest, after this is over, I don’t give a damn what you do! But there’s a rogue ninja out there right now destroying what I used to call a home town. Can you people just put aside your crap for now and just work together?” He said. They were silent for a while.

Helena looked from Lance to Christie and took a deep breath. “Colonel, step aside.”

“Why?” Lance asked. That seemed like a very odd request to Lance.

“You’re a soldier. You don’t need reason. Do as I say.”

“You’re no higher than me in this battle. Give me a reason.”

“I won’t repeat myself! Stand aside!”

“What are you…” Lance started, when Helena cocked the gun and pulled the trigger. The bullet luckily flew past his head, shattering a window in the back. Using battle knowledge, he darted at her and knocked her to the ground before she fired at them again, although she fired off to the side twice. He pinned her to the ground with more than a little struggle.

“What the hell is wrong with you? Don’t you have any common sense at all?” He asked her, furiously. Helena narrowed her eyes, angrily as she looked at him.

“Do you have any idea what we’re up against?” He yelled. As he said that, her eyes widened and she nodded her head. Slowly, she pointed her finger up to the ceiling. When he looked up, there was no ceiling. The rain from outside was now pouring down on them. Instead, he was greeted by a purple-haired ninja. A ninja he knew, quite well, as Ayane.

“Well, I never thought luck would shine on me again. It seems I was wrong. Come with me, there’s no reason to run anymore!” Ayane laughed. Before any of them had a chance to react, she shot her hand at them and took them all in her fist.

Ayane then opened her hand to view them all, taking special care to restrain them with her free hand.

“I hope you know the trouble you’ve caused me. The time you’ve wasted. You should also know that you will be giving me adequate compensation for it. All of you…” She said, her eyes looking from person to person. She looked at Helena and saw the paper in her hand.

“What’s this?” She asked, applying pain to Helena so that she dropped it. Ayane squinted to make out the print, but when she did, she laughed.

“Always looking to defeat me, huh? Sorry, but that’s not exactly what I’m about to let you do.” She smirked, popping the paper in her mouth. With that action, their last line of defense was gone.

“Oh my! If it isn’t the infamous Donovan!” Ayane gasped, with false emotion. He was horrified, to say the least. However, Lance did not feel bad for him at all.

“You…well, no reason to talk. I just know that you are a problem and that I don’t want anything more to do with you. Later!” She giggled, throwing him into the distance.

“The rest of you. It is time.”
She closed her fist. They looked at each other, all with the same emotions, fear and regret. She started moving somewhere. For Lance, he didn’t care where it was. He saw no other ways of stopping her. He could run all he desired, but it wouldn’t do any good. He figured he could get a fast execution, and that would be it. Now that he knew what the world would be like, he had no reason to stay.

 

 

Chapter Eighteen:
“Opportunistic Capture”

 

The group bounced around in her hand for probably around an hour, but they didn’t say anything. At this point, there was nothing to say. Each and every one of them knew what they heading towards. Christie, looking cramped and angry, looked over at Helena, who also shared her feelings.

“This is all your fault!” Christie said, angrily.

“Don’t be ridiculous. You would have never made it back to DOATEC in one piece with those soldiers down there! You’re lucky I found you!” Helena defended herself.

“If you would have just given us the paper from the beginning…” She started, before she was interrupted.

“Enough!” Ryu shouted, “I don’t care whose fault it was. Accusations aren’t getting us anywhere! We need to find a course of action.”

“That does seem logical.” Lance agreed. Christie and Helena said no more, but continued to glare at each other. The group sat in silence while they thought. After eight minutes, Lance had an idea.

“If Ayane’s army had used the process and planned to execute it inside DOATEC, wouldn’t they have a cure in case things went wrong?” He asked. The rest of them though for a moment on this new plan.

“Well, it would make sense to.” Helena said.

“Okay, then we are agreed on it? We are going back to the old building and finding the cure.” Ryu said. They nodded their heads. Lance didn’t know where Ayane was taking them, although he could tell it was a considerable distance from the tri-tower ruins. Each one of them spent the next ten minutes preparing themselves for battle. At the end of this brief time period, Ayane stopped and opened her hand to look at them.

“Here we are. Since Lance, Christie, Helena, and Bayman are all involved with the military, I will give them an old military execution. The twenty-one gun salute.” She smiled evilly, looking from them to Ryu.

