The Gate (chapters 1 through 3)

I don’t know how I came to find the portal. I more or less fell into it. How could I have known the difficulties it would bring me? Then again, it also brought me a band of friends as well. Of course, those friends were from another world. Even so, we seemed to have so much in common. In our short time together we learned so much from each other. Eventually though I had to leave, and close the portal. Living a double life was becoming too much for me to handle. And so the day came when I sealed the portal. Or at least, I thought I did. It re-opened, and nobody in this world knows exactly how. But I can be sure of this much. Whatever is about to happen here, it is going to be big. And it won’t be good. I fear what fate may await me here in this world, but still I must try to fix whatever has gone wrong. Listen to my story now, as this may be our last chance. 1

Not many people know this, but this world, the world we live in, exists parallel to a whole other universe. And that universe is one that some would think only exists in stories. I, on the other hand, know differently. I’ve been to that other universe. I’ve seen it. It does exist. I have friends there. My story starts years ago. One day I was walking around in a library here in town, and I discovered a basement that hadn’t been used in what must have been quite a number of years. It was there that I found a strange door. Further inspection of the layout of the library proved that the door didn’t lead anywhere. But still, there it was. One day I decided to open the door and there it was; something that can only be described as a portal into a whole other universe. In that other universe I met Damien Tammarrason and Johnny Thorne, with whom I shared a great number of adventures. But of course, while it is possible for one to live two lives, it becomes quite difficult. So one day I decided to seal the gate, so that nothing from that world could creep into ours. Unfortunately, for some reason, the seal was broken. And nobody knew why. So it fell upon me to solve this mystery and to become the bane of any evil that may have been trying to plague our world. My only concern was that if this evil was strong enough to break the seal on the gate, what hope did I honestly have of defeating it, even with the help of my friends from that world? Unfortunately for all of us, my fears were justified. I was defeated and thrown back into this world. So my new task became recruiting others to assist us. While Johnny and Damien were fending off the evil presence, I stayed here searching for someone to cross the gate. After about two months or so, I finally found her. The problem was she was still halfway around the world, in Japan. Haruko and I became friends over the net, as we were both members of this social and writing site where writers can gather to get their work out there to be read and critiqued by other writers. Obviously we already had a similar interest. We got to talk and as it turns out, she was going to be moving here to my town anyway. Apparently she has family here. Go figure. Some people would say it was fate. So after another month of waiting for her arrival, we finally met face-to-face. The next day I showed her the library, and the door. She didn’t know what to think, but when I told her the story, she seemed interested. So we opened the door and were on our way. We arrived to find this alternate universe not at all as I remember it. It was torn to pieces. Everything around us was destroyed. Where there should have been buildings, now there was only rubble. Where there should have been forests, now there were charred embers. Nebal and Rhy’din, the two towns that I’d visited in my adventures here were both in ruins. And there we stood, right in the middle of it all. Some saviors. It would seem we were too late. And so, at this time, that which looks like an ending, our story only begins. Listen to us now and listen well, for we may die here. 2

“Great. What are we going to do? Whatever it is, he’s powerful enough to destroy a whole freaking town. Chaos only knows where he is now!” In disbelief, I sat on the pile of rubble that would have been the Red Dragon Inn, which only four months ago we’d restored from having been destroyed once before. The irony was hilarious, but now wasn’t the time to laugh. Meanwhile, Haruko stood, studying a nearby tree that had been burned to ash. After her inspection was complete, she called for my attention to the tree.3

“Keru-kun? Do you guys know of anyone who deals in fire?”4

I shook my head. “Just because the tree is burned down, Haru-chan, that doesn’t mean that it was a fire demon or a dragon. It wasn’t necessarily someone with the power of fire. The person could have easily spread gasoline on the tree and lit it up.”5

