"Welcome to the Rotan Skyline Space Station," a computerized voice exclaimed. Ryoko and Nagi stood in a small room covered in big thick space suits. As the door behind them sealed and locked, oxygen began to fill the room, hissing as it fought the air pressure. The two pulled off their helmets once it was safe to breathe. As soon as the hissing stopped, the large door that stood in front of them opened, giving sight to the poorly lit corridor ahead. "Wow. I haven’t been here in a long time," Ryoko exclaimed as they headed down the hall. When they reached the end, the room completely opened up. Ships of all shapes and sizes were entering and exiting as workers tended to them and dealt with their owners. The ones that were damaged were taken off to the side where they could be repaired. Ryoko and Nagi’s ships didn’t need to be docked; Ryoko minimized and enclosed hers in a capsule, and Ken-Ohki sat atop Nagi’s shoulders.
"Ryoko!" a voice called from somewhere. She turned and saw a small man approaching. "Hey Koji!!" she called back, waving. The man didn’t really look like a man though. In fact, he was a cyborg. He was injured badly in an explosion long ago, but must have had a really good health plan because he survived and was pieced back together. Most of his body was now robotic, although some of it was still human. By looking at him, you couldn’t tell where. "What’s up?" Ryoko asked as she put her hands on her hips and looked down at him. "I’m glad your friend here was able to convince you to come. I didn’t think you would." "Shows how much you know. So why do you…" "What are you doing here?!" Ryoko was interrupted, and turned to see the man who had just blurted out that question standing behind her, looking a bit irritated. He had long hair, a goatee, and a long scar on his face that went across his forehead and down to his chin. His skin was dark tan, although Ryoko had always assumed that he inherited his skin color since it was impossible to get a tan here. "Why?! Do you have a problem with me being here, Clutch?" The two stood staring angrily at each other, but couldn’t keep up the act for long. He shrugged and smirked as Ryoko began to laugh out loud. To Nagi’s surprise, they hugged.
"How are you doing?" Ryoko exclaimed happily as they let go. "Same as always," he answered. Clutch was one of Koji’s top workers. He controlled every ship and shuttle that entered the space station. While Ryoko was working there, the two went out for a while, but that didn’t last. They broke up, but remained friends since it wasn’t really that big of a thing. "You?" he asked. "Oh, well…I-I can’t say things are the same for me," she laughed nervously. "Spit it out, Ryoko," Nagi said. "Well," Ryoko muttered, scratching her head, "I got married about 3 years ago… oh, and I have 2 kids." "Really?!" Clutch exclaimed. Ryoko shook her head. "Oh..uh, well that’s pretty cool. Good for you." He sounded a little disappointed. "Are you all gonna keep yacking, or are you gonna get back to work?!" a girl yelled from above. "We’re falling behind!!" "Give us a break, Harim," Clutch yelled back to her. "Hmph. I always have to do everything around here," she grumbled as she repaired a damaged hatch on one of the ships. "That sounds familiar," Nagi added, looking over at Ryoko. She ignored the bounty hunter’s comment, and was about to finally ask Koji why he asked her to come here, but was interrupted once again by yet another guy calling her name.
