"Rodriguez has gone too far." "I know. He's starting to think he's more than just a pawn. An example must be made." "It's already taken care of. By the time the poll booths close, Marco Rodriguez will be dead." A door opened into the darkened room, flooding half of the secret table with a piercing shaft of light. "Hey, guys! Could any of you tell me where restroom is?" "Arrrgh! How many times must I tell you? No light in the Evil Room!" [---] Forgot About Jae Chapter 44: It's All Fun and Games Until Someone Gets Assassinated. Story originally grown in the backyard of Shelby Scott, aka Darkheart One. This chapter sliced and deep-fried to crispety deliciousness by JP Chabot, aka "Ugly Red." Last time, on Forgot About Jae: - Phantom, everyone's favorite magma spider, melted a lot of things in pursuit of Jae. - JP Polnareff atoned for his transgressions against Dan. - Sub-ZEEERO! Chinese ninja warrior! - Skullomania is now The Undying. He will not be starring in a Clive Barker first-person shooter, though. - Vice Mayor Bear has been killed! - Fuuma just did a Bluesmobile with his car. - C.J.'s got to hire day temps for a while. Starting with... [---] "I remember you!" said Jae. "You're one of those Ninjas Anonymous people, right?" "The name's Ayame," said the kunoichi, idly sharpening one of her shuriken on a whetstone. "I'll be working with you today." "Shouldn't you have purple hair and be really, uh, bouncy?" asked Jae. "That's AYANE," snapped the ninja girl. "Sheez, why do people keep making that mistake?" "Yeah, she's going to be our temp for today," said C.J. "Ayame, you've already met Hugo, Driver and Poison. This is Jae, that's the new girl, Angel, and the guy sneaking under your seat to get a glimpse of your underwear is our resident ninja, Fuuma." Ayame stuck one of her short swords down into the cushion, narrowly missing Fuuma's face. "That's about all the regular members of Violence Unlimited. Except for," C.J. shuddered, "the gnome." "The gnome?" asked Jae. "Yeah, the gnome," said C.J. "Come on, I must have introduced him to you." "Nope." "Huh," said C.J. "Well, I'm not surprised, really. I keep him locked up in the basement twenty-four seven. He's the R&D guy." "We have an R&D section?" "For researching more badass ways to hurt people, mostly." "He made the E. Honda fuel injector on my car!" said Fuuma. Without warning, the Driver yanked the E-brake and wrenched the steering wheel to the right. Instead of rolling, the Violencemobile somehow turned 270 degrees and screeched to a stop, perfectly parallel parked in front of the Southtown mayoral office. When everyone inside the van was done screaming at the Driver to give a warning when he pulled that kind of shit, they got shakily out of the vehicle. Mayor Rodriguez exploded out of the door of his office and ran down the steps as if the devil himself were after him. Following closely behind came the bizarre knock-off of the loveable Ryo Sazakaki, Ryou Szakakazi. "CJ! No time to explain," said Rodriguez. He opened the van's side door and threw a suitcase bulging with money on Angel's lap. "Get the damn car started up again and let's get out of here!" "Wait, you still haven't told us what you want or where you want us to go," said CJ. "No time!" repeated Marco. "Any second now they're going to--" The rest of Kushnood Butt's words were lost as his office exploded in a thunderous fireball, sending quite a lot of paperwork into the next world. "See?" said the mayor, waving his large arms around. "It's already started! Get us moving!" "Urrrrrrr!" said running mate Ryou. "Recreational cowardice!" [---] "Luigi, there's a man from FEMA here to see you," said Cham-cham over the intercom. Luigi applied the last finishing touches to her spirit gummed moustache and pressed the response button. "FEMA? What's he want?" "I don't know," said Cham-cham, the ire noticeably creeping into her tone of voice. "All I do know is that I've been working two weeks without a break and you promised me you'd hire more help." "Cham-cham, someone with your qualifications would have no problem at all landing a top-flight job in a career of starring in 'Cats' or being a stunt-double for Felicia. Now, are you going to answer line 2?" "I quit better jobs than this," snarled Cham-cham. She punched a button on her phone. "Ghostdusters, whaddya want?!" A 40-year-old man dressed in a formal business suit and trench coat walked into Luigi's office not one second later as if he hadn't even stopped at the reception desk. The two stared at each other's faces for several seconds. Luigi, still