“Hai, but then what about the forest? That would take a lot of gas, ne?”6

Only now did I look up from the ground to what was once a lush forest. Now it was a barren field with the occasional toothpick on the horizon. I stared at it for a moment, deep in thought, trying to remember what Damien had taught me about arson. Recalling a few things, I shook my head again. “Not necessarily as much as you might think. Fire travels up. All the person would have to do would be to spread the gas around enough so the trees would catch from the bottom up. The heat from the fire would dry out any grass nearby too, leaving it vulnerable to the flames as well.”7

“Hai again. Ok. So what do you think?” She sat down next to me on the pile of debris as I studied the area.8

“I think that whoever did this, they’re after people that participate in M.M.O.C.R.R.P. Rhy’din was the setting of a role-playing chat room back home on the net that I used to visit all the time. In fact it was in that chat room that I first came up with the ideas of many of the stories you would have seen brought to life in this world.”9

She stopped me, slightly puzzled. “M.M.O.C.R.R.P? Too many letters.”10

“It stands for ‘Massive Multiplayer Online Chat Room Role Playing’. I’ll show you the room when we get back. But for now, I’d like to move on. There’s a town I created roughly five miles south of here called Nebal. I want to see if that is as bad as this one. If it is, then whoever did this might be after me. Though why they’re after me I wouldn’t know. There’s a lake there, too, so we can grab a bite of fish while we come up with a plan.”11

“Sushi for supper? Sounds good to me. Let’s get going.”12

With that, we were on our way. We left the remains of one town behind us, hoping that the next would not prove to have suffered the same fate. When we were about halfway to Nebal we stopped for a rest. I had a look around at the area. It wasn’t a very promising future I was seeing.13

“Judging by this area, I think it would be a safe bet that Nebal is in just as bad of shape as Rhy’din. But we’ll keep going anyway. Like I said, we can at least have some fish while we start thinking of a plan. I think we should set up camp there too. It is going to be getting late. And from the looks of the sky, I’d say we’re in for a rough night. Besides, I want to search the remains of the inn there. I had some stuff there that might prove useful. Damn it, I wish I could get a hold of Damien and Johnny though. What the hell happened to them?”14

Even then, I think a part of me knew…knew what was yet to come. A part of me knew the truth, even then. I just wasn’t ready for it. After another few minutes we were back on our way, heading into Nebal. But there’s no way we were prepared for what we’d find there.15

~16

We arrived into Nebal to see something we had rather not and the smell to match. The stench of dead fish was wafted over another crumbled inn by the breeze coming in from a lake that looked just as bad. I turned toward the new debris pile, realizing this meant that whatever had caused this was after me. At the same time, Haruko ran for the lake, smiling at the fact that now she wouldn’t have to get wet to catch dinner. I sat down and looked just in time to stop her from biting right into a fish.17

“Haru! No!”18

She stopped, just sitting there, knees in the water, looking right at me, confused. I motioned for her to come sit down by me. She did, putting the fish down as she got up and brushing the sand from her tight-fitting jeans.19

“What’s wrong, Mai?”20

“We don’t know what caused those fish to meet their death. There could be something wrong with them. I may be wrong, but I don’t like the idea of chancing it. At least don’t eat them raw. Cook them first. Go find some wood, if you can. Bring it back here to the beach. I’ll get a fire going. While you’re gone I’ll see what I can salvage from the inn here.”21

She stood up, now fully understanding my concern and ready to follow my plan. She bowed slightly to me.22

“Hai. I will go find wood. But what if I run into some sort of trouble out there? How will I call you from way out in the forest?”23

I looked up from the ground, but didn’t move my head. Obviously she didn’t understand my sarcasm.24

“Take a good look out there, Haruko. There is no forest. It is only a field of dead, burned wood. If there is no forest, there is no wood. If there is no wood, there is no fire. If there is no fire, there is no food or water. No other living creatures means there is no food. Haruko, we have no resources. I’ve watched survival shows, and I have learned a few things. I am no expert, but I do know that this is no wilderness. This is a freaking wasteland. Right now, our best bet lies with whatever we can find in this pile of debris here. One rule of survival, Haruko, is to always have a plan. Until we know what resources we have, we cannot make a plan.”25

