Suzuka held her bokken out in front of her as she was prepared to defeat yet another opponent. The man before her wore an all black battle suit, complete with a mask, which resembled a ninja uniform. The only difference was the steel plated padding and the spiked shoulder pads.
Her opponent smirked, "I've been waiting to face you in battle, Twilight Suzuka. Let's begin."
Suzuka and her opponent rushed at each other, swords drawn. They slashed at each other as the crossed each other and stopped only seconds after. The stood for a few seconds, backs facing each other. Suddenly, Suzuka collapsed to her knees. The masked fighter turned around to the fallen Suzuka and walked slowly toward her, sword in hand. As soon as he was close enough, he was blown away by Suzuka's sword attack. It sent him into the air, but he regained his balance and landed on his feet. Held his side which was now throbbing with agony. Twilight Suzuka had cracked his ribs.
His voice was emotionless and calm as he said, "Not bad, Suzu."
Suzuka's eyebrow raised, "Huh? Suzu?! My name is Suzuka! Perhaps you will remember it better after I defeat you."
The masked fighter replied, "Perhaps. But, you have to win first.....Suzu."
Suzuka's eyebrow twitched as she came at him again, this time she was enraged and chopping away at him with her sword. He was carefully blocking her sword attacks with his katana, each of Suzuka's attacks a heartbeat away from striking him. Their swords clashed once more, turning the sword fight into a struggle. Suzuka pressed down with her sword against his with gritted teeth. The masked fighter could see the fire in her eyes. He could see the look of determination which he came to respect in an instant.
Suddenly, he slipped out of the struggle and flipped over Suzuka's head. Suzuka's eyes narrowed, then she spun around while slashing downward with her bokken. The man blocked with the steel pad on his forearm and punched Suzuka in her gut so fast that it took her at least 5 seconds to even feel the full impact. When she did, she fell to the ground, paralyzed.
He stood over her, cracking his knuckles, "The Ryuken Style of Martial Arts special attack. Sledge Hammer Fist."
Suzuka struggled to get up, but she couldn't move at all. Suddenly, voices were heard and the man left Suzuka there, behind a boulder. Suzuka could heard two voices, the man who had just defeated her and a female."
"Shadowstrike, where is Twilight Suzuka? Did you defeat her?"
"........No. She knocked me out cold. I just came to a few minutes ago."
"What? You are proving yourself to be worthless, Shadowstrike. Find her now. If you fail again, you'll regret it."
"Yes, ma'am....."
When Shadowstrike got back, Suzuka was still there and she was standing up, using her bokken for support. This shocked him terribly. He exclaimed, "But...but how?! You were supposed to be paralyze for an hour at the least!"
Suzuka smirked, "Underestimating your opponent is the most foolish mistake of combat. Tell me, why did you lie to protect me? If you're not loyal to them, what are you after?"
Shadowstrike replied, "I was looking for a challenge and you're it. This is the first time I ever gotten more than just a small bruise in a fight." He took off his mask to reveal himself to be about Suzuka's age. "And having such a beautiful opponent is a plus."
Suzuka was about to give him a reply of warning about coming on to her, but as soon as she tried to speak, she found herself in his arms and locked in a passionate kiss. She tried not to enjoy it.
After the kiss was broken, they stared into each other's eyes. Both of their faces were red. Shadowstrike slowly smiled as he gazed into the young assassin's eyes, which were starting to narrow. Suddenly, Suzuka's face became red with rage.
"HOW DARE YOU!"
Suzuka punched him in the jaw with a left hook that knocked him on the ground and stormed off. She said as she walked away, "I warn you not to do that again, or next time I will refuse to let you live!"
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"Suzuka. Suzuka? Hey, Suzuka!"
Suzuka came out of her trance and looked over toward Jim. "Yes?"
Jim replied, "I was trying to ask you. Since no one here is familiar with these coordinates, I was wondering if you would know where this place is."
Suzuka took a look at the coordinates and said calmly, "I am not familiar with that area."
Aisha sighed, "Does it really matter? We're on our way to big bucks!"
Gilliam then said, "I certainly do not have this area on any of my data maps. It seems strange that everyone received the same call about a mystery job."
Gene smirked, "Yeah, but this could still be a chance at making some money. Besides, we're up to our foreheads in debt."
Jim exclaimed, "We wouldn't be that deep in debt if SOMEBODY wasn't turning down jobs left and right!"
Aisha added, "That's right! I had to go a day without food and it's all your fault, Gene! Not to mention you locked me out earlier!"
Gene groaned, "Shut up, Aisha!"
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30 hours later, Leilong and Trent are well on their way. Currently on auto pilot, the two take a break and decided to talk about the task at hand.
Leilong asked, "So, what so you plan to do once you get there?"
Trent shrugged, "Don't really know yet. Maybe I'll just go through wreckin' shop like last time."
"Bad idea," said Leilong, "They've got outlaws and bounty hunters all over the place by now. And you can bet they're not gonna let you kill anyone that promised them a big, fat paycheck."