quite obviously a girl, was sporting a thick, busy moustache, while Simons had thick blue wires interlaced through his face like cybernetic veins. Eventually Simons decided to stop the staring contest by introducing himself. "Greetings, Mister...Luigi," he said, enunciating every word. "I am Walton Simons." He produced his wallet and a dozen identification badges flipped out. "Director of FEMA, head of the EPA, executive advisor to the CIA, FBI, NSA and the ATF." "Wow, lotsa acronyms," said Luigi. "So-a how can I help you out, Mr. Simons? Please, sit down." Simons remained standing. "Just what exactly are your credentials, 'Mister' Luigi?" Luigi leaned back in her chair and crossed her stubby legs over the desk. "Well, I graduated second top of my class with my brother at the Brooklyn academy of plumbing, spent about ten years fighting the good fight for the Mushroom Kingdom." "And now...you catch ghosts?" "Instead of just jumping on their heads, yes," said Luigi. "What do you do with them once you catch them?" Luigi raised an eyebrow. "Why do you want to know?" "As the director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, if a national emergency is declared I can assume power over anything and anyone. It is in our best interest that should a...supernatural emergency occur, that we be able to operate your facility...with or without you." Luigi got out of her chair and stood, which did not have its desired effect as she was actually shorter out of the chair. "I don't like the tone you're taking, mister." "Are you saying you will not co-operate with me?" Simons flexed his gloved fingers and the nano-paste in his head-veins seemed to pulse. "I can very well come back with a court-order. Your friends are easily replaced and there is no technology we cannot reverse-engineer." Luigi pulled a magic mushroom from her pocket and chomped on it. She grew in height until she was looking the sinister G-man right in his blue-veined eyes. "You come here with a court-order and I'll sue your ass! They won'ta be able to find enough nanites to make a little gold coin once I'ma done stomping on you!" "You can have it your way, 'Mister' Luigi," said Simons. "I am a patient man...but not that patient." Simons turned stiffly on his heel and left without another word. Luigi, slightly shaken by the encounter, decided to check on the others in the storage facility. As approached, she heard Yuna say something about "demonic uprising of incredible, maybe dangerous proportions!" "Hey, Luigi," she said as the plumber strolled into the photo lab/ghost storage room. "We just got a fine-a visit by the director of FEMA," said Luigi. "How'sa the storage holding up?" "NOT GOOD!" bellowed Rick. "TELL HER ABOUT THE CACTUAR!" Luigi looked at Miku. "What about the Cactuar?" [---] The Violencemobile sped down the streets of Southtown, destination unknown, as Mayor Rodriguez explained the situation as simply as he could. "There's a shit-ton of assassins on my ass." "Like who?" asked Fuuma. "Like everyone! Heihachi can't win now that my voter base has merged with Ryou's, Kyo's probably gotten his monthly bribe money back in the mail by now. Between the two of them, I have two of the most powerful networks of illicit business in the city itching for my death." "Urrrrrr," added Ryou. "Them pencils are after us somethin' fieeeeerce." "Was that really a wise decision?" said Jae, mostly ignoring Angel's hands running through his hair. "Politically speaking, it was the only way to ensure I got re-elected," said Rodriguez. "That nitwit Kyo kept pushing that Fire Tax initiative, and everyone hated that. As long as he was funding me, I had to pay lip service to the plan, but c'mon! Have you ever heard of something so stupid? I mean, how the fuck would you even enforce that law? I couldn't win as long as I was with Kyo, and he would have abandoned me in a heartbeat if I didn't win, so I made the first move." "So what's your second move, bigshot?" asked CJ. "We just going to drive in circles all night until the assassins get bored or we going someplace?" "We need a hotel or something to hole up in until the elections are finished," said the incumbent. "Somewhere nobody knows about, and where none of you have stayed before. Any old hideouts you had are probably rigged with explosives or full of ninjas or surrounded by snipers or some shit like that." "Hey, I know a good place!" said Fuuma. Poison imitated a buzzer. "Proposal rejected! Next!" "Hey!" said Fuuma. "No, let him speak," said Rodriguez. "I got these free hotel reservations