I got up and turned toward ground zero.26

“Keru-kun? What’s wrong?”27

“Nothing. Let’s just start searching.”28

I was lying through my teeth. Of course there was something wrong. I was worried. I was worried like all hell we wouldn’t survive. What’s worse, I was worried that we wouldn’t be able to beat this ting…whatever it was. But as worried as I was, I couldn’t show her that. After all, I was the one here that knew his way around. If I were worried, what reason would she have to keep up hope? We went about the task of searching through the remains. About two minutes in, Haruko made a discovery.29

“Maikeru! Over here.”30

I turned around to find her standing next to a fireplace. True, the chimney was no longer standing, but at least we had wood. I remembered we always kept a box of wood right next to the fireplace. Quickly, I went to what would have been the bar, searching for hard liquor.31

“Maikeru? What are you doing?”32

“Looking for liquor. Anything with a good amount of alcohol in it would do. Just as long as it is something stronger than beer.”33

“Excuse me for saying so but now seems like no time to indulge in a drink.”34

“No, not to drink. I need it for fuel. Alcohol is flammable, which means we can use it like lighter fluid. Whatever this thing is, it was capable of destroying a forest. I think that if we want to beat him, we had better at least try to live up to equal the destruction he can cause.”35

I hadn’t taken my eyes off the floor. Broken glass lay everywhere, finding an unbroken bottle was like finding a straw in a pile of needles. It was hard to find, and once I did, I had to be careful not to cut myself. As I came up with the bottle she smiled at me gently.36

“And I don’t suppose you’d be willing to light a fire with that lighter in your pocket, would you?”37

“Of course.”38

I walked over and put some wood from the box into the fireplace. After pouring a little vodka onto the logs I lit it with my lighter. It was an easy enough task. At least now we could stay warm. We continued searching the debris. Hours and masses of dead bodies later we finally took a break to eat and take stock of what we had. It was a well-deserved break, but something was still bothering me. We hadn’t found any sign of Damien or Johnny yet. This was not good. 39

“Keru-kun? What’s this?”40

Haru held up a system of small hoses connected to a chest plate and back plate. It was my booster vest. The last time I wore it was the last time I was here. At one time in that adventure it was knocked out of operation, but luckily it was easily repaired. I wasn’t so sure if it was in working condition right now though, as it had been buried under hundreds of pounds of rock, wood, and two mattresses. I walked over to her with a smile on my face, taking the armor into my hands.41

“This is something I wear to increase my strength. In this world, human strength poses little threat if any. So I wear this to make myself more formidable of an opponent.”42

She nodded in understanding, looking over the rest of our findings. A sword was among the gatherings, but that and the modified shotgun was Johnny’s. Also among Johnny’s belongings here were his black leather trench coat, his 9 mm handgun, and a duffel bag full of other goodies. Damien didn’t leave much in his room. He was never around that much anyway. But when there was danger or when we needed him, there he was. I shook myself from my memories and brought my thoughts back to the here and now. I grabbed the duffel bag, the sword, and the shotgun, giving Haruko a ‘this way’ nod. She grabbed the trench coat and my vest and took step. I led her to a door in the floor behind the bar, leading to an underground cellar.43

“Where are we going?”44

“Shelter. There’s plenty of nasty things out here at night, and trust me we don’t want to be around to find out just what the nasty things are.”45

She nodded, putting the trench coat down as she pulled the door open to reveal a stairway. I went down and roughly thirty seconds later heard the door close behind us. It was pitch dark. 46

“Maikeru! What’s that awful smell?”47

I grappled the air for a string and once found, gave it a tug to illuminate our current situation. Unfortunately for us, the destruction was not limited to above ground. I immediately turned away from the sight of two dead bodies lying in the middle of the room. I closed my eyes and shook my head. This wasn’t happening. But of course, no matter how much I wished otherwise, I knew the truth was right there in front of me. Johnny and Damien were dead. 48

