Badasses Of the Multiverse Book 5: “The Gambling Man.”

Volume 2: “Total Badass.”

Chapter 05: “The Tower: Part One: The Ascent.”

By Paul Cousins.

Copyright Disclaimer: All copyrighted places, characters, items, and events, within the story, are held by their current owners. No profit is being made on this work of fiction.

(_)

Reality, Babylon Five Reality. Date, January Twenty-Eighth, Twenty-Two Eighty-One. Location, planet Mars. City, Mars Dome One, capital of Mars. A factory complex on the north part of the interior city of dome that surrounds Mars Dome One from the outside atmosphere of Mars. Time, early in the night.

Presently, Lee drove his black convertible, with its roof and windows lowered, down one of the paved roads, between the buildings, that made up the factory complex,

While, most of the outside factory lights were off, and the ambient light from the city and sky were mostly cut off, from the nearby building, there was security lighting by the doors, and sides of the building, for safety reasons.

Given the straightness of the road, Lee was not driving very fast, he took a moment to look at the GPS monitor in the dashboard of his car, for a second.

Lee saw that the building he was heading for was the next building to his left.

Lee turned his attention back at the road, as he let his foot off the gas pedal, while he gently applied his brakes.

As Lee's car came to a stop, in a big clearing, beside one of the corner of the building. Lee looked up at the huge building, that went up for dozens of floors, while stretching for couple of city blocks, in each direction.

Lee thought, 'Now, that is a place I can get lost in. Still, I got to hide my car. But, where do I hide it?'

Lee looked around him, he then spotting a narrow alleyway, between two of the nearby buildings.

Lee thought, 'I better back this in several feet, and come in from behind, so I have a straight shot out of here.'

Lee then drove over to the alleyway. He then turned around, with the rear end of his car facing the alleyway. Lee back his car several feet, while giving himself plenty of space on his side, for him to get out of his car, by using the car door.

As Lee came to a stop, and put the car in park, he thought, 'I better bring up the roof, and rolled up the windows.'

After Lee used the electronic controls of his car, to raise the roof, and roll of the windows, he turned off the car, unbuckled himself from his seat, opened the door, and stepped out of the paved road.

Lee thought, 'At least with the paved roads, it will make it harder to find me, and my car. Now, to lock my car.'

Lee then locked his car, and shut the door.

As he put the keyring with the car keys and clicker, in to his front left pants pocket, he walked out of the alleyway, the way he had come in.

When he exited the alleyway, and he faced the corner of the main control center of the factory complex. He then saw a nearby side entrance.

Lee thought, 'Good. A side entrance is better to come into the building from. I don't have to waste time going through the reception area. And I can make my way to the heart of the building quicker.'

'Given, this is a factory complex, and not a bank. It is probably not that well guarded, nor locked. With many of the doors not wired for security. And with luck, the lights on the inside are on, because it is likely there is a guard on duty. If that is the case, I will do the last thing the guard expects. Explain the situation, to the guard, with given details. Ask the guard for help. And tell the guard to call the police.'

'Still, before I go inside, I need to come up with the other parts of my plan.'

Lee then took off his shades, so he could see better, as he looked around him.

As Lee looked around, he saw a sewer entrance, a crowbar leaning against the wall, and a trash chute hugging up the skyscrapers buildings. With the chute emptying out five feet above the street, directly to the ground. And from all these items, several plans were starting to form in his mind.

Lee smiled, as he put back on his sunglasses. He thought, 'Now, I have some plans. And I know which one to start with. Still, I am going to burn time doing all this. But, I should still have enough time to get ready for the party I am expecting.' He then smirked, as he continued his thought, with feral glee, 'And it is going be the most explosive party in my entire life. And I am the man of the hour... Now, to get the door, and open it.'

Lee briskly walked to the side door. When he reached the door, he pulled out his lock picking tools.

Lee found the door's knob was unlock and the lock above it was a simple deadbolt lock, that could be picked.

In a record thirty seconds, Lee used his precognition to help him pick the door lock, and open the door.

As Lee opened the door, he quickly walked inside, with him locking the door behind him. This time, with both the deadbolt and the knob lock.

Lee noticed that the lighting inside was turned on. With every other ceiling light being on. He thought, 'Good. I can see where I am going. Now, to trust my precognition.'

Lee then used his precognition to guide him to the location in the building that he needed to go to.

(_)

A few minutes later, outside of exit ten of the Mars Dome One outer highway loop, on the dirt road where Faye had her Red Tail landed, that was two miles from the factory complex Lee had escape too.

As Faye's eyesight hare fully returned, from being hit with the high-beams from Lee's car. She had decided to save fuel and land her zipcraft.

Then, she was sitting inside her cockpit, Faye saw as the rest of her group showed up in their cars and zipcraft, had finally arrived.

A few of those that were on the other side of the city, or would take to long to reach the location by driving, just teleported themselves and their vehicles, to the area. Given the flat terrain, and no one else around. There was little risk of them doing so.

They then spent ten minutes talking to each other. With Faye and the others outside their vehicles, as they talked to each other.

During this time, Faye had used the Red Tail's GPS system to provide a map and layout factory complex for Rock and the others present.

Once Rock accounted for everyone and had the information from the GPS system, she then told everyone to get back into their vehicles, and follow her, in the GTO.

Those present got back into their vehicles, with Rock driving her family's red GTO, in front of their convoy. Though, except for getting in line, everyone waiting for Rock to give the signal to go.

To Rock's right side, in the front passenger seat, Revy sat beside her. With a few of their friends in the back seat.

Rock's left hand on the steering wheel, and her right hand on her radio, as she said into her radio, “Now, that everyone is here, except for the maids, I want everyone to follow me. When we get to the main control center, we will park, get out, and I will issue more orders, then.”

Rock set down her radio. She then started her car, as she drove towards the factory complex's main gate, with the other cars following her, and the zipcraft flight above her car.

As Rock drove, her lips curled into wicked grin, as she thought, 'I wonder what Lee has planned to try and count my small army... I will find out soon enough.'

(_)

At the moment, inside the man control building, Lee made his way through the hallways, and staircases of the building, all of which were illuminated, as he continued using his precognition to guide him to where he wanted to go.

Lee walked briskly, but softly through the hallways.

As Lee walked down the hallways, the doors to his sides were closed.

Lee thought, 'I am not sure where I am heading, but I trust my in precognition to see me through.'

Just as Lee turned the corner, he noticed one of the doors in front of him was cracked open, with light coming from inside.

Lee thought, 'Well, my precognition tells me there is no danger. So, I will sneak a peak inside.'

Lee quietly walked up to the door, and he slightly push the door open enough to see inside the room.

In the room, to Lee's right side, he saw a desk set against the right wall. The desk was about twenty feet, in front of him.

The desk had a thin computer monitor screen turned on. To the sides of the monitor were speakers. In front of the monitor was a keyboard and mouse. Wires to all three ran into the wall, with no plug in outlet.

Actually, Lee did not see any plugs in the room, save for a few electrical plugs. There were no communications plugs, or wires, see on the walls of the room.

Lee thought, 'This works for me on so many levels with my plan.'

Lee continued looked around, he saw that the soft yellow light from the room came solely from small lamp on the desk, by the computer equipment.

Behind the desk, while facing the computer monitor, was a man sitting in a swivel chair. The man was a heavy set human man, in his early fifties. The man wore a security uniform, and boots, as he was quietly sleeping.

Lee thought, 'You know. If this immediately situation was not so serious, I would laugh at the cliche nature of this situation. I don't see any gun on him. Now, to wake him gently, and talk to him. He will react badly if I don't immediately explain that I am not a trespassing thief. But, that I really do need his help.'

'Still, chances are, he might be the only other person, besides me, here, in this place. I don't want to him to die on my account. So, I got to help him, as well.'

Lee quietly opened the door fully, and walk inside.

When Lee came within ten feet of the guard, he coughed.

Nothing happen.

Lee said, in a calm tone of voice, “Hello.”

The guards eyes snapped open, as he turned his chair to face Lee. He demanded, “Who are you?”

Lee quickly said, “Please, remain calm. First, I not here to rob, nor harm anyone. I am being chased. And before this meeting is over, I want you to call the police.”

Lee could tell from the man's face that he heard every word that Lee stated. But, the guard replied, in a confused tone of voice, “Huh?”

Lee ignored his desire to roll his eyes, as he thought, 'Too much, too fast, too soon, for this man. He is not fully wake and his brain has not fully engaged. I am going to have to walk him through this. And not say a word about the reality traveling.'

Lee calmly requested, “From your uniform, I know you are the security guard for this place. As such, I am sure your computer has access to the cameras for this factory complex. Please, keep in mind that time is of the essence. I would like you to punch up the cameras on your computer screen, and select the camera feeds that look at the main gate of the complex. It is a matter of life and death for myself.” He mentally added, 'And maybe you, as well.”

The guard turn to this computer monitor by him, as he used the mouse to bring up the camera system.

As the video feed was pulled up on a window of the screen, the guard looked at it, as he asked, in a surprised tone of voice, “What the hell?!”

Lee leaned over to look at the computer screen to see that the color video on the sub-window shows a convoy of cars, and flying vehicles, heading for the front gate. The Lagoon's red GTO bringing up the front.

Lee thought, 'Revy and Rock literally brought army with them, to come get me... Honestly, I am flattered. And from the speed that are going, and the time it will take it organize, once they come to a stop, I think still got around ten minutes until they get here.'

The guard further inquired, “What are those vehicles? Who are they?”

Lee answered, “Those are they ones after me. And from my guess is that they are heading right for this very building?”

The guard asked, “Why?”

Lee stated, “The GPS system listed this as the main center for the factory. That is why I came directly to this building.”

The guard cursed, “Damn it.”

Lee requested, “I know. It is a lapse in security. It is not your fault. Can I have access to your computer for a moment.”

The guard asked, “There is not much you can do from here?”

Lee agreed, “No. But, I can even the odds a bit.”

The guard stood up from his chair, and stepped away form his desk, as he offered, “Go ahead.”

Lee walk to the back of the desk. He turned to the desk, and leaned over. He used the computer mouse to find which screen icons on the computer that he wanted it to use.

First, he pulled up the three dimensional, grid style, schematics to the building they were in, and the buildings by the building they were inside.

The guard noticed what Lee was looking at, as he questioned, “What are you doing?”

Lee stated, “Most battles are won before the battle even begins. I am not going to be blindly running around this area. I have a plan. And the longer I can stay one step ahead of them, the more time I buy for both of us.”

The guard said, “Good point.”

Lee commented, “And while they are likely going around these building blindly, I will know where I am going. And thus be on step ahead of them.”

The guard complimented, “That is actually a good plan.”

Lee spend the next few minutes looking at the schematics, and figuring out a few routes to take, floor to floor. He then closed that window, and pulled up another program on the computer.

The guard saw what he did, as he commented, “Okay. I did not expect you to do that.”

(_)

The convoy had passed thought the entrance to the factory complex, a few minutes ago.

As the convoy of cars made their way between the factory buildings, on the paved road, Rock was driving the lead car, when everyone saw the factory light up both inside, from the windows of the buildings, and the outside walls of the buildings, like a Christmas tree.

The lights in the night could be seen for miles around.

Beside Rock, Revy stated, “Do you think, Lee did this?”

Rock kept her eyes in front of her, on the road, as she answered, “Yes. And he did this so he can see where he is going. He knows about our enhanced sense. He is just leveling the playing field.”

Revy made a feral grin, as she said, “This is going to be a fun hunt.”

Rock agreed, “You got that right.”

Revy inquired, “With the thickness of these buildings, do you think our infrared binoculars are going to help?”

Rock answered, “I doubt it. These buildings are very heavily lined, and thick with metals, and other materials. Partly because they are right up against the dome wall. And with these narrow alleyways, we do not have a clear line of sight. And Lee will likely try to stay deep in the buildings, as he runs through those buildings.”

Revy questioned, “So, you think he will not just try and hide in one place?”

Rock said, “He knows better than to do that. And because of that fact, we will track him down, inside the buildings, the old fashioned way.”

Revy replied, “Okay. So, do you know where he is?”

Rock stated, “Yes. I have a good idea where he is. The main control building. Also, something just occurred to me.”

Rock kept her left hand on the steering wheel, as she pulled out her radio with her right hand. She stated, into her radio, “Everyone, we are going to park a block from the target building we are heading for. That is because, I do not want to take any chances. I do not want Lee to double back, see one of our vehicles, and hot wire them. While sabotaging a few of the others, to blockage the other vehicles, and prevent us from following him.”

As Rock put down her radio, from the back seat, Lotton complimented, “Good thinking, on your part, Rock.”

Rock kept her eyes in front of her, on the road, as she said, “Thanks.”

(_)

Back in the security room of the main complex building, Lee closed out the folders, on the monitor, showing the video feeds, schematics, and controls to the lights. He next use the mouse to highlight an icon to something else, besides what he was working on. He then leaned back up, and looked at the guard. He saw the guard looking back at him.

The guard inquired, “So, we got the lights on. For the most part. That does what exactly?”

Lee stated, “We can see them coming, and when you call the police, there no mistaking where the call is coming from.”

The guard responded, “Good point. How did you know I would have access to the lights?”

Lee answered, “It is simple logic that to save electricity, and money, most of the lights in this place are turned off. But, given your job, you would have access to turning on the lights, to get a better look through the cameras.”

The guard replied, “You are correct.”

Lee questioned, “I take it that I cannot do much more than that here? Such, as lock all the doors.”

The guard answered, “No. I cannot shut and lock the door from here. I can only turn on and off the lights. The management does not want any one person to have access to where they can shut, and lock all the doors at once. That is just common sense, dealing with safety. This is not a bank, nor government building. There is nothing really of value that a group can steal from here, without heavy equipment.”

Lee inquired, “I can see your point there. Are most doors in this place closed when not in use.”

The guard commented, “Quite the opposite. Per safety regulations, all the hallways and rooms, with more than one exit, have to be kept open, in case of fire. Though, most office rooms and auxiliary rooms are mostly left close, but not locked. Unless I lock them. The only locked doors here are to the outside of the buildings, and even they can be opened from the inside.”

Lee asked, “That figures. When is the next shift for the workers of this factory?”

The guard answered, “In about ten hours, or so.”

Lee commented, “Well, this whole mess should be over by them. Can you call the police from here?”

The guard stated, “Actually, I have a cellphone in my pocket that I can use to call the police with.”

Lee said, “That is good. That way you can find a safe place to hide, and call the police from there.”

The guard commented, “I guess that this place is not safe?”

Lee answered, “No. It isn't Some of them will come to this very room. You don't want to be here when that happens.”

The guard replied, “I agree.”

Lee thought, 'There are still a few things I need to clear up, before I can move to the next part of my plan. Also, I need to think about wildcards. While the lighting knocks out the nightvision, and extra sensory advantages, they may have. They may use other things against me, such as infrared equipment. But, these buildings are made with heavy materials. And infrared is good, but not foolproof. Plus, if they do not use such equipment at the beginning, I doubt they will start using it when I reach the offices, and windowed areas. Because, it will just not occur for them to do so, that late in the game.'

'So, those problems are taken care of, by the simple understanding of the human nature. Such as, if a person doesn't use something at the beginning, they are less likely to use such advantages later on.'

'Still, there are the problems with possible snipers. Though, I will worry about that later.'

'Either way, I need to get the ball rolling on my plans, before they get to this room.'

Lee inquired, “Can they access the computer system to this place from any other terminals?”

The guard stated, “No. The other computers are all shutdown, and password protected. Do you want to log off this computer, so they cannot use it?”

Lee stated, “No. This group has hackers. If we do not provide them with a turned on outlet, they will find another way into the computer system. Speaking of which, does this place have a wireless network?”

The guard answered, “No. This company that runs this place is too cheap to install one.”

Lee cracked a smile, as he responded, “Good. Then, we will leave this one to drive them nuts in trying to get it work.”

The guard questioned, “How?”

Lee inquired, “Do you have a knife?”

The guard stated, “Sure. The company won't even let me have a PPG, but I am not going to work here completely unarmed.”

Lee said, “I understand what you mean. Anyway, for this part of my plan to work, I am going to shut the camera screens off the monitor, and then I am going to cut the cords to the keyboard and mouse. They will think that it will take them less time to splice the keyboard and mouse to work, than to find another computer, and hack their way to the system. It will be a case of so near, yet so far.”

The guard laughed, for a few seconds. He then commented, “You are evil.”

Lee smirked, as he commented, “I know. Still, are there other keyboard and mouses nearby?”

Guard responded, “No. Not in this section of the building. And they are all like this one. They are tied into the wall, with no plugs, because there was a rash of thefts of such items, a few years ago. But, management didn't want to pop for more security, than myself, and anyone else on their one, or two man, shifts. So, they tied it all into the walls, with it going to a main mainframe.”

Lee replied, “That figures. And that works for us.”

The guard pointed out, “Still, this is damaging private property.”

Lee responded, “At most. It is a hundred credits. It is not that big a deal.”

The guard conceded, “That is true.”

Lee said, “And this is opposed to them destroying more expensive property, while trying to get to another location, to take into the computer network.”

The guard commented, “When you put it like that. I can see your logic.”

Lee mentioned, “Good. And I am not just cutting them on the cord. There is a method to my madness. I am cutting these cords at the base of their attachments to the keyboard and mouse. Meaning they will have to take it apart to reach the wires to fix it.”

The guard realized, as he replied, “That will up eat even more of their time.”

Lee requested, “Exactly. Now, please hand me your knife.”

The guard replied, “Fine.” He then pulled out his folded pocket knife, and he handed it to Lee.

Lee took the knife in his hands. He said, “Thank you.”

Lee turned around to face the guard's desk, as he unfolded the knife. He then used the knife blade to cut the cords of both the mouse and keyboard, as where the cords were attached the device.

A few seconds later, when Lee was finished, the holes where the cords attached to were flush with the surface of the devices.

Lee then folded the knife blade back into the handle. As he handed the sheathed pocket knife back to the guard, he said, “Thank you, again.”

The guard took the closed knife, and he put it into his right side pants pocket. The guard suggested, “You're welcome. Now, why not cut the cords at the wall, as well?”

Lee pointed out, “No. That will make it too hard for them. And they will look elsewhere to find another computer. I have to give them something to work with.”

The guard agreed, “I see your point. Still, I may be able to help you.”

Lee looked the guard in his eyes, as he stated, in a serious tone of voice, “Listen. Hell is literally seven steps behind me. Those after me are trained killers. They will not hesitate to kill you if you show your face to them. That is why I came to this factory complex in the first place. To lose them, in a place that almost no one else is around. Now, you need to go find a place to hide. And call the police.”

The guard said, “I understand. I will do what you request. But, what are you going to do?”

Lee lips curled into a wicked grin, as he stated, with a bit of excitement in his tone of voice, “I am then going to give my best interpretation of a mix between Die Hard and Riddick.”

The guard replied, “Huh?”

Lee answered, “As I already stated. I am going to keep them busy, and buy time for the police to get here.”

The guard said, “I got you. And you will be needing this.” From one of his pockets, he pulled out a shiny, chrome, small credit card shaped, metal card. He handed the item to Lee.

Lee took the card and looked at it.

The guard explained, “Almost all the doors here have electronic locks on the panels, by the doors. That key card will unlock, or lock them. The lights on the boxes on both sides of the doors, will tell you which is with. Green light is unlocked. Red light is unlocked. Also, all the doors and wall have at least an inch of steel. They will not be able to break through, easily.”

While Lee pocketed the card, he thought, 'Along with playing the multivere's most extreme form of hide and go seek. It looks like I am about to play the most insane game of red light, green light, in the multiverse. Though, given the door I used to come inside, did not have a key lock. And he said almost all the doors. Not, all the doors. It is possible that some of the doors were either not upgraded, or some of the doors were replaced. So, I need to be mindful this will not work on all doors. Still...'

Lee looked up at the guard, as he said, “Thank you. I can see how this could come in handy.”

The guard said, “No problem. While the company did not allow have a PPG, they did give me something that can be used to trap, or delay intruders. I never thought I would end up giving it to an intruder.”

Lee replied, “Well, it is for a good cause. And I will try to keep them busy, until the police arrive.”

The guard commented, “That could be a while. But, I will do my best to help expedite matters.”

Lee stated, “Thank you. Now, go hide, and call the police, while I start this chase.”

While both men then turned and headed for the door to the hallway, the guard said, “Good luck.”

Lee responded, “You too.”

Lee allowed the guard exited the room first. Lee then exited the hallway.

As they entered the hallway, Lee noticed that now all the lights on the ceiling were turned on, instead of every other light being turned on.

Lee thought, 'This is a good sign that most of the factory complexes lights are on. Though, the guard hinted that may not be the case for everywhere. Well, beggars cannot be choosers. Now, to stop this run.”

The guard then went one way down the hall, to find a place to hide.

Meanwhile, Lee went the other way down the hallway.

Lee went deeper into the complex. He followed the path in his mind, that he had made from looking at the factory complexes schematics, as he began his battle of wits with his foes.

(_)

Five minutes later, Rock and Revy lead their convoy to a parking lot, one city block from the main factory center. So, Lee would not spot the cars, and other vehicles.

As everyone parked their vehicles, and zipcraft, Rock and Revy, got out of their car. Along with the two women letting Shenhua, Lotton, and Sawyer out of the backseat, before they closed raised their front seats. Along with locking and closing the two doors to their vehicle.

While Rock, Revy, Shenhua, and Lotton, had their weapons, Sawyer headed for the trunk of the GTO, to retrieve her chainsaw. She used a key that the Lagoon family had given her, to open the trunk, safely pull out her chainsaw, closed the trunk, took the key out of the lock, and pocketed her key.

Meanwhile, Revy walked around to where Rock was standing.

Everyone else was also getting out of their vehicles, while retrieving their weapons and equipment.

As Rock and Revy looked around at the people with them, Revy whistled. She commented, “We really brought an army with us.”

Rock calmly agreed, “Yes. But, let us not say anything to jinx the situation.”

Revy smirked, as she said, “I hear that.”

Rock then noticed Benny and Dutch walking up to them.

Dutch had her Smith & Wesson model six twenty-nine, forty-four caliber magnum, six round revolver in a shoulder holster, under her left armpit. Along with that pistol, she had her Remington eight seventy marine magnum, twelve gauge shotgun slung over her right shoulder.

Dutch's shotgun was pump action, and with the ammo tube being able to hold up to seven rounds. With Dutch loading her shotgun with a combination of buck shot and slugs.

Walking beside Dutch was Benny, whom was carrying small, closed cloth cases, with handles on each other them. With her gripping each item by its handle, with one of her hands. One case had her tool kit, the other case had her laptop, data discs, and computer peripherals with it.

As Dutch and Benny reached Rock and Revy, and came to a stop, the four women looked over at each other.

Rock inquired, “Where is Janet?”

Benny answered, “Back at the car, we rode in, with Eda.”

Rock looked over and saw Janet in the distance, beside one of the Lagoon family's other cars. She was beside Eda, whom road with Dutch, Benny, and Janet.

Rock then turned back to Benny and Dutch, as she asked, “So, Janet is not going to be with you, two?”

Benny smirked, as she stated, “No. She is going hunting with the rest of you.”

Revy questioned, “What is weapon is she going to bring with her?”

Benny continued to smirk, as she slyly inquired, “You know that weapon we got you as a gag gift, for the Christmas, after we learned about that Tvtropes website?”

Revy and Rock giggled, as the both remembers the answer to Benny's question. Revy then commented, “Perfect weapon for being crazy.”