in a contest," said Fuuma. "I never used the vouchers before, but I got them out when I went to visit Jae because I thought we could use them on our quest to find Jae's brother." "Whoa, back up a minute!" said CJ. "Since when are you doing that?" "Well, we do have a little vacation time accrued and we figured--" "Hey, what's that?" Ayame pointed ahead. A police officer was standing in the middle of the intersection and had blocked the middle of the road with his car. He waved to the Violencemobile and ran up to the driver's-side window. "I'm sorry, sir, but are you currently driving Mayor Marco Rodriguez and his running mate?" The Driver said nothing, of course, but CJ was riding shotgun and was able to answer. "Is something the matter, officer?" The cop scanned the interior of the van with his eyes. "Mayor Rodriguez left without any of his security and it is believed his life is in danger. Roadblocks are being set up in an effort to stop any possible kidnapping attempt that may have been made on him." The cop spied Rodriguez in the back and his hand went to the pistol on his belt. "Wait! We can explain!" said Jae. The cop drew his pistol and aimed it at the Driver. "Step out of the car, now. Let the mayor out, too." "Son, I hired these people to act as interim bodyguards," said Rodriguez. "They are twenty times as competent as my regular staff and have saved this city from peril numerous times." "Just following orders, Mr. Mayor," said the cop. "Please cooperate." An icy trickle went down CJ's spine. Something wasn't right. "Where's your partner, officer?" "Excuse me?" The Driver's door smashed into the cop, knocking the pistol from his hands and sending him sprawling. The "cop" reached into his coat for a Hardballer but was distracted by the Driver kicking him in the face. His hat flew off his totally bald head. "Holy shit! That's Forty-Seven!" screamed CJ. The two killers, sensing each other's mad gun skills, began to grapple in an effort to keep the other from drawing any more weapons. The Driver's hand-to-hand training was marginally better than Forty-Seven's, so he managed to pin the assassin on the pavement. He shook his head in a particular direction at CJ, to the effect of "Get going!" CJ was already climbing into the Driver's seat and without waiting to buckle his safety belt or close the door, he jammed on the gas. "Wait!" said Jae. "We've got to go back and help him!" "No," said CJ, slamming the door closed. "He can handle himself, and the rest of us would just be useful human shields for that fucker. If you'd heard half the things I had about Forty-Seven..." In the distance behind them, a tongue of flame lit up the street and was answered by a brisk rattle of gunfire. "Driver!" cried Jae. "He'll be fine," said CJ. "I never told you, but our Driver once wiped out half the population of Liberty City single-handedly." "Half the CRIMINAL population, you mean?" asked Jae. "Uh, right," said CJ. "They were criminals." Jae didn't hear CJ mutter the word "probably" under his breath. "So can we go to my hotel or not?" asked Fuuma. [---] Southtown is home to many fine athletic events. Soccer, hockey, baseball, basketball and other "standard" sports all have at least three stadiums devoted to them. Southtown is also one of the last places on Earth to host Cyberball and the Numan Olympics, so there are always big-ticket events with roaring crowds and Giganto-Vision TVs blotting out the stars with their intense luminescence. One competition, however, has no fireworks or floodlights, and the cheering fans are all kept behinds soundproof glass. That's because the Stealth Olympics do things a little differently. "It's been a bee-yootiful night here in Outer Heaven Memorial Park, perfect weather for stealth," said sports announcer Soma Cruz of the Belmont News Network. "Pitch black!" "Starring Vin Diesel!" joked Mina. "But seriously, we've had some stellar performances from all our contenders. This year has truly been a breakthrough even for some of our new faces!" "That's right, Mina," said Soma. An infographic showing a bespectacled 12-year-old in robes popped onto the screen. "Everyone thought he should stick to broom-riding, but who would have guessed that wunderkind wizard Harry Potter would also be great at sneaking around? Too bad he didn't have a spell for 'blow up the armored personnel carrier' or he'd still be in the running. Better luck next year, Harry, hope your medic knows 'Cure Critical Wounds!' Ha!" "Silent and even deadlier than before," said Mina. "Record-breaking stealth-killing