~49

We buried the boys in the far back corner of the wine cellar and marked their graves by digging two bottles of silver wine halfway into the ground. It was the least we could do for two of my good friends who didn’t even suspect their death was upon them. Then again, maybe they did. After burying them we focused on the bodies we’d found above ground. I’m not even sure how many we buried that night. I stopped counting at forty-three. After a rest and a prayer for the dead, we went back into the cellar. Immediately I nodded toward the graves of Johnny and Damien.50

“They didn’t know what they were up against, but they knew it was too much for them to handle. That’s why they ran down here.”51

Haruko was kneeling in front of the graves, praying for their souls to make it across the River Styx. She was silent, no response. I went back upstairs to keep searching for anything we could use. At this time of night two of the five moons were out and shining a wondrous glow upon the world. This meant that we didn’t really need the fire anymore. I figured I’d let it start to burn out as I went about searching the remains of the inn. About ten minutes in, I saw a man approaching the wreckage I was standing in. He looked just about as surprised to see me, as I was to see him. Then I realized I had never changed clothes. The clothing styles were different in this world. 52

“Greetings, survivor! I must say I’m astonished that you’re alive, what with this inn crumbling around you. Do you require medical attention?”53

I was exhausted from the burials. And emotionally I could have fallen apart at any time, as I hadn’t even started to grieve for the loss of my friends. But otherwise I was fine.54

“Nay. No attention required here, ye kind Nebal-Lander. Though thank you for your prompt concern. Have ye any idea what happened here?”55

I stepped down from the pile of rubble to greet him by circling my arms in front of my chest and extending my open hands straight out to him. He smiled at me, returning the gesture before answering.56

“Actually, I’m not from around here. And from the looks of this place, I’m glad that’s the case. And from the looks of your clothes, you don’t belong here either. No, my father sent me out here from the next town west of here to check it out after hearing rumors. I never thought the rumors would be true though. This whole place is…”57

“A wasteland. I know. I was surprised to see it myself.”58

“Aye. So did you reside here in this inn, then?”59

I hesitated toward the door to the cellar.60

“Nay. I didn’t. I resided in the inn in Rhy’Din.”61

“Ah, the Red Dragon Inn. Yes, a shame, the same fate has befallen that inn as well.”62

Hearing him say that, I almost jumped at him. For a split second I reached for the nine mm at my side, but I restrained myself.63

“Tell me, traveler, since I am without a place to stay, do you think your father would mind having the company of a young couple?”64

“Nay, he wouldn’t mind at all. Lucky for you, he owns the inn in our town. So you’re traveling with a partner? Where is the girl so lucky to have you on the lookout?”65

“I’ll go get her. Thank you kindly.”66

I bowed to him in respect before bolting for the door to the cellar.67

“Haru! I think I’ve found someone who may know something. Gather the rest of the things, we’re moving to the next town over.”68

“Moving again?”69

She was exasperated, barely having time to get used to this place before I came down and said we were off again. Then again perhaps she was happy to get away from the death surrounding us. I emerged from the cellar to find the blond haired male standing exactly where he was when I left him. His hair had red tips, accenting his eyes, which were also red. I found it a bit hard to look right into them. Though they were the same color, this stranger’s eyes had a different feel from Damien’s. No matter. Once we got what we wanted from him, we would then get our answers by force if we had to. Right then, I knew he had something to do with all of this. If rumors of Nebal only hit his town recently, how is it that he already knew of Rhy’din, five miles north of here? Yes, he knew something for sure. And we were going to find out just what he knew. For now though, we would play along. I only worried I may have played us right into a trap.70

~71

We were brought into the inn just in time for the last moon to set. We’d made it through the night. But it had been one hell of a night. I took off the trench coat, which I now wore over my booster vest, and set it on the couch along with the duffel bag. Haruko kept the blade at her side. I thought it was very befitting for her to use it. The stranger, whose name we found out was Drake, set about to getting himself behind the bar so as to fix us a drink and something to eat. First, though, he grabbed for a phone so as to call his father from his slumber to let him know they had extra visitors. And all this time, I was uneasy. Haruko could sense it.72