“Ryu, you’ll be dying a different way. But I can assure you will be dying. Oh, and don’t try any of your magic, Ryu. It won’t work here. I’ve made sure of that.” Having said this, she dropped them in a building and replaced the roof. They heard her walk away. The cell they were in was very small. They were nearly lying on top of each other.

“We are very close to the underground base. This cell is about one hundred meters away from the entrance.” Ryu observed.

“Let’s work on getting out of here then.” Lance said, struggling to get up.

“Don’t bother, Ayane has already seen to it that it will only open for her.” He sighed, scanning their cell.

“So, what should we do…” Christie pondered, when she was cut off by Helena’s scream.

“What the hell?” Bayman shouted, frightened.

“There’s a dead guy in here!” Helena exclaimed, trying to get as far away from the corpse as she could.

“Good God, woman! It’s only a pile of bones!” Bayman said, slightly annoyed. Christie approached the corpse and took something out of the hand. It appeared to be an equipment order form, only there was hastily composed writing on the back.

Christie read aloud. “I’m assuming if you get this, you’re locked in here. I was too. My name is Lieutenant Gregory Smith, and I work…worked for Ayane and Ryu. The company was a great idea to join at first. However, I made the mistake of poking my nose in Ayane’s affairs. Too much, it would seem. She has placed me here to die. Ryu is missing and the company has received threats from the United States, warning of war if we did not cease and desist. I’ve heard rumors of the United Kingdom possibly joining the U.S. in their efforts. I can’t be sure anymore. I have spent my days wasting away in this cell. Ten days, if my mind isn’t crazy. I’ve barely the strength to write this message. I have discovered an alternate exit. There is a loose bar in the cell door. Shouldn’t take much to barge it down. However, I don’t even have the strength for this. Please escape this place and give Ayane a little what for from me. Wishing you the best friends, Lieutenant Gregory…he never finished his name.” Ryu wasted no time. He walked up to the bars, put his hands together in a ball, and drew them back to the side of his waste. At once, he struck the door with his palms. The bar, and two others, fell out of place, allowing them an exit.

“Quickly now, we must investigate the base.” Ryu said, nodding to the entrance, which was now exposed. They walked out and followed Ryu to the entrance to Ayane’s old base.

 

Chapter Nineteen:
“Course of Action”

 

The party continued to follow Ryu as they marched along the corridors, which were war-struck. The only odd thing about it was that there were no bodies. They saw guns, lots of them. However, with no personnel in sight, the guns could have possessed themselves and shot. They made it to Ayane’s door in good time. Without any action on their part, the door opened, revealing her room. Her room was untouched. It was everything he ever imagined a CEO’s room to look like. Beautiful furniture, appliances, security, bed, the whole nine yards.

“Is anyone here good with locks?” Ryu asked, looking around. Bayman nodded and got started on her cabinet. Within the minute, he had the cabinet open. Lance spotted a folder kind of in the back, so he pointed it out.

“Try that one.” Lance said. Bayman opened it up.

“Here’s a way to do it, some invoices, uh, some kind of directive, and an order to destroy reversal processes.” Bayman said, going through the folder.
”You have to be kidding! There is no way there is an order like that in her folder.” Christie said, frowning. Bayman picked up the order and gave it to her. After scanning over it, she laughed, “Damn…” Helena, like other times, disagreed with what Christie did.

“This isn’t a time to be laughing! Don’t you understand what this means? There is no defense against her! We can’t resist her now!”

Whiny little one, aren’t you? Lance thought of Helena, darkly. Although he didn’t like her attitude towards the matter, he agreed with what she said, because it was true. They didn’t have a way to beat Ayane now. He couldn’t believe she had won. Despite their efforts, she had successfully dominated all competition.

“You too are looking for the reversal process? It’s no good; I’ve looked everywhere.” Another female voice called from the shadows. Ryu took out his sword and looked around.

“It’s okay, I’m on your side.” The voice said again, this time walking out from a closet. A girl with black hair, a white top, and a tan skirt emerged. Not exactly Lance’s idea of a knowledgeable resource.

“What are you doing in there?” Lance asked, cautiously.

“I thought you guys might be soldiers looking to clear up any reversal stuff.” She said.

“And you are?” He asked.

“She that um…Cocoa girl.” Bayman said, rubbing his chin and nodding.