"Hey, Ryoko," a guy said somewhat seductively as he walked up to her. "Get away from me, Spike." His name seemed to suit his appearance well; his hair was spiked straight up and brown in color. One of his eyes was blue, the other was green, he was about the same height as Ryoko, give or take a few inches, and wore a black jacket covered in metal spikes and chains. He was good looking, and obsessed with girls. "Now that’s not very nice to say to me." He walked up closer to Ryoko, and she glared back at him. Her glare was shared with Clutch, who began to sigh and walk away. "Oh, what the hell are you doing here?!" Harim yelled angrily from above. "Change your mind yet?" Spike asked her arrogantly. "Don’t keep your hopes up you pig-headed asshole!!" she yelled back, then leapt off the ship she was tending to and onto the bridge overhead, hurrying out of sight. Harim was Spike’s girlfriend once, but unlike Ryoko and Clutch’s current relationship, she hates his guts. Spike is too much into girls in general to be able to stay with just one, and is into himself too much to keep them interested for long. He didn’t work at the space station, but hung around to bother Harim and check out girls. He first met Ryoko long ago, and was into her ever since. She liked to tease him by letting him think he had a chance with her. Spike shrugged, and brought his attention back to Ryoko. "How ‘bout you?" he asked. "Wanna go have some fun?" "What do you have in mind?" she answered, toying with him. He smiled at her. Ryoko’s face turned to a disgusted scowl. "Get those sick images out of your head!!" she snapped. He shrugged again, still smiling. "Ryoko’s married, you know." Nagi added. He raised one eyebrow and lowered the other. "So?" "You’re disgusting," Ryoko stated, brushing him off as she turned and walked away. Nagi looked over at Spike who was still smiling arrogantly, shook her head, then followed behind Ryoko.
"Sorry about that," Ryoko said as she walked into Koji’s office. "Miss me?" He laughed. "Yeah, besides Harim and Clutch, you were the best employee I’ve ever had. Sucked when you left, I’ll admit." Ryoko sat down, and pointed up at her friend who remained standing. "You sent Nagi to get me. What for? What’s up?" He closed his eyes as if in deep thought for a moment, then reopened them, looking solemnly at Ryoko. "Ever heard of Dark Legacy Enterprises?" "Dark… Legacy.." she repeated slowly, racking her brain for a memory. She closed her eyes, and a sudden thought quickly surged through her head. A vision from long ago jogged her memory. "I.. I remember!! That’s the last place I raided as a pirate before Kagato captured me and erased my memories. The original Dark Legacy building was on Yakumi, right? But now it’s here, on Rotan." "That’s right," Koji said. "The enterprise is in control of virtually everything on the colony. It’s a vast organization with so much money and power that the executive would think nothing of the fate of this colony. That’s not good for us." "Get to the point," Ryoko stated anxiously.
"I found out that Dark Legacy intends to use Rotan for company purposes only, and rid the colony of everything, including civilians. We’ll be forced to leave." "And you don’t want to leave." "This is a problem for every single person living on this colony. The place may be a bit corrupt…" "A bit?!" Ryoko laughed. "..but it’s where we live and it’s where we do business. The pirates and outlaws love to hang out here, bounty hunters love Rotan for that exact reason, and the more people coming in and out of Rotan, the better it is for me. I don’t see why things can’t just stay the way they are. We can’t do anything about it - if Dark Legacy decides to go through with their plan of turning this place into a private mass of factories, that is. They don’t give a damn about who stands in their way." Ryoko leaned back in her chair and rested her feet up on the desk. "Hmm… so you agreed to come and get me because you’re all for me risking my neck to take care of this Dark Legacy business, right?" she added, looking up at Nagi. "We all have our selfish reasons for things," she answered calmly. "Well, I understand now. But I have just one question - why me?" Koji looked up, then shrugged his shoulders. "Who else? You’re the only one who could deal with Dark Legacy. It’s dangerous; they’re a criminal organization after all. I know talking won’t do any good. If something has to be done with force, you’re the one to do it." "Well, I can’t argue with that," Ryoko said, grinning. "But how do you figure we get in the place? It’s bound to be swarming with guards, and every square inch will be monitored. " "We?" Nagi asked. "You’re coming with me," Ryoko insisted. "You want your money. This has nothing to do with me; you’re lucky that I’m actually coming with you." Nagi couldn’t argue with that. "Oh, and as a reminder to you, Koji, I don’t work for free. Risking my neck for your own personal benefit is not my forte. I’m sure you’re all too well aware of that already though." "Yeah, that’s no surprise. I’m sure I’ll be owing you for a while if you can pull this off."