“Keru? What’s wrong?”73

“Nothing, Haru. I’m fine.”74

But I didn’t take my eyes off Drake. For all we knew, he could’ve slipped something into our drinks or food. He was not to be trusted. Haru just shrugged it off and went to sit down on the couch while Drake and I got lost in meaningless conversation.75

“So…Maikeru, is it?”76

I growled at him.77

“Call me Mike.”78

He simply gave me a nod.79

“Very well. Mike. What brings you out to Nebal?”80

“Same thing as you. I’d heard about the inn crumbling and wanted to check it out.”81

“Yes, I’m sure that may be true. But by the looks of your partner’s clothes, I would say you come from farther away than just Rhy’din. And if such is the case, how is it you heard about the fall of Nebal’s inn before I?”82

“I guess I’ve just got friends from all over the place, huh?”83

He wasn’t amused at my sarcasm, nor was I at his prodding. It would appear we were at an impasse. For a while we both went silent as he prepared our meal. Still, I didn’t remove my eyes from what he was doing. Finally he was the first to speak again.84

“So, how long have you and your partner been together?”85

I didn’t answer. He just came out with a nervous smile.86

“Not much of a conversationalist, are you?”87

Just then Haruko’s voice came from behind me, at the couch.88

“Long enough for one to be able to know when something is wrong with the other.”89

She stepped towards us. I just smiled at Drake.90

“And something about you, sir Drake strikes my Keru-kun as wrong.”91

In one swift movement, she drew the sword. I must admit, even I almost wasn’t able to follow her. In an instant it was at Drake’s neck, ready to lurch forward and slit his throat if the desire so struck her.92

“So tell me, sir Drake. Just why is he so uneasy around you?”93

“Ok! Fine! He sent me, ok? For the love of Chaos, lady, I was just doing my job!”94

I was astonished.95

“Haru-chan, I like it! That was very persuasive of you. Now, Drake, tell me. Just who is it that sent you for us? And just why are they interested in us?”96

“I don’t know! I don’t ask questions, I just do what I’m told.”97

“Well, Drake, that’s very good. That’s good because now you’re going to do what we tell you to. Got it?”98

He nodded his head yes, swallowing hard.99

“Good. Haru, I’ll fill him in on what we know and get him ready to cooperate. You go upstairs and check on the father. Go see what’s taking the old man so long.”100

She gave me a nod and as soon as I pulled out my 9 mm she was o her way. As soon as she turned her back, I grabbed Drake by the neck and shoved the barrel into his mouth.101

“Now, Drake, we’re going to play a little game. This game is called Maikeru’s rules. You’re going to tell me what we want to know. And then, when I’m done, I’m going to kill you. Got it?”102

He attempted what I assumed was a plea for his life.103

“Or…we could play a different game. You tell me what we want to know. After that, I decide to show you some mercy. Why would I do that you ask? You know that young woman that just left? She’s changed me in ways you couldn’t understand.”104

I sat down on a stool.105

“You see, Drake, I’ve been around a lot. I know what its like around here. And I know, it can be a harsh place to live in, trust me. I’ve been around. I’ve seen so much around here…you wouldn’t know what to think of it all. But ah, I’d just bore you with my stories. The point is, before I met Haru, I probably would kill you. And the only reason…”106

Just then, in mid sentence, I heard Haruko’s screams coming from upstairs. I grabbed Drake by the shirt and pulled him up and over the bar, dragging him with me up the stairs.107

“Haru! I’m coming! Are you ok?”108

“Mai! Be careful!”109

He had her. The old man caught her off guard and he had her. Damn it!110

~111

When I got up to the floor I realized that Haru and I were outnumbered. Correction, we were vastly outnumbered. As it turns out, this whole inn was a hideout for an army of creeps and thugs that happened to work for Argus. They took us down to the cellar and dropped us into a sphere of some sort. It looked like it was made of glass, but I couldn’t break it, even if I’d had my booster vest. But of course, they took that along with every other weapon we had. After about ten minutes of trying to break the unbreakable glass, I sat down next to Haruko who had found this a good time to meditate.112