“Not quite,” She giggled, “I’m Kokoro.”

“Cocoa, that’s a good one.” Christie teased.

“Bah, names were never my strong point. I’m an assassin, woman!” He defended.

“What have you been able to find out while you were here?” Ryu inquired, sheathing his sword.

“Well, from the passing soldiers, I have deducted that she has taken out all of the sources of the reversal formula outside as well as inside the facility. As you said, there is no longer a living person that can reverse this.”

“Great…” Christie said, kicking the ground.

“But, I do have some good news. She can be killed yet. The responses so far have tried to fire projectiles at her. Guns, tanks, warheads, she can take as many of those as we can produce and be fine. However, she can still be killed using hand to hand combat.”

“How are we supposed to kill her like that? Just keep hitting her?” Helena asked, thinking she was joking.

“No, the opponents of her must grow to her size and defeat her.” She explained. Bayman stepped forward, “I can handle this.”

“I wouldn’t trust you with my life, let alone the planet!” Christie said, shaking her head. Bayman looked hurt.

“I will go.” Ryu said, volunteering.

“Uh, yeah, I probably should have mentioned this earlier. Men can’t really use this without certain…uh…side effects…” Kokoro said, her face turning a slight red. Ryu and Lance looked at each other and then at Bayman.

“Well, I’m not going then!” He said, indignantly.

“So, it’s a girl thing then?” Lance asked, looking at Kokoro. He didn’t know why he believed what she said like that. A soldier of his experience should question everything she was saying until she could either present proof or get a person above his rank to verify it. He guessed that it was because he was so desperate for good news that anything she could say to help him was true.

“Should we all do it so that we can gang up on her?” Kokoro wondered. Lance thought this was the best course of action, until he remembered her mind power.

“No, we want to give her the impression that she can beat the person in front of her. She has a mind control power that she can use. All she would have to do is get it off and then we’d have four problems instead of one.”

“Who’s going then?” Helena asked. Everyone looked around at the three girls for a best choice.

“Perhaps we should just fight to see who is the best.” Christie suggested, eying Helena.

“No, we have enough problems without you guys hurting each other.” Ryu said, dismissing the idea.

“How should we decide then?” She asked him.

“Simple, we see which one of you has the most knowledge of her fighting style, and who has more moves to counter her attacks.” He replied. The girls thought about this.

“Do you really need to think? It’s quite simple who it is.” He said. They looked at each other and then at Ryu.

“Who?” Kokoro asked, confused.

“I’m surprised. You, of all people, should know that you are the best choice.”

“Why?” She asked, shocked.

“Because your fighting style was bred in Japan. The creator of your style most likely had experience in ninja combat. I’d bet my money that he based it around that.”

“Well,” She blushed, “I guess I could…”

“If you’re going to guess, pick someone else. We need absolute victory.” Christie shrugged.

Kokoro smiled. “I’ll do it! I’ll win!”

“What now?” Lance asked.

“We’ll need to find the Alpha clone to proceed with the Miller Process.”

“Let’s get started; it’s very elusive.” Christie pointed out. They set out through the war-ravaged base with a new hope and confidence. Lance felt refreshed; it had been so long since hope had come his way, but it was here. He looked over at Kokoro, who looked determined. She would win; she had to. They left the facility and were bound for the city again.

 

Chapter Twenty:
“Glimmer of Hope”

 

When they had finally reached the tri-tower underground base, the group went straight for Alpha-152’s containment lab, finding it floating around carelessly. Without an owner or someone to give it orders, it froze and looked at them. They placed Kokoro in front of the ray, hooked up the equipment, which fortunately still worked, and prepared the ray. Ryu and Lance tried to hook Alpha-152 up to the machine, however, it refused, floating away from the machine.

That was something new to him. Alpha-152 was not supposed to show emotion or a refusal of an order. Even considering this, he still understood it. Ayane had probably promised it a life next to her, being her instrument forever. But she had used it and done away with it.

“What’s wrong?” Ryu asked Lance, looking up at Alpha-152.

“It doesn’t want to be used again.” Lance replied.

“Either it gets used or we die.” Christie said. Lance approached it.

“Alpha, you must understand. We know Ayane used you. She purposely used your powers to enhance herself. She strives to destroy the world, to remove your purpose! If she succeeds, you will die! You must help us!” Lance explained. It tilted its head and, for the first time, spoke.