action by Rau, who beat out Rikimaru and Kain the vampire by performing the world's first-ever quad-stealth kill!" A replay video showed the massive barbarian strangling two thugs by crushing their necks under his bulging elbows, then grabbing two more in his hands and bashing their skulls together like eggs before releasing all four to the ground in a bloody heap. "In the Innovation competition, we had the Secret Agent Gadget-off tie between Cate Archer, whose lock-picking hair scrunchie and nylon stocking egg smoke bomb scored exactly even with bionic man J.C. Denton's nanite- based rollerskates." "And lastly," said Soma, "The results of the Total Stealth competition. Team Rainbow and SOREASS were both up against veteran loners Sam Fisher and Sly Cooper. Despite Raiden giving away their position to the enemy during one of his mental breakdowns, SOREASS got the gold! Now it's time to award the winners their much-deserved prize." "I bet the viewers at home are wondering Snake, Raiden and Otacon won. Why don't we tell them?" beamed Mina. "Don't mind if I do, Mina!" said Soma. "An all-expenses paid trip to Venice, twenty million dollars in bearer bonds and a lucrative, exclusive contract with a secret, MYST-ER-IOUS organization! WooOOOooOOoo!" Soma wiggled his fingers for effect. "The head judge, Naomi Hunter, is going to the loot safe and present our winners with their prizes," said Mina, a hushed tone of reverence briefly touching her disgustingly cheerful narrative. The crowd settled down within their glass booths as well as Hunter entered the combination to the safe and cranked the door open. A few murmurs rippled through the crowd when all she took out of the safe was a small piece of parchment. "And now she's going to...the safe's empty. The safe's EMPTY!" yelled Soma. "Ladies and gentlemen, somebody has stolen the Stealth Olympic prizes! Can we zoom in? Yes? Zoom in on the parchment!" The camera shifted to a tight close-up of the parchment in Naomi Hunter's shaking hands. It read: "Hey, Snake. I'll let you keep your medal, but I think we both know how much that thing's worth now that I've proven who the REAL master of stealth is. I'll see you in Venice. You won't see me. Garrett the Thief" [---] "CJ." Ayame was frozen to her seat with her eyes wide open. "What? Need to go to the restroom? We're almost there." "CJ. There's someone under me." CJ grabbed for his bat. "So help me, Fuuma, if you don't-" "I'm right here, boss," said the bright red ninja, suddenly appearing in the front passenger seat. "I think she's talking about the man under the car." "The man under the car?!" CJ slammed on his brakes. "You're telling me your ninja senses detected someone and you never told me?" He bopped Fuuma on the head lightly. "You're fucking lucky I need all the manpower I can get or your head would SO be beaten into your neck. Now let's get this saboteur. Everyone except Ayame and Rodriguez, out of the car!" The combined forces of Violence Unlimited -- that's Hugo, Poison, Cracker Jack, Jae, Angel and Fuuma for those just joining us -- plus Ryou Szakaki surrounded the Violencemobile. "All right, you fucker! Get out from under my ride!" CJ smacked his bat into the palm of his hand. A voice like that of a kindly old man drifted out from under the chassis. "I'm sorry, but I just don't like shoddy workmanship! You need to set these things up properly if you expect them to work, and Ma Jansen didn't raise any slacker. Well, except for Cousin Snood, but I hardly think that was her fault..." CJ's first impulse was to order Poison to pump him full of lead, but then he recognized the voice. The gravely throat, the incessant family references...it could only be... "Jan Jansen!" CJ reached under the van and ripped out a bearded little man, about four feet tall and sporting a gigantic nose. "What in the hell are you doing?" "Why, only the very thing you hired me for!" smirked the gnome. "I'll have you know that adjusting the brakes on a moving vehicle is quite a challenge. I very much doubt any other mechanic could do it. I haven't spent this much time strapped to a car in motion since that time Uncle Scratchy mistook me for some--" "I don't care about Uncle Scratchy!" The exasperated CJ dropped Jan to the pavement. "Uh, CJ?" said Fuuma timorously. "What?" "You told me to tell you when my ninja senses picked something up...I think Ayame's trying to kill Mayor Rodriguez!" Indeed, the van was rocking side to side and muffled screams came from the window crack. "SHIT!" CJ rushed over to the sliding door of the van. "I