“You know, maybe if we worked together and tried to break this glass…”113

“It wouldn’t make a difference. It is too thick. We cannot break it.”114

“Ok, fine, Miss Einstein. And just what big plan do you have cooking up in that cute little head of yours, eh?”115

“Who is Argus?”116

My eyes widened as I let my breath out in a deep sigh and looked away.117

“Argus is…Damien’s father. But he’s not a good guy. He’s evil. He’s very bad. He’s not the type of guy a girl like you would want to meet in a dark alley, ok?”118

“Why not? Is he not the father of your friend?”119

“Well, yes, but things aren’t always that simple around here. Just like in our world, not everyone can be trusted.”120

“What does he specialize in?”121

“Fire. His trademarks are fire and rape.”122

She opened her eyes now, having had them closed for the past half-hour. Yes, now she understood what I already knew would happen. I’d dealt with Argus before. Knowing him the way I did, I had good money saying he was going to rape Haruko and make me watch. For him, it would be sweet revenge. I stood up and started pacing around.123

“We need to find a way out.”124

“There is no way out.”125

“How can you be so calm? Don’t you understand what’s going to happen? He is going to rape you, Haru! You understand? You will be left on the floor, and he doesn’t care what happens to you afterward!”126

“Yes, I understand that. I am calm because that is the only way that at least one of us can think clearly! You were right. We need to get out of here. But there is no way out. This means we must make our own.”127

“We sure as hell can’t break this glass, that’s for damn sure.”128

“Then what can we do?”129

We sat there for another ten minutes in silence before something hit me.130

“Haruko?”131

“Hai.”132

“That tumor in your throat…in the real world. Do you still have that or did you get it removed?”133

“No, I still have it. I enjoy singing too much to risk getting it removed and losing my vocals.”134

I nodded, smiling as I took out some gum from my pockets.135

“That’s what I was hoping you’d say.”136

As she looked at me with great confusion, I started chewing on two sticks of gum.137

“Maikeru, what do you mean?”138

Once I had the gum good and worked up, I took it out and split it into two pieces again, sticking them into each ear. I now could not hear a thing.139

“Here in this world, everyone has their own unique power. But what type of power you have is based on whatever is wrong with you in the real world. The bigger the physical deterrent, the more likely that is to be your special power. For example, a man who cannot walk in the real world might find himself with super-speed here in this world. So given that you have a tumor in your throat…I want you to get hooked on sonic, Haruko. Scream as loud as you can.”140

She looked at me, still confused for a minute, but she did as I asked. She took a deep breath and the next thing I knew I watched as her fists balled up and her eyes tightened shut and her mouth flew open. I couldn’t tell but I assumed she was screaming and from the looks of the glass, it was working. The glass was starting to crack. I took a running charge at it. It was working! She could see it too. She was running out of breath so she stopped for a minute to catch up but then she went right back at it. Before even a minute was over we were out of that damn sphere. We smiled at each other as the glass broke around us. I took out the gum from my ears and when I looked back to her, her arms were already around my neck. I felt her shaking and realized that only then had the harsh reality of what could have been hit her. I took her in my arms and held her as she fell to the ground. And all of it was my own fault. I was the one that brought her here. What had I gotten her into? This was a mistake. But it was too late to turn back now.141

~142

“Ok. Now they’re probably going to come down here wanting to know what that noise was. They’ve probably already sent and errand boy out to contact Argus. So we don’t have much time. We need to get the hell out of here. Argus is not someone we can beat on our own.”143

I started inspecting this cellar. It was different from those I’d helped build. Along with the large glass sphere we were contained in, there was two more lining the back wall. Bottles of champagne filled the left wall. And on the right wall were torches lighting the large room. I laughed. They’d given us all we’d needed. I grabbed a bottle of champagne, throwing myself back against the wall next to the door, waiting for the first one to come walking through. Haruko did the same on the opposite side of the door. Sure enough, within the next thirty seconds, there came a very angry voice with a gun attached to it.144