“Human, I am not stupid. I am fully aware of what wrongs have been committed against me. I also know what you are trying to do. Do you understand what this will do to me?” It asked. Lance shook his head.

“I thought as much. Humans…always thinking of themselves. If I allow you to use me to power that machine, my life will effectively end. I have much desire to carry about on my own business. However, I am not without reason. Give me a reason stronger than my desire to live, and I will aid you.”

Lance thought. What was a reason stronger than life? There was no good reason that was better than the desire to live. He looked around him, at the faces that composed his team. They looked at him, reassuringly. Maybe there was a reason.

“What of the other people in the world? If you do not aid us, they will die. All of them.”

It paused and gazed at him. “Very good, it seems you are not as stupid as I thought. As long as you promise me that your resolve is true, I will submit.”

Lance made a fist. “It is.”

“Very well, human. Carry on.” It said, landing next to the machine. Ryu hooked it up. He looked from Alpha-152 to Kokoro. He hit the button. After five seconds, the room was filled with cyan colored smoke. When it cleared, several more seconds later, Alpha-152 was gone, and Kokoro was out cold.

“What now?” Ryu asked, looking at Kokoro.

“We wait. It’ll start happening within the minute.” Lance replied, looking at his wrist, even though he never wore watches.

“This will be including her clothing, correct?” Ryu asked, still skeptical.

Lance chuckled for a second. “Yes.”

“Well, are we going to sit here and hope we aren’t all crushed or get the hell out of here?” Helena asked, looking around her. No one except her had really thought about this. Together, they ran out of the ruins as fast as they could. Minute was right. It hadn’t been forty-five seconds and they were already able to see her body rising from the ruins. They watched as she grew up to the same proportions as Ayane, making sure to keep their distance. When she was finished, Kokoro woke up, as though waking up from a nice nap.

She yawned. “Ah, it feels so good to be rested.”

“Hey, are you feeling okay?” Lance called to her. She looked around, confused. It seemed that she realized the whole impact of the situation at once.

“Oh, Lance! I didn’t see you down there! Yes, I feel fine. As a matter of fact, I feel more energetic than I ever have!” Kokoro giggled.

“Well, that’s good.” He said. They all wore puzzled expressions as they gazed up at her, except for Kokoro, who seemed content in her own world. There was nothing else they could do now. It was all up to Kokoro. She stared down at them with some kind of innocence Lance hadn’t been able to see for a long time.

“It’s all up to you now. Do your best.” Ryu said. Kokoro nodded and stood up, allowing them to view the powerful effects of the Miller Process. Lance had something he thought was pride. She was their weapon against Ayane. She nodded and smiled. Having done this, she started back off into the town, to stop Ayane. With nothing better to do, the group ran to keep up with her.

 

Chapter Twenty-One:
“Confrontations and Illusions”

 

After the better part of fifteen minutes, they reached the part of town where Ayane was viewable. The group was pretty tired in general, except for Kokoro, who was still smiling. They were about to progress forward with Kokoro when Ryu shook his head.

“Let us keep our distance. It would be a shame if she defeated Ayane, only to have accidentally crushed us during the fight.” He reasoned. He grabbed Lance’s hand and motioned for him to do the same. When they all were holding hands, he teleported them to the top of a building where they could view the clash.

“I’m warning you up front. Ayane will try to corrupt her. However, no matter what happens, we must not interfere. There is a chance, however small, that she will try and pull off her mind control power. We must not allow that to happen. Stay hidden and keep quiet.” He said. They nodded and got a good view of the city. They spotted Ayane, looking in buildings. Lance realized how awkward that could be. How does a giantess greet another? He had never really though of this, if he had, surely he had too much free time.

“Hey!” Kokoro shouted, standing away from Ayane. Shocked, Ayane stood up and looked at her, startled.

“You…” Ayane said, in a tone that suggested she was surprised.

“Stop destroying the city! Why can’t you just be nice?” Kokoro asked, scornfully.

“Are you serious?” Christie asked herself.

“Be nice? What is that? Did you grow to that height just to ask me to be nice?” Ayane mocked her.

“No! I came to stop you! You’ve killed so many people who didn’t even deserve it. But before I stop you, I want to ask you to stop and help us solve this!”

“I didn’t come this far to stop and just give up.”