As Ryoko stood up and turned toward the door, she saw that Spike had been standing in the doorway, listening in on their conversation. "What do you want?" she asked, annoyed with his eavesdropping. "It sounds as though you’re gonna need some help getting into Dark Legacy." "That’s not your concern." "That’s where you’re wrong. I know how you can get in, undetected too." "..You…do?!" Ryoko asked, shocked. He smiled at her surprise. "Trying to enter from just about anywhere, the front especially, would be suicide. We know that the really big buildings on this colony extend as far under the surface as they do over it. No matter how much graywater recycling and reclamation you do, some of it is always going to be lost. Waste products, sewage, they need to be pumped away where bigger and more efficient systems can work on them." "So?" "So, a building as big as the Dark legacy Enterprises has generates a lot of waste. There has to be some way to get rid of it. Here, the solid waste is broken down, then pumped away. Therefore we are talking about pipes." The two girls stood, trying to find the logic in his facts. Ryoko got it. "Big pipes," she exclaimed. "Exactly," he answered. For being a jerk-wad pretty-boy, Spike was pretty smart. "I doubt there’ll be any guards down in the sewers," Nagi added. "There doesn’t have to be," Ryoko returned. "I’m sure there are a lot worse things lurking down there than guards. Nothing we can’t handle, mind you." "There might not be guards," Spike added, "but there’ll be security systems." "In a sewer?" Nagi proclaimed. "Yep," he answered, shaking his head. "In case people get the same idea we have. There’s 3 main gates; in total there’s a lot more, but they can easily be taken down by Ryoko." She smirked at that comment. "The three main gates need access keys and pass codes. If either of you try to take them down by force, all of Dark Legacy staff and guards will become aware of your presence instantly when the alarm goes off. Then that’s the end of it."
"And how do you know all of this?" Ryoko asked suspiciously. "My uncle works there. I found the access keys and codes when I looked through his stuff." "What were you doing looking through all his stuff?" "Well, I ran out of money at the slots, so I figured I could just borrow a little from him." Ryoko laughed. Money ran the universe, no doubts there. "So are you gonna give us the pass codes or what?" Ryoko sighed, sat down again, and stretched in her chair. "Well, I would, but you don’t know where to go, and how to use them." "Then let me guess. You want to lead us there, am I right? For a price of course…" Spike smiled. Ryoko sighed. "Name it." The thought of a chance to get what he wanted made him really happy. Ryoko could see his excitement, and shuddered at the thought of his demand. "I want you to convince Harim to go out with me," he said at last. "Impossible," Ryoko answered back strictly. "You know I can’t do that. She’ll never go for it, not in a million years." "Hmm..," he sighed, realizing she was probably right. "Ok, then. How about a date with you?" "Ain’t gonna happen!" "What? C’mon! I have to get something good for this." Ryoko moaned and thought about it as she rested her head in her hands and dug her fingers in her bangs. "Ugh.." she groaned to herself. "Why do you wanna go out with me so badly? A date’s not that fun." "It’s not the date, it’s what comes after the date." "Oh god! You know, you never change, do you?! No! You’re just gonna have to pick something else." "How about just a kiss?" "NO!! Isn’t there anything else you want besides me?!!" He sighed. "Well, money’s always good." "Alright then," she said, folding her arms. "How much?" "500,000 Tani." "500,000?!! You know how much Zeni that is?!! 10 million!! No way! Damn!! I don’t even have half that!!" "I thought you were rich!" he exclaimed. "My mother-in-law is rich! I just work for her and live in her house and eat her food. I don’t have hardly any money of my own!" "Well, if you can’t give me either of the two things you’re good for, you’re outta luck," he stated, and began heading towards the door.