“Hey! What the fuck are you two doing?”145

As soon as he stepped foot in the room, I clocked him with the bottle, knocking him unconscious and taking his revolver. Only six bullets, but it was better than none. I pocketed the barrel while Haruko pulled his body to the side, out of sight of the door.146

“Grab another bottle. This bastard destroyed my inns, I want to do the same thing to his.”147

She gave me a nod and turned toward the champagne wall as I grabbed a torch. She started pouring one bottle onto the floor as I headed up the stairs, gun in hand. I waited for her to follow and she caught up with speed. I snuck up behind the guard outside the door that led out to the lobby and bar room. I grabbed him into a headlock before giving him a face well done with the torch. I dropped him right before me and took his gun. His screams probably alerted the others though. I gave the 9 mm to Haruko and kept the revolver for myself. She had nine shots; I had six. We split up across the room. She took over and behind the couch while I took cover behind the bar. 148

“I’ll draw their fire and take out the first one I can. You sneak out and grab that one’s gun as quietly as possible. I’m not sure how many of them there are but we need to be ready for a big fight.”149

She gave me a nod just before taking a dive behind the couch. Hearing footsteps coming down the stairs I ducked down behind the bar.150

“Holy shit. What happened to him?”151

“His face has been burned off. Find them! If they’re not back by the time the boss gets here, there will be hell to pay.152

They were in the doorway. It sounded like only two of them. Quickly I stood up to take aim just as one turned around. One shot and he was down. Another shot and the last one was down. Lucky for me he hadn’t turned around. Haruko jumped up when she heard the shots. I gave her a nod as I jumped over the bar. I tossed one gun to her and kept the other for myself. Much as this may have been working, I knew we couldn’t keep this bait-and-kill routine going for long. Shortly there would be a whole order of soldiers coming down those stairs looking fore us and we would be done. We needed some sort of distraction. The champagne. The torches. A fire. We needed to start this place up in flames. It was the only way for this escape to be a success. But I would be damned if we were going to do that without getting our stuff back. Johnny died trying to save our inn. And I would be sure to slay his killer with his blade in his honor. 153

“Haru! We’re hitting the next batch and going up!”154

“Got it.”155

The next thing we knew there was an explosion roughly the size of a small homemade grenade. I didn’t move from my spot, but only two seconds from that explosion I heard gunshots. Haruko! I jumped up to find her doing just fine on her own. She looked at me with a smile from under the staircase, having downed five guys that were on their way down the stairs. I shook my head, smiling back at her as she set about taking any useful weapons from the men she had just taken out. Along with five guns, we found a vest full of grenades, throwing knives and throwing stars, a kudachi blade, and a pouch full of slips of paper with Japanese writing on them. Seeing the slips of paper, Haruko grabbed the pouch from my hand and adjusted it to her belt. I shrugged, handing her the kudachi blade and throwing knives while I took the vest and the throwing stars. She adjusted the kudachi to her belt and pocketed two of the new clips from the guns. She set three of the throwing knives between her knuckles and held one of the new five guns in her other hand. She smiled at me, battle-ready. I dropped my revolver and grabbed one of the new guns, along with the clip from the other one. I pocketed the throwing stars and I was good to go. She smiled at me and stood up, ready to roll. I stood up too, but before we went up those stairs there was something I had to do.156

Haruko. You understand…we may not make it out of this place. Even if we fight our way through all the people here, Argus could come in at any time with reinforcements. If he does…we’re done for. You get that?”157

She nodded, looking right into my eyes.158

“Hai.”159

“Are you ready for this?”160

“Hai.”161

“Good, because I’m sure as hell not.”162

Without any warning I grabbed her and kissed her deep. It wasn’t one of those make-out kisses. It was just a very gentle, but very loving kiss. 163

“Now I’m ready.