“I know, no one would have. But you have to understand that what you’re doing is wrong!”

“I know it’s wrong! The military was there to assure that…but I’m not just going to surrender. You can either stop me or join me. It’s your choice.”

“Very well then! Prepare yourself!” Kokoro announced, positioning herself in her fighting stance. Ayane hadn’t expected her to fight, but she did the same as Kokoro. They looked at each other, neither one wanting to start. However, Ayane, being the more aggressive of the two, ran at her. Ayane kicked twice, forcing Kokoro to block them. After Ayane had finished, Kokoro kicked Ayane’s legs and then elbowed her hard. Ayane stumbled backwards. But when Kokoro advanced, she shot a kick hard at Kokoro’s stomach. She tumbled back and into a few buildings. On and on they fought. Lance thought it must have been the better part of ten minutes when Kokoro eventually launched a powerful palm at Ayane’s face, knocking her down to the ground. Before she was able to get up, Kokoro pinned her down. Lance, Christie, Bayman, Ryu, and Helena were able to hear just how hard both of them were breathing.

Being a soldier, he had to take a hand-to-hand combat class. He knew how tiring fighting was. Five minutes was just about all he could take.

“I’ve…beaten you…give up…” Kokoro panted, holding Ayane’s shoulders down.

“Kokoro…you naïve girl…don’t you realize…what you’re doing…?”

“I’m stopping…you…at all costs…”

“To accomplish…what? You’ll just…go back to being the same…and then…no respect again…it’s a cycle…we need to…work together…”

“No! I…won’t do anything bad!”

“Then who? Who will…start what I have? Well? Fate…has meant for us to meet like this…we were meant to be partners.”

“No!”

“I’ve…been used my entire…life. Never appreciated…because of my sister…it’s time to show the world what we’re capable of…do you honestly hate me so…that you’d punish me to take that for the rest of my life…?” Ayane asked, looking very sad. Kokoro didn’t reply, but held her there.

“Kokoro…it’ll be the same for you…you’ll be taken advantage of…I’m asking you to not only help you…but all the oppressed…”

Kokoro shook her head defiantly, although she was beginning to look sad as well.

“Please…you’re just being…one of them…”

Kokoro apparently couldn’t take it anymore. She took her arms off Ayane to wipe a tear from her eye, when she reversed the pin.

“Ha…a fool to the end! Now! It’s my turn…”

“H-Hey…you…”

“You think I was about…to let you ruin everything…”

“You liar!”

“C’mon, Kokoro, join me…you can’t resist fate’s grasp!”

“No, I hate…you!”

“What’s that? You dare defy me in your moment in my mercy?”

“Yeah! I hate you. You’re nothing more than…some stupid girl who’s obsessed with…power!”

Ayane was seriously angered by this and slapped Kokoro’s face.

“Don’t ever do that again! You…you…”

“What? Huh? You think you can take me? You can’t, and you never will be able to!”

“You…bitch!” Kokoro shouted, angrily. Ayane slapped her again.

“Stop that!” She said. Ayane chose to hit her again.

“C’mon, Kokoro! What’s wrong? Not so powerful now, huh?” She taunted, slapping her again.

“Stop…” Kokoro said, with tears in her eyes. Lance started forward, but a look at Ryu’s face made him stay. That wasn’t the end of it though. It seemed that Ayane was happy seeing Kokoro cry, so she kept it up. When Ayane started laughing at Kokoro, Lance couldn’t take it anymore. He took Ryu’s sword out of its sheath and ran across the rooftops. None of them pursued him. Lance knew this violated his training. He should let it play out like Ryu said, but he couldn’t. The little part of him that was still human and not a soldier would not be stifled. He kept going across the rooftops, as they got lower and lower to the ground, until he eventually was able to jump off of one, into a tree, and to the ground. He ran at Ayane and Kokoro, who was still crying. Lance pointed Ryu’s sword at her and yelled, “Stop!”

Ayane stopped, smiling malevolently. “Lance! I knew you were behind this! Ha! Don’t worry! After she’s done, you’re next.”

“I’ll never let you!” He challenged. Ayane laughed at him and turned back to Kokoro. That was it. Lance’s brain abandoned all reason and ran at her in a rage. He ran up to her leg and swung the sword at her. The sword cut through the fabric like a knife through butter, but it shattered upon contact with her skin.