should have seen it coming, an assassin posing as a temp worker." He pulled the door open prepared to beat the living hell out of Ayame. Then his face, or his chin at least, turned red. "Ayame. Clothes, NOW." He slammed the door shut and leaned against it. "Ayame, if you're going to do that with anyone, why can't it be ME? I'm the one paying your salary." "Actually, CJ...UNFFF! I stopped working for you five minutes ago." A piece of paper slid out of the window crack. "Can you sign my timecard?" It was a good thing Cracker Jack's hat was on quite tightly over his eyes, or else his crew would have seen a tear trickle down his face. "Why? Why me?" [---] After parking the Violencemobile in a hidden corner of a parking complex, the VU team hustled the mayor and his running mate out onto the street, forming a protective cluster around him. Poison and Hugo took point, with CJ, Jae and Angel taking up the rear while Fuuma scaled a telephone pole to get a good lookout position. Jan had disappeared into the shadows and was scouting ahead armed with his techno-crossbow. "What's the name of this hotel again, Fuuma?" "Hotel Deception," said Fuuma, reading his reservation slip. "Never heard of it," said Poison. "You sure this is legit?" "There it is!" Fuuma hopped down to the street. "Wow, it looks great!" The building Fuuma indicated was posh indeed. A red velvet carpet laid a path between marble columns and through grand oaken doors with golden doorknobs. They were greeted at the doors by a charming young woman dressed as a bellhop who bowed courteously as the crew moved inside. "Fuuma, this almost makes up for every screw-up you've ever made," said CJ, admiring the golden ashtray resting on the mirror-polished front desk. He rang the silver service bell. "Even hiring that Joe guy?" Fuuma appeared on the emerald-encrusted chandelier. The door-girl rose from behind the reception desk, this time wearing a tuxedo. "May I have the name of your party, sirs and madams?" "Fuuma." The girl bowed again, and her skin took on a faint bluish hue. "Thank you. My name is Millenia, and I'll be killing you tonight." "Ah, great," said CJ. "Now, if you'll just...what did you say?" The exit doors slammed shut and a portcullis dropped in front of them, sealing the building. "Look out!" The chandelier Fuuma was hanging from suddenly dropped from the ceiling. A split second before it could crash on top of Jae's head, he was knocked out of the way by a man wearing a hood and light leather armor. "Yeeowch!" Fuuma pulled a rather sharp emerald from his tush. Poison pointed hir H&K directly at the hotel girl. "Okay, missy, you have about one second to explain yourself. Don't move a muscle." "I'm very sorry," said Millenia. "But I must follow my master Blackheart's orders to exterminate all of you humans." "No!" yelled the mystery man again. He kicked out at the back of Poison's knee, buckling hir leg and making hir fall on hir ass. A huge pendulum- blade sliced through the space where hir gun arm had been a second earlier. The hooded fellow threw a flash bomb at Millenia, stunning her. "That won't stop her for long! Quick, kill her now!" CJ needed no further prompting to bring the hurt on, but before he could get to her, the floor panel under Millenia sproinged up, launching her safely to the second floor. Hugo started up the stairs after her, but a giant boulder fell out of the ceiling and rolled down the stairs right towards him. The muscular hulk barely had time to catch the stone before it crashed into him. "Damn it!" The hooded guy swore under his breath as the girl vanished through a door. "You can relax now. She can't activate any of the traps when she's not around." "I want some answers, funny guy," growled CJ. "Who is she, who are you and why do I smell a set-up?" "Name's Garrett," said the rogue. "Garrett! I remember that name," said Jan, popping out from somewhere behind Angel. Ignoring her shriek, he continued. "My nephew Issyt once told me a fellow he knew named Basso the Boxman who got broken out of a maximum-security prison by-" "Enough!" said CJ. "So you're a thief." "I prefer 'acquisition specialist,'" said Garrett. "I just made a tremendous score too, when I got invited over here. I think I just got double-crossed by my employer. Let me guess, free reservation right?" "Right," said Jae. "Yup. Whoever sent you that reservation wants you dead. I'm guessing it's that 'Blackheart' guy Millenia mentioned just now, probably a demon prince of some sort." Garrett touched his finger to his mechanical right eye. "Wouldn't be