Benny responded, “We all agreed. Even Eda stated that it was an appropriate weapon for the occasion. Speaking of which, Lee was an idiot to let us learn about that little website.”

Rock pointed, “Yes. But, let us not forget that he knows all the genres, as well. And that is one of the reasons he has been able to keep one step ahead of us.”

Benny admitted, “True.”

Revy asked, “So, where are you two heading?”

Dutch stated, “Security room.”

Benny said, “With luck, I will be able to help make this hunt go very quickly. I will try to patch into the video feeds in this place, while Dutch plays look out.”

Rock complimented, “Good thinking.”

Dutch said, “I just want to find this bastard, and get on with the revenge part. I don't care if I am the person that actually catches in him, as long as I get a piece of him, at in the end.”

Rock agreed, “I feel the same way.”

Benny inquired, “And what are your plans?”

Revy answered, “We are just going into the main building, and see what happens.”

Rock commented, “With our luck, we will bump into him.”

Dutch replied, “You might just be right about that.”

Rock said, “Let's hope so. Now, let me try to bring some organization to this madness.” She turned to Revy, as she requested, “Revy, would you please do the honors.”

Revy pulled out the semi-automatic pistol holstered in her left armpit, with her right hand.

She then pointed her weapon to the ground, as she used her left hand to pull back the slide of the gun, to load a bull into the chamber of the weapon.

She then aimed her pistol into the air, and fired a round. She then put the safety on her gun, and holstered it back into her left holster.

Everyone immediately looked at her, Rock, Dutch, and Benny. Revy then yelled, “Hey everyone! Listened up!” She continued, in softer tone of voice, “Rock has something to say.” She turned to Rock, as she went onto say, in a calmer tone of voice, “They're all yours.”

Rock replied, “Thank you, Revy.” She then turned to look at the group in front of her, as she stated in a loud, yet even tone of voice, “The main building that we are heading to is one building over, directly north of us! But, I do not want all of us heading for that place. Split up, and use caution. Do not shoot unless you have to. Keep in mind, Lee is unarmed. And he is trying to avoid a fight. So, there is no serious danger, unless we get trigger happy, and accidentally shoot each other.”

“Since we do not have the time, nor manpower, to do a floor by floor search of each building, I want to concentrate on the main building we are heading to, and the buildings by around it. If one of you sees, Lee, or finds evidence of his trail, immediately notify all of us by radio, so we can tighten our search to that area.”

“We can find him, it will just take some time.”

“And remember people. We want Lee alive, conscious, and not crippled. Revenge is useless, if he is not aware of it, nor can feel pain. Also, if you find someone in there, try not to harm, nor kill them. We are after Lee. We do not want to draw the attention of the locals, with broken bodies, dead corpses, and missing people, if we can avoid it.”

“And we are all working together. This is the same rules as on Plata Podrido. If there are problems between any of you, contact Revy and I. And we will sort out the problem. If you cannot play nice with each other, you can go home.”

(_)

At that moment, the back of the crowd, Spike, Faye, and Jetta wear standing together, they had out their weapons, and were reach to search.

They heard every word. In response, Spike said, under her breath, “We will see.”

(_)

Ten feet away from the Bebop crew, the Serenity crew were ready. As they had just finished pulling out their weapons and equipment from the trunks of the two cars they drove in.

Kaylee has a revolver pistol holstered to a gunbelt, on the right side of her waist.

Beside Kaylee was Simon and Inara. Simon has carrying a case, full of medical supplies, by the handle, in his right hand.

Inara also had a pistol holstered in a gunbelt, on the right side of her waist. Though, Inara's pistol was semi-automatic.

Mal, Zoe, and Jayne, has a few weapons strapped to their person. Also, Mal and Zoe each had an automatic rifle slung by the strap, over their right shoulder.

On the other hand, Jayne had brought a much more personal weapon with him, that was slung onto his right shoulder.

After hearing Rock's speak, Mal muttered, “Whatever.”

(_)

Nearby, Balalaika and B were standing back, and to the left sides, of both the Bebop and Serenity crews.

Both women overheard Spike and Mal.

Balalaika commented, in english, “Come on, everyone. Lighten up. This could be a very fun hunt, if you let it be.”

Both the crews of the Bebop and Serenity heard Balalaika. They looking behind them to see that Balalaika and B were dressed in black and dark gray camouflaged, combat fatigues, with fingerless gloves.

They also saw that Balalaika and B had come prepared. Their equipment included their snipe rifles, slung on their shoulders, by straps, Their holstered, side arm, pistols. Their radios clipped to the other side of their belts. And they had some climbing equipment. Such as ropes and rappelling gear, on the opposite shoulders they had their rifles slung to.

Jayne whistled. He then complimented, “Yea. You to are definitely dressing for success in this hunt.”

B smiled, as she inquired, in english, “Thank you, Jayne. So, what are all your plans in this hunt?”

Simon was the first to speak, as he stated, “Kaylee, Inara, and I are going to hang back, in case anyone needs medical attention. Even if it is Lee. If it is him, I promise, if I can get to him in time, when I am done with him, he will be healthy enough to torture.”

The adults nearby chuckled, for a few seconds.

Balalaika complimented, “That is a good idea, Simon. I feel better with a trained medic in the field.”

Simon replied, “Thank you, Balalaika.”

Kaylee commented, “Too bad Annie didn't want to come. This would go a lot quicker with her here.”

Inara look over at Mal, and Spike, as she commented, “It seems that not everyone feels up to hunting, Lee. A few of us have no hard feelings towards him. And it is likely a good thing that Annie is one such person.”

Both Mal and Spike noticed Inara's gaze and comment were directed at them.

Spike stayed silent. While Mal conceded, “You may have point there.”

Jayne stated, “Well, I don't know about the rest of you guys. I am going out on my own.”

Zoe looked over at Jayne, as she said, “Good luck. And don't worry. I will stick with the captain.”

Jayne replied, “Thanks, Zoe.”

Jetta looked at Spike, then Faye. She turned to the Serenity crew, as she mentioned, “Well, the three of us work better as a team.”

Faye looked over at Jetta, as she commented, “It is a lot better than when it was just the two us, Jet.”

Jetta turned to Faye, as she agreed, “You got that right, Faye.”

Spike said, “It is nice working with you two, again.”

Jetta replied, “The feeling is mutual, Spike.” She then turned to B and Balalaika, as she inquired, “B and Balalaika, I take it, from those weapons, and equipment, that you are going to find be the snipers for this crew?”

Balalaika casually answered, “Yes. And don't worry, I promise to only wing, Lee. If we see him... I cannot believe he tricked us during that trip, by using the alias, Ello Gray.”

Faye commented, “Now, you know how we feel.”

B stated, “That being said. Since Lee knows we are here, he will guess we will be the ones taking the sniper positions, in this group. I doubt Lee will be foolish enough to expose himself out in the open, with us here.”

Balalaika replied, “I have to agree.”

Spike turned to B, as she asked, “So, how good are you with a rifle, B?”

B answered, “While not as good as Balalaika with a rifle. Though, I am a skilled marksman.”

Balalaika commented, “Yes. B has pulled a few shots over the years that have impressed even myself.”

Mal asked, “So, where are you covering from?”

B answered, “Balalaika and I have already discussed this, on our way here. Balalaika will will be setting up two vantage points. One covering the southwest corner of the building are heading to, and the other will be the northeast corner of the build. Balalaika will take the southwest. While I will have the northeast.”

Zoe complimented, “Not bad. I am pretty good with a rifle myself. If you want my help.”

B declined, “No need. And we would prefer someone with a level head stay with Mal.”

Kaylee deadpanned, “I second that motion.”

Many of those around them chuckled, while Mal politely remained silent.

As they calmed down, Mal stated, “Okay. Let's head out.”

The adults then separated, as they all began their hunt for the same prey.

(_)

Elsewhere in the group, the eight teenager adults in the group were near Akira, Ranma, and Natsuru.

The three lovers had come in their own car.

The five Lagoon sisters got their weapons, from the two cars they rode in, with the trio sisters riding with them, Yurika, Nodoka and Mikoto

The three martial artist sisters did not bring any weapons, save for their own abilities.

Presently, Yurika, Nodoka, Mikoto were a number of feet from the five Lagoon sisters. They were by standing by their mothers, Akira, Ranma, and Natsuru, as they were talking to them.

While the sisters and Natsuru did not have on any weapons. Ranma had on her magical golden bracers, on her forearms. And Akira had on her revolvers, and long knives, with her yellow cowgirl outfit. Though, she did not have on her cowgirl hat, nor sunglasses.

Nodoka asked, “So, what are you three planning on doing?”

Natsuru answered, “We are going to be hunting Lee together.”

Akira commented, “Personally, I hope the three of us find Lee, first. We will try to take him down with as little harm to him as possible.”

Ranma shrugged, “Yea. We don't really have anything against him.”

Mikoto stated, “We are with you on this. Honestly, we are just here to keep the others from killing Lee. We honestly like him.”

Natsuru inquired, “What is the general mood with the Lagoon sisters on Lee?”

Mikoto answered, “Mixed, and conflicted, with them leaning towards not wanting to harm Lee. They want to please their parents, but they realize what Lee has done for them. So, their hearts are not really in this hunt.”

Akira stated, “Good. Now, we want you three to keep an eye on the sisters, so they don't accidentally do something we will all regret.”

Yurika agreed, “That is a great idea... Well, good luck.”

Akira replied, “Happy hunting.”

The daughters and their parents then split up.

The three parents started making their way towards a secondary building, near the main building. Meanwhile, the three daughters walked over to the Lagoon sisters.

When the three sisters reached the Lagoon sisters, Molly looked over at them. She adjusted her shoulder holster straps, on her upper chest, with her semi-automatic pistol holstered in them. She kindly said, “Glad you could join us.”

Yurika replied, “We are glad you would let us join.”

Molly responded, “My opinion in this hunt is, the more, the merrier.”

Molly, Yurika, Mikoto, and Nodoka giggled from Molly's response.

Nearby, Yukio, held up her machine gun, with a modified beta c-mag clip attached the weapon, she looked around and saw that her family and friends were ready. She asked, “Now, that we are ready to kick ass, what are we going to do about getting Lee?”

Kristina finished putting on, and powering up, her power gauntlets, as she turned to her sister. She commented, “Well, I know better than to torch this place.”

Rebecca finished tying on her to scabbard, with a long knife sheathed in each one, in a crisscross fashion, on her back. She suggested, “Given Lee is good at thinking several steps ahead. We should not go to where we think he is. And we should be focusing on where we think he will be next.”

Sarah adjusted the scabbard attached to the left side of her belt, which held her katana. She stated, “Well, in that case...” She turned to Molly, as she questioned, “Molly, where do you think Lee is heading?”

Molly looked over at her sisters. She cracked a smile, as she said, “I have a few ideas.”

(_)

A few minutes later, everyone had locked up their vehicles, and started heading towards the buildings where they thought Lee might be inside of.

As they all walked out of the parking lot, and into a nearby road, Rock walked up to Lotton, whom was only about ten feet from her. She requested, “Hold up, Lotton.”

Lotton did so, as she turned to look at the japanese woman.

As Rock walked over to Lotton, Lotton asked, “What is it?”

When Rock reached Lotton, she leaned over and whispered something in Lotton's left ear.

When Rock leaned back up, she saw the white hair woman nod once towards her. Lotton stated, “I understand.”

Rock commented, “I know I am asking a lot. But, you are one of the few people here that has the patience to do what I ask.”

Lotton said, “No problem. I understand. And it is an idea I would have thought of.”

Rock stated, “I know. And good luck.”

Lotton replied, “You too.” She then turned and headed in a different direction than the rest of the group.

Meanwhile, Rock turned around, and walked back over to Revy.

As Rock reached Revy, Rock noted that, from the look of confusion on Revy's face, her lover had noticed Rock's actions, but she did not overhear what was said.

Rock thought, 'Well, at least our enhanced hearing is not so enhanced that it is troublesome. And what I whispered was only meant for Lotton's ears.'

Revy asked, “What was that all about?”

Rock answered, “Insurance.”

Revy shrugged, as she said, “Okay. Well, let's head inside. I would like to have first crack at, Lee.”

Rock stated, “So would I.” She then noticed items attached to the various walls, on the outer buildings around them. She said, “And you know what I never thought I would say, that I would be happy to see, in a building I am breaking into.”

Revy replied, “What's that.”

Rock cracked a grin, as she said, “Security cameras.”

Revy just lightly giggled at Rock's joke, as she realized what Rock meant with her comment.

The two lovers then walked together, with the rest of their group, towards the buildings that they believed they would find Lee inside of.

Soon after, they started splitting up, and heading into the buildings, at different entrances.

Though, unlike Lee, they were not so discreet in entering the building.

(_)

Fifteen minutes later, Lee had already crossed into another building, with the alleyway between buildings be less than six feet apart, and the entry doors beside across from each other. It took less than ten seconds for Lee to move building, to alleyway, to building, with him using the key card to unlock and open the door. Then, close and lock the doors, behind himself.

Currently, Lee was walked down a hallway, with horizontal piping running up the walls, and sides of the floor. At certain points, the pipping turned into the walls, and lead down to other parts of the building.

While Lee continued walking, Lee thought, 'I am glad I checked that key card, that the guard gave me. To see how it works. And it works better than I had hoped. These is a chip in it that works on short proximity, which is triggered by swiping the card on the door locks, on the walls, by the doors. And no matter what angle swipe the card on the wall panels, by the doors, the lock is triggered to either lock, or unlock. That means the card readers are just pressure sensors, which triggers the signal from the card.'

'And if this is like similar technology in my reality. The card frequency is likely short range. So, even if they had equipment to home in on it. Which they don't even know I have such a key card. It would still take them time to find me.'

'Also, the doors are solid steel. No windows. Nothing to punch through.'

'Along with the key card, this building is bigger than I expected. And like the map showed, this building is clearly part of the factory section of the industrial complex.'

'In addition, I consider myself lucky to have gone from the other building, to this one, without getting caught. But, I don't think my luck will last for much longer.'

As Lee got near the end of the hallway, he hear voices coming from the large room, at the exit of the hallway.

Lee thought, 'Well, it seems a few of them are nearby. Let's see how quiet I can be, while I hide in the last place they expect a tall man, like me, to hide.'

Lee then softly climbed up the piping on the walls until he was literally hanging on the ceiling, by his feet and hands, while facing downward.

Lee thought, 'At least I have a good grip, with both my hands and feet. And this position is not that uncomfortable. I can stay here for a little bit, without a problem. Now, I can listen to them. While, I come up with a plan to deal with them. Without any of us getting hurt.'

Lee then strained his ears to listen to the voices, as they got closer.

As the voice got closer, he recognized the voices as belonging to Ranma, Natsuru, and Akira. And all of them were speaking in japanese, which Lee had long since learned, during the time loop.'

Lee thought, 'They are likely using japanese, because they think I won't understand them. They don't realize that I completed my japanese language lessons from someone they don't know about.'

(_)

In the nearby room, Ranma, Akira, and Natsuru came to a stop, in the large room, as they looked around, and saw that the room lead into three other hallways, excluding the hallway they had come in.

Ranma said, in japanese, “Well, this room has four ways to come in from.”

Akira commented, in japanese, “We came from one direction. So, that eliminates that entry point. And we can do this a few different ways. We could do the more foolish idea of split up. With each of us taking a hallway.”

Natsuru said, in japanese, “I do not like that idea.”

Ranma responded, “I am against doing that.”

Akira agreed, “It is a bad idea. So, how about we even the odds in another way? One of us stays here, and two of use go down one of the hallways? Then, we just double back and take our time to check out each hallway?”

Natsuru agreed, “I like that idea.”

Ranma responded, “That works for me. But, who stays?”

Natsuru stated, “I do. Lee knows what we are capable of. Ranma, you are the better fighter. And Akira, you are armed. But, I am physically tougher and stronger. I can handle myself in a fight. And Lee knows about my fire abilities. Chances are, if he confronted me, he would surrender to me.”

In the nearby hallway, hanging from the ceiling, Lee mentally reflected, 'Nice logic. Flawed. But, nice logic.'

Ranma questioned, “Okay. Now, which hallway do you want to go down in?”

Akira answered, “Simple. We are on the building west of the building, whom Rock stated, that Lee probably entered. We can from the south part of the building. The best chance to bump into Lee is to take the east hallway from here.”

Lee thought, 'Good guess, Akira, considering this is that hallway. I guess I better get ready for them, and to confront Natsuru. I have to do this just right, or I am going to get myself killed, or worse. Still, it might be a good idea to see what I am dealing with, before I act. Natsuru mentioned Akira was armed. That makes things more difficult. Still, I want to see the situation with my own eyes.'

'And since my precognition is not screaming at me, it means that in my position, I am not in any immediately danger. So, I still have some time to think.'

Lee stated in his position, clinging to the ceiling, as Akira and Ranma walked under him, with neither realizing he was there.

While Lee watched the two women continued walking passed him, and down the hallway, he thought, 'So, Akira has both her revolvers, and both her long knives. And Ranma had on those golder bracers of hers. That is not surprising. But, it does mean I am going to have be more careful in this situation. Though, Ranma and Natsuru are still the primary dangers of their little trio. But, Akira is someone I should not underestimate. I, of all people, know how useful it is to have someone underestimate him, or in this case, her.'

'And with them like this, it is academic that Natsuru is in her white and black seifuku. Though, she keeps her Kampfer powers and abilities as long as she is in female, not matter the clothing. So, as long as she is female, she is extremely dangerous, no matter what clothing she is wearing. Now, to see how silent I can be.'

Lee slowly, and silently freed his left hand, as he pulled out a deck of cards, from one of his left side coat pocket.

He thumped open the small box of cards, he then put the open box of playing cards back into his left side coat pocket. He then used his left hand to pulled out his key card

He put the key card, from his front, left pants pocket.

Lee thought, 'Now, to time this, using my precognition.'

Lee waiting for the next ten seconds, until his precognition told him that it was safe to move.

As Natsuru turned her attention away form the hallway that Lee, Ranma, and Akira were in, Lee silently stepped down to the floor.

By then, Akira and Ranma were fifty feet down the hallway, from Lee, and the entrance to the other room, where Natsuru was.

Lee then swiftly, stepped into the other room, as he pulled out his key card. One on the other side of the doorway, he turned around, as he swiped the key card in the locking it, as the steel door slid sideways to close.

In a matter of three seconds, as Natsuru turned to see Lee, along with Akira and Ranma looking behind them to see the door to the other room, to where their lover was located, slide shut.

Lee immediately pocketed the key card back into his front left pants pocket, he then pulled out his open box of cards with his left hand, and him pulling the cards out with his right hand. Then, he pocket the empty box, swapped hands, to where the left hand was holding the deck of loose cards, as a card was between Lee's right index and middle finger. Lee's right hand was in a throwing position, aimed a Natsuru.

Lee and Natsuru silently stared at each other, for a few seconds, as they sized one another up, for a possible battle.

Lee mentally noted, 'Just as I thought, Natsuru is in her white and black seifuku. Now, to talk her out of doing something foolish.' Lee calming warned, “Let's not doing any more foolish, than either of us have done.”

Natsuru agreed, “Wise words.”

Lee said, “Glad you agree. Now, shift back to male. I can throw this card between your eyes faster than you can throw a fireball. Do not make me kill you. I respect you, and really do not want to.”

Natsuru pointed out, “But, my fire ball would kill you, leaving us both dead. Though, I agree. It is not worth it.”

Natsuru shifted to her male form, with his male clothing.

Lee said, “Thank you.” He then took a closer look at Natsuru's male form, through Natsuru's shirt, pants, and shoes. Lee complimented, “And your male form is really ripped.”

Natsuru commented, in his male voice, “I would like to thank you for that.”

Lee replied, “You're welcome.”

Natsuru commented, “You do know you cannot escape.”

Lee calmly pointed out, “I can try.”

Lee's eyes never left Natsuru, as he started walking sideways, to his left, around the room, until the was on the west end of the room. With Lee making sure to also use his peripheral vision, to avoid any pipes, or other items, that may be on the ground, and cause him to trip. Fortunately, Lee saw not such items on the floor.

While Lee walked, thought, 'I need to keep my eyes on Natsuru, and avoid tripping on anything. Natsuru can change in a split second. So, I am not taking any chances. And I do not want to be near that door I just shut, in case Ranma does something stupid, like trying a ki energy shot against it. I am not sure the door would hold, or blow out. And it is not worth the risk.'

Lee then came to a stop, on the west end of the room, with his back to the open west hallway behind him

Just then, Lee and Natsuru heard banging coming from the shut door.

Lee kept his eyes on Natsuru, though, from the angle he was standing at, he saw the closed door, on the other side of Natsuru, where the banging could be heard.

Lee thought, with mild amusement, 'Speak of the devil. And I better warn them.'

Lee stated, “I checked the doors. They are each an an inch thick of steel. And after I leave the room, it is going to take you a minute to free Akira and Ranma.”

Natsuru replied, “I appreciate the information. I saw that card you used. I take it that is a key card that unlocks and locks the doors to this place?”

Lee thought, 'Given this is so obvious, there no point in denying that.' He admitted, “Yes.”

Just then, Lee heard a radio, clipped to the right side of belt, around his pants. From the radion, Lee heard Akira's voice state, in japanese “Natsuru, are you all right?”

Natsuru pulled off the radio, with his right hand. He held the radio near his mouth, and pushed the talked button. Though, he never took his eyes off of Lee.

Natsuru said, in his male voice, in japanese, “I am fine. Lee's here, but I am trying to talk him down. As a show of good faith, I changed back to male.”

Over the radio, Akira stated, “I am glad things are going well for you. Though, the door is seems to be locked. Ranma is thinking about blasting it.”

Lee said, in english, “I would advise against that.”

Natsuru replied, in english, “I agree.” He pressed the talk button on his radio, as he said, in japanese, “Ranma. Do not do that. I will get you out in a minute.”

Ranma commented, from her radio, in japanese, “Okay. We will wait for you.”

Natsuru continued to look at Lee, as he said, in english, “I have to congratulate you, Lee. You really got the drop on us.”

Lee smirked, “Quite literally. I was hanging from the ceiling.”

Natsuru could not help but smile, as he responded, “I cannot believe you successfully used that ceiling drop ninja trick on us, of all people.”

Lee continued smile, as he replied, “Yea. The irony is absolutely hilarious.” Lee then spoke in japanese, as he complimented Natsuru, “By the way. Nice try with using your native language. But, I know japanese.”

Lee thought, 'It is best not to get any more detailed than this. I do not want them to know that I know that they know about the time loop.'

Natsuru thought, 'So, he found someone to teach him in the time loop. Though, it is best not to mention the time loop. If he knew that we know about the time loop. That information would likely make him more unpredictable and dangerous.'

Natsuru stated, in english, “I wondered if you understood what River said to you, during your poker game, at the casino. When she spoke in japanese.”

Lee said, in japanese, “I did understand her. But, I did not want let you all to know that I knew japanese. Given how many of series, in my stories, come from Japan. Doing so would raise suspicion against me. But, since my identity is now out in the open. That is presently a small matter.”

Natsuru complimented, “I see your point. You always do surprise us, Lee.”

Lee said, in english, “That is why I am still alive. See you.”

Lee then walked backwards, to the nearby hallway. He then pressed the bottom on the wall, to close the door behind him.

As the door closed, Lee immediately put the single card in his right fingers, back into the top of the deck. Then, he grabbed the deck with his right hand. He quickly pulled out the key card with his left hand and swiped the panel, locking the door. Next, he pocket his key card, back into the pants pocket he had it in.