Ryoko growled. "Wait!" she yelled at him. He stopped, and looked back at her. "Say something?" "Is there any way I can pay you back?" Her pathetic desperation fed his ego. "Well, I can think of one way for you to get your money. Saturday’s the big race, the prize money for first place is 500 thousand tani. If you win, you can pay me the prize money." "Wait, are you talking about the A-Spek Swoop Speeder race in Wikaili Gorge?" "That’s the one! You set the speed record for that course the last time you won, I believe. That record still stands you know." "Of course!" Ryoko exclaimed boldly. Nagi sat in the corner yawning, bored as she zoned out from the continuing negotiations and Ryoko’s continual yelling and bragging. Koji was already long gone. "You enter and win and pay me… wait," Spike stopped talking. "What now?" "What if you don’t win?" "What kind of stupid question is that?!! Of course I will!" "Well.. there’s no guarantee," he explained. "I have a better deal. Just pay me half of that, and instead of the other half.." he paused, ".. you have to let me kiss you." "I thought we went over this?! No!" "Think about it - what do you have to lose? You don’t have to give up anything.." "Yeah, my dignity." "If you win 1st place, you get 250,000 tani. Isn’t that much better than none? You said yourself that you were broke. At least this way, I get something whether you lose or not. You don’t want to end up owing me, now do you?" Ryoko grit her teeth. "I hate making deals," she mumbled to herself. "I always feel like I've been ripped off afterward." "So, is it a deal or not? I'll lead you and Nagi into and through the pipes, and open the three gates. You enter the race afterward, pay me 250,000 tani after you win, and... well, the other part of our deal. How does that sound?" "It sounds like you're getting the better deal," she growled. "Hey, you can't get in without me, and that's that. Besides, if you succeed in "changing the Dark legacy exec's mind", the payout you'll receive from Koji will make your debts seem like nothing." Ryoko hung her head and thought it over. "...Fine," she sighed quietly. "What's that?" Spike asked happily. "Fine!! Alright! It's a deal, ok?!" Ryoko shouted in his face, then stormed out. He started to follow behind her, but stopped suddenly right before she slammed the door in his face. "Sensitive, isn't she?" he said back to Nagi, who was still sitting calmly.
Ryoko found Koji, and shouted, "We finally reached an understanding," as she walked up to him. "Good. And you’re going now?" "Yeah. I should have the executive groveling at my knees by this afternoon." "Don’t be so cocky, Ryoko." She smiled and waved his comment off. "I’m leaving," Harim called as she passed the two. "Did you finish the repairs on the-" "Yes," she answered, cutting off the end of his sentence. "See you later, Ryoko." "Bye, Harim." She turned and walked off, but was intercepted by Spike who approached her from the side. "Hi Harim!" he said, trying to get a nice response for once. She looked at him, then continued walking away until she got to the door, muttered "burn in hell," which was obviously directed to him, and walked out. "Ouch," Ryoko exclaimed at the comment.
.............................................................
The sludge was a greenish black, thick, oily, and it stank worse than anything Ryoko and the others had ever smelled before. The goop was liquid, or at least fluid, and it flowed around their feet, sometimes almost as deep as their knees. "Ugh," Ryoko moaned as they waded slowly though the filth, and down the long, poorly lit tunnel. Nagi said nothing, but growled and grumbled to herself; some of her comments and cussing were loud enough to make out, and included, "... %&*$# crap. I won’t be able to stand going through this damn shit for much longer..." "How much further?" Ryoko asked Spike. He didn’t seem to be as upset as they were, but hated being there nonetheless. "Well, the total trip is about half a mile. I’ve only been through here once before, but I tested all the passcodes and mapped the place out. It’s pretty simple. This large tunnel leads to the first gate, and then into tighter pipes." "Great."
Nagi looked up and far ahead, then stopped. "What’s up? Hear somethi..." just as Ryoko looked back at Nagi to see why she halted, a giant tentacle shot out of the ooze right in front of her. Spike backed up in shock while Ryoko quickly drew her saber and hacked away at it. The sliced limb sprayed out a thick purple liquid as it swung and fell into the muck. The three could hear a high pitched squeal from the creature as it went into a frenzy from the pain. Its entire body suddenly emerged; four giant eyeballs in the middle of the squid-like creature’s head gazed down at Ryoko who still had her sword drawn. The squealing was a call for back up, and two more, equally large monsters appeared behind the wounded one. "Shit!" the pirate yelled, angry with her situation. The place stank to high heaven, and she was now covered in the disgusting purple ooze from the first creature. "Haaaa...!!!" She called upon her incredible strength, and her hair glowed and spiked up as she transformed. The energy brought a wind that seemed to come from nowhere, and the muck Ryoko stood in now shot up from the force. She leapt up, disappeared, then reappeared at the ceiling and dropped, jabbing her sword into an eye of one of the creatures. It flipped out, squealing in agony as it swung its tentacles in every direction. One hit the wall of the pipe right next to where Spike was suspended, almost crushing him. Nagi pulled out her whip, and began taking out every limb that came at her. Ryoko dodged one leg as it rushed by, but was struck from behind by another, and fell hard, face first into the sewage below.