the first time it turned out I was working for a double-crossing devil." "B...b...but that means that Blackheart is trying to kill YOU, right?" said Rodriguez. "It has nothing to do with me!" "Doesn't matter," said Garrett. "I think that girl must be brainwashed. She's a hard-core killer. Even crappier in combat than I am, but devious as hell." "Fucking perfect," muttered CJ. "Escape from all the assassins outside to find an even bigger one inside. Fuuma, remember what I said about taking back all the bad things I said about you?" "Yeah?" "I take it back." "Well, it shouldn't be too hard to beat her," said Poison. "She has to run out of traps sooner or later, right?" "No," said Garrett. "I've gone over places where I was sure there weren't any traps at all and later big fricking knives started shooting out of the walls and spikes jabbing out of the floor. She must be summoning them herself." CJ slapped a hand to his face. "So what do you suggest, mister hot-shit thief? Me, I'm thinking all we need to do is bash her brains out and give her a case of lead poisoning." "If we can get that close," said Jae. "Can you give us any help?" "Her basic strategy is using herself as bait. That's why she ran away just now, she wants us to follow her because she knows we need to kill her to escape this deathtrap." CJ sneered. "That's nice, but I think by 'help' he meant, help us kill her." Garrett grimaced and began to slink towards one of the hallways. "I work better alone." "Great! Jan works better alone too. You'll go great together!" CJ hefted the gnome and threw him in the general direction of the thief. He turned to the rest of his troops. "We're going to sweep through this hotel in teams of two. Mayor Rodriguez and Ryou Szakakazi will stay in the lobby. If you see her, run. Jae and Angel will do the first floor. Poison, you're with me, we'll hit the second floor. Fuuma and Hugo, top floor. Garrett and Jan..." CJ turned, but the gnomish thief/illusionist and the human rogue had already disappeared. "Uh...yeah. They'll loot the place or something, so we have something to show for getting involved in this mess." "Aww, I wanted to see if he could teach me any disappearing tricks," pouted Fuuma. "Believe me, you couldn't disappear fast enough," said CJ. "Hell, fine, maybe I'll put him on the payroll or something if we live through this. He seems less likely to start fucking the brains out of our client during a mission." Rodriguez pulled at his collar with a finger and cleared his throat. "Well, you heard the boss, get your asses moving!" shouted Poison. The team dispersed, leaving the mayor and his running mate alone. "Urrrrr! Wanna play Parcheeziland, Buddy Epson?" [---] Jan Jansen, having found himself yet another opportunity to tell a story to an unfortunate listener, was regaling Garrett with a yarn while reconfiguring his techno-crossbow, the Flasher Master. "So there I was, tied upside down over a barrel full of delicious turnips. Uncle Scratchy would dunk me in there just long enough to get a sniff but not long enough to get a bite. It was then that I discovered how to suck a turnip straight into my mouth with...what are you doing?" Garret stopped whatever it was he was doing and hid his hands in his cloak. "Nothing." Jan's expert eyes checked around for any possible missing items. About the only thing shiny in this particular hallway was the gold-painted wallpaper. Funny how it didn't seem to glimmer as much in the part they had just walked through. "Wait...you stole the gold from the WALLS?" Garrett smirked and nodded. "I am loathe to admit it, but your capacity for thievery rivals my own!" "Maybe if you learned to shut up for five minutes." "Oh, you wound me!" said the gnome. "Just for that, I won't tell you how my story ends! You'll never know how many predicaments that turnip- sucking ability has gotten me out of!" [---] Cracker Jack and Poison, meanwhile, were doing a bang-up job on sweeping the second floor. They had it down to a pattern. CJ would kick the door in, Poison would scan the room and spray it with bullets if Millennia was in there, then go on to the next. At about the tenth door, Poison heard sounds of somebody retching. Shi and CJ nodded to each other and dived into the room, weapons at the ready. They found themselves confronting a fat, disgusting man with his butt half hanging out of his pants making an offering to the porcelain altar. "I didn't do it! Huuurrrgbbll!" "Do what?" said CJ. "Blorghggsssluurp! I don't know, but whatever it is, I didn't do it! Huk! Huk! Hubloogaaggg!" The man wiped his mouth with one hand, then started barfing again. "Ggglorrchh! My name's -hurrk!