Lee pulled out his empty card box. Afterward, he put the cards back into their box, and closed it. Finally, he pocketed the deck of cards back into the coat pocket he had them in, as he turned and ran down the hallway, away from Natsuru, Akira, and Ranma.

Though, Lee more or less jogged. Because with his cancer, he did not have much stamina to begin with. And if he ran full out, he would quickly tire himself, in a situation, he knew he needed to stay mobile, as much as possible.

As Lee ran, he thought, 'I am glad I got out of there, with neither of us getting hurt. It is good that Natsuru is a kind person. Still, I cannot afford to take any chances. I will run for a minute, or so. Then, I will go back to walking. I don't want to tire myself out, in this endurance gauntlet. Also, I should make a turn in a minute anyway. And I won't lock the doors behind me. That will just create a trail for the others to follow me. I will only lock the doors, if the others, after me, are in the immediate vicinity, and they spot me.'

(_)

Meanwhile, at the moment, on other side of the locked door, in the room, with Lee gone, Natsuru shifted back to his female form, in her seifuku. She thought, 'That went better than I expected.'

She still had her radio in her right hand. She into her radio, with her female voice, in english, “As you can guess. Lee was here, but I had to let him go. We are in the southeastern part of the west building, beside the main center.”

She then turned to look at the closed door that was between her and her two lovers.

Over the radio, Rock said, in english, “We are all heading your way. But, why did you have to let him go?”

Natsuru answered, “It put me in a situation, where we would have killed each other with his card throwing trick, and my fire. And it just wasn't worth it.”

Rock replied, “I understand.”

Natsuru said, “Thank you.”

Rock inquired, “By the way, I overheard the exchange between you, and Akira, on the radio? What happened, exactly?”

Revy stated, over her radio, “Yea. Even if you let him go, you three should have him in a minute, or so.”

Natsuru commented, into her radio, “We reached a room that branched out into a few different hallways. And we decided I would stay behind, while the two of them went down the hallway they though Lee was be coming from. They were right. But, Lee was able to hide, wait for them to pass by, and he then locked the door behind him. And these doors are an inch of metal, thick. Still, I should be able to get to Akira and Ranma, within a minute of trying to open one of these doors.”

Over the radio, Violin stated, “Be careful doing so. I have done that a few time. Even with your strength and toughness. You can easily hurt yourself, if you are not careful.”

Natsuru responded, into her radio, “I will. Anyway, I saw that Lee has some sort of key card that lets him unlock and lock the doors in here. So, be careful. If he gets by you, he can trap you. And, as I said, these doors are thick. At least, an inch of steel. I think it is steel. I am right now trying to figure how best to open the door between Ranma and Akira, and myself. It will be a few minutes.”

Over the radio, Akira suggested, “We could just go around.”

Natsuru smiled, as she casually stated, into her radio, “Nah. I got this.”

Revy said, over the radio, “Take the time you need. And we will keep that in mind.”

Natsuru replied, into her radio, “Will do.” She then clipped her radio back to the right side of her short skirt.

Natsuru then started approaching the door, as she thought, 'I think the best way to open this, is to slowly warm the metal, to where it pliable with my super-strength, but not to much that it will burn my hands. I have done this a few times before. And it should work here.”

Natsuru soon found she was correct, as she free her two loves, with only minor difficulties and just a little time wasted. They then headed around the other locked door, as they searched for Lee.

(_)

Meanwhile, just as Natsuru was about to free Akira and Ranma, from a hallway, in the same building where Lee, Akira, Natsuru, and Ranma, were at, only a few floors above them, Revy replied, over her radio, “Take the time you need. And we will keep that in mind.”

On the radio, Natsuru said, “Will do.”

To Revy's right side, Rock said, over her radio, “This is just a reminder that Lee is full tricks. And he is not to be underestimated... Also, Benny, Dutch, have you found the security room yet.”

Benny stated, over the radio, “Yes. And it is a disappointment. The company that runs this place, is clearly too cheap to pop for a real security crew. The security room is just a small room, with one desk, one chair and one computer monitor, with mouse and keyboard. Along with a computer monitor, and equipment. And it is a good guess that Lee was here, first. And with security guard nowhere to be found. I would guess that Lee got that key card from the guard that was here. And he then convinced the guard to find some place to hide.”

Rock stated, “That doesn't matter. We have seen cameras all over this place. If we can use the guard's computer, we can quickly find Lee, and capture him. Still, if any of you find the guard, do not harm him. We all know how persuasive Lee can be. Now, besides the key card, and the guard gone, what other reasons do you think Lee was there, as well?”

Over the radio, Benny stated, “Well, that is the problem. Another reason we think Lee is here is because the computer screen is still on. And this the monitor is logged to the security account, to the computer system in this factory area. But, the video camera system program is turned off. Though, I can see the video camera system icon on the screen. And I could access the cameras with just a simple click of the mouse, or stroke of the keyboard. If I could just get the keyboard, or mouse, working.”

Rock inquired, into her radio, “What is the problem?”

Over the radio, Benny said, “The problem is that Lee cut the cords to both the mouse and the keyboard, where the cords met the devices. Meaning, I have to take them apart to fix them. I am sure it is Lee who did the cutting. No one else is this methodical in creating a dilemma.”

Rock asked, “What do you mean? Can you not just replace the broken items?”

From her radio, Benny responded, “No. The cords for the keyboard, mouse, and monitor got directly into the wall. There are no plugs for the cords. So, I cannot unplug the cut cords, and replace the devices. Also, I don't see a computer tower here. Meaning, the computer system is likely tied to a mainframe, somewhere else in the building.”

Rock inquired, “Can't you just use your laptop to access the system?”

Over the radio, Benny replied, “Nope. No can do. I have already tried. There are no plugs to hook in my laptop, and this place had no wireless service.”

Rock asked, “What about finding another computer, and hacking your way into the system.”

Benny stated, “Finding another computer will take time. Plus, in a mainframe and corporate network systems, different computers, in different locations, have different levels of access to the mainframe, hardwired in them. That is just a normal security measure, for all such systems.”

“I cannot just find a random computer, and hack my way in. We do not have the time. And even if I had the time, I would have to hack into an account, and then hack into the mainframe for the access to the computer system.”

“On the other hand, I might be able to take apart the keyboard and mouse, and split the cords into getting them to work.”

“Fortunately, the connection wires to both of them are different, so I can tell which is which. That will save me time. But, either option will take time. And I am sure that is why Lee set this up this dilemma in this way. Because he knew we could try to use the camera system.”

“And I admit, it is a wonderful stalling tactic to be used against me.”

Rock agreed, “It sounds like it is. Which way do you think will take the shortest amount of time?”

Benny answered, over her radio, “Taking apart and repairing the keyboard and mouse. Then, splicing the cords to the devices to get them back to working order. Because, I am just dealing with hardware, and not trying to hack into software. Also, both devices use Philips head screws, and my tool kit has all the things I need to fix the devices. So, this will not take too long.”

“Still, I am sure that is what Lee hopes I would do. Considering he did not just logoff on this computer. He is baiting me, and we both know it. That man is clearly devious.”

Rock replied, into her radio, “That goes without saying. Do what you can, and let me know when you have access to the camera system.”

Over the radio, Benny replied, “Will do.”

Dutch mentioned, over her radio, “Also, there is another matter. Since the guard and Lee met, it is possible that Lee convinced the guard to call the police.”

Rock commented, “That is very possible. And the call coming from the guard would sound more official.”

On the radio, Dutch agreed, “Exactly.”

Over the radio, Violin inquired, “But, won't Lee get into trouble with the police, if they catch him?”

On the radio, Akira answered, in english, “For what? He had false identification, to show the police. We saw him use a credit chit. And that using the person's own thumb print. And since he does have a credit chit on him. He probably conned his way into getting an identitcard. At worst, for the most obvious of things, he could be charged with trespassing. But, there are extenuating circumstances.”

“And even then, he has a witness. The guard, whom will back him up, in saying that he likely asked the guard to call the police. Along with this, the guard will likely tell the police our cars coming into the factory, with us being after Lee. And given how skilled Lee is at talking himself out of trouble. He would likely be able to talk the police into letting him go by morning. If not sooner.”

With her radio, Rock finished for Akira, “While, on the other hand, we would have to bug out, if the police showed up. Not bad thinking on Lee's part.”

Dutch questioned, over the radio, “So, all this is just a stalling tactic on his part, as he waits for the police?”

Revy spoke into her radio, “I doubt it. Lee is not one to rely on someone else to do the heavy lifting. This might be his plan, B. His plan, A, is to escape us on his own.”

Dutch said, into her radio, “That man just does not know when to quit. And if that is the case, there is not much we can do about it. This just means our time is limited.”

Over the radio, Balalaika stated, “Actually, we should have plenty of time. This place is at the edge of the dome. While Lee probably informed the guard that we were coming. So, if the guard contacted the police, they would know to expect to deal with a large group. I would say it will take them between two to three hours to both prepare to deal with us. And then reach us. If not longer. That is plenty of time to find, Lee.”

Rock stated, in her radio, “Thanks for the information, Balalaika. Now, everyone continue the search.”

(_)

Outside, on the southwestern corner of the section of the factory complex, that Rock team was searching, Balalaika was on a ladder, of a communications tower. She was already midway up, as she stopped to use her radio.

Balalaika held the ladder with her right hand, as she used her left hand to clip her radio back onto her belt.

Balalaika then used both her hands to start back to climbing the ladder a little further up the communications tower. To where she overlooked the roof and area that her friends were searching for Lee. With B doing the same, from a tower on the opposite side of the area, from where she was at.

Both of them would be on the look out for Lee, should their prey head out into the open.

As Balalaika climbed, she thought, 'I miss that Rock no longer calls me, Ms. Balalaika. But, there is not much I can do about that. And at least she is still polite as ever.'

Balalaika looked upwards, as she thought, 'Also, I am getting close to where I want to be.' She then turn her attention back to the ladder rungs, as she made her way to the middle section of the tower.

The middle section of the communications tower was high enough to over look the buildings, but still far lower than the dome ceiling, even this close to the side walls of the dome.

And given they were inside a dome, though a large dome, the wind was not that bad, out in the open, while high in the air.

(_)

Five minutes later, as Lee briskly walked down another hallway, with no pipes, flat metal walls, concrete floor, and plenty of lighting from the ceiling lights. He soon found himself in a packaging room, which was more like a much large version of the hallway he had just exited.

The lighting the room was provided by a handful of ceiling lights, which did not fulling over the room, creating shadowed areas in the room.

Lee saw packages stacked higher than his hand, on the right side of the room, and a large, square table on the left side of the room.

There were open doors all around the room, leading to other hallways, and rooms.

Lee thought, 'There are a lot of places for an ambush in this room. I should walk cautiously, but not slowly. While staying aware of my surroundings.'

Lee then calmly walked through the room.

As he reached the middle of the room, passed the table, to his left, his precognition warned him to turn around.

Lee turned around to see Shenhua. She had both her kukri long knives in her hands. She had her usual red qipao and white jacket. Though, instead of wearing her red high heels, she was wearing red flat soled slippers.

Lee grimly thought, 'Of all the Lagoon women to face, it had to be Shenhua. Honestly, I would rather face, Revy. I know how to push Revy's buttons. On the other hand, Shenhua prefers to keep a cool, level head. She must have snuck up behind me. And the face she is wearing flat soled slippers, instead of high heels, means she is serious.'

'I am not going to be able able to talk my way out of this. And if I run, she will turn me into a pincushion, with those long knives, and her smaller throwing knives, before I even get out of the room...”

Lee continued his thoughts, with worry, 'Oh crap. I am going to have fight her. And I don't have time to pull out a deck of cards.'

Shenhua cursed, in a casual tone of voice, in english, “Oh damn. How did you hear me?”

Lee admitted, “I didn't. Precognition. Remember?”

Shenhua replied, “Ah, yes.”

Lee commented, “Let me guess. You are still pissed off over the cherry bomb.”

Shenhua answered, “That and the toilet seat incident.”

Lee winced, as he replied, “You still remember that?”

Shenhua calmly said, in a dangerously even tone of voice, “It is not an event that one easily forgets. So, who spilled the beans on that we learned about the time loop?”

Lee answered, “The Lowe family.” He thought, with concern, 'At this point. Lying, or not answering. Will only make things worse for myself.'

Shenhua said, “So, you met them. That figures.”

Lee commented, “They seem like a nice family.”

Shenhua agreed, “That they are. Now, are you ready to suffer, and die?”

Lee defended, “Well, to be fair. In the time loop, you did kill me over the cherry bomb incident.”

Shenhua pointed out, “I realize now that I killed you too quickly.”

Lee conceded, “Perhaps. And I honestly did not know that you were in the women's restroom at the time.”

Shenhua commented, “Which is why were are still talking at the moment.”

Lee said, “Also, that toilet scene idea, back in Roanapur, came from Tvtropes.”

Shenhua responded, “That may be the case. But, you were the one who actually wrote the toilet seat scene. Though, before I make you scream, and die, I do have a question.”

Lee though, 'Buying time is my only option.' He replied, “Sure. What is your question?”

Shenhua asked, “Why did you improve my english skills?”

Lee answered, “The honest truth is I suck at writing broken language dialogue.”

Shenhua burst out laughing.

Lee remained silent, as he watched the woman, with long black hair, laugh.

Several seconds later, as Shenhua calmed down, Lee continued, “And with you laid up healing, from your injuries during the Blood Trail arc, in a home you shared with two english speaking people. It only made sense that you would spend that time learning to develop your english skills.”

Shenhua stated, “River is right. You are a genius.”

Lee commented, “Thank you. I hope you are grateful for the language skills.”

Shenhua cracked a grin, as she casually said, “Oh, I am. Though, I still am going to kill you.”

Just before Shenhua was about to rush at Lee, Lee swiftly stated, “Hold it. I have a question for you?”

Shenhua stopped herself from moving forward, as she flatly responded, in an annoyed tone of voice, “What is it?”

Lee honestly asked, “How did a Taiwanese woman, such as yourself, learn to specialized in combat using nepalese long knives, and japanese throwing knives?”

Shenhua flatly answered, “Long story.”

Lee replied, “I bet.”

Shenhua shrugged, as she said, “Too bad you won't live long enough to hear it.” Shenhua then charged at Lee in a full sprint across the room, her long knives at the ready, to slide into Lee.

Lee used his precognition to time it so, at the second to last second, he quickly jumped to his right side, as Shenhua run passed him. With himself just out of reach of her long knives.

Lee turned counterclockwise, as Shenhua did a u-turn, to her left, and ran back towards him.

What happened next was a case of precognition versus enhanced reflexes. Where Lee kept backing away, as he dodged Shenhua swings, while she advanced on him.

And though Lee was able to remain unharmed, Shenhua was able to knock Lee's black fedora hat off, by slicing it in half with her left long knife.

Lee thought, 'Better the hat, than my head. The only thing going for me is she does not know how skilled I am. Now, to show her how good I really am.'

Shenhua then thrust her left blade at Lee.

Lee shift to his left, as he stepped into the attack. Lee then rapped his right arm around Shenhua's left forearm, locking it under his right armpit.

This caught Shenhua by surprise, as she brought down the long knife in her right hand. But, Lee quickly caught Shenhua's right wrist, with his left hand.

Lee's plan was simple. He would be swiftly able to turn her body to his left, in the next three steps backward. As he did so, he would throw Shenhua to the ground. He would then use the time she took to recover and get back up to run for the door nearby, to his left, which he saw lead to another hallway, and lock it behind him.

But, as he took one step back, the back of his waist suddenly hit the flat side of the table in the room.

Lee thought, with worry, 'Oh no.'

Shenhua pressed her advantage, as she forced Lee to lean back against the table.

Their bodies pressed against each other, as Shenhua's white coat partly draped over Lee, and onto the top of the table, on both their sides.

Shenhua swiftly changed her grip on her right long knife, with her blade then pointing down towards Lee's face.

Their faces were inches from each other at Shenhua gave Lee a slasher smile, while Lee kept a neutral expression on his face.

As Lee kept Shenhua's left arm in a lock, he was was using all his strength in his left arm to keep Shenhua from bringing down her right blade onto his face.

Lee thought, 'This is a losing battle for me. And we both know it. She was already naturally stronger than me due to her exercising, and natural fitness. Throw in the strength enhancements of the super-soldier serum, and it is not even a contest. The only reason she had not cut me yet with that blade, in her right hand, is because of the adrenaline rush I am experiencing. And if I stay still too long, that rush is going to wear off. My only chance is to get her talking.'

Given their closeness, the lighting allowed Shenhua to see Lee's eyes, behind his shades.

As their eyes locked, Lee kept a neutral expression, as he demanded, “Drop the slasher smile. You don't hold at candle to Roberta's crazy smiles, and we both know it.”

Shenhua dropped her grin. She continued to try to reach Lee's face with the tip of her right blade, as she asked, “Where did you learn to fight like this?”

As Lee still struggled against the blade coming on his face, as he answered, “Sam, in the time loop. Great teacher, I might add.”

Shenhua replied, “River taught you? Ah, yes. I remember her mentioning that.”

Lee thought, 'I was hope River would not mention she taught me. Still, that cannot be helped, now. Though, I want to confirm something about River.' He firmly inquired, “Is River still alive?”

Shenhua smirked, as she stated, “Of course. But, soon you won't be, hillbilly.”

Lee retorted, while letting his southern accent slip, “If you are going to insult me. Get your insults correct. I'm a redneck. Not a hillbilly.”

By then, the tip of the blade was an inch from the left side of Lee's shades.

Suddenly, a gunshot rang out to Lee's right.

The shot knocked Shenhua' right long knife from her right hand, to her right side, Lee's left side, and sending the weapon to the ground, The cord attached to the knife, and her right armband, was strung out onto the floor.

While Lee kept his left hand on Shenhua's right wrist, and Shenhua left arm in a lock, with his right arm, both Lee and Shenhua swiftly turned to look at who had shot at them.

They saw three adults, which they both instantly recognized.

From Lee left to right.

First was Jetta, in the same outfit she preferred when she was the man, Jet. Which was a pink shirt, under blue overalls, and metal boots. Though, her clothing was fitted to her more slender frame. She was using her right hand to point her Walther P ninety-nine at them.

In the middle, of the three person group, was Spike, in her blue leisure suit, using her right hand to point her Jericho nine forty-one at them, with the end of the barrel of her gun still slightly smoking in the light.

And there was Faye, in her usual clothing, pointed her Heckler & Koch MP5K at them. Her right hand was on the trigger grip and her left hand on the riot grip of the fore-end.

Though, Lee also noticed that none of the women had their fingers on the trigger, and that behind the three ladies, by the door they came in from, was a light switch.

Lee thought, with concern, 'The only good news is none of them have their fingers on the triggers of their weapons. Which is not much good news. It just means they will shot up a second later than if the had their fingers on the trigger. But, that does give me one second to work with.'

'Faye must have replaced her MP5K she lost in the series, with other one. Given I made it so they had plenty of money, that is not surprising. Still, with her using that weapon, and Jetta pulling out her P Ninety-Nine, instead of the net-gun, means they are looking to hurt me as well. Instead of just capture me. And given Spike is here, I can guess what this is about.'

'Though, I doubt they have noticed that light switch behind them. If I play my cards right, I can use that to my advantage.'

Faye lips curled into a grin, as she said, “Well girls, look who we have here.”

Jetta joked, “We could give you two lovebirds some private time, if you want.”

Lee quipped, “No thanks. Company is welcome.”

Faye, Jetta, and Spike, laughed a little as Lee's comment.

Faye then commented, “I have to say, this is the embodiment of why one should not bring a knife to a gunfight.”

Shenhua frowned at Faye's comment.

Lee cautioned, “Shenhua, Faye is just baiting you.”

Spike smirked, as she said, “That she is, Lee. And I have to admit, that trick in the tunnel was smooth.”

Lee responded, “Thank you, Spike. Though, I have to admit, it was more of a gamble. It would not have worked with the Hammerhead, nor Red Tail. It would only work on the Swordfish.”

Spike inquired, “So, you gave us the bird because you were batting me?”

Lee admitted, “Yes. Because you have the largest ego of your group. Though, your ego is nothing compared to Revy's ego.”

As Faye and Jetta snickered, Shenhua commented, “You are correct about that.”

While keeping his eyes on the three bounty hunters, Lee asked Shenhua, “Shenhua, have you seen the Cowboy Bebop series? Because, I honestly don't remember if you did.”

Shenhua kept her eyes on the other three women, as she answered, “Yes. It is one of Revy's favorite series.”

Spike commented, “That is not surprising. Even with my feeling towards her. Which are not good. We just rub each other the wrong way. Still, I always found that redhead to have great taste in action.”

Lee responded, “I agree. Also Jet, I had no idea you were turned into a woman. That is not what I planned for you.”

Jetta shrugged, as she calmly said, “I know. I read your stories. You were setting me up for longevity as a healthy man. And something went wrong after your fourth story ended. Things happens. At least I got my left arm back. And the others are right, being a woman isn't that bad.”

Faye commented, “Truth be told. There are only two reasons we are here. The challenge in catching someone that conned, or evaded nearly every badass we know of. And to emotionally support Spike.”

Shenhua asked, “How are they supporting Spike?”

Lee said one word, “Julia.”

Spike stated, “I understand that I was at death's door. We have all seen the series. And though, being turned into a woman is not the worst thing in the world. And I love my young Julia, dearly. The problem is you both are responsible for getting me pregnant in the first place. Without my permission. And I am going to make both of you pay.”

Shenhua inquired, with a confused expression on her face, “Both of us? What is going on?”

Lee answered for the Bebop crew, “It is called being a target of opportunity. They are not just going to kill me. They are going to kill you, as well.”

Jetta commented, “I have to admit. He is sharp.”

Shenhua pointed out, “You cannot do that.”

Spike smirked, as she stated, “Sure we can. And we can made it look like you killed each other.”

Lee felt Shenhua tried to free her left arm and right wrist from his locks. He thought, 'Shenhua is about to do something stupid that will get us both killed. On the other hand, I have a plan. But, I will need her help.'

Lee firmly stated, “Shenhua, do not make any quick moves. They have all had the same super-soldier serum as you. They have guns trained on both of us. And even if you reached them, Spike is a better fighter in melee combat that you are. With Jet being a close second to Spike.”

Lee immediately felt Shenhua stop struggling to get loose. Lee thought, 'Good. She understands the seriousness of the situation. Now, to implement my plan.'

The left side of Shenhua's white jacket draped over Lee in such a way as to block the view of the bounty hunter from seeing the hands of both Lee and Shenhua.

Lee did several things at once, while continuing to look at the bounty hunters, with a neutral expression on his face.

With his right arm, he first let go of Shenhua's left forearm. He then slowly reached down, along Shenhua's upper left thigh, until he felt the garter belt there, which was full of kunai throwing knives. Lee was careful not to injure himself, nor Shenhua, as he pulled out one of the kunai between his right index and middle fingers.

Lee thought, 'I love a woman that comes prepared.'

At the same time, with his left hand, let go of Shenhua' right wrist. He then slowly reached into Shenhua' right arm robe and unhooked her rope to her long knife, from the cloth band around her right forearm.

As Shenhua felt Lee doing all this, she immediately stopped moving, completely, as she realized what was going on. She thought, 'Lee has a plan.'

Faye complimented, “You really are knowledgeable, Lee.”

Lee continued looking at the three standing women, as he stated, “I pride myself on being thorough in my writings... I have a question, Shenhua?”

Shenhua replied, “What?”

Lee inquired, “Would getting you out of this mess completely settle my debts with you?”