Trent groaned, "Yeah, you're right. But, I think the main idea would be to find out what they're up to. I know it's nothing good, but I'm curious."
Leilong cracked a small smile, "Curiosity killed the cat, or so they say."
Trent smirked, "No prob. I've got 8 lives left."
Leilong groaned, "Still as cocky as ever..."
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*35 hours later*
The arrival was quite a shock to the crew of the Outlaw Star.
Gene's eyes widened at the sight of what looked so familiar. Melfina gasped
as Jim, Suzuka and Aisha were in awe.
"It's the Galactic Leyline," said Aisha in an astonished tone of
voice.
Jim looked over to Gene, "What should we do now, Gene? It has trap written all over it. I doubt there's any chance of getting any money out of this.
Suzuka added, "Besides, who has enough month to pay each and
every bounty hunter in space 1 million wong each? It seems quite farfetched.
It's one of the most blatant setups I've seen yet."
Gene thought for a minute, "Well, the only person I know who is that rich is Fred, I guess. Wait a sec...what if this were some plan of his to get me in bed with him?!"
Jim snickered, "Why don't you find out Gene? It'll be cheaper to pay your debt off with your dignity. Besides, you're butt'll heal from it maybe in a few days tops."
Aisha snickered, then just burst out with hysterical laugher. Suzuka cracked a smile as Melfina giggled a little. Gene narrowed his eyes at everyone, "HEY! I don't see what's so funny here!"
Everyone continued to laugh as Gene shouted, "Gilliam, how long until I can land this damn thing?!"
"Only two more minutes, Gene."
The laughter died down slowly as the serious mood was being set once more. The Outlaw Star eased it's way into the Leyline, along with other bounty hunter ships. It was way different than the first time they came to the Leyline. The flight down was much more smooth and quiet.
When they were in the heart of the Leyline, they reached a clearing where many other ships were already parked. Beyond the clearing was a huge, red and black, dome shaped structure which people were going into. Gene raised an eyebrow at this sight as he landed the ship and cut off the engine.
"Well, looks like we finally made it," said Gene.
Melfina was released from her tube and back into her normal clothing as everyone prepared to leave the ship. Before exiting, Gilliam warned, "Please use extreme caution. It is very odd that the Leyline is being used as a public meeting place."
Jim added, "Yeah, no kidding."
Melfina suddenly gasped with wide eyes. She backed into a wall, wrapping her arms around herself, "No! Stay away from me! Leave me alone! Please!"
Gene ran over to her, "Mel! Mel, what wrong?! Speak to me!"
Gene came to realize that she was crying. He didn't know how to handle what he had just seen, but he knew that the Leyline probably played a part in what she was going through. He held her in his arms and said, "Don't worry, Melfina. We'll all do whatever it takes to help you through this."
Melfina's eyes stayed shut as she sobbed softly. It was only a few seconds later that her sobs turned into short moans. She cried out, "It feels...strange..I-ah! Oh...ah....what's happening to me?!"
Before anyone could say a word, Melfina passed out. Jim, Suzuka and Aisha were all staring with puzzled faces as Gene just looked at Melfina, full of concern. He looked up at the others and said, "I guess she'll have to stay here. Jim, could you look after her?"
Jim shrugged, "Okay, just be careful. This place has trap written all over it.
Gene smirked, "Hey, it'll all work out in the end, Jim. You know that."
Jim sweat dropped, "Yeah, sure...."
Suzuka and Aisha were already outside of the ship holding their own conversation.
"What's wrong with the name Suzu, anyway?"
"It's not my name."
"But, it's a cute name, Suzu."
"Don't make me hurt you, neko-girl."
"Geez, what a grouch...."
Just then, Gene stepped out from the Outlaw Star. He had a worried look on his face, but then went back to his usual cocky smirk before Suzuka and Aisha caught him moping. Gene looked ahead toward the huge mansion that all the bounty hunters were going into. He grinned slyly.
"This'll be the easiest million wong we ever made."
"Assuming it isn't a trap." added Suzuka.
Gene raised an eyebrow, "Would it kill you to be positive for once?"
Suzuka smirked, "I would ask you the same about being wise and cautious, but we all know the answer to that, don't we?"
Suzuka walked on ahead along with Aisha, leaving Gene standing there, searching his mind for a snappy comeback while shouting stuttered gibberish. He eventually gave up his attempt and dashed to catch up to the pair.
As they got closer to the mansion, there was a tall man in a tuxedo with long, black hair tied in a ponytail and two different eye colors. One eye was sky blue, but the other eye was pure crimson. Gene noticed that Suzuka had already left from their sight, leaving him alone with Aisha. Gene mentally cursed at Suzuka in 43 different languages, but continued despite her sudden absence.
The man in the tuxedo asked, "Excuse me, sir. What is your name?"
"I'm Gene Starwind of Starwind and Hawking Enterprises. We got your call."
"You pilot the Outlaw Star, correct?"
"Yeah, what about it?"
"I just wanted to make sure I was speaking to the first place privateer in the Space Race almost a year ago. It's an honor to meet you."