- Eddie. Who are you?" He held out his sloppy, dripping hand to shake. "Ugh, I don't think so," said Poison, turning green. Shi and CJ backed out of the room and shut the door. They proceeded to the next room and kicked in its door. Moaning noises from the closet right next to the door alerted them to the presence of some kind of shiny, pale-skinned humanoid wearing a butcher's apron and what appeared to be an oversized traffic cone on its head, making out with a Vaseline-covered mannequin. "Uh...you look a little busy. Maybe we should just leave you two alone." The cone-head turned to face them and picked up the handle of a gigantic rusty blade that would have made Cloud himself very proud. Unfortunately for the creature, the great knife was so heavy that all it could do was drag it at a snail's pace, giving Poison and CJ plenty of time to slam the door shut and run like hell down the hallway. "You know, this hotel is mighty fucked up," remarked Poison. "I was starting to notice," said CJ. [---] "JAE! She's here!" Angel pointed. Right across from them in the indoor swimming pool area was the bluish girl, none the worse for having been temporarily blinded by the flash bomb earlier. "Be careful, Angel," said Jae. "Get ready to jump around if you see anything pop out of the walls or over your head, okay?" "Come to me, Jae," whispered the girl. "Kill me, if you can." Jae remembered what Garrett had said about the girl using herself as live bait. Attacking her was just what she wanted. But if he just stood there, she would have no problem dropping a rock on his head or something equally lethal. "Attack," said Millenia. "I have lived for over a thousand years, Jae, since I became this way. There is no martial art that can defeat my traps. Prove me wrong. Come. Try to destroy me, now. Or die where you stand. I can make it swift." Millenia gestured, and a pair of lightning rods emerged from the pool, turning the water into an electrified field of death. Jae instinctively ducked and rolled to one side. A bear trap snapped shut over the space where his feet had been, and a hammer swung from the ceiling just missing his head. If it had connected, it would have sent him straight into the pool. I can't fight, I can't run and I can't stall. Father, what do I do? Jae thought. He glanced at Angel and realized there was maybe one tactic that nobody had tried against Millenia yet. Jae walked slowly towards the trapster and held out his hands. "I don't want to hurt you. Please, could you just let us go?" Millenia shook her head. Her eyes had a far-away, distant look to them as if she was not focusing on anything. "I can't. I must fulfill my mission. Destroy all intruders." "But WHY?" asked Jae. "You don't seem to enjoy this." "I...I do not, " said Millenia. If she was aware that he was getting closer, she didn't show it. "So then you could let us go if you wanted?" "If I did not wish to..." Millenia hesitated. "I have never disobeyed. All who have come to me, I killed without exception. Then HE came to me, and made me immortal. He said...I had become bound to him. I have never been free." "Don't you see?" said Jae, praying that he would be able to break through to her. "The only reason you're bound to Blackheart is because you kept following orders blindly, and let yourself do evil! You don't have to keep doing this if you don't want to." "Jae, look out, I think she's going to--EEEK!" shrieked Angel. A block of stone with a glyph on it dropped onto the wall behind her, and an invisible sucking force pulled her to it. The sucking continued even after she struck it, pinning her to the slab. Jae continued walking closer to Millenia. He was nearly next to her. "What's so bad about disobeying an evil order?" asked Jae. "If your heart tells you something is wrong, listen to it! Does he truly own your soul, or have you merely fooled yourself into thinking you can't make your own decisions?" "I...I have killed thousands," said Millenia. "Soldiers, seekers, innocent men, women, children. And never before have I...I must...I must..." "Please, Millenia!" pleaded Jae. "Free yourself! You can! You must!" "I must..." A bladed pendulum shrieked out of the ceiling, on a deadly arc straight towards Jae's heart. "JAE!" screamed Angel. She closed her eyes and turned her head, trying to shut out the unmistakable sound of metal piercing flesh. Tears ran down her face and she sobbed. "Millennia!" Angel opened her eyes. Jae stood there, holding