“Don’t even try! You can’t beat me! None of you can! You are fools to think you even stood a chance!” She said. Ayane had always had a cool sense of control about her. But it seems that she had snapped too. Lance didn’t care if he hurt her or not. He kept punching away at her leg with everything he had in him. It was enough to draw Ayane away from Kokoro. She took her hands off of Kokoro and grabbed him.

“I’ll destroy you here and now!” Ayane yelled. He felt her grasp tightening. It became harder and harder to breathe until he couldn’t. His vision faded to black. He heard Ayane’s distant laughing. And then nothing. He saw black and heard nothing. Then, he saw his parents and an angel. Next, he saw his life flash by, everything he had done, from glory to dishonor. Everything. Those thoughts left him. Lance’s body shut down, surrendering itself to Ayane.

 

Chapter Twenty-Two:
“Rebounding”

 

Colonel Lance Roshal opened his eyes to view a small Japanese style room. Hovering over him were Ryu, Christie, Helena, Bayman, and Kokoro. He sat upright all at once.

“How are you?” Ryu asked.

“Ayane…” He said, shocked.

“Her? She’s locked away safely in a maximum security prison. She’s under twenty-four-seven surveillance. The Americans want their way with her.”

“How…?”

“You remember when I said there was nowhere else to find the Miller’s Process reversal formula?” Kokoro asked.

“Yeah…”

“That’s because there never was one. It was done by inserting the DNA into the ray and firing it. However, it seems the Americans developed upon that and were able to reverse it irrelevantly.” She explained. Lance shrugged. Christie walked over to him with a plaque and handed it to him. He read it.

This award is presented to the following:

Lance

Christie

Helena

Bayman

Ninja Guy

Kokoro

These persons are awarded the Medal of Honor for the protection of liberties abroad, facing a definite evil, and protecting the world. You will always be honored in America.

Signed,

President James Hartwell

Vice President Carter Jayroth

And the rest of the peoples of the United States of America.

“Ninja guy?” Lance asked.

“It’s better to be anonymous, I think.” Ryu said.

“So what now?”

“Well, countries are repairing everything. We’re pretty much free.” Helena said.

“So what are you guys doing?”

“I am returning to my village, to await further challenges.” Ryu said.

“Bah, I’m returning to Russia. Who knows, maybe I can become an electrician now that Donovan is gone.” Bayman said, thinking.

“I’ve got to go see my mother.” Kokoro said.

“I suppose I can return to the U.K. That would be nice.” Christie said, looking at the ceiling.

“I’d prefer to keep my business private…” Helena said.

“Sounds like a plan. Well, I’d better get going.” Lance said, getting off of the bed.

“Just like that?” Ryu asked.

“Why not?”

“True.”

“Wait, Lance!” Christie called.

Lance looked over his shoulder. “What?”

“You never told us what you’re going to do.”

“I’m a soldier. I suppose the United States would have the need for a soldier.”

“Keep in touch now.” She said. Lance figured that was the first time she said that in a long time.

“I will.” He said. With that, Lance walked out of the house and into the world. A world of peace, thanks to them.

 

Chapter Twenty-Three:
“Epilogue”

 

“Come on, you! Recreation time. Guess what today is? You get to walk up and down this hall! Have fun!” A jailer said to Ayane, as she walked out into the terribly bright hallway. She wore orange clothes with numbers on them. It was the same schedule every day. Cell, recreation for an hour, cell, food, cell, sleep. She couldn’t take it much longer. Walking up the hallway, she tripped purposely. The jailer walked over to her.

“Back on your feet! Don’t want to waste this fun time, eh?” He cackled. Ayane got up, dusted herself off, and stood there. With blinding speed, she jumped off the walls of the prison and behind the man. She broke his neck, killing him instantly. Ayane then went back inside her cell. She meditated briefly before shooting a ball of purple energy at the wall. It created a hole large enough to climb out of. She ran at full speed out of it. Using her training, she was able to soar over the prison walls. The tower watch people took notice of her escape and sounded the alarm. They then began firing at her. They were all too slow. Ayane teleported into a remote mountain area in Japan. She took a moment to regain her breath. She then grinned to herself.

“Thought you had defeated me? I don’t think so, that was but round one.” Ayane said, quietly. She then laughed out loud as she walked down the slope of the mountain.


END