=========================================================
Kazuya replaced the phone reciever, cold dread knotting his stomach. This
wasn't happening, this wasn't happening, THIS WASN'T HAPPENING!
How could Leung have known? One thing was for sure, his whole plan had gone
directly down the shitter. Raizo wanted his wife back, along with both
cases, and then he wanted a discussion with him. A very long discussion. It
figured, the first time Kazuya threw caution to the wind by kidnapping
Leung's daughter without clearing it with the oyabun, everything had come
crashing down right on his head.
Raizo had already set up the meet. In fact, he had already set up
everything. Whether Kazuya lived or died came down to how the next few hours
went. With a trembling hand, he punched in the number for the man guarding Lan.
===========================================================
Lan raised her head as the footsteps grew nearer, pounding the floor with a
thundering rhythm. The shadows had deepened considerably since he had last
come to, and her arms had begun to hurt from being held immobile for so
long. She could no longer feel her rear end from so much time spent sitting,
her mouth dry from the gag.
Her eyes tracked the enormous patch of shadow as it moved purposefully
toward her, fear running wild through her veins. What was going to happen
now? What was he going to do? Why was this happening to her? Time seemed to
slow as he grew ever nearer, the only sounds in the room her heartbeat and
his footfalls.
She felt his presence like a charged cloud as he stopped alongside her. A
clicking noise came from behind just as the metal cuff around her right
wrist released. Were they letting her go?
As if in answer, his calloused hand gripped painfully around her upper arm,
yanking her roughly to her feet. Lan grunted in surprise and pain before the
arm was roughy yanked behind her again, and the metal cuff was replaced.
"Don't make this any harder." Lan froze at the gravelly voice, and what it
implied. "Just stay calm, and it'll all be over soon." Oh, no....
=========================================================
Gosunkugi went rigid as the tingling feeling hit him in the base of the
skull like a hammer. His breath caught short as he frantically searched
around for the source, heart thundering in his ears. Oh, what was it NOW?
The elevator below roared into life, the clanking of the motor echoing into
the air. Who the hell was coming up here at this hour? His head tingling,
Gosunkugi leapt skyward toward another beam that ran vertically up the
length of the structure. His hands and feet hit the cold steel with a soft
pat as his grip took hold.
The elevator slowly rose in its shaft, finally stopping with a loud clang
just below him. The doors opened with a rolling roar, two black shapes
stepping out into the night. Gosunkugi stared after them, utterly confused
at their presence. Who were they? Why were they here? The two man-shaped
shadows took up positions on a beam facing the northern end of the
construction yard below, opening twin black cases as they knelt.
The two set about pulling various parts out of the cases, putting them
together with soft clacks as each part connected. Gosunkugi watched them,
unsure of what to do. Should he stick around, at least to see what they were
up to? Or should he just take to his heels and head for home? His
spider-sense continued to blast warning bells in his head, but the source
wasn't from them. Then what was it?
Screw it, he thought in disgust, I said I quit, and that's that. With that,
he fired a web into the night and swung away from the unfinished structure.
Time to get home, he had a test the next day.
===========================================================
Kazuya stood motionless as the headlamps washed over a stack of beams still
on the packed dirt. Ever nerve seemed alive with tension, the very movement
of the air tingling his skin. This was it, then. Everything was riding on
this plan, this moment. His men were in position, both on the ground and up
in the unfinished building. Only the capriciousness of fortune would
determine his fate now.
Twin sets of halogen lights flared ot life behind him as the Triad car
rounded the bend and applied its brakes. Kazuya squinted his eyes against
the glare, and waited.
The engine of the other car died out, the sound of doors opening reaching
his ears soon after. Against the lights, he saw four men exit the car, one
dragging out Keiko Yamata. Keeping his face neutral, Kazuya motioned for one
of his own men to come forward.
Wu Long cast a quick glance at the skeletal structure in the background
before signalling for Pak to pull out Keiko. Raizo had chosen well; there
were at least a thousand places for more of his men to hide, just in the
unfinished building alone. Unfortunately, such a place was a double-edged
sword. Long had men of his own in position and ready for the inevitable. He
was certain Raizo's flunkie would make a grab for both cases, as Long
himself would. That was where their trump card came in. Long looked briefly
at the black case held in Lan's hand, then at the one held in the jap's.
Time to begin, then.
"We will send them both at the same time!" he shouted.
"Very well!" Keiko was sent forward with a rough shove, as was Lan. The two
women looked about nervously for a moment before slowly moving toward each
other. Long suppressed his anxiety as they seemed to crawl across the
construction yard with agonizing slowness.
Come on, he thought, hurry up!
The two men on the scaffolding raised their rifles, acquiring their targets
with ease that came from years of experience. They remained stock still,
only the muzzles of their rifles moving respectively with their targets.
A sniper fully dedicated himself to his craft, pouring all his
concentration into his intended target to the exclusion of all else. He
lived for that moment, when the bullet left his gun with a suppressed roar
as it screamed toward his target at over three hundred meters per second.
Such concentration was necessary, even commendable, yet at times was more
trouble than it was worth. This was one of those times.