Shenhua conceded, “Yes.”

Lee responded, “Good. Now, do you remember that time you fought Annie in Chang's office?

Shenhua said, “Yes.”

Lee questioned, “Do you remember what you did right after Annie deflected your throwing knives?”

Shenhua smiled, as she answered, “Yes. And I am starting to see why River likes you so much.”

Faye asked, “What are you to talk about?”

Lee complimented, “By the way, Shenhua, you are a great teacher.”

Shenhua smile slightly widened, as she replied, “Thank you.”

Lee ordered, “Now, do it!”

Shenhua swiftly leaned up, on her feet. At her feet fully hit the floor, she suddenly did a series of back flips, towards the door behind her. As she did so, she gripped her kukri, in her left hand, at a downward angle, so that when she landed on he left first, the blade would be pointing away from her.

In response, Faye, Jetta, and Spike began to shoot at Shenhua, while ignoring Lee.

All their shoots missed the fast moving woman, until Shenhua made to the hallway entrance, on that side of the room. When she made it to the other side, she quickly landed on her feet, as pressed the panel on the hallway side of the door to close it. She then ran as fast as she could, down the hallway, and away from the bounty hunters.

At that same time this went on, as the bounty hunters were focused on Shenhua, Lee swiftly leaned up, took quick aim, and threw the kunai knife in his right fingers, at the light switch behind the bounty hunters.

The knife hit the dead center of the switch, slicing their the plastic switch, and rubber coatings of the wires underneath the switch. As the metal kunai made contact with the electrical wires in the switch, it caused the lights in the room to short out. Making the room go dark, except for the lights coming from the adjacent rooms and hallways.

With the bounty hunters distracted by the sudden darkness, Lee bolted for the nearby hallway, just a mere few feet to his left.

As he made it through the entrance to the hallway, he pulled out his key card, and slid it on that panel outside the entrance, causing the steel door to shut and lock behind him.

Lee then walked briskly straight down the hallway, to avoid both the bounty hunters, and Shenhua. While he did so, Lee though, 'I don't even want to know the type of hell those three will catch when Shenhua tells the others of what they just tried to pull on the both of us.'

(_)

Meanwhile, in the dark room Lee and Shenhua just escaped from, the three bounty hunting women stood in the darkness, as Jetta joked, “I guess Lee is as smooth as silk.”

In response to Jetta's comment, Spike and Faye just groaned.

(_)

Two minutes later, in another part of the factory complex, Revy and Rock stood by each other, in a large room, as they had their hand held radios out, which they were talking into.

Shenhua had just radioed them, and the others on the radios, about her fight with Lee, and what Spike, Faye, and Jetta had just tried to do to her, and Lee.

The news upset both Rock and Revy.

Spike, Faye, and Jetta also had their radios, and they were part of the conversation, as well.

Revy barked, into her radio, “How dare you three attack Shenhua?!”

Spike did not show any guilt in her tone of voice, as she replied, into her radio, “What can I say? It was just too tempting an opportunity to pass up.”

Revy warned, “You try that again, and I will show you the type of pain I have planned for Lee.”

Spike quipped, “You can try, Revy. And we can use it as a wonderful excuse to find out which of us is better. You might actually present a challenge for me.”

Revy responded, “No. I will arrange your own funeral.”

Rock looked over at Revy, Revy looked back at her. As Rock look in Revy's face, Rock spoke up, into her radio, as she ordered, in her authoritarian tone of voice, “Cut it out. The both of you. Keep in mind, that ultimately, all of this is Lee's fault. Not mine, nor yours, nor Revy's, nor Shenhua's. But, we are willing to make restitution to settle this matter.”

Revy just shrugged in response, as she looked away from her lover.

A few seconds later, Rock look away from Revy, because she did not like to see her lover act like this.

Spike inquired, “What type of payment? And how much?”

Rock offered, “Ten large, pure gold bars sound fair?”

Spike answered, “Make it twenty gold bars. And they better be pure, and large.”

Rock replied, “Fine. Deal.”

Spike responded, “Thanks. That gold will go towards Julia's college fund.”

Rock thought, 'I hope Julia doesn't grow up to be like her mother. Oh hell, who am I to talk? She probably will. Now, to see if Shenhua is okay with this.'

Rock asked, “Shenhua, are you okay with this?”

Shenhua answered, over the radio, “Yes. I will even help pay for those gold bars. I agree. We do not need this mess. Especially, at a time like this.”

Rock replied, “Thank you. Also, is there anything else you would like to add about your fight with Lee?”

Shenhua stated, “Yes. Lee is able to use his precognition in combat. And because of this, and what he learned from River, his dodging skills are impressive. He also caught me in a hold, and he almost threw me to the floor. If he had not backed up into a table, he might have thrown me to the ground, and escaped then. River taught him well.”

Revy spoke up, “We will keep that in mind. So, where are you headed to, Shenhua?”

Shenhua said, “Now that the cat is out of the bag, I am going to go back and retrieve my kukri, and kunai, which I had to leave behind.”

Revy requested, “Let us know if you need anything.”

Shenhua replied, “I will.”

As Revy and Rock put away from their radios, Revy turned to Rock, as she stated, “You shouldn't have jumped in like that.”

Rock turned to her lover, as she explained, “This is what Lee wants. The old tactic of divide and conquer. As Shenhua pointed out. We don't need this right now. And we have plenty of gold. And this way, we don't have to worry about Spike coming back to haunt us, later.”

Revy pointed out, “Yes. But, we cannot afford to do the same to the others. Yes. We still have lots of treasure left from looting Chang's tower and warehouses. But, our supplies are finite. And baring the unforeseen, we are going to live a very long time.”

Rock conceded, “You have a point there. But, I checked. Most of them have moved on with their lives, and are raising their children. And they understand that you were brainwashed. And, as far as I know, none of them know about Lee, and his stories.”

Revy stated, “Let's keep it that way.”

Rock said, “I agree.”

The two loves then turned and walked out of the room they were in, as they started walking down a hallway, in search of Lee.

(_)

Ten minutes later, in another area of the factory complex, Lee had made his up some stairs to the second floor, as he found himself walking along a steel catwalk, with steel railings to Lee's right, and was attached to the wall on Lee left. To Lee's right, over the railing, the catwalk overlooked a first floor, industrial area, with factory equipment placed along the floor, which ran down the large rectangular room.

The first floor was ten feet below him, and the ceiling in the room was around eight feet above him.

The room itself was sixty feet wide, and room was a hundred feet long, from the back wall, Lee came in through a door, to where the catwalk made a corner to Lee's left. With the extending another twenty feet behind the catwalk in front of him.

Lee had already made it around seventy-five feet from the back wall.

The catwalk itself was ten feet wide, and even though the floor was steel bars, below the steel grid of the catwalk floor, showed a lattice work, and support beams that went down to the concrete floor below it. This meant the catwalk was design to handle a lot of weight on it, at once.

Along the catwalk, every ten feet or so, was open door, to an office.

And the catwalk turned to the left, about twenty-feet in front of him.

Lee was doing his best to step softly, so as to not alert anyone nearby, that he was there.

As Lee made his way along the steel catwalk, he looked down to see that the floor, twenty feet below him, on the concrete ground floor, was full of refinery equipment.

Lee mentally reflected, 'I think it was a good idea to go on the catwalks. Because I am sure this is how they would be looking for me. By using the high ground, as it were.'

Lee then looked in front of him, as he continued on the path he had made in his head, of the layouts of the buildings. He thought, 'After this turn to the left, I should then reach some more storage rooms, and catwalks, that are joined together, before I reach the main stairwell, for this side of the building. Which is on the far, southwestern corner of the building. With luck, none of them are hiding in the stairwell. Still, while I need to hurry, stealth is my best defense in this chase.'

Suddenly, Lee heard heavy footfalls coming towards him, from around the corner, in front of him.

Lee quickly ducked into a near by office, with his back against the open swing door, on the interior side, of the office wall that faced the direction the sounds were coming from.

Lee thought, 'I am glad I chose to remain silent. Or, I might have been ambushed. And the person is clearly coming this way.'

'Though, now I can be the one to do the ambushing. There is nowhere to hide in this room. So, there is likely going to be a fight. And this is going to be a close quarters fight. So my cards will not be very useful. But, my hand to hand combat skills will be. Though, given that Shenhua likely warned the others of what I can do. Or, at least what I showed her. They will be on guard for a hand to hand fight. Still, that cannot be helped.'

A few seconds later, Lee heard the footfalls turning the corner.

As the footfalls got closer, Lee could tell they were from boots.

Lee thought, 'From the sound, the person is wearing boots. And from the time between steps, and the strength of the steps. With a longer stride, and harder, heavier steps. The person is likely a man, or originally male. Which means my chances in this fight when way up. Given only the women after me have had that super-soldier serum.'

Lee then saw the person come into view, to his left side.

Lee saw that it was Jayne. Along with the boots, Jayne was wearing a pants, shirt, and a jacket. Also, he was carrying some type of strange rifle in his hand. He also noticed that Jayne right trigger finger was resting against the trigger guard of his rifle.

At the moment, Lee notice that Jayne did not see him, as he thought, 'Jayne is not an idiot. He is going to see me any second. I need to act, now.'

Lee immediately turned to face Jayne, as he used his left foot to swiftly kick the rifle from Jayne's hands.

The rifle flew in the air, bounced against the railing, and landed back on the catwalk.

Lee's attack caught Jayne by surprise, as Jayne flatly stated, “What?”

Meanwhile, Lee stepped in front of Jayne, as he then used both hands to push Jayne back a few feet from him, back the way Jayne had came, and away from Lee. This also put some distance between Jayne and his rifle. With the rifle being beside Lee, on the catwalk, a few feet to his right side.

Lee continued looking at Jayne, while Jayne got his foot.

Lee he thought, 'Jayne still likely had other weapons. So, don't dare go for his rifle. Also, I could probably take him in a fight. But, I don't want to. So, I will try to keep this civil. But, if I have to, I will bait him into the type of fight that I want.'

By then, Jayne was now standing solidly on the catwalk, as he look at Lee, whom was ten feet from him. And before Lee could speak, Jayne complimented, “Nice move, boy.”

Lee thought, with mild amusement, 'That is a good way to start off a conversation.' He said, “Thank you, Jayne. I wish we were meeting over better circumstances.”

Jayne coldly responded, “Well, we are not.”

Lee thought, with concern, 'I guess this is going south faster than I thought it would.'

Jayne commented, “I am going to enjoy kicking your ass for turning me in a chick.”

Lee pointed out, “Well, you got some fun out of your female form. And I did give you a good friend, and drinking buddy, Bob.”

Jayne conceded, “True. Which is why I am going to kick you ass, instead of killing you. Though, I will be nice, and just beat you to a bloody pulp. Then, I will hand you to Mal, whom really wants to kick your ass. For another beating.”

Lee thought, 'Good. He is not going for his other weapons. That means I have a chance. But, I might still be able to salvage this situation.'

Lee inquired, “I would think that Chang would want me alive, and in one piece?”

Jayne answered, “Oh, he does. And we plan to hand you over to him, because he is offering a nice reward to do so. But, we are going to beat you some, first.”

Lee flatly replied, “Fine.” Lee then got into a defensive position, as he asked, “You did hear about that time loop?”

Jayne replied, “Yea. The girls mentioned something about it, when we were organizing everything, together, back at the Casino. Right before we left.”

Lee stated, “Well, River spent years training me in hand to hand combat. Are you sure you want to take me on?”

Jayne replied, “Oh yea. I also heard you were friends.”

Lee commented, “Yes. Good friends.”

Jayne smirked, as he said, “In that case, I won't try to break your bones. Still, I admit I never had the guts to really want to see what River can do in a fight. But, I am more than happy to find out about her fight style, by kicking your ass.”

Jayne then charged Lee. Though, before Jayne knew it, Lee used his right foot to swiftly kicked him in the balls.

As Jayne collapsed onto the floor, Lee stated, “Well, I don't feel like fighting. River taught me to take my opponents down as fast as possible. Besides, that was the fastest way I could think of to stop you, without permanently harming you. Though, I am surprised you are not wearing a cup.”

To Jayne's credit. He was still standing up straight, and he did not lean over and grap his balls in pain. Though, Jayne did mildly groan, as he replied, “It is difficult to pee, while wearing those of things.”

Lee shrugged, as he agreed, “That is true.”

Jayne then started lightly chuckling, as he used his right hand to reach for something in one of his interior jacket pockets.

While slightly groaning, Jayne said, “Give me a minute. And I will be back to kicking your ass.”

Lee saw that it was a small packet of pepper, and he realized what Jayne was about to do.

Lee quickly said, with concern in his tone of voice, “Jayne, in all sincerity, I highly suggest you do not do that. It might backfire badly on you.”

Jayne snorted, “Yea, right.”

Jayne worked through the pain, as he thought, 'Like I am going to believe you, Lee. The master trickster. You are as bad as Saffron. Still, I am in too much pain to sneeze on command. But, I always keep some packets of pepper for emergencies. And this is going to solve my problems, real quick.'

Jayne then opened the packet of pepper, sniffed it, and sneezed, changing into a women.

A second after Jayne turned into a woman, Jayne collapsed to the catwalk, as she let out a bloodcurdling, girlish scream from the surprisingly high amount of pain that she suddenly felt.

It was like all the pain that had been in his nut sack as a guy, had moved, and grown to encompass her entire lower abdomen.

Jayne clutched lower stomach with both hands, as she slowly moaned in pain.

Lee looked down at Jayne, with pity in his eyes. He shook his head a few times, as he said, “Jayne, I was only trying to help you. And this is a good example of what is called equivalent exchange. Sore male parts become much larger, sore female parts. And unlike a man's nuts, you cannot ice down female internal organs... Though, I will say that as a woman, you are hot...” Lee count not help but smile, as he went onto say, “Damn. I do fine work.”

While Jayne continued to groan in pain, as she laid on the catwalk, Lee turned his attention towards the rifle on the ground. He then walked over, reached down, and picked it up. Lee was careful not to touch the trigger, while keeping the barrel pointed away from them, as he lean back up, while he looked at the weapon.

As Lee got a better look at the weapon, he immediately recognized it as one of Jayne's favorite weapons. A weapon Jayne called, Vera.

While continuing to looked at the large bore rifle, in his hands, he turned to Jayne. He stated, with slight excitement in his tone of voice, “Ah, Vera. For you to pull this out for little old me must mean this is a real special occasion for you. I am deeply touched. Just so you know. Between you and me. I wanted to use Vera in my stories, but I just couldn't figure out how to give you an excuse to join in on the fighting, and fit this weapon into the action scenes. Still, this is a cool weapon.”

Jayne warned, in more a moan of pain, than a threatening tone, in her female voice, “Don't you touch her.”

Lee continued to look at Jayne, as he calmly said, “Jayne, I know how much this weapon means to you. Unfortunately, I need some weapons. Which also includes a few grenades. Such as on your belt. I will be nice, and leave you your pistol, after I unload it. Also, I saw a couch in the office I ducked into. Remove your pistol, give me your radio, some grenades, let me keep Vera, and I will help you to the couch. Or, you can continue laying on the floor.”

Jayne thought it over Lee's offer for a few moments. She then conceded, “Alright. I am in no shape to complain.”

Jayne pulled out her pistol from the holsters on the belt looped around the pants of her waist, unclasped her encrypted radio handset, pulled off, and from around her waist over her pants belt, her removed her bandolier. The bandolier held the grenades in the loops of it. A she removed each item she set the items on the floor.

Jayne said, “Since we want you alive, I will tell you that the grenades are on eight second fuses. Just twist the knobs at the top, either way, to prime them.”

Lee replied, “Thank you.”

Lee then helped Jayne up. Lee walked with Jayne, as Jayne hobbled to the couch in the nearby room.

As they walked, Jayne asked, “I don't understand you. I just tried to kick your ass. Why are you helping me?”

By then, they reached the couch, as Lee said, “Because, I am a man of my word. And I am not as bad as you guys think I am.”

Lee helped Jayne laid down the couch, on her back. Jayne replied, “Perhaps not.”

Lee said, “Rest well.”

Lee then ran back and collected Vera, the radio, and the grenade belt.

First, Lee bent down, as he picked up Jayne's pistol. Lee saw was that the firearm was a semi-automatic pistol. He thought, 'Well, I am glad that someone finally talked Jayne to stop using the LeMat, and trade up to a better pistol, than that antique.'

'Still, I would like to take the pistol. But, if I did, they would more likely try to kill me. Because they would account for the pistol. Though, Vera is a special weapon. Most of them may not realize that Jayne brought this weapon with him. Nor, realize that I now have it.'

'So, I will unload, and leave the pistol here. That way, they still might believe I am unarmed. Unless, they see me with Vera. That will give me an edge.'

'And I can take a few other items here, as well.'

Lee pulled out the ammo clip, and he then pulled back the slide to see that the chamber was empty. Lee removed the bullets from the ammo clip, and dropped the bullets down to the concrete floor below him. Lee put the empty ammo clip back into the pistol. He pushed the button to release the slide, with his right hand, while he gripped the slide with his left hand, so he could slowly but the slide back in place on the gun. After which, Lee uncock the hammer of the pistol. And he set down the pistol, on the steel grid of the catwalk floor.

Lee took three grenades from the bandolier, and pocketed those three grenades into his coat. He then pulled out the rest of the grenades from the bandolier. He tossed the grenades, and the bandolier, over the railing, and onto the concrete floor below. Lee did this to make sure that no one would be able to tell exactly how many grenades he had taken from the bandolier.

Next, Lee turned off the radio, and strapped the radio to his belt, on the left side of his waist. With his his black coat, which when half way down his thighs, hide the radio from sight.

Afterward, Lee picked up Vera, and held the weapon with both hands. He checked to make sure there was round in the chamber, and the hammer was cocked back. Lee found both was the case. He also found the safety and he made sure it was offer.

After which, Lee put right hand on the grip, with his right index finger resting on the trigger guard. And he had his left hand gripping the rifle from under itself barrel, right in front of the magazine. With the barrel pointed away and in front of him.

Finally, Lee stood up straight. And he no longer cared to be quiet on the catwalk, as he quickly his way around the corner of the catwalk, towards his next destination.

Half a minute after turning on the catwalk, Lee walked into the first storage room, on the way to his destination. As Lee passed through the doorway, he held the rifle with his right hand, as he used his left hand, to pulled out and use the key card, to shut and lock the steel door behind him.

Lee then pocketed the key, in his left pants pocket. After which, he turned around, away from the closed door, and he continued on his way.

(_)

A few minutes later, as Lee made it to the second storage room, between catwalks. He stopped walking, as he turned on the radio, attached to the right side of his waist, for a few seconds.

Lee kept the volume low, as he thought, 'With so many of the people with enhanced hearing, I have to be careful in using this. But, it can come in handy.”

There was silent for over a minute, on the radio, until Lee recognized the female voice, as Balalaika, as she stated, in english, with a russian accent, “B, are you in place?”

From the radio, B replied, in english, with a russian accented, “Yes, Balalaika. We now have most of the area covered.”

Lee thought, 'Great. Those two are trained military snipers, and they are likely perched outside, somewhere high, in two locations, just looking me. Probably from two opposite locations, over looking this area. And with the lights on, along with this scopes, and enhanced vision, they would see me easily. If I go out in the open, and shoot me. So, I will have to stay inside. But, at least now, I know where those two are at. And now, I can account for them, and plan accordingly.'

'Besides, I was slightly worried about facing those two in person, in a combat situation. I spent a few days with them. Next to the maid, Annie, Arcee, and River. They are the last two people I would want to face in combat...'

Lee the continued thoughts, with concern, 'And I am now stated here too long. I need to get moving.'

Lee turned off the radio. Gripped the fore-end of his rifle, with his left hand, while holding the grip with his right hand, with his trigger finger resting on the trigger guard.

Then, Lee continued moving forward.

(_)

A few minutes later, as Lee walked into the third storage room, between catwalks, to his right, he heard a female voice calmly say, to his right, “Hello Lee.”

Lee looked to his right, see Sawyer, with holding her chainsaw in a defensive position, about fifteen feet from him.

Lees immediately came to a stop, as he mentally noted, 'Sawyer's chainsaw is turned off. Or, I would have heard it. This is a good sign. Still, I am not taking any chances.'

Thought, Lee kept his finger off the trigger, Lee swiftly pointed the rifle in his hands, towards Sawyer, as he calmly replied, “Hello Sawyer. Please, don't take me pointing a weapon as you the wrong way.”

Sawyer changed the way she held her chainsaw, to were the flat of her chainsaw blade in a defensive manner, across her chest and head. She shrugged, as she stated, in casual tone of voice, “Given the situation we are in. I find your action completely understandable.”

Lee walked around the room, from where Sawyer was, while he continued to facing her, with his weapon draw on her. As he did so, he said, in a comforting tone of voice, “I appreciate you being so understanding.”

Sawyer responded, “No problem. Also, I am sure you know I can use my chainsaw to deflect bullets. I know from the series, that you have seen me do it a couple of times.”

Sawyer thought, with concern, 'Though, I am not sure I can deflect bullets from a rifle like that. Lee, I remember in the time loop, as your teacher in singing and dancing. That you were a wonderful student, whom was always concerned about not harming me. Not even by accidentally stepping on my toes, as we danced. I admired that about you. And I know that as long as I do not threaten you, you will not fire on me.'

'Besides, I know you do not want to shot me. Because, you finger is not on the trigger. So, I think I will just talk to you. Instead of pushing the matter.'

By then, Lee was close to the door on the other side of the room, near the catwalk he was heading for.

From the corner of his eye, Lee saw the door was open, but he kept his eyes on Sawyer, while keeping the end of his rifle trained on her. Lee thought, 'I think it is best I continue this conversation. She can outrun me. And likely outfight me. Killing her would be a bad idea for many reasons. Chief among them is she is one of the few after me who likely is happy about what I did for her...'

'Also, my coat is clearly hiding the radio strapped to my belt. That is good. I do not want them to know I have the radio... At least no yet...'

'Still, I need to bring her a bit down to Earth... Or, in this case, Mars.'

Lee stated, “Yes. But, there is a flaw in your defense that you, Revy, Eda, and Tex-Mex missed.”

Sawyer inquired, “Which is?”

Lee answered, “Given you have to hold the chainsaw by the back end of it, you cannot use the flat end of the blade to protect both you upper body and lower body at the same time. If you protect the chest and head, you expose your legs and feet.”

Sawyer casually said, “It figures that you would be the one to realize that.”

Lee commented, “You shouldn't worry. I have no plans on shooting you. And as long as you keep that chainsaw off, and keep your distance from me, I won't shoot you.”

Sawyer mentally reflected, 'As I thought.' She replied, “I know.”

Lee then took a little closer look at the chainsaw teeth, as he said, “I see you upgraded you chainsaw with diamond embedded teeth.”

Sawyer smiled, as she stated, “Yes. And the teeth and chain are made of a titanium alloy. Also, the engine and housing are the top of the line. When one is wealthy, one can afford the best. By the way, thanks for that wealth.”

Lee happily responded, “You're welcome. And you are the first person in your group to thank me for making them wealthy.”

Sawyer giggled for a few seconds. She then said, “Why am I not surprised? Still, this weapon sucks on cutting concrete and steel, because I don't have access to a water sprayer to keep the teeth cool. But, I can afford to replace the teeth, if need be.”

Lee commented, “It is never fun to break one's toys.”

Sawyer thought, 'Now, to ask the question.' She pointed out, “Correct. Now, I have to ask you. Why don't you just make this easier on all of us, and just surrender? Lee, we both know you have never killed anyone before. And as you stated. You are not going to shoot me, unless I force you to.”