Her body lay completely submerged in the filth, which did a poor job of breaking her fall as she easily penetrated the surface and slammed into the ground beneath. One of the creatures finally decided to take its leave, once Nagi had finished chopping every single limb off its body. Screeching and howling, it slithered away in pain. Nagi then looked over to where Ryoko had fallen, and watched her quickly emerge. Disgusted, she got to her feet so fast, it looked like she was reacting to the sewage as if it were fire, and touching it would instantly burn her skin. The overpowering smell made her cough and gag. She would’ve thrown up right there if the creature she wounded wasn’t still thrashing wildly, forcing her to keep on her toes as it approached. She ducked quickly as a leg swung overhead, then stepped in closer to its body, generated her long energy sword once again, and swung at it sideways, chopping it in half. The cut pieces continued thrashing, but the spasms quickly subsided. Two down, one to go.
Ryoko stood calmly holding her humming sword and watching the monster die as a clump of raw sewage slid down her hair, then dropped, plopping at her feet. "Behind you!!" Nagi yelled over to Ryoko, but her reaction was too slow. She turned just as a giant tentacle pelted her in the gut, then wrapped itself around her chest, and raised her high. "Aaahhh!!…Ungh," Ryoko screamed as it squeezed her body tightly, slowly cracking her ribs. Ryoko tried to loosen its grip with her hands, but she was suddenly turned upside down and swung violently, hitting the left wall, then the right, then the ceiling, over and over again. Nagi stood, watching in horror. She drew her scepter and tried to lock on and follow the flailing leg’s movements, but couldn’t get a clear shot. The creature was moving around so quickly, and she was afraid she’d miss and hit Ryoko accidentally instead.
Just as she decided to chance it, the creature stopped swinging the pirate madly, and let out a loud screech. Spike stood behind Nagi, still aiming his blaster at the creature as smoke rose from the barrel. The shot tentacle twitched and writhed in agony, then released a dizzy Ryoko who fell, barely landing on her feet making the slosh beneath her splash. She started to fall back, but caught herself and looked over at Spike who had pocketed his weapon. "You alright, Ryoko?" he asked as he knelt down next to her and checked her ribs. "…Yeah," she answered, stunned. She didn’t even try to stop him from touching her. But the creature was far from done, and Spike stood up again as it began heading towards them. "I got this," Nagi exclaimed as she charged her attack. A red, glowing ball of energy grew as it formed at the end of her staff. The blast lit up the tunnel as it erupted from her weapon, and hit the squid-monster, blowing it to pieces. The threat was over.
"Ugh...," Ryoko moaned. She smelled horrible, and the dead monster bits weren’t helping. It was nauseating. Her clothes were soaked in sewage from falling in, and Nagi couldn’t help but point at her and crack up. "Shut up," she growled, and pushed Nagi down into the filth. She freaked, and got up to scream at Ryoko, "The hell did you do that for?!!" "Not so funny anymore, is it?!" They grabbed each other by the collar in anger, but stopped once Spike walked by and said, "Just ahead." There were two large, round holes in the wall, covered with finger-thick metal mesh gates. The holes angled down slightly and more sludge ran from smaller tubes in a shallow stream to join the slow-moving slurry in the large pipe. Larger pieces of garbage sat on the other side of the gate. "Must be used to filter out the larger pieces so it flows more smoothly," Ryoko observed. "Ok, Spike. Let’s see if those codes of yours work, huh?" Nagi said. He moved forward, slid a card into a slot, and quickly typed something on a keypad. The gate swung open, and he grinned. "We’re taking the one on the left," he said. With that, they climbed into the smaller tunnel.