Neither of them saw it coming, merely felt the cold metal wrap around their
throats before jerking them into the air. Their weapons fell all of two
centimeters before being seized by two sinuous metal tentacles. The last
thing either of them felt was the metal around their throats tightening
before their necks cracked like twigs.
Kazuya held his breath as the two hostages drew side by side. This was it!
His stomach felt as if it had twisted around his spine as he braced for his
other men to open fire on the chinks. The two passed each other, and the
night remianed unrent by gunfire. His gut twisted tighter as Keiko grew
closer, fear now running rampant in the confines of his skull. Where the
hell was his backup?!
"What the?!" Kazuya turned with the man to his left just as two steel poles
ripped through the hoods of the cars behind, tearing the thin metal with a
shriek mixed with the crunch of the engines being crushed. Time stood still
as he looked up their length to the shadowed form atop them.
Wu Long seized his chance, sprinting out after Keiko as the Yakuza stared
up at Doctor Octopus. Two of his own men raced out after him, both grabbing
Lan and hauling her to the safety of the car that waited just outside the yard.
He felt as if he were the only person moving in the entire world as he
closed the distance between himself and the other case. Just a few more
meters...
Fate then deemed fit to deal him a slap in the face. Keiko turned her head,
fear in her eyes, and locked on his own. Long refused to slow, instead
forcing more power from his legs as he reached out. Her mouth opened at the
sight of him, a scream bursting forth from her throat.
Bitch screams at me, but not Doctor Octopus, Long thought in disgust.
Doctor Octavius moved like death's wind, lowering himself on his bottom
tentacles as his other two lashed out at the yakuza on the ground below.
Three fell from his hammer-like blows, blood streaming from their heads
before they even thought about opening fire.
Fools, he thought as his feet touched earth. He ripped his other two
tentacles free with a metallic screech, sailing them outward with pinpoint
accuracy. Two more fell before the yakuza could scatter, while Wu Long's men
moved in and began to open fire. Octavius leapt clear of the fusilade of
lead, wrapping a tentacle around the waist of a fleeing yak. With little
more thought than he would give to swatting a fly, he sent the screaming man
into one of the piles of steel beams, ending his pitiful resistance before
it could begin.
Those whom the yaks had sent in advance had been pathetically easy, falling
quickly and silently to his onslaught. Octavius normally abhorred such
meaningless activities, yet in this case his research depended on it.
Science was a law in and of itself to him, and justfied everything he did in
its service.
"WE HAVE WHAT WE CAME FOR!" he heard Long shout to his subordinates over
the suppressed staccato pops of gunfire. "GET OUT! NOW!"
Wu Long stared down at the unconscious form of Keiko Yamata, holding the
case in his grasp as if he were afraid it would suddenly try to break free.
His men were decimating the yakuza, he had both Lan and the other case, so
what use was this lousy jap to him? He levelled his glock at her head, the
question answered.
Long felt something slice the air at super sonic speed, missing his ear by
only a scant centimeter. On instinct, he dropped to the dirt, clutching the
case to his chest as he rolled clear. Tiny sprays of dirt kicked up before
his face, sending Long scurrying back for cover.
"DIE, YOU CHINK SON OF A BITCH!" he heard a voice scream before another
volley of bullets scorched the air above his head. Desperation trying to
rule over his reason, Long rose to his feet and dove behind a trash drum.
He risked a peek from behind his shelter, spotting the leader of the yaks
struggling with his Sig. With a malicious grin, Long took aim and fired.
Kazuya screamed at the chink, his mind awhirl with despair and hate. He had
just lost his one chance to redeem himself in the eyes of the oyabun,
essentially his right to live. Raizo would have his head for this, and would
ensure that it would be as painful as possible.
He walked through the flagging rain of bullets, his eyes fixed solely on Wu
Long. So what if he got hit, he was already a dead man. The chink ran for
his life as Kazuya's bullets screamed past, clutching the other case to his
chest.
Long moved to dive behind a barrel just as Kazuya managed to draw a steady
bead on him. With a manic grin, he squeezed the trigger ony to be greeted by
a hollow click.
Kazuya screamed incoherently as he fumbled for a spare clip, too far beyond
reason to realize that it was in his other pocket. He never saw Long rise
from his cover, nor did he see the gun aimed right at his head. The last
thing he felt was a second of impact to his head before all sensation
vanished into nothing.
"WE HAVE WHAT WE CAME FOR! GET OUT! NOW!" Long shouted as he charged for
the waiting car. His men fell back instantly, moving to his position as
Doctor Octopus took care of any stragglers from the yakuza.
The blaring wail of sirens approached from the distance, shouting that
Long's time was extremely short. He turned the sedan's key, the engine
humming obediently to life as the last person crowded in. Others had left
through the gate already, toward the third car that would be waiting. The
car with Lan and the other case had already left, and would be near Leung's
building by now.
Not sparing a second, Long slammed the car into Reverse. The tires spun
wildly for a moment before gaining their traction and pushing the car out to
the street. Long jerked the wheel to the left, swinging the front around as
he shoved the gear lever into Drive. The tires screamed and smoked as the
rubber was mercilessly peeled from them before launching the car off into
the night.