Lee admitted, “You're right. But, would you like to know a little secret?”

Sawyer answered, “Sure.”

Lee said, “I have never been in this situation before. So, I am not sure what I am capable of.”

Sawyer stated, “Well, I have. And I really don't want to kill, nor maim you, Lee. Please surrender.”

Lee replied, “I appreciate that.”

Sawyer responded, “Thank you. Just so you know, I am not sore about the lessons you tricked us into teaching you, in the time loop. And you were a good student. Also, unlike the others, I realize what you gave me. And I am thankful. You gave me back my voice, better than ever. You repaired my scars. You gave me youth, health, and longevity. Made me rich. You gave me a great life, with good friends. So, I promise you, if you surrender, I will not let them do too much to you. You will survive their revenge. And let's be honest. You are dying of cancer. Your choices are limited.”

Lee said, “Sawyer, I believe you will try to keep your word. If it was just Revy and the Lagoon group after my hide, I might take you up on your offer, because I think you could keep you word in such a situation. The problem is that the maids are after me. And we both know you cannot take them. That is the reason I didn't go to Chang for help. Even he is not crazy enough to directly cross Roberta.”

Sawyer mentally lamented, in bitterness, 'And it is all my fault. And as stupid as it is to tell you, with you aiming a rifle at me, at the moment. It might help matters between us, if I told you the truth.'

Sawyer shrugged, as she conceded, “You have a point there. Still, it is kind of my fault the maids are after you.”

Lee stated, “Let me guess. You stayed in touch with Roberta, after your Hell Saber days were over. And recently, you accidentally told her about the writer, and you sent her copies of my stories. With you not realizing the shit hurricane you would be stirring up.”

Sawyer winced, as she replied, “Yes.”

Lee honestly replied, “I forgive you.”

Sawyer smiled, as she said, “Thank you.”

Lee responded, “You are welcome. Still, I, of all people, have long since learned not to forget how dangerous those around me can be. Now, please let me pass by you.”

Sawyer said, “Okay. I will let you go for now. I will even give you a five minute head start, before I contact the others.”

Lee lowered his weapon, as he replied, “Thank you.”

Sawyer lowered her chainsaw blade towards the floor, between them, as she commented, “Good. And don't take this the wrong way. I am going to continue to come after you.”

Lee casually responded, “I can live with that. Though, I do have one question, Sawyer. I never understood why you use a chainsaw to torture people. Sure, it is intimidating. But, when you get right down to it, a chainsaw is a very inefficient weapon for inflicting lasting, large amounts of pain on someone.”

“A knife would work so much better for making the victim suffer. With a knife, you could cut around major arteries and veins, preventing the victim from bleeding out too quickly, while still allowing you to expose nerve endings, and sensitive tissues.”

Sawyer's raised her eyebrow, as Lee continued, “For example, most people don't realize that when a person is shot, a flesh wound can be more painful than a deep wound. This, as I am sure you know, is because there are more nerve endings located right under a person's skin, instead of their internal organs and tissues. It would be more painful to skin someone alive, than to repeatedly stab that victim in the area of their body that they would have otherwise been flayed of their skin.”

Sawyer's eyes widened as Lee went onto say, “Meanwhile, a chainsaw just tears into person's flesh indiscriminately, regardless of the arteries and veins of the area of the body you are cutting into. As such, said person would bleed out too swiftly.”

Sawyer's jaw dropped, as Lee said, “Then again, there are other forms of torture that require delicate skill and care, as well, when performed on a victim, or that victim will die to quickly. Take for example, castration of a man's penis and scrotum. If you don't do it right, the victim will bleed out in under twenty minutes. That is a medical fact.”

By then, Sawyer's skin has paled a few more shades, than its standard pale shade, in worry and slight fear, as Lee stated, “And I guess the same couple be applied to a woman's breasts. But, I am not sure on that. And unfortunately, such subjects are not things a white man, such as myself, can ask about to others, barring a few exceptions, like yourself, without winding up arrested, and imprisoned.”

“Anyway, I apologize for being so long winded. But, I just wanted your expert opinion on the subject.”

Sawyer was still in slight shock, as she thought, with concern, 'Lee just commented about torturing people in a such casual manner. I guess this would be a similar feeling as to finding out that the nice guy next door is a sadistic serial killer. Given my former career, I am not one to judge on this topic. But, sometimes you just don't know people. I am glad he prefers to be nice to people. Even those that are after him. Because, I do not want to see his bad side.'

Lee noticed Sawyer's reaction, of being wide eyed, and having her jaw hanging open from her mouth.

Lee responded, in a calm tone of voice, “I guess I was too forward on the subject of talking shop with you. Though, while you are obviously not the only person whom thinks about torturing people. I, along with others, just don't act on those thoughts and desires. Like a bug bite. The more you scratch, the more it itches. So, let us get back to the subject at hand. Why do you use a chainsaw?”

By then, Sawyer was able to collect herself enough to simply say, “Personal preference.”

Lee shrugged, as he casually replied, “Works for me.”

Lee turned to his side, as he quickly exited the room, and onto the steel catwalk, he had been heading for.

Lee continued to keep his weapon lowered, in his right hand, as he used his left hand to pull out his key card, from his left side pants pocket. He then swiped the card the panel, causing the door to slide closed, and locked behind him.

Lee pocketed his key card, in his left side pants pocket. After which, he put his left hand back on the underside of the fore-end of the barrel.

Lee then turned back around, to face the catwalk, as he back walking forwards, from the threshold to the catwalk.

The catwalk itself was six feet wide, with a steel railing to his right side, and the wall to his left side.

But, as Lee got three feet, onto the catwalk, Lee's precognition screamed for him to get back.

Also, there was plenty of lighting around the room, to see with.

Lee took a step back, just he heard a gunshot, and he saw that the bullet bounce off of the wall to his left, in front of him, and away from him.

Lee quickly back up all the way to where his back was to the steel door he had just locked. He crouched down, to lower his profile from the unknown shooter, or shooters, that had ambushed him.

Lee thought, with worry, 'An ambush! Of all the times for this to happen. Though, I doubt Sawyer knew about it. Or, she would have likely told me about it... Still, how far am I from the other side of this catwalk?..'

Lee looked forward to see that the catwalk was only twenty feel long, leading to a hallway, with the door to the hallway was open. Lee thought, 'Good. If I can make it to the hallway, I should be fine. The problem is making it there.'

Suddenly, Lee heard a male voice, to his right, from across the gap in the room, an alcove, at the same level as him, on opposite side of the room from him. The male voice shouted, “Surrender, Lee!”

Lee instantly recognized the voice, as he mentally screamed, 'Ah shit. It is Mal. And he is clearly still pissed about the gender bending. Though, with Jayne here, it is not surprising that he is here, as well. But, is he alone?... I wish I had a mirror, or something to use to look over the edge at them... I would have a compact on me, if it wouldn't cause to many damn questions... Still, that might just work.'

Lee pulled out his key card with his left hand, and he noticed that that it was reflective enough to use the room light, as a mirror.

Lee then used the card to look out, across the room, to see that Mal and Zoe were crouching behind a metal parapet, which was the end of a second hallway, across the large gag between the him, on the catwalk, and them. There pistols were drawn. With Mal crouching to Zoe's right side.

(_)

At that moment, in the storage room, Lee had just left Sawyer in, Sawyer immediately heard gunshots coming from the other room on the other side of the door, and in the room that Lee left for.

Sawyer thought, 'What the hell?'

Sawyer then heard over the radio, clipped to her belt, as Mal's voice said, “We have Lee cornered in the southwestern section of the building Lee was reported in.”

Over the radio, Rock said, “Good, we will be there within ten minutes.”

Sawyer grimly thought, 'Of all the damn things to happen. And the worst part is I didn't know about the ambush... Though, if I did, I would have warned Lee of it. Still, why didn't his precognition pick it up... Probably because it is not a hundred percent foolproof, and he knows it.'

'Maybe I can salvage the situation.'

Sawyer turned to the shut, solid steel, sliding door, as she continued her thought, 'And I am guessing the red light on the panel by the door means that the door is locked. Meaning I am going to have to do this the hard way. Though, it is going to take a number of seconds to get my chainsaw running. And at least a minute to cut through that door.'

'And if I open the door, I will give Lee the option to surrender to me, while trying to keep his ass in one piece from the others... That is, if he doesn't try to shoot me. But, I get the feeling he isn't planning to shooting anyone. So, it is worth the risk.'

While holding the chainsaw blade away from herself, Sawyer used her right hand grip the front bar of her chainsaw, as she used her left hand to pulled out the starter rope, on the left side of the engine, to get the chainsaw engine going.

(_)

A few seconds later, on the other side of the steel door, Lee was still crouched down, with his back to the door.

Lee felt he has seen all that he needed of Mal and Zoe. He Lee pocketed the key card. He then held his rifle with both hands.

Lee thought, 'The good news is that I can see them. The bad news is that it is both Mal and Zoe. Both, are pretty good shots. And Zoe is completely loyal to Mal. Also, given their personalities, that warning shot was probably the only one I am going to get from those two. And my time is limited. The rest of them will soon converge on this point. Still, I might as well say something, go get them to reply. Thus, helping to give me an idea on how best to escape.'

Lee yelled, in a casual tone of voice, “Hi Mal. Hi Zoe.”

Zoe loudly replied, in a flat tone of voice, “Hello Lee.”

Lee thought, 'Let's cut to the chase.' He inquired, “So, what do I get for surrendering?”

Mal loudly stated, “An ass kicking.”

Lee questioned, “And if I don't surrender?”

Mal loudly joked, “An ass kicking, and lead in your ass.”

No one laughed at Mal's joke.

Lee thought, with mild relief, 'Good. Mal still has his sense of humor. That means he is not completely hellbent on killing me. Zoe is as calm as usual. I can work with that.'

Lee stated, “You drive a hard bargain, Mal. But, I am going to have to decline. Still, apologize about the gender bending. Though, I did give you an extended lifespan.”

Mal pointed out, “Well, that is still not a fair trade, compared to what you made me go through.”

Lee retorted, “Oh come on. I didn't make you sleep with anyone, as a woman.”

Mal asked, in a confused tone of voice, “You didn't?”

Lee flatly answered, “No. I even made it so that you could change back immediately. So, you were not stuck. Except for that one time, I didn't even make you piss as a woman. I know how big you male ego is. So, I won't do that to you...” Then, it dawned on Lee, concerning the way Mal had replied to his comment. Lee accused, “Oh. You actually did sleep with someone as a woman.”

Mal responded, in a knee jerk fashion, “I was drunk.”

Lee firmly pointed out, “I didn't get you drunk.”

Mal commented, “No. But, the whole reason I am able to turn into a woman, in the first place, is because of you. I wouldn't have been in that situation, if it as not for you. And you are going to suffer for that.”

Meanwhile, Lee overheard Zoe giggle.

Lee thought, 'I don't think Zoe's heart is in this. Let's find out.'

Lee inquired, “What about you, Zoe? Any hard feelings about the gender bending?”

Zoe yelled, “No. Not dealing with periods, and being able to control when I want to have children, is a wonderful trade off. I am just here because my captain needs a chaperon. We don't want him leveling the building getting to you.”

Lee barely heard Mal say, “You are not helping.”

Lee quietly chuckled. He then loudly replied, “I appreciate that.”

Just then, Lee heard the sound of grinding, a three feet above his head.

Lee looked up just in time to see Sawyer's chainsaw fully cut through the top, of the side of the door, that the door slide from the wall.

As the chainsaw slowing make its way downward, Lee thought, 'Oh no. This just got worse. I would say I have a minute before she cuts all the way down, and removes the door. And I honestly do not know if Sawyer is trying to get through the door to help me, or hurt me. Maybe a little of both. But, either way, my time had run out. And I need to get moving again. So, I guess I am going to have to do this the hard way... Like most of the situations in my life.'

Lee held the butt of the stock of the weapon, tightly against the front part of his right shoulder, as thought, 'I got to be careful, while holding the butt of this weapon good and tight. Considering the size of these rounds, this thing likely has a mean kick. And if I don't hold Vera tight, it could seriously harm my right shoulder, when I fire it. Now, to get across, and show Mal and Zoe what Natsuru and Akira taught me in how to get out of tight situations, by using a firearm.'

'Though, I will wait until my precognition tells me when the best time to act is.'

Lee's precognition then alerted him that it was time to act. He quickly stood up, and within less than a second, he started moving, while he turned to his right, took aim, and fired, at the ceiling, across the room, right above the heads of Mal and Zoe.

The Lee found that the ammo was simple large rounds, but the gunfire forced Mal and Zoe to duck under the parapet.

As Lee fired the first few rounds, he found he was correct about the recoil, but the kick was not as bad as he expected it to be, and he was able to safely move while firing.

While Lee moved swiftly, in a sideways fashion, across the catwalk, he fired a round every second, forcing the browncoats to stay behind cover, as Lee thought, 'I am glad these are not explosive rounds. Or, I would hurt them.'

As Lee got to the other side of the room, he turned straight, while he entered the nearby hallway.

Lee also took his right trigger finger off the trigger of the rifle.

Lee did not even bother to shut and lock the door. Instead, he just ran towards the stairwell, which he guessed required him to make it down the hallway he was in. Then, he needed to take a right into another hallway, with the stairwell being at the southwest corner of the building.

As Lee ran, he thought, 'When I get to the turn at this hallway, I will slow down to the a brisk walk. I should make it to the stairwell in about two minutes. Maybe less. Still, how much ammo do I have left?'

While running, Lee did a quick check of ammo.

Lee thought, 'I still got three rounds in the weapon, and the six in the stock. So, I am good for the moment. Now, I need to get to the stairwell.'

Lee then turned his running into a jog, while holding Vera with both hands, in front of his chest, with the barrel facing at an upward diagonal angle, to his upper left, as he made his way down the hallway.

Half a minute later, Lee took a right into another straight hallway. He saw no doors along the hallway, but he did see a sign for at the end of the hallway, for the stairwell at the end door, that was right beside the sign, to Lee's left.

Lee slowed down to a brisk walk, as he thought, 'Well, I am near the stairwell now. And I think I might want risk checking what they are saying about me, on the radio.'

The radio Lee had stolen from Jayne was strapped to his belt, on the left side of his waist. Lee rotated the knob at the top to turn on the device. He then checked to make sure the volume to the radio was still set to low. With the radio just being loud enough to where he could hear what was being discussed.

On the radio, Lee heard Mal ask, “What did Lee find a rifle at?”

From over the radio, Shenhua stated, “He did not have one when he face me.”

On the radio, Akira commented, “Nor, us.”

From the radio, Sawyer said, “Well he had the weapon when he faced me. He used it to keep me at a distance, and to get around me. I even got a good look at it.”

On the radio, Rock inquired, “What did the weapon look like?

From the radio, Sawyer answered, “It looked like a futuristic full bore rifle, with a magazine at the bottom of the weapon. It had a chrome muzzle, a wooden handle. It had an open stock, where a second set of its large cartridges were stored.”

On the radio, Revy complimented, “Not bad in your description, Sawyer.”

From the radio, Sawyer replied, “I may prefer not to use a gun. But, that does not mean I am not knowledgeable of them.”

Over the radio, Revy said, “I will keep that in mind. Still, I cannot place any rifle that looks like that. To be honest. It sound like that weapon looks so cheesy, I wouldn't be caught dead using it.”

On the radio, Zoe commented, “That sounds like Jayne's weapon, Vera.”

From the radio, Mal ordered, “Jayne. Pick up,”

There was only silence for several seconds.

On the radio, Zoe said, “I knew it was a bad idea to him to go off alone. I know I should have said something.”

From the radio, Revy commented, “Don't worry about it. Lee is too much of a pussy to kill another person. Let me guess, he aimed high, when he shot at you?”

On the radio, Zoe answered, “Correct.”

From the radio, Revy said, “See. I am sure Jayne is probably somewhere in pain, but he will otherwise be alright.”

On the radio, Mal asked, “So, who is going backtrack, to find Jayne?”

From the radio, Kaylee answered, “We will find him.”

On the radio, Rock inquired, “On that thought. Where would Jayne be?”

From the radio, Sawyer stated, “I was in room between catwalks, on the second level, of the south end, of the auxiliary building west of the made building you were taking us to. Lee went west. I would check the east part of this building.”

On the radio, Kaylee said, “Thanks.”

Lee then turned off his radio, as he thought, 'While they now know I am armed. When they find Jayne, they will soon realize I have his radio, along with a few grenades. But, I don't think that will be an issue. I only took a few, and I ditched the rest in a way that will make it difficult for them to account for all of them. If I am lucky, they will not even think about the grenades. Instead, they will focus on Vera, and the radio.'

'Now, to keep moving, and find the stairwell.'

Lee started walking towards in the direction he was planning on heading.

A minute later, Lee came to a stairwell, with the door closed.

After using his precognition to make sure there was no danger in the stairwell, he push the button on the panel to open door. As he walked into the stairwell, he found the lights on the walls illuminated the room well.

Lee then pressed the button on that side of door to close it. Though, he did not lock the door

As Lee started making his way up the stairs, he thought, 'If I lock it, it will tip them off that I have come this way. And now that I am in this stairwell, I know where exactly I am at. Too bad I cannot use the elevators. But, those are too risky for a number of reasons. Such as a button will light up near each door to that elevator, on each floor, as it moves up or down, alerting anyone nearby of its use. And if they someone stops it, while I am in it, I will immediately find myself in a close quarters fight with any number of dangerous people.'

'It is much safer to take the stairs. If something happens, I have more room, and better escape options in here, than in an elevator.'

'Now, if I remember correctly. My path requires me to go to the tenth floor, to reach a bridge between buildings. The only problem is I will have to face Balalaika, B, or both of them, as I literally cross that bridge. But, that cannot be helped.'

Lee then began his trek up the steps. With him be careful with each step he stood, along the stairway.

(_)

Fifteenth minutes later, Lee had not seen, nor heard anyone, in the stairwell, as he reached the tenth floor.

He was the careful, as he exit the stairwell. Though, he found no one around, as he continued down a hallway, to the bridge.

A minute later of walking down a hallway, he soon came to a stop, as he found himself fiftieth feet from bridge between the building he was in, and the building he was heading for.

The bridge was twenty feet long. Also, there was no cover on that stretch of the building. Not even a potted plant by one of the walls.

And while the floor was carpeted over concrete and steel, there were windowed panels, on the roof and walls In addition, was well lit, against the night sky outside, allowing any potentially to clearly see anyone that crossed the bridge.

Lee thought, 'Chances are that Balalaika, or B, will see me when I cross this bridge. And both are good enough to hit me. But, for my plan to work, I have to cross it. There is no other path for me to reach where I need to go in time. I check.'

Lee then used his one hand to hold Vera, while he used his other to slide up the sleeve of the hand, and arm, that was holding up Vera, to first reveal his digital wrist watch, and beside it, further up his wrist, the device that the Lowe family had given him

Lee looked at the device, as he thought, 'Now, let's see if this thing works.'

(_)

Outside, Balalaika watch from her perch, which was located midway to the top of the communications tower she was on, but was still high enough to see over the building.

Even though it was night, with the outside and inside lights of the factory area on, it make seeing the area much easier. And her enhancement vision, and rifle scope, made up the most of the difference in being able to spot what was in the shadows of the lights.

At the moment, Balalaika held her sniper rifle up with both hands. There was already a bullet in the chamber of the weapon, with an ammo magazine attached to it. She was using her rifle scope, which was attached to her sniper rifle, to look into the enclosed windows of the well lit bridge between two buildings just west, and southwest of the main build complex. She thought, 'It is likely Lee will come through here. Benny stated that Lee had been in the main building. Then, Natsuru stated he was in the building west of the main building. Finally, Mal stated he was in the southwest of that building.'

'It is likely Lee is doubling back to where he hid his car. Simple tactics. Get us all into one group. That way there are no unknown factors involving us, and he knows where we are all at.'

'Even though the maids are not here, the rest of us are. And it is easier to avoid two people, instead of a group. I suspect that Roberta and Fabiola realize this. After the whole Grey Fox incident, Roberta knows how difficult it is to track someone with a small army also doing it. Knowing her, she will likely lay in wait near the location she believes Lee will be next. With Fabiola nearby.'

'And I would gamble Lee odds against those two are worse than facing all of us here. Though, if Lee can escape all of us, and the maids, he will have earned his freedom, and my respect.'

'Now, if I am right, Lee's plan is to double back to his car, and escape, with all of us chasing him. Since he likely had the guard call the cops, he will try to lead us to where he believes that cops are, and then escape in the confusion.'

'This is the only move he had left to do. He cannot reality jump. We would immediately track him. And he is not suicidal enough to stand and fight us. So, this is all he can do. And if I was in his place, I would come up with a simpler plan Though, I would have left boobytraps, including tripwires, and claymore mines, behind me.'

'But, I believe Lee really doesn't want to hurt us. If he did, he would like shot someone by now. Revy, Akira, and Natsuru, vouch that he is a good shot. Which is one of the reasons, I am not going for the kill shot. I will go for his lower legs, or feet. That will force him to slow down, and eventually surrender.'

'We want him alive, so I will just wing him.'

'And the ammo I am using is just standard lead rounds. They will hurt him, but they will not take off a limb, cause him to go in shock, bleed out, and die. B is also using the same ammo and equipment I am using. Also, I believe that Revy and the others are also using lead rounds, instead of hollow-points, or armor piercing rounds.'

'This is good, considering someone this skilled, and well manner, is a prize too valuable to be kill over some minor disagreements. We will have his ass for what he has done to us. But, there will be something left we can use afterward.'

'And Rock proved that to be the case, years ago. I am so happy I let Rock live during our time in Tokyo. And Rock has proven an asset from then, for me, and my... women.'

'Along with this, B and I both honestly enjoyed our conversations we had with Lee during our trip from Babylon Five to Mars. And I was impressed he was able to continue to keep his cover story together, while not alerting us that he knew who we were, during those two days, on the passenger liner. That takes skill and experience.'

'Lee is clearly a planner. In a similar vein as Rock. But, unlike Rock, Lee is not afraid to get his hands dirty. He just prefers not to hurt anyone. Though, he knows he has the ability to do so, if he has to.'

'Still, I don't want to alert anyone of where I think Lee is going, because I might be wrong. So, I want them searching other areas. For example, he could try to double back in the north end of the building he is in. In which case, B, will be on the look out for him.'

'Also, if he is coming this way, he will likely take the bridge. I doubt he will cross into the other building from the ground, for three reasons.'

'First, Lee is thinking three dimensionally. While it is likely that some of the others are thinking two dimensionally, with most of us more likely on the ground and lower levels, than on the tenth floor.'

'Second, he has a firearm in case he meets one of us. So, facing one, or two of us, in the hallway, will not be the problem. As we saw with both Sawyer, and Mal and Zoe, right afterward. Lee was able to use a firearm, to escape, without harming anyone. And that was very skillful of him.'

'Third, he likely realizes that, given our skills, B and I are in sniper positions. Going outside will put him at risk of dealing with us. So, he would to minimize his exposure to the outside. And coming through that bridge offers a lot of cover, with only around six meters of exposure, between the two buildings.'

'This is the route I would take. Now, I just need to wait, and see, what Lee does.'

A few seconds later, Balalaika saw Lee start running out, onto the bridge, from the north building, while carrying the rifle, Vera, in both hands. With his left hand on the bottom of the metal fore-end of the rifle, while his right hand was on the grip, with his trigger finger resting on the trigger guard.