It was a bit of a squeeze; none of them could stand upright as they hunched down and trudged through the pipe. It seemed to go on and on. They walked silently for a while; the only sound came from dripping and Spike’s nervous whistling. Ryoko’s ears pricked up, and she stopped. "Shhh.." she whispered. "Stop it. Listen..." They stopped, and tried to hear what Ryoko had heard. "...That sound... It sounds like..." Nagi began, then paused. "Running water," Ryoko finished her thought. "Oh no! It’s coming this way, fast! Let’s go!!" She grabbed Nagi and Spike, and quickly took flight, soaring down the tunnel that seemed to be narrowing. She looked back, and could now see the oncoming water or whatever it was. One of the pipes must’ve drained, and they were right in its path. It was gaining. "Fly faster!!" Nagi screamed. "It’s not easy carrying two people with cracked ribs!! I’m going as fast as I can!!!" Even so, her speed seemed to increase slightly, but it wasn’t enough.
They were engulfed by the oncoming water, which filled the pipe and quickly carried them down its path. It wasn’t long before the sewer travelers couldn’t hold their breath any longer. Ryoko opened her eyes under the rushing water. It was blurry, but as soon as her eyes adjusted and her vision became clear, she saw a wall suddenly appear as if out of nowhere. In that second, they slammed into it, pummeled by the millions of gallons of water that emptied into a drain in the floor. The pipe was now empty, save the three who were now plastered on the floor like socks that went through a spin-cycle. Nagi lay upside down against the wall, and fell as soon as she snapped back to reality. "Ughh...," she moaned and rubbed her head, then looked over at her fallen comrades. Well, at least they were cleaner. She walked over to Ryoko and nudged her, but she didn’t stir.
"Wake up," Nagi muttered, and shook her with greater force this time. Ryoko came to, and begun to cough and spit up water as she held herself up with her arms. "...That... was fun..," she coughed, being sarcastic like always. She held her ribcage in pain with one arm, and held out the other. Nagi took it, and pulled Ryoko to her feet. She then headed over to where Spike lay, and he was still out of it. "C’mon, Spike. Time to rise and shine," she muttered while pulling on him. He didn’t respond. "Spike?" Ryoko flipped him over so he was lying on his back, and then checked his pulse. He wasn’t breathing. "Damn!! He isn’t breathing, Nagi! What am I supposed to do?!" "What?!! Don’t ask me!! Give him mouth-to-mouth or something." "What? No way!! You do it!" "Why me?!" "It was your idea!!" "You agreed to let him lead us here!!" Ryoko looked down at him and sighed. If she didn’t do something now, he could die. She didn’t have a choice. "Dammit… why do these things always happen to me?" she groaned, then leaned down to him, put her lips on his, and began filling his lungs with air. He started to move, and she stopped and backed up just as he started coughing and sputtering. He sat up and gasped, looking over at Ryoko and Nagi. "..You…saved my life," he blurted out to Ryoko. She closed her eyes and folded her arms. "Yeah, well I wouldn’t just let you die." She stood up, holding her ribs, and said, "All the water went down into that drain. Which way do we go now?" They reached a dead end, and there really wasn’t anywhere to go but back. Spike stared up at her, still in complete shock at what she had just done, but came back to reality and answered, "We passed our exit a while back. They water forced us further than we had to go." "Fine then. Let’s head back."
At last, they reached their destination; a ladder of metal bars that lead up. They climbed up with ease, except Ryoko who was still in some pain, and reached the second gate. This one was lined with some kind of electric field. "I’m gonna take a hot shower over and over again probably all day before I get back to normal. And my clothes are as good as trash, they won’t ever be the same again," Ryoko complained as Spike switched off the field and opened the gate. "Alright," he sighed. "There is the entrance to the building. It leads to the recycler in the subbasement. Won’t be any guards there until you get out and into the building itself. Here’s the last key. Good luck," he whispered, and turned to leave. "Hey, where are you going?" Nagi asked. "You don’t need me anymore, so I’m not any help to you here. Our deal’s done. I hope to be seeing you later." "Wait, what about those creatures? You gonna be able to make it back alone?" Ryoko added. "I should be ok. I think those ones you two took out were all of ‘em, and if worst comes to worst, I got my blaster," he said, patting it. "Don’t worry about me," he added, smiling as he looked over to Ryoko. Embarrassed, she yelled, "I couldn’t care less about you!! I just don’t want my efforts at saving your life to be in vain, that’s all." He shrugged, and headed back down.
Happy to be out of the horrid sewers, Nagi and Ryoko stretched as they walked down the well-lit hall in the basement of dark Legacy Enterprises. They made it out of the recycler, and now kept a lookout for any guards. And with good reason too. They suddenly heard two heading down the hall ahead, and prepared for a meeting when they turned the corner. With a quick punch, Ryoko knocked one out cold and he fell and hit the floor. Nagi kicked the other in the back, flinging him over to Ryoko who held her arm out, clothes-lining him. The guards were unconscious, and will be for a while. They searched the guards, and found a passkey, probably used to get into the locker room. Ryoko held the keycard, then looked over at Nagi. "I have an idea," she said, grinning.
They found the locker room, which wasn’t very clean, but seemed like a four-star hotel compared to the sewer. Ryoko hosed herself off (since that’s what was in place of a shower), then found a couple of pairs of the guards’ uniforms. "Here," she said, tossing an outfit over to Nagi. "Try this on. It should fit." "What? Why?" "We’ll disguise ourselves as guards. Since their uniform is a full body suit, including a mask, there’s no way anybody will know who we are. That’ll make it a lot easier to get around here." They dressed in the uniforms, and laughed at how funny they both looked.
Ryoko and Nagi strutted as they walked down the halls, imitating the guards. They saluted the other guards as they passed them by, who returned a salute. "This is actually kinda fun," Ryoko thought to herself. When they reached the highest floor the guards were allowed to go up to, they discarded their masks, and in following another idea of Ryoko’s, headed up through the air ducts. They were a lot tighter than the sewer pipes, but smelled a lot better. "Should be almost there," Ryoko grunted as they inched their way through the vent. "Let’s hope so," Nagi muttered. They didn’t realize how much noise they were actually making. Echoes of bangs and clanks from their feet sounded from the ceiling, alerting the guards. The sound finally reached the executive’s office, and guards entered and stood by blocking off the exits. The banging finally ceased. "I think we’re over the executive’s room," Ryoko whispered. She kicked the mesh vent covering down, and dropped down into the room. As soon as she did, Nagi followed. "Hands up," a guard said sternly as he held a tranquilizer to their backs. "Yeah, it sure seems like we are," Nagi added, commenting on Ryoko’s assumption. The two slowly lifted their hands over their heads.
"It seems like we have some unexpected visitors," a voice said from behind a large chair that sat behind a massive desk. The chair turned, revealing who had been sitting behind it. A woman who looked to be about Ryoko’s age rose out of the chair, and began to stroll over to the two. As soon as Ryoko took one look at her, she began to freak; a look of complete shock and horror spread across her face. "…N-n-no…" she stammered. Nagi looked at Ryoko in confusion, then looked back at the unknown woman. She had long blue hair and brown eyes, and gave Ryoko an evil glare. "Makaiya?!!!" As soon as Ryoko finished shouting the name, the guards shot the two in the back with their tranquilizers. Everything turned black as they fell to their knees, and hit the floor.
Next: Chapter 10 - "Ryoko And Makaiya"
Jaz - October, 2003
http://saiyananimeplanet.cjb.net
Naluchik11@Hotmail.com
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