Millenia in his hands. The pendulum's sharp, curving blade had entered her back and protruded from her chest by about an inch. She had jumped in its path to save Jae. "Millennia! Speak to me!" said Jae. "I...when they took me from my parents, I was so young," said Millenia. Her face was like a stone with two glimmering opals for eyes. "I have never known true happiness...but I have seen it in the faces of many others. I can see it now, that she finds much happiness in you, Jae. I did not wish to destroy any more happiness." Tears were coming to Jae's face as well. "Millennia, please...don't move. Maybe we can still--" "It is too late, Jae," said Millenia. "My master knows what I have done and what was given is being taken away." The bluish hue in her skin began to fade, and the blood on the pendulum's blade turned from blue to red. She coughed. "I see that the vacuum stone was strong enough to rip the very clothing from her body." A faint smile touched her face. Jae, rivers streaming down his cheeks, laughed a tiny bit as well. "That happens to her all the time, it's not your fault, really. Don't feel bad about that. Millenia! Please, stay with me!" "I...I thank you, Jae. I have not made a choice in so long. Perhaps I shall see my parents for the first time now..." The pendulum disappeared and Millennia collapsed into Jae's arms. "No! Millenia! Please, don't go!" Jae sobbed and sank to his knees, cradling her. He cried for what felt like an eternity. Eventually Angel came up behind him and hugged him. "Jae..." "I could have saved her, Angel," said Jae. "I came so close...If only I had been able to get to her a little sooner, she'd still be alive. If only I was more like my father..." "Jae, you were able to turn her from evil to good, and that's something nobody else could have done." "Damn it," said Jae. "I guess reforming evil is a lot trickier than I thought. It's not fair! I was so close, Angel!" CJ and Poison entered the poolroom and surveyed the situation. "All right, she's naked," whispered Poison to CJ. "You owe me five bucks." "Shut up, now's not the time," said CJ. CJ was by no means a kind or gentle man, but he had the tact to leave Jae and Angel alone a little longer before interrupting them. "The night isn't over yet, Jae. We still need to protect Mayor Rodriguez for 12 more hours." Jae wiped his nose. "All right. Just give me a few minutes." He laid Millenia down on the ground and stood. Angel stood as well. "I guess I'm off to raid the cloakroom or something. Maybe there's something I can wear there..." [---] Blackheart raged deep in hell. One of his most trusted and insidious assassins had been thwarted by the very man she had been told to eliminate. Even revoking her immortality and letting her die was not punishment enough...but Millenia's fate was out of his hands now. All he could do was plot his next move against Jae and the other bearers of the elemental spirits. "You can't run forever, Jae," he said, black-red flames spewing from his eyes. "I shall never forget you as long as you live." [---] Author's Notes: Wow. I never permanently killed anyone in FAJ before (other than a few giant movie monsters, and who knows, they could still come back) so I wanted it to be someone who wasn't already involved in the story. I would have liked to have used a less-obscure character (Millennia's from Kagero: Deception II) but once the idea to use Millennia came to me, I couldn't shake it. Better than I expected. Hope you enjoyed it. [---] Skullomania woke to see nothing. He was starting to get used to appearing in the void between lives. It was a great way to meet new people. He saw Dirk the Daring talking to a tattooed, scarred gray man dressed like Conan the Barbarian. "All I know is, I keep dying and coming back to life for no reason, and sometimes I lose my memory when I do that, so I've got all these tattoos to remind me of things I forget," said the gray man. "Hey, neat! So you're just like the guy from Memento!" said Skullo. "What's your name?" "Uh...I don't remember if I've ever seen that movie," said the gray man. "And I don't think I even have a name." "Oh, wait, I feel myself coming back to life," said Skullo. "Gotta go!" He popped out of existence. [---] Skullo appeared on a foggy road leading into a small midwestern town. He spied a sign that read: -------------------- WELCOME TO SILENT HILL POP: WHOLE LOTTA NIGHTMARES -------------------- "Awesome!" Hearing the noises of untold horrors in the distance, he decided to check them out and see if he could find a new way to die.