Balalaika gleefully thought, 'There he is. I love it when I am right.'

Balalaika then saw Lee's exact double running the opposite way down the bridge, towards the first Lee. With this Lee also in the same clothing, with the same weapon. And his movements mirrored the first Lee.

And the to Lee's passed by each other, from their right sides, without touching one another, as the continue heading in opposite directions, down the bridge.

Balalaika stated, in russian, “What the hell?!”

Before Balalaika could take the shot, both Lee's had made it to the other side of the bridge, and to cover from both buildings.

But, from the windows, Balalaika could still see the reflections of both Lees. She watched as the Lees continued to copy each others movements.

Both Lees did something with one of their wrists. And the Lee in the north building disappeared in a flash of light.

Balalaika thought, 'Is that?... It has got to be. I do not know where he got it from, but he has one. And that just made things more interesting. Still, I would have use it in the same way, in his position. But, that trick won't work on me twice.'

'Now, to let the others know what Lee has... And I have always wants to say this line, since the Lowe family showed me that movie.'

Balalaika held her rifle with her right hand, as she used her left hand to unhook her radio from the left side of her belt. She then held her radio near her mouth, as she yelled into the radio, in english, “Lee has got a hologram!”

Violin asked in the radio, “What type?”

Balalaika answered, “Total Recall style.”

From their radios, Akira and Violin both said, in unison, “I call dibs.”

Rock stated, from her radio, “We will decide who gets it later. Just look for Lee. So, what happened?”

Balalaika commented, “He used the hologram to get by me. I saw to Lee coming towards each other, from opposite directions, and I was caught off guard. And he was out of my sights, before I knew it.”

Rock responded, “That happens to the best of us. So, where is he now, Balalaika?”

Balalaika forced herself to calm down, as she answered, “Lee has gone into the building south of the building he was reported in. He is on the tenth floor, of a twenty-six story building.”

Rock said, “Good. We should start to converge on him, soon enough.”

A few seconds later, over the radio, B stated, in russian, “Lee is clearly more clever than we thought.”

Balalaika questioned, in russian, “Yes. Though, where would he got such technology from? That is the type of technology that would be expensive to get, even here, in this reality. If it even exists here.”

B replied, “True. And we will find out, later. But, I have some thoughts on the matter.”

Balalaika said, “Good. I look forward to having that conversation, later.”

Balalaika then hooked her radio back to the left side of her belt, and she place her left hand on the underside of the fore-arm of her rifle. As she looked more closely at the windows, of the tenth floor, of the building which Lee had entered. In the hopes of seeing Lee, once again.

(_)

A few seconds ago, as Lee made it into the next building, he stopped, and turned off the hologram with his free hand.

Lee thought, 'That went better than I had hoped. Now, to make my way through this building... I think I will listen to the radio as I do so. I do not see any doors along this hallway. So, there is a minimum risk. And I will continue walking, so I can turn down another corner, in a minute, or so. Long before the others catch up to me.'

Lee used his left hand to set the volume of the radio to low, as he continued walking down the well illuminated hallway, while he listen in on the others.

Lee chuckled as he heard Balalaika yelled, over the radio, “Lee has a hologram!”

Lee continued listening to the conversation between those after him, as he thought, with mild amusement, 'I would bet real money she has seen the Total Recall movie. And that is a cool Michael Ironside quote. Some people just don't appreciate villains. That is why I like writing about them. Though, that has now come back to bite me in the ass. And I hope I can use this hologram device a few more times, before they get to wise for it.'

A few seconds later, the conversation ended, with Rock stating they are coming after him, just as Lee turned a corner, into another hallway.

Lee noticed that the hallway he had entered had a number closed doors. The doors had green lights on the panels by them, showing they were unlocked. Though, instead of the panels, like the other parts of the building. These were lock modern hotel lock, which were attached to door knobs.

Lee thought, “These are probably office rooms. Well, I may have to slow down a bit, as I continue down this way, to the nearby stairwell. Which I believe is on the northeast side of this building. Too bad these buildings do not follow the same design. Nor even a flipped design. Still, they are simple enough to not get lost in. So, I should be happy about that.'

Lee then overheard Balalaika and B talk in russian.

Lee thought, 'Too bad they are speaking russian, and I don't understand what they are saying. Though, that is probably the point. They are likely speaking in russian, so most of the others do not know what they are saying... That is not a bad idea, when using an open communication line... At least open for this group. Considering, I am sure these radios are using an encrypted channel, that is preset on them, before they were handed out to everyone in the group after me.

A minute later, as Lee got within sight of the closed door to the building's stairwell, on the radio, he heard Ranma's female voice say, in english, “We are in the northeast stairwell of this side of the building, that Balalaika stated Lee was in. We will be on the tenth floor in about thirty seconds.”

A second later, Mal stated, over his radio, “Good. Zoe, and I, are taking the elevator, from this side of the building, up to that floor. With the elevator letting out into another hallway, that leads to the bridge bridge Balalaika saw Lee cross, in another direction from you guys. We will meet you by that bridge. One of us should flush Lee out, and find him.”

Natsuru commented, over her radio, “Good idea. And I think we will be the ones that meet him. He is too smart to take an elevator.”

Mal agreed, “You are probably correct. But, it does not hurt to check.”

Shenhua stated, over her radio, “Sawyer and I are coming your way from the other building, using that bridge. If Lee somehow makes it back across the bridge, and Balalaika misses him, a second time. We will have him.”

Lee thought, with worry and concern, 'Oh crap! I am to close to the stairwell, to turn, and go down another hallway, that avoids all three groups. And I was so focused on the stairwell location, on this side of the building, I am not sure where the elevators are located on this side of the building.'

'A major oversight, and mistake on my part. So, even if I do turn and run. I will either have the Ranma, Natsuru, and Akira, come to this floor, just in time to see me in the hallway. Or, I will make it back around the hallway in time, and still likely run into Mal and Zoe. And even if I backtrack to the bridge, I will run into Balalaika, Sawyer, and Shenhua. Classic tactics for flushing someone out, and ambushing them.'

'My only advantage is that they don't realize I have one of their radios on me. And they are not sure where exactly I am.'

'Still, I can duck into one of the offices and just hide. I need to turn off my radio as well. Fortunately, the room should be facing away from Balalaika. Or, I am screwed.'

Lee quickly turned off the radio, and then open the door to his left, as he quickly slip inside. He then gently closed the door behind him.

The outside lights provided plenty of illumination, for Lee to see with. He saw that he was in a small office, with a desk on the far wall to Lee's right, with the desk set out a six feet from the wall, with it facing the left far wall. The desk's right side facing the windows, ten feet front the desk. And the desk's left side facing wall with the door, which was ten feet from the desk.

Between the wall and the desk, there was an office swivel chair behind the desk. Along, with a computer monitor, keyboard, and mouse set up onto of the desk. The desk was a metal desk, with the metal walls of the desk going all the way to the floor, with no gaps.

Lee thought, 'Good. There are no gaps under the desk. That means I can likely hide under the desk Though, let' see what else is in the room, before I hide.'

Lee around around, and he there was small table with coffee supplies, and maker on the left side of the room. And beside the small table was a filing cabinet. There were a few large pictures on the wall of alien landscapes, and sunsets, or sunrises, on those alien landscapes.

Lee thought, as he was start to grow anxious, 'Okay. Now, to hide.'

Lee quickly made his way to behind the desk, as he flip on the safety to Vera. He pulled back the chair, and duck under the space where the chair, and the sitters legs went.

As he sat, with his right side to the inside of the desk. His legs was crouched up to his chest, he had Vera leaning between the shins of his leg, with butt of the stock against the floor, and his right hand holding the barrel.

Lee then reached out with his left hand, and pulled the swivel chair back up to the desk.

Lee remained as quiet as possible. As he forced himself to relax and breath slowly, in shallow breaths.

A few seconds later, Lee could here Ranma, Akira, and Natsuru opening and closing doors.

Lee thought, 'I just hope they are doing a once over, and not doing a thorough check. This literally would be an embarrassing position to be caught in. Still, given the speed of the doors that are being open, only one of the girls is checking a single room. And they are being quick about it. I just have to remain calm, and I should be able to wait for them to pass by.'

'And I got to be careful with Vera. Even with the safety on. This weapon is dangerous.'

Half a minute later, Lee heard the door to the office was he in open. Lee noticed the light was not turned on.

The door remained opened for about ten seconds. Then, the door closed.

Lee then heard a number of doors opening and closing, every few seconds. With the sounds of doors opening and closing slowly becoming weaker and weaker, as the trio moved away from his hiding place.

Lee thought, 'Good. Now, for my precognition to tell me when it is the right time to leave this hiding place.'

Lee remained in his spot for another two minutes, before his precognition alerted him that it was safe to come out.

As Lee pushed the chair away, and he got out from under the desk, he was careful with Vera. As he picked up Vera by the barrel, with his left hand, he leaned up.

While straightening his back, he sarcastically thought, 'Well, that did wonders for my back, and knees. Though, at least my back is not out. Now, to get to that stairwell, before the others realize I gave them the slip.'

Lee then put Vera into his right hand, with his right hand on the grip, and his right index finger resting on the trigger guard, as he used his left hand to flip back off the safety.

Lee then walked up to the door to the office. He slowly turned the knob and opened the door. The door swung inwardly, with allowed Lee to duck his head out, and see the way he had come from the bridge. He saw that trio were gone. Though, not taking any chances, Lee walked out into the hallway, and then gripped the outside of the door knob.

Lee twisted the knob as he closed the door. He then slowing turned it back to where the latch would rest. All so that the door would not make a sound, as he closed it.

Lee then turned towards the stairwell.

Lee saw the stairwell door was still open.

Lee thought, 'Good. Now, to do this quietly, but quickly.'

A few seconds later, Lee briskly walked into the stairwell.

As Lee walked softly, but quickly, up the stairs, he thought, 'I will leave the door to the stairwell open. If I close it, they may come back and notice that. And realize I am in the stairwell.'

'Now, I need to make it to the twenty-second floor. Fortunately, there are signs on the doors, stating the number of the floor that door leads too.'

'I figure at the pace I am going, I would make to the twenty-second floor in a few minutes. And I will rest when I get there.'

'And once I reach that floor, I will need to make my way through four hallways. I will then make my way through the a large storage section of this building. After which, another stairwell. And finally the roof.'

'And on the matter of going to the roof. I do not dare use this stairwell to go to the roof from this end of the building, because I would come out the wrong side. There would be to much open ground for me to cover, with me being a sitting duck for Balalaika, and B.'

'Though, it might be best to listen in and find out when they realize they lost me. Being forewarned is being forearmed.'

Lee used his left hand to turn on the radio, clipped to the left side of his belt. He made sure its volume setting was low, with it just barely loud enough for him to hear. So, any noise from it, would likely not attract any unwanted attention.

Lee then continue to carefully, though quickly and quietly, make his way up the steps of the stairwell.

(_)

A few minutes later, on the tenth floor, in the building just north of the building Lee was in, Shenhua and Sawyer were in south part of building's hallway entrance to the bridge, that lead to the building that Lee had went into.

The two women stood by each other, with Shenhua to Sawyer's left side, as they two looked towards the bridge.

Sawyer had her chainsaw turned off, and strapped to her back. While Shenhua had her long knives and throwing knives sheathed.

Both women continued looking forward, as Sawyer asked, “So, are you still planning on killing Lee?”

Shenhua calmly answered, “No. He settled his debt with me, when he saved my life from the Bebop crew.”

Sawyer replied, “Good.”

Shenhua inquired, “You sound like you like him?”

Sawyer shrugged, “Not in that way. It is just he did some good things for me, that improved me life... Our lives. And I am grateful to him, for those things.”

Shenhua responded, “Yes. He did do some good things for you.”

Sawyer commented, “He is not really that bad a guy.” She mentally added, 'I think I will leave out the torture conversation he had with me.'

Shenhua conceded, “But, he is an idiot.”

Sawyer joked, “Aren't all men.”

Both women giggled, for a few seconds.

The two women then watched as Akira, Ranma, Natsuru met up with Zoe, and Mal on the other side of the bridge. None of them looked happy, as they walked across the bridge, toward the two women.

Shenhua commented, “I think, they somehow missed, Lee.”

Sawyer suggested, “Let us find out for sure.”

The two women walked towards the five adults, with the seven adults coming to a stop in the center of the bridge, as they looked at each other.

Shenhua asked, “What happened?”

Akira answered, “We missed him?”

Shenhua asked, “How? This is a straightforward trap.”

Zoe spoke up, “We know. And we checked the rooms our way over here.” She turned to the Ranma, Natsuru, and Akira, as she inquired, “Did you guys do the same?”

Ranma turned to Zoe, as she answered, “Yes.” She then turned to Shenhua and Sawyer, as she asked, “Did Lee come back your way?”

Shenhua answered, “No.”

Natsuru turned to Akira, as she cursed, “Crap. How did we miss him, again?”

Akira turned to Natsuru, as she shrugged, “Beats me.”

(_)

At that moment, outside, while steadily sitting on a steel beam that was her perch, on the communications tower, Balalaika kept her right trigger finger on the trigger guard, as she used her rifle scope to watched as Natsuru, Akira, Ranma, Mal, Zoe, had walked onto the bridge from the south building. While Shenhua and Sawyer walked onto the bridge, from the north building.

The seven adults met each other in the middle. And they began to talk.

Balalaika noted that Lee was nowhere in sight.

Balalaika thought, 'What is going on here? I better ask them what happened.'

Balalaika let go of the fore-end of her rifle with her left hand. This allowed her to continued holding her rifle with her right hand, and allow her to use her scope to look at the seven adult.

She then used her left hand to pull out her radio, from the left side of her belt. She pressed the talk button, as she asked, in english, “What happened? Where is Lee?”

From her scope, Balalaika saw Sawyer pulled out her radio, as she answered, “Lee some how got passed all of us.”

Balalaika then watched Akira pulled out her radio. Akira stated, into her radio, “I don't know how it happened. We checked all the rooms on our way here. And from what Mal and Zoe are saying, they did the same thing.”

Balalaika thought, 'How is that possible? We had him. We should not have missed him... Something isn't right. Lee is not this good. Unless...'

Just then, on the radio, Balalaika heard Simon's voice say, “Kaylee, Inara, and I, found Jayne. It seems that Lee kicked Jayne in the balls, and she thought it was a bright idea to change into a girl.”

Akira stated, with her radio, “Bad move.”

Over his radio, Simon replied, “Yes. From seeing the way Jayne is right now. That is obvious.”

Over the radio, Rock asked, “Is Jayne going to be alright?”

On the radio, Simon answered, “Jayne is going to be out of it for a while. But, it is safe to say we now know how Lee retrieved his firearm.”

Balalaika inquired, “Does Jayne have his radio with him?”

A few seconds later, Simon answered, “No.”

Balalaika thought, with mild annoyance, 'Sometimes being right can be a curse.' Balalaika ordered, into her radio, “Quick, change your radio frequencies to channel bravo.”

On the radio, Akira asked, “Huh?”

Over the radio, Revy inquired, “What are you asking, sis?”

Balalaika mentally cursed, 'Damn! I knew I forgot to do something when we handed those radios out to the every. Only B and I know how to work the channel codes we we set our radios too... Well, it cannot be helped now. The only thing I can do is explain what is going on. And that we are now on an open channel with Lee.'

Balalaika stated into her radio, “Everyone be mindful of that Lee has Jayne's radio. We can still catch him. It just means we will have to be careful what we say over these radios... And Lee, I know you are listening. So, speak up... Your cast wants to have a word with you.”

(_)

At the moment, Lee had made it to the twenty-second floor of the building he was in. He had exited the stairwell, and he shut the door behind him.

The stairwell entrance forked into two way intersection of hallways.

Lee then stood in place, as he looked down both hallways, to see that they were close.

He then stared down the hallway he needed go down. He saw several doors line both sides of the hallway. And like the doors from the hallway below, they had card reader locks on the doors. Though, from the green lights on the locks, it showed the doors were unlock.

Since Lee did not seen anyone else down either hallways, he stopped to catch a breath.

As Lee had made it up the staircase, he had his radio on, and he had been listening to their conversation.

Balalaika had just asked for his response, Lee thought, 'I might will make my presence known. After all, Balalaika did make such a wonderfully elegant request for my response. As a gentleman... Well, a gentlewoman. I will have to take her up on her offer... Though, I should not sound tired. I do not want them to know that I getting them to talk, so I can catch my second wind.'

With his left hand, Lee unhooked the radio from his waist belt, on the left side of his waist.

As Lee held the radio in his left hand, near his mouth, he leaned his back against the wall to his left, while he lowed his rifle, to where the end of the barrel was leaning against the floor.

Though, Lee was very careful and aware, not to put his right trigger finger on the trigger. And instead, he had his right index finger continue to rest on the trigger guard.

Lee took a deep breath. He then slowly let out that breath. When Lee was done letting out his breath, he pressed the talk button. Lee flatly replied, through his radio, “Of course, I am. Tapping into the communications of an enemy is such a simple, but necessary tactic. If one wants to stay alive, and free. I recognize these radios as yours, Balalaika. It is your fault I got a radio in the first place. Most of the people here are not as well trained as you, and B. And you both handed out these radios without realizing that I may try to get my hands on one of them.”

Balalaika calmly said, with her radio, “I will admit to that oversight.”

Molly then broke into the conversation, with her radio, “This is Molly. Before this turns into an argument, full of threats of violence. I would like to speak with you, Lee.”

Over his radio, Lee responded, “Go ahead Molly. As long as we are talking, chances are that most of you are not looking for me.”

Molly inquired, with her radio, “True. Now, along some more personal questions for another time. The important question I have is, why did you reincarnate the five of us?”

Lee casually answered, with his radio, “Well Molly, Yukio, whatever name you want to go by. I think four of the five of you got a really raw deal. Except for Claude. But, I found Claude, or should I say now, Kristina, was such a polite person, that I wanted to bring that person back to life. Manners do count.”

Kristina spoke up, on her radio, “Thank you.”

Lee said, into his radio, “Kristina, you are welcome. Anyway, take you, Molly. For an example. When you were, Yukio Washimine, your predecessor, Tsugio Bandou, made a critical error in contacting Hotel Moscow. That mistake being that one should never ally their self with a greater power, unless absolutely necessary.”

Lee mentally reflected, 'And that is not counting the other mistakes you made, as Yukio, Molly. Like planning to head to Roanapur, as Yukio. But, there is no point in bringing that up. It is in the past for you. And it would gain me nothing by mentioning those mistakes.'

(_)

Outside, on the communications tower, Balalaika immediately realized where Lee knew that lesson from. Over her radio, she accused, “Lee, you have studied Machiavelli?”

Almost all the people present knew who Machiavelli was.

(_)

From the hallway that Rock and Revy were in, elsewhere in the building Lee was inside of, Rock commented, in a manner that summed up everyone feelings on the revelation, “Oh hell.”

Beside her, Revy commented, “This is not good. Even I know who that is.”

(_)

Back in the hallway Lee was in, Lee answered, into his radio, “Ah yes. Niccolo Machiavelli. I found his works, especially, The Prince, to be brilliant. And that he is a very misunderstood individual. With his teachings are far better than most people give him credit for.”

“To that end, I long since realized that Machiavelli invented modern genre savviness. And I have been applying his teachings since minute one of meeting you all. And those teachings, among others, have kept me alive, so far.”

“Also, Machiavelli is one of my two favorite renaissance men. My other favorite man of that time was, Leonardo da Vinci. Whom was almost just as genre savvy as Machiavelli.”

“I think you women would have admired those two men. One defined modern politics and diplomacy The other defined modern technology, and art. They were truly the forefathers of the modern age...”

Over his radio, Lee quietly added, “Which is being torn down...”

Lee then spoke a bit louder, as he continued, into his radio, “Those two men even knew each other. And one time they worked together to steal a river. Yes. An actually river. Though, they did not success, due to lack of technology of that time. That still take guts to attempt, no matter what time period one is talking about.”

“Besides... The reason I prefer to study Machiavelli, is because I find Nietzche is too butch, and Kafka is too dry.”

Balalaika stated, “You are clearly quoting someone. But, I cannot place the quote.”

Akira stated, with her radio, “Actually Lee is paraphrasing Fox Xanatos, from the early nineteen nineties cartoon, Gargoyles.”

Lee said, into his radio, “You are correct, Akira.”

Form her radio, Balalaika took offense at learning this, as she snapped, “You are quoting a cartoon, to me, Lee?”

Lee pointed out, in a jovial manner, “Hey. You are from an anime. So, don't be a hypocrite. Still. To clarify. Fox was making those comments, while reading a work by Jean-Paul Sartre. Though, the paraphrase still fits. And while Fox is from a cartoon, I am sure some of you have noticed that while I mentioned the Gargoyles series a few times, in my stories, I never messed with the people from that series, in my stories. And that was intentional on my part.”

“The people from the Gargoyles series operate on a whole different level than any of us. They are more dangerous, and more ruthless, than any of us. Except for maybe for Roberta, and Aeryn.”

Aeryn spoke up through the radio, “Thank you.”

Lee responded, into his radio, “You're welcome. Now, while you all are probably more violent that those of the Gargoyles series. At least what was shown on scene. Which, was quite a bit, considering it was a cartoon. You are not as creatively deceptive as they are.”

“And before you take this as an insult. You need to listen to me on this. Especially, you, Balalaika. I am only going to warn you once. You need to, in the near future, find the time to watch the Gargoyles series... Well, the first two seasons. No one counts the third season as canon. Not even the creator of that series.”

“But never, ever go to that reality. And should you do, do not cross the Xanatos clan, especially David and Fox Xanatos.”

“Considering, I was able to play all of you, like harps, with only my wits and a deck of cards, the Xanatos clan would annihilate you.”

“Balalaika, even with Hotel Moscow at your side, David and Fox Xanatos would wipe the floor with you in every category. From resources, to political influence, to manpower, to combat, to weaponry, to intelligence, to strategy, to cunning. They can bring more to the table, in every way, than you can.”

“The only people more dangerous than the Xanatos clan, are their in-laws. And that is up from debate. If you go against David and Fox Xanatos, they will outplay you so well, that you won't see your defeat coming, until it is too late.”

“There is a reason why the term, Xanatos Gambit, was named after David Xanatos. David is not a magnificent bastard. He is the magnificent bastard of the multiverse. And his wife, Fox, is just as good at this game as he is.”

“Hell. Let us take Fox Xanatos as an example. She is a brilliant intellectual. A natural leader. She is in great physical shape. She can kick some serious ass in hand to hand combat. She is also an expert in firearms. She has the personality of a predator. But, she also knows her manners. She can be very civil and diplomatic. And the only thing that separates most of you, from her, is that she is sane.”

“And I admire David for marrying her. She is a good catch. And they go well together. They even have a son. Also, respect David's marriage proposal to Fox in that it was elegant in its simplicity and straightforwardness. And it worked.”

“Though, an interesting note, she has a teal tattoo on the upper right side of her face... And her original name is Janine Renard. She actually legally changed her name to, Fox... Why did I not see it before?... Hehehehe...” Lee chuckling turning into full blown laughter, as he continue to hold the to button, for a few seconds, as he laughed.

Over the radio, Balalaika demanded, “What is so funny?”

Lee stopped laughing, as he answered, “Of course. I should have seen it before. Fox Xanatos is an inspiration for you, Balalaika, and likely the other original Lagoon women, as well. Though, the more crazier women in your group probably got some of their inspirations from Hyaena and Demona. Demona even had red hair. While, Fox had orange hair.”

(_)

Elsewhere in the building, Revy looked at her lover, with an unspoken question showing on her face.

Rock looked back over at Revy, as she answered, “Lee might be right.”

(_)

In another part of the same building, as Lee was in, Akira, Natsuru, and Ranma were standing together.

Akira commented, “The scary thing is that Lee is has a point.”

Natsuru said, “The scarier part is that I can see Lee's logic on this.”

Akira shrugged, while nodding her head. She replied, “I know.”

Ranma inquired, “Is that the series with the intelligent flying monsters, whom awoke from a thousand year sleep, to live in New York City?”

Akira answered, “Yes.”

Ranma commented, “Yep. I can see the parallels with the two series. In the badass ways.”

Natsuru said, “You are preaching to the choir.”

Akira agreed, “Yes. You are.”

(_)

From her outside perch, Balalaika stated, into her radio, “Interesting. I will keep what you said in mind, Lee. Still, you don't have a clue who and what you are dealing with.”

(_)

From his place in the hallway, Lee chuckled lighting into his radio, as he thought, 'I should not be surprised that Balalaika made the same mistake as Chang. Though, I set Chang straight. And I need to set Balalaika straight, right now. And if I get the reaction I am hoping for. By the end of this conversation, I will be throwing off her aim.'

As Lee calmed down, he responded, into the radio, in a humorous tone of voice, “That is where you are wrong. Balalaika, Let us take you for example. You are not using an office room building, as a bird blind, for cover, as a sniper, looking out a window.”

“Instead, right now, I am sure you are perched on the roof of a high towering building nearby. Or, a communications tower, probably mid way up, where the wind, which this dome has a little, but not a lot, will not make the tower sway too much, to throw your aim off. Though, wherever you are, you are in a sniper position.”

“This is an obvious, academic guess. Considering, you are trying to locate a single target over a large area. What is not so academic, is everything else I know about you.”

Over the radio, Balalaika baited, “Oh. I would like to hear this.”

Lee took the bait, as he smirked. He stated, with a bit of excitement in his tone of voice, “With pleasure. The Black Lagoon series did provide a thorough insight into the tactics of Hotel Moscow. Such as your organization preferring the high ground, along with using cars, and other ground based vehicles, as weapons platforms to attack from.”

“But, one thing stood out, above all others. That, wall of these events were well into the nineteen nineties, you of hotel Moscow preferred to use the military weapons and equipment that you were trained to use, a decade and a half earlier.”

“This is not surprising. Why fix it, if it is not broken? I can even admire that approach, in some ways. But, even though you used cellphones to conduct business, you used your encrypted military radios, like the ones we are using now, to talk with each other, for everything else.”

“That is intelligent on your part. And a wise decision. If you intend to go to my home reality. Do not use cellphones at all. They are all tapped, and can be used to record and trace you, even if they are turned off. I am not joking here. That is why I don't use one.”

“But, back to the subject at hand. This observation by you of Hotel Moscow, using older tactics and equipment, does show a weakness. Much like the major weakness which destroyed the Spartans. You refuse to update you tactics and equipment, with the times. Which means you will eventually lose to someone that can compensate for your tactics and equipment.”

“Such, as myself, in that I know enough about you, and the equipment you are likely using. Among another impressive skills, you, Balalaika, are an expert sniper. And my actions, in writing about you, only enhanced your skills, through the super-soldier serum I had given you. But, that only means that the limitations are now from your tactics and equipment.”

“Both of which I am very knowledgeable of.”

“To start with. Knowing you, you are likely using a SVD Dragunov sniper rifle, with a brown finished wooden stock and fore-end. The SVD Dragunov is likely equipped with a PSO-1 scope. And the pistol you likely have holstered, somewhere on your person, is your Stechkin APS. Or, automatic pistol, with selective fire. The Stechkin APS was introduced to the Soviet Union, for military use in nineteen fifty-one.”

“Also, given that I suspect you, and B, wearing fatigues, color coded for this operation, your pistol is located on a side holster, on the right side of your waist, given you are likely right eye dominate, with you using her right eye to aim your rifle. That said, you are likely an expert at using your pistol with both hands.”

“The ammo your Stechkin uses, and you have loaded with, is likely the nine by eighteen millimeter Parabellum. Given that type of ammo is only of the most widely available types of ammo, from the time and place or your reality.”

“The effective range of the pistol is fifty meters. But, the maximum range is two hundred meters.”

“It is a good pistol, which offers some good modification options. The pistol can be equipped with an extended stock, for steadier, more accurate firing. The pistol can use an extended barrel, for a suppressor. It can use an extended clip. And the automatic selector option, offers a close range, spray option. It is pretty much everything a person would one in a pistol. Except you cannot mount a scope on it.”

“And given you nature is not to be wasteful, you likely have your pistols set to single shot selection. Am I correct on all that.”

Over the radio, Balalaika flatly answered, “Yes.”

Lee stated, “I thought so. Now, the Dragunov was developed in nineteen sixty-three. The PSO-1 scope was developed in nineteen sixty-four. The Dragunov semi-automatic rifle, that uses a seven point sixty-two by fifty-four millimeter R cartridge. The rifle normally is equipped with a ten round magazine. So, you have at most, without reloading, eleven rounds in your weapon. One in the chamber, and ten in the magazine. And your skill with the Dragunov weapon is where you got your nickname, Balalaika, from. With, Balalaika, being slang for the Dragunov rifle.”

“By using a scope, the maximum range of the Dragunov is one thousand, three hundred meters. Though, the effective firing range is around eight hundred meters. Around nine hundred yards.”

“And with your skills, I am sure you could hit a silver dollar coin at nine hundred yards. Though, given the slightly lower atmosphere in this dome, than at sea level on Earth, I would guess the effective firing range is a little longer here.”

“So, let us say, you can hit me, without a problem, at an even thousand yards. Though, now that I think about it. Taking into account Mars' lower gravity, the effective firing range of your weapon of choice might be up to sixteen hundred yards. But, given you are a trained sniper, you would not take a risk like that. You would use the stats and figures that you can confirm. That being the formula for shooting your rifle on Earth, with Earth's gravity and atmosphere.”

“Also, given that you like to give yourself an edge in a fight. Wherever you are perched, it is within seven hundred yards of the building I am in. B is likely in a similar location, in the opposite place, in relation to your position, over this area, with her probably using a similar rifle, scope, and equipment.”

“Now, onto the PSO-1 scope.”

“I am sure you are using the PSO-1 scope, instead of the PSO-1M2, because you would want to have the infra-red detector that comes installed in the PSO-1 scope, which was not included in the PSO-1M2 scope.”

“When the PSO-1 scope was invented, in nineteen sixty-four, it was truly groundbreaking, in that its SVD type reticule made it easier for sniper to gauge wind resistance, and bullet drop compensation, to hit targets at a longer range, in more hostile environmental conditions. And even in the time I lived, in my reality, the PSO-1 is a useable scope rifle.”

“Though, one needs very good eyesight, and very steady hands, to get the most of it that scope and rifle. Which you and B having both in spades.

“And even if you are not using the Dragunov, you are still likely using the PSO-1 scope, because that is the scope you were trained with, to use. For a sniper, the rifle type is only secondary in equipment, to the scope that sniper uses.”

Lee smirk slightly widened, as he inquired into his radio, with eagerness evident in his tone of voice, “So, how did I do on my Holmes summation? I think I nailed.”

(_)

Outside, on her perch, midway up a communications tower, Balalaika looked down at her Dragunov sniper rifle, which had a brown finished wooden stock and fore-end. Along with the PSO-1 scope attached to the barrel of the weapon, between the fore-end and stock. She then glance further down, to her Stechkin APS pistol, selected to single fire, which was holstered, on a side holsters, on the right side of her waist.

At the moment, Balalaika was not so much angry, as she was upset that such a stranger could have gotten such an upper hand on her abilities, and equipment.

Though, Balalaika did start reciting a string of russian curses against Lee, as she thought, 'I was right. Lee is like Rock. Lee will use every tiny, little detail to his advantage. That is what makes him so dangerous, and unpredictable.'

'I am glad we are not planning on killing him. Torture him some. Yes. But, kill him. No. Because I hope we may someday make use of his abilities.'

'And I am starting to understand why the others had such a hard time figuring out that the writer was Lee. He literally pushes his own abilities to theirs limits.'

'That is how he fooled B and I on the passenger transport.'

'Also, he obviously trying to intentionally get me angry. Because, he knows that a pissed off sniper is a useless sniper. And his tactic almost worked.'

'When I get my hands on him, I am going to learn everything he knows about us, while showing him the true meaning of pain.'

(_)

In the small security room, in the building, which was main control center, of the factory complex, Dutch stood guard by the door to the hallway, with her shotgun slung on her right shoulder, and her pistol holstered.

Meanwhile, Benny sat in the chair, at the desk, in the room. Currently, Benny had his tool kit open, and he had the broken mouse taken apart, as she used her tool to slice the severed cord to where the wires were exposed. She was now, trying to bridge the wires back to the mouse, in the proper order, to get it working.

Both of them had been listening on their radios, at the discussion the rest of their group had been having with Lee.

Dutch turned to Benny, as she asked, “How is it coming on the computer mouse?”

Benny did not look up from her work, as she answered, “Slowly, but surely. Though, it is still going to be a while.”

Dutch said, in a reassuring tone of voice, “Do what you can. At least we got entertainment to listen to.”

Benny let out a laugh. She then commented, “I honestly don't believe I just heard all that. I know Lee knows stuff about us. But, what he stated is on a completely different level than what I expected Lee to know. It is like when Janet talks about her knowledge on currencies, and counterfeiting.”

Dutch stated, “Don't be surprised. His stories reflect the fact that he did some serious research on us. He didn't just watch our series and start writing. He did some work, beforehand. And one of the oldest tricks in the book is to know one's enemy. Especially, before entering the battlefield. Lee knew that if he was able to go on the run, he would eventually cross both Balalaika and B. And he wanted to be ready for them.”

Benny pointed out, “Still, Lee is intelligent enough not to say what he just said, while in the direct cross-hairs of either woman.”

Dutch agreed, “Very true.”

(_)

In the hallway Lee was standing in, he heard Balalaika state, in a very dangerous tone of voice. “Since you know so much about me, Lee. You know that beyond this factory complex is a completely barren field, several kilometers to the nearest highway.”

“It is a perfect place for B or I to take you out. That is, if you get that far into your escape from us. The ambient light given off from the starry sky, shine through the dome, along with the factory lights, provides us with plenty of light to allow us to see you with our enhanced sight. The darkness will not help you much. So, if you surrender now. I promise, I won't make you scream.”

Lee calmly said, “While I think you would keep your promise, Balalaika. I also know there are simple ways of avoiding sniper fire. Being shot out by a snipes is like being chased by a gator. A person doesn't run in a straight line. The person zigzags. With a car, I think I could probably get out of here alive, even with you and B shooting at me. Though, in doing so, I would probably damage the cars alignment and suspension system.”

Balalaika conceded, in a more calmer tone of voice, “That is correct. If the situation was different, I might have actually hired you as a freelance consultant on a few matters. You clearly use what you know to the maximum of effect. A trait that is rare, and that I admire.”

Lee replied, “Thank you.”

Balalaika's tone of voice took a more dangerous undercurrent to it, as she continued, “But, that doesn't change the fact of what you did to us. I am sure you remember what I did to, Chin? That will be pleasant compared to what I going to do to you for trying to control us... Control me.”

Everyone then heard Lee start laughing more maniacally than ever, over the radio. As he forced himself to calm down, he stated, “Chin?... At the end of episode three?... Let me get this straight. Your idea of revenge for me is to beat me up, tie me to a chair, and blow me up? That is so cliche. That ghost story omake was right. You do lack imagination. BWAHAHAHA!”

(_)

In other part of the same building Lee was in, Rock and Revy heard all of this, though, through their radios.

As they listened to the situation unfolding, both women were shocked by the blunt forwardness that Lee was displaying towards one of the scariest women they knew of. Themselves, included.

Revy and Rock looked at each other in their faces.

Rock hesitantly said, “Now, Lee is berating, Balalaika.”

Revy flatly responded, with a bit of surprise in her tone of voice, “Lee's nuts.”

(_)

From her outside perch, Balalaika cursed in Russian, as she admitted to herself, in thought, 'Okay. Now, I am angry.”

Balalaika coldly said, “When I get my hands on you, I will...”

(_)

In a hallway he was standing in, Lee interrupted her, in an arrogant tone of voice, “What will happen is that you will turn me over to Roberta. Babe. That is what it is going to come down too. Let's be honest. You are all badasses. But, Roberta is the top alpha bitch in your pack. Hell, from what I know of her, she and her student are likely listening in on this little conversation of ours. But, Roberta and Fabiola are both too professional to reply, because they want to make damn sure I don't see the trap they have laid for me. Wherever they are?”

There was silence over the radio, for a few seconds.

Lee thought, 'I see no takers, on my bait for you to fill me in on where the maids are. But, I need to know where the maids are? Or, even if they are with this group, at the moment.' Lee used his radio to inquire, “By the way, are the maids even here?”

Over her radio, Akira answered, “They are on planet. But, as far was we know, not in this factory complex.”

Lee replied, “Thanks. Anyway, Boris, or B, sorry about changing you into a woman. You were one of the nicer, more honorable people in Black Lagoon. I just couldn't help myself.”

(_)

From her outside position, on the roof of a large building, B her hard rifle in her right hand, as she had her radio in her left hand. She used her radio to calmly say, in english, “At least I have a fun time. You gave me the greatest vacation imaginable. Including going to the original Woodstock. And then gave me the woman of my dreams. Who am I to complain? And, B, is fine.”

Lee complimented, “Good attitude.”

B then could not help herself, as she asked, “Thank you. But, why did you make a Balalaika a lesbian?”

(_)

Back in the hallway, Lee stood up from leaning his back on the wall. Lee let the radio off for a few seconds, as he chuckled a little, at B's question.

A few seconds later, as he calmed down, he used the radio, as he stated, “I know you are listening, Balalaika. But, your girlfriend did ask. And I already told Chang... Oh yea, if you guys don't know. Chang figured who I was on his own.”

Over the radio, B commented, “Chang informed Rock and Revy of that. And those two told the rest of us. Now please, get to the point.”

Lee said, into his radio, “Alright. Anyway, it is simple logic. Here we have Balalaika, living with a group of badass men. From you, B, as a guy, on down the ranks, Hotel Moscow's men were physically fit, and handsome. And all of you were completely devote to Balalaika. Yet, her attitude clearly showed that she was not getting laid.”

Several of the other women were laughing, over the radio. While Balalaika, and B, remained silent.

As the women calmed down, B stated, over her radio, “That does answer some questions. Like why she took up that hobby of editing porn. I mean, she likes going up my ass more than Revy does with Rock.”

Lee inwardly winced, as he thought, 'I did not need to know that. Though, it would also mean that the reason Balalaika was bored out of her skull editing porn was that she was tired of watching recordings of other people doing what she wanted to do. And I would bet money they had access to those instant man packets. So, B was not talking about use of dildos. At least not plastic ones.'

Meanwhile, B's comment caused everyone to laugh some, over the radio.

Then suddenly, over the radio, Balalaika warned, in a cold tone of voice, “We will not be discussing my personal tastes on an open channel.”

This caused everyone to laugh even harder.

A few seconds later, as Lee heard the laughter on the radio die down, Lee thought, 'I better change the subject, before Balalaika start to concern shooting her own friends.'

Lee said, into the radio, “By the way, Akira and Natsuru, I hope you like your new video collection.”

Over the radio, Natsuru replied, “We plan on watching it right after we catch you. If you surrender, we promise to let you live long enough to see it all.”

Lee admitted, into his radio, “Tempting. But, I will have to pass. Breathing is more important to me. Though, given my knowledge of you all, my chances of escape are quite high.”

Dutch stated, into her radio, “Perhaps. But, we will have justice for what you did to us?”

Lee laughed into the radio for several seconds. As he calmed down, he then stated, “Oh Dutchy-babe, at least be honest. This has nothing to do with justice, and has all to do about revenge.”

Dutch replied, into her radio, “You don't believe in justice? Do you?”

Lee stated, “Nope. And if you capture me, there will be no trials. No juries. Just me being tortured. You might parade me around Lagoon Island a few times for your friends, but at the end of the day, you are going to torture me until you get tired, and then, if I am lucky, you will kill me in a slow, painful, horrible way.”

Over her radio, Dutch commented, “I am surprised you have such a low opinion of us.”

Lee replied, into his radio, “It is not that. It is just I realize what you are all capable of. Though, I think you, Ranma, Natsuru, Akira, and Violin, are the nicest of your group.”

Dutch said, with her radio, “Thank you.”

Over his radio, Lee responded, “You're welcome.”

Rock inquired, into her radio, “Lee, why don't you believe in justice?”

Lee laughed again into the radio. A few seconds later, as he calmed down, Lee stated, over the radio, “You... You of all people in this group after me, have the audacity to ask me that? Though Rock, I will admit that I am envious of your reality. At least Roanapur has some measure of justice. Or, had.”

Rock questioned, with her radio, “What do you mean? Because, I didn't see any type of justice while I was there.”

Over his radio, Lee answered, “Justice existed there. It was just not the type of justice you were taught as a child. Take Balalaika here. And Chang. At their height, during their mafia days in Roanapur. They were the two most powerful people in control of the city. Still, they had, and still have a measure of loyalty to their subordinates. With their subordinates returning their loyalty. To that end, they also have measure of integrity and personal honor.”

“Like the mafias of previous generations, they understood subtlety and discretion. A trait lacking in much of my reality, in the time I left. Balalaika, am I correct in assuming that most of those whom suffered, or died by your organization's hands. Or, those that Chang's group handled. Were dealt with because they either crossed you, or could not behave, within reason, in Roanapur?”

Balalaika calmly said, into her radio, “That is correct.”

Lee responded, “Thank you, Balalaika. Honestly, you all have some redeeming qualities that I can respect. If I wanted to be a fan of a series, where the characters that won were complete elitist, hypocritical, scumbags, that make Chaka look like a saint, I would watch Game of Thrones. And I hate that series because that series reminds me of my own reality. A world where justice does not exist. Where only cruelty and evil thrive.”

Revy stated, into her radio, “Lee, that maybe the case. But, you still think you understand us. Well, you don't.”

Lee casually said, into his radio. “Oh, Revy. Sweet, sweet Revy. You, my dear, were the easiest one to figure out. Savvy.”

“In your series you acted like a pissed off teenager due to the shit that happened to you when you were younger.”

“Centuries ago, a writer known as Samuel Johnson said it best. He who makes a beast of himself, gets rid of the pain of being a man.”

“This quote applies to women, as well. Such as you, Revy. I have known women in my personal life, before I heard of any of you, let alone met you, that took this creed to heart. So, as you can see. I do understand you, Revy. Though, I did do my best to try to help you.”

“And while others would disagree, you do have a lot of positive traits that work for you. As a foundation, that allowed me to help you. You are honest, and straightforward. You are probably the most honest woman I know of, in existence. Though, you are mildly belligerent to everyone. You are loyal to your friends. You are fun at parties, as long as you don't get too drunk, and don't have your weapons. You are very realistic with your wants, goals, and needs. And you know your limitations.”

“You are as intelligent as Rock. You are just not as knowledgeable, and emotionally grounded, as Rock.”

“You know you are sexy. And while you show it, you don't unnecessarily flaunt it. You don't tease others by using your beauty, unless you have to. That makes you more well mannered than most women I have personally known in my home reality.”

“And when it comes to manners, you only lack them, because no one taught you them. Though, I am sure Rock has done much to help you in that department.”

“With those positive traits as a foundation, I helped you cement your friendship with Shenhua and Sawyer. For them to become good friends with you. Friends that you could relate too. Then, I made you leader of the Hell Sabers to teach you responsibility, and leadership skills. I had you deal with what happened to you as a teenager, from a third person point of view, and this helped you move on from had happened to you. I arranged for you have a stable relationship, and love life. A good home. To become wealthy. And for you to have children whom you care about, and whom care about you.”

“I did what I could for you, Revy. But, I guess it wasn't enough. Because you continue to be an ungrateful bitch that is still after my hide!”

Over the radio, Revy responded, with venom lacing her voiced, “I never asked for any of it.”

With his radio, Lee countered, “Nor, did you ask for the shit that happened to you when you were younger.”

(_)

In the security room, both Dutch and Benny were listening to their radios.

Benny was sitting in the chair, in front of the desk, as she continued to work on repairing the computer mouse.

Dutch stood beside Benny, as she asked, “Is Lee actually trying is rev Revy up?

Benny continued with her work, as she casually answered, “It appears so. Either Lee is completely insane, and he has a death wish. Or, he is a better planner, and manipulator, than we thought. After listening to him insult Balalaika, I am leaning towards the death wish angle, myself.”

Dutch admitted, “I don't know. Some of what Lee said about Balalaika makes sense. I can see how she could have been a lesbian all this time. And I am not talking about the prissy type of lesbian. I am talking about the hardass, butch version of lesbianism.”

Benny commented, “Hmm. Possible. I wonder what her and B's nights in bed are like?”

Dutch cautioned, “I don't plan to ask questions that can be a threat to my mental health, and physical wellbeing.”

Benny said, “Good point. Also, Lee has a point about this being all about revenge.”

Dutch admitted, “True.”

Benny commented, “And Lee is right. You are one of the nicest people in this group.”

Dutch replied, “Thank you.”

Benny replied, “You're welcome.”

Dutch inquired, “So, how long on the mouse?”

Benny answered, “It still is going to take a while.”

Just then, over their radios, they heard Aeryn flatly stated, “So, you are a psychopath, Lee”

Lee admitted, over the radio, “Actually, I am a borderline sociopath. A psychopath is a person born without a conscience. He, or she, was not born with the sense of knowing what is right and wrong. Due to this, many psychopaths are narcissists, with a talent for charming people. An example of a psychopath would be Chaka. A selfish person, whom only was interested in himself, with no loyalty to anyone else, while making people suffer for his amusement.”

“On the other hand, a sociopath is a person born with a sense of right and wrong. It is just as they grow up, the abuse they suffer deadens their ability to empathize with others. And the reason I know I am borderline sociopath is that I lack had the ability to empathize with people's positive emotions. That ability was stripped from me. I cannot really feel happiness, nor love. But, I can still feel pain, anger, sadness. And I can empathize with people when they feel those negative emotions.

“In my opinion, none of you are psychopaths. Though, a few of you are sociopaths. It is academic to guess whom I am referring too. And while sociopaths are salvageable. Psychopaths are not. Because, psychopaths have no moral compass to work with. Still, many humans don't know the difference. So Aeryn, it is not surprising an alien, such as yourself, would not know the difference.”

Benny looked over at Dutch.

Dutch noted Benny looking at her. She conceded, “Guy's got a point.”

Benny shrugged. She then turned back to her work, of repairing the computer mouse, at the desk.

Aeryn replied, over her radio, “I must admit, that is an interesting observation.”

Lee stated, over the radio, “The whole point to being a writer it is understand the emotional nature of people, and situations.”

Violin inquired, over the radio, “So, that is why you became a writer?”

Lee admitted, over the radio, “Of course. With no friends, I had to figure out a way to understand how people, and things, ticked. To learn the mechanics of cause and effect in given situations. And I have learned so much from becoming a writer. And I feel privileged to apply the knowledge in dealing with your group.”

On the radio, Akira inquired, “Lee, who do you most identify with in fiction?”

On the radio Lee answered, “Good question, Akira. You could say I am a, Literary Walter White?”

Benny turned to Dutch, and she saw Dutch shrug her shoulders, in not knowing who that was.

On the radio, Akira asked, “Who is that?”

Over the radio, Lee stated, “I guess that series was too new for ya'll. The series is titled, Breaking Bad. And that is exactly what happens. And girl, what a delicious decent into villainy that series was. With Walter's Heisenberg being to my Lee. His chemistry skills to my genre savvy skills. Though, unlike him, I am intelligent enough to know the dangers of using a large machine gun, and I have a proper respect for cover.”

On the radio, Akira said, “I will be sure to check out that series.”

Lee said, with his radio, “You will probably enjoy the series. But, it is not a happy series. Nor does it have happy ending. Like most things in life.”

Akira replied, over the radio, “I will keep in that in mind.”

Then, Revy used her radio, to insultingly state, in a cold tone of voice, “What you are, Lee, is a motherfucker.”

Over their radios, they heard Lee respond, in a casual manner, “Actually, I have never fucked a mother before, Revy. But, if you want to lose your weapons, and spread your legs, I'm game.”

Dutch stated, “Whether is Lee is intentionally baiting Revy and Balalaika, or not, after a comment like that, there is no question that boy is crazy.”

Benny said, “No arguments there.”

Over the radio, Revy yelled, “You bastard!”

On the radio, Lee corrected, “To be honest, my parents were married before I was born. So, I am not a bastard. I am many things. But, bastard isn't one of them.”

(_)

In the building southwest of the building Dutch and Benny were in. Inside the hallway, where Lee stood, Lee thought, 'I know I am dancing on their berserk buttons to get them so angry, they will make mistake. But still, I must be insane in the first place for doing this.'

(_)

In another hallway of the same building Lee was inside of, Rock could literally see Revy start to foam at her mouth in rage.

Rock pulled Revy's radio from Revy's hands, as she sternly ordered, “Revy, you have to calm down. Lee is trying to manipulate you. He wants to get you to get angry as a way to help him escape.”

Revy looked at Rock, though, she quiet for a few moments. Rock then noticed Revy was starting to calm down.

As Revy reigned in her angry, rage disappeared from her face, as she gave an expression of disbelief. Revy said, “Geez, Rock. Lee is like Hannibal Lecter without the cannibalism.”

Rock handed Revy back her radio. Revy took the radio.

Rock responded, “Exactly. And we have to remember that he is clearly not the same man we met before the time loop. The years he spent in Plata Podrido, in that time loop, changed him from a nice guy to a manipulative bastard who will do anything to survive. We are not fighting a novice. You have to look at this as if we are fighting a professional. But, from the way his acts, I can tell that he has a weakness.”

Revy asked, “Which is?”

Rock smirked, “His pride.”

Revy lips curled into a wicked grin, as she giggled.

Rock stated through her radio, “Lee, give up now, and we might be lenient. This is your first personal experience with multiverse travel. On the other hand, we have being doing this for a long time.”

(_)

Inside the hallway, Lee was located in, Lee smirked, as he responded, in an arrogant tone of voice, into his radio, “Well, Rocky-babe. In truth this isn't my first time-warp twist with the multiverse. As you all know, I am a pre-cog. Partly experiencing alternate realities is just part of the package. And, when I start sensing the future and I can change the future. But that is not all. I figured out how to mentally time travel months into my own past, where I changed the future, creating an alternate reality of my very own reality in the multiverse. Though, mentally traveling back in time hurts like hell, because doing so damages my soul. With a level and type of pain that I cannot put into words. Which is saying something, giving my writing talents. And that is why I don't do it. But, I still know how to.”

“I have even on occasion had my soul travel to alternate Earths, where I possessed the bodies of my alternate reality selves. Each time, I usually spent from a few minutes, to hours, to even a day in one of those realities, before I safely returned to my own body, in my home reality. Yes Rock. Just like you with the omakes. And just like you, I suspect not all of the versions of my selves I possessed were male.”

“So, as you can see. I have dealt with multiversal issues long before I ever wrote the stories that involved any of you. That is one of the reasons I wrote my stories about you. Because I wanted to push the envelope of the genre, using my own life experiences as inspiration. I guess I pushed it too far. Though, doing so was still fun.”

Lee then stopped talking for a few seconds. No one replied, and silence reign.

Lee thought, 'I bet everyone else that heard this was shocked by these revelations. I am just a person with many secrets. Now, to tell them what I really think is going on, and what my role in this little play really is.'

Lee chuckled into his radio, as he continued, in a wild tone of voice, “I see no takers. Not that it matter. You all clearly haven't figured it out by now. I am the villain of this madman's ballad. It is Joker versus the Badasses Of the Multiverse. And I am in the role Mr. J, himself.”

(_)

In another part of the building Lee was inside of. In the hallway that Rock and Revy were in, Rock thought, with worry, 'Oh no. He is imitating the Joker of all people. This is bad.'

With her radio, Rock stated, “To everyone, if Lee gets caught in an industrial accident, you are to go after him. We will not allow him to become a psychotic supervillain on our watch.”

(_)

In the hallway Lee was in, over the radio, Lee let out a laugh and he stated, “I appreciate the concern, Rock. Thank you. Still, I am dying of cancer. And I have you lot breathing down my neck. I got nothing to lose. I am the most dangerous person on this planet. And my options for winning are simple. I escape, I win. I die, I win. The only way you win is to catch me alive. Last dance, girls. See you on the dance floor...”

(_)

In the hallway with Rock and Revy, Rock thought, 'He is not leaving this conversation, that easily. Now, to hit his pride.'

Rock smirked, as she stated, into her radio, “You think are so better than the rest us. But, River told us some things about you.”

(_)

In the hallway, were Lee stood, with his radio, Lee inquired, “Such as?” He mentally added, 'Damn. And that last dance comment would be such a cool way to end this conversation. Though, I wonder what Rock is getting at?'

Rock said, into her radio, “That as a sadomasochistic sociopath. In truth, you are no better than the rest of us.”

Over his radio, Lee laughed. As he calmed down, he stated, “That is all she told you about me? That woman is so considerate about the privacy of others. There such worse things about my psyche that she could have mentioned, but clearly she didn't, if that is all you have on me.”

“Though, truth be told, in most ways, I never considered myself better than any of you. But, now that I think about it. Perhaps I should. And River is right. That sadly is my nature. But, the most important part that separates you from me, is one very important choice.”

“For a number of times, life has tried to push me into going on violent rampages. I had the means, motive, and opportunity, but I refused every time. I realized that those that harmed me would eventually screw up their own lives. And in the fullness of time, I have been proven right.”

“Unfortunately, that did not mean that I did not have the same desires of others, such as some of you. Yet, unlike others in my position. Like most of you. I never started down the path to being a full blown sadist. Though, I sometimes felt the desire to start down that path. Such as the temptations to tortured kittens, and puppies. I willfully refused to do so. Because, I knew where that would lead.”

“And here is the kicker. I worked through this all by myself. I never had any friends. And as I worked through such hells, I suffered even more abuses. Yet, in the end, I decided to refuse to play their game. As a far as I am concerned, the world can burn to ashes. And while I am more than happy to watch, I just won't one be of the ones lights the matches. I will continue refuse to become the monster that the world... Nay, God... Wants me to be.”

“I refuse to give in to God efforts of making me a monster. By God having everything and everyone treat me like a monster. And by doing so, I am stronger in willpower than any of you. You all accepted the darkness thrust in all of us, while I refused.”

“I move. I bend. I twist. I walk around. But, I never give up. I will never break in giving into my bloodlust. If I have no more moves in this life, I will move onto death. For me, death is but an opportunity for a better future. Even if I am bound for Hell. For me, death is not an ending to be feared.”

“To quote a great actor. If I am going to be damned. I am going to be damned for who I am.”

Over his radio, Lee continued, in a more sober tone of voice, “But, I still have that taste for blood and violence. That need to see the agony and death of others. For me, it is like being an alcoholic, while never having taken a single drink.”

“Some of you know what I am talking about. Your throat is dry, and you have this need for causing suffering of others. When it gets really bad, the rage for this thirst turns so cold, and so intense, that the cold literally burns one's soul, from the inside, out. At that point, the screams of pain from others are like children's lullabies to one's ears. With the rage becoming like riding a raging bull, with you knowing that if you let go, you lose control, that people will likely suffer and die.”

(_)

Elsewhere, in the building, Rock looked towards Revy's face.

Revy looked at Rock's face, as she just nodded in confirmation that what Lee was saying was true.

(_)

Back in the hallway Lee was in, Lee went onto say, into his radio, “I hate feeling that way. Such rage eats away on one's sanity, and soul. Though, that rage had already hollowed out my humanity, and my ability to feel love. And I do wish to keep what I have left. Which was why I sought to find some outlets for my desires. I figured writing was a harmless hobby, where I could work out my demons. But, after all this, I freely admit I was wrong.”

“Though, even with my noble actions, given what I was made into, I am still going to Hell. Though, not by my choices. But, by the choices of others. Yet, I no longer fear Hell. Why should I fear some place, that in many ways, I have already been too. Still, it does prove that free will in getting into Heaven is a load of bullshit.”

“If God says you are good, and you will go to heaven. Then, you are good, and get to go to heaven. If God says you are evil, and you are going to hell. Then, you are going to be evil, and you will be sent to hell.”

“This free will crap is just God's way to lie to the people. It is God's way of blaming God's victims. And perpetrators blaming their victims is one of the oldest tricks in the book.”

“It even states as such in the Bible. For in the Bible, free will, is a test designed so a person can choose either eternal enslavement to God, in Heaven, or suffer forever in Hell.”

“That is no choice. That is a lie.”

“The God of this reality, whatever it is, just screws, abuses, and messes people up.”

“This all being said. I am not sure when I escape you, what my new outlet will be for my tendencies. But, I do know it will likely lead me to madness and blood. That is what my precognition is telling me.”

“Though, I do not follow Judeo-Christian, nor Hindu-Buddhist, beliefs that everyone is born inherently evil, and guilty of something, even before their birth. I follow Plato's belief that that everyone is born inherently good, and life.”

“I believe that, death due us part, should apply to one's sins, and problems as well. That people do not have a karmic weight from actions done in their previous lives. That is why I brought the vampire twins, and the others back at your children. I think everyone agrees that they, of all people deserved a second chance at life.”

“That was why I was so kind concerning the issues within my stories. Such as death, and reincarnation. I came to view that if I was going to play God. I would be a nice God. Instead, of the sadistic bastard my reality is saddled with.”

“Now, at a personal level, my sanity is really the only thing I have left that I value. And when I wrote, I did so to work through my demons with my writings, to maintain my sanity. Yet, I showed restraint in how I treated the characters I worked on. Such as you all. I always tried to strike a balance. Where the reward would outweigh the pain. Something most of you have yet to grasp. Which honestly...”

Lee then yelled into his radio, with rage in his tone of voice, “Pisses me off!”

(_)

In the security room, Benny continued working on repairing the computer mouse, at the desk she was sitting at, as she and Dutch listened to the conversation of the radio.

Benny did not looked up, as she commented, “Playing God, to be a nice God, when your own God is a sadist. That is messed up.”

Dutch agreed, “That guy's got issues at every level.”

Benny said, “It make you wonder how bad it could have been if Lee was not been trying to be good, when he wrote his stories.”

Dutch replied, “Benny, you are preaching to the choir.”

(_)

In the hallway Lee was standing in, Lee forced himself to calm down, as he thought, 'Being angry is that last thing I can afford to do right now. I need to calm down.'

Lee then heard on the radio, Rock question, in a calm tone of voice “So, you think God is evil?”

Lee answered, into his radio, “Just the God of my reality. I don't know about the rest. Still, where to start? Where to start?!”

“For the God of my reality, prayers are just spam mail. Something to be ignored. All you need to do is just take a look at what is happened to my world to see that I am right.”

“Given the state of affairs in my world. What is happening? Who is in charge? Who is rewarded, and given power? Who is harmed, and punished? It is kind of obvious that in my reality, God is evil. I am just surprised more people don't realize this.”

“But, it is not just the big things. It is the small things. Such as the culture of personal relationships that God has wrecked. Along, with other things. And on this issue, I speak from personal experience.”

“It is one thing to lose someone you care for to the violence of mortals. At least, in theory, you have an opportunity for revenge with a gun, against those that wronged you.”

“Yet, bullets cannot reach God. And when God takes someone from you, in a very horrible manner, if you tried to get revenge against God, you are executed and since to Hell for daring to question God. Such, is the nature of God's tyrannical hypocrisy.”

“Concerning myself. God has made it one of his goals to give me a real shitty life, using those around me, to hurt me in subtle ways. Think of it as a death by a thousand paper-cuts.”

(_)

Inside of hallway, elsewhere in the building, Ranma, Natsuru, and Akira all winced, as Lee used the term, death by a thousand paper-cuts.

(_)

From the hallway Lee was inside of, Lee calmly continued, into his radio, “By itself, becoming a writer has allowed me to gain a level genre savvy. You learn how plots, character development, and other story structures work. And once I gained that level of genre savviness, it was so easy to see how the reality I live in is a work of fiction. I could see how the pieces fit, just by looking at all of these things I see and hear, and applying my savviness to the world I lived in. Personally, I think my world is a dark, sadistic comedy.”

“And I was put through hell. Nothing I gain was ever easy. It was bone crushingly hard to begin with. For example, my writing skills, which I learned not due to God's grace, but in spite of God.”

“And even before I became a writer, I realized, where I fit in the grand scheme God's plan. I realized that God wrote a story where I am the monster that goes on a rampage. And I refused to play my role. The role of the insane, rampaging monster, of who the heroes kills. And whose name is cursed. And who suffered in Hell for all eternity, for his rampage.”

“Yet. Since I refused to my demanded role, I will still go to hell for not following God's so called, will. And even if I do go on a rampage, I go to hell for the so-called sins of harming people. Catch twenty-two. That is where free will is bullshit.”

“But, that is not all. God went out of his way to prevent me from having a job, nor friends. Every attempt I had at finding a job failed in the most impossible ways there are. When I toyed with the idea of getting a job at a company, even large, national retails chain stores, before I had the chance, those stores would declare bankruptcy and close up.”

“And the closed up in the order I had occasionally planned to look for a job, at each specific store.”

“After the dozenth, or so times this happened, I got the message.”

“I realized that I was the partly at fault for hundred of thousands of people being without a job, for myself daring to want to improve myself, by getting a job at the companies they worked for. And these were clerks style jobs, to sale merchandise on the floors, that I wanted to get. I was not even seeking high paying jobs.”

“God would rather harm hundreds of thousands of people, than allow me to improve my personal life one bit. I would find that flattering, if it wasn't so damned depressing.”

“After I realized this, I stopped looking for a job. To avoid others from getting other people caught in God's personal torment of me. Though, it did not mean that people were not mean to me for not having a job. And this did not mean there were people still not caught up in my personal hell that God created for me.”

“God's actions towards me in the friendship department was even worse. Those people that showed even the least bit of interest of friendship towards me, had circumstances conspire to prevent them from becoming my friends.”

“Sometimes they had to move away within days to months of meeting me. Depending on how slow our friendships progressed. Their ex-girlfriends, or even ex-spouses show up out of the blue, to draw their interest. They suddenly have personal hardships that grinded their own personal lives into the mud. Or, God just inflicted on them an illness that murdered them in a slow, horrible, and painful manner.”

“On true story I have on the matter. You Lagoon women might find this interesting. One of my cousins from out of town, a good man, came to visit my family, and I, years ago. He showed interest in my anime collection, and together we watched the first two episodes of Black Lagoon, in the english american dub. He enjoyed the series. And he was the only person I knew, that showed interest in my hobbies, for the last several years.”

“He soon left. The next time I heard about him was a few months later, from his mother. It seems that because of kindness and friendship he showed me, God gave him a brain tumor. He suffered a slow, horrible, painful death that lasted for over a year. With surgery, and other treatments, only prolonging his agonizingly slow death.”

“Thinking about it emotionally hurts me to this day.”

“And what happened to my cousin was just the tip of the iceberg. I have seen God reward those whom had harmed me throughout their life. While God also grievously harmed, and murdered, those whom cared for me, and helped me, and the people around those whom aided me.”

“It is a hard thing to live with. To know that those sadists whom harmed me, will go heaven, and know only pleasure and comfort, as a reward for bringing me suffering throughout my life. While no matter what I do, I will still be go to Hell, and I will know only pain and suffering.”

“It hurts to live with that truth.”

“Lesser individuals have broken over such realizations.”

“But, these are not the worst experiences in my personal life. Not even close. The worst has to be myself, watching helplessly, as God played with the events from the background to corrupt my own family members, teachers, and people around me, to become my abusers as a child, and into my adulthood.”

“That these people no longer cared, nor loved me. And instead God manipulated them into treating me with distrust, disrespect, hate, and cruelty, as an outlet for their own rage and bitterness, in their personal lives. And none of them realized that it God pulling their strings, like the skilled puppet master it is.”

“This angers me greatly, for a number of reasons.”

“And while it is hard for me to realize that I am partly responsible for the suffering of countless strangers, it was even worse for myself when I realized I was causing suffering and death of those I cared for, by the simple virtue of existing, with these people meeting me, because I refuse to be God's monster.”

“As with being denied a job, when it came to friendships, I eventually realized what was going on. It is hard to live alone in a crowd. Even more so, when I realized that someone, beyond my reach, was willfully causing me, others I meet, to suffer in so many ways, over the course of decades.”

Lee continued into his radio, with rage and bitterness evident in his tone of voice, “God had constantly been putting me through hell in my life. To this very day. Where I am forced into one no-win situation situation, after another.”

“I have never had any good choices in life. Only progressively painful selections.”

“My choices are a painfully bad option, or a horribly painful worse option. Over and over again. Thousands and thousands of times.”

“And while I try my best to not have hatred for the puppets, for they are puppets. My lack of anger, towards the puppets does not extend to the puppet-master, God.”

“My disgust... My loathing... My cold hatred for God is beyond reproach.”

Lee went onto say, into his radio, with a voice full of rage that had turned to be as cold and hard as winter, “I honestly think that a bullet it too quick a death for God. I would torture that bastard to death, in such a slow and through way that even Sawyer, the Cleaner would envy, and take notes from my actions, on the matter.”

“And when I was finished, I would nuke heaven, on my way out.”

(_)

In another part of the same building Lee was in, Sawyer was with Shenhua, as they both listened on one of their radios.

Sawyer thought, with concern, and pity for Lee, 'Given Lee's imagination, intelligence, and skills, I think he could accomplish his claim.'

(_)

Elsewhere in the building, Revy took the radio from Rock, as she asked, “If that is the case, Lee. Why don't you do the world a favor, and kill yourself?”

(_)

In the hallway, Lee was in, Lee forced himself to calm down. With his radio, Lee answered, in a calmer tone of voice, than before, “Honor, personal integrity, and rage, has kept me going for a while. Along with the curiosity, to see if the world would destroy itself, before God wore down my resolve to the point I decided it was finally time to eat a bullet.”

“And well before you showed up, I learned that I had cancer. And so, I had to deal with the cancer I had. At that point, I figured that since I was already on my way out. There was no reason to kill myself, since I was going to die anyway. I guess God grew impatient of my refusal of being a monster. So, it just inflicted cancer on me, to get me out of the way, by killing me in a horrible death, and then it would send my soul to hell.”

“During that time, my plans were simple. I would enjoy the time I had left. While doing so, I was also planning to figure out what I could offer the Devil, as a way to mitigate my damnation and suffering in the Devil's domain, after I died, and I was sent to Hell.”

Lee thought, 'And given my meeting with the manager of the Devil's Hotel, if the worst had happened, I think might have ended up in a good position in Hell.'

Lee calmly continued, into his radio, “And after dealing with you all. I think I would have turned out alright in Hell.”

“Still then, you women showed up. And I immediately realized what your presence could offer me. But, it was a gamble. Though, I had nothing to lose. So, I decided to roll the dice. And I won big.”

“Now, I have the means of reaching the God that put me, and those I care for, through hell. At the moment, I am only lacking the means to fight him and his forces. I am sure I can achieve such resources, if I wanted to. But right now, besides escaping all of you, and curing my cancer, I just want to have fun, and make up for lost time. I realize my homeworld is its the way out. God is destroying his playground. And it is too foolish to realized how bored it is about to become after it wrecks its own playground.”

“For myself, the better revenge, in such a situation, is to live well, and live happily. With every day of enjoyment being in spite of God's actions towards me. And in doing so, I will be a better person, than God, itself.”

(_)

In the security room, while still working on the computer mouse, Benny and Dutch heard what Lee said over their radios.

From the sitting in the chair, at the desk, Benny looked up at Dutch, as she asked, “Now, I am confused. How does Lee think of himself? Good? Bad? What?”

Dutch was still standing, as she looked over at Benny, as she stated, “I think he looks of good and bad in a different way than we do. At best, he views himself as a good person, in a bad role. Also, in spite of what he did to us, in his personal life, he may embody the concept of being good sucks. But, whether Lee does good for the sake of being good, or he does good just to spite God... Or both... I do not know. And from the sound of it, I do not think Lee does, either.”

Benny said, “That figures.”

Dutch asked, “So, how long on the computer mouse?”

Benny looked back at the computer mouse she had taken apart and she was repairing with her tools, which were in her hands. She stated, “If I can get these spliced wires to bond properly, in the correct order, I can get the mouse working. I would say, at this rate, I have another hour of work to do.”

“The only good news is that, given the time we have been in this room, from looking at the computer screen here, the screen does not appear to have a screen saver program turned on. Meaning the account for this computer will not go to a password protected setting from not being used.”

Dutch commented, in a comforting tone of voice, “Good. And do not worry, Benny. You will get it. And then, we will have our revenge on that bastard.”

(_)

In the hallway Lee was inside of, Lee heard someone coming closer to him, from a nearby hallway.

Lee turned his head in the direct of the sound, which was down the hallway, he was planning on head for. But, he did not see anyone.

Lee thought, 'Looks like one of them found me. And they had yet to turn the corner. Or, they are heading in one of the rooms to the sides of the hallways. Given the doors swing inwardly. And from the lighting, I see the hallway turn in the distance. It likelihood is a possibility.'

'So, I don't see them. Also, I don't have time to hide. I need to get moving. I need to cut this conversation short I will have to use a more directly approach. Though, I do now have my second wind. And I do feel better. So, I have gotten what I wanted from this conversation.'

Lee said, into his radio, “Well, one of you is coming. So, I will talk to you all, later.”

Lee then turned off the radio, and clipped the radio to the left side of his belt.

Lee then started walking through through the hallway, towards the sounds, as as he held Vera pointing straight forward, with both hands, and the butt of the weapon pressed against the front of his right shoulder.

As Lee slowly walked forward, further into the hallway, Lee thought, 'Best I keep the radio off. They might use is now to flush me out. Still, this person is in the direction that I am heading. So, I might as well confront this person, before she, or he, can call for in her, or his, position, and bring in everyone else to the area...'

'And to be honest, after our conversation, I would prefer to keep my distance from both Revy, and Balalaika, after I just intentionally pissed them off.'

Lee slowly made his way through the hallway, he thought, 'I could be ambushed in a number of ways in this hallway. I will just take this slowly.'

Lee then continued walking deeper into the hallway, towards the sounds he heard.

(_)

Elsewhere, on the roof of a building, in factory complex, far away from Rock and Revy's group, and Lee, a group of eight women had cracked the encryption to the radios Revy and Rock's group were using. And they were monitoring their broadcasts, while they hid from Balalaika and B's sights.

One of the women asked, “So, when do we make our move?”

Another women answered, “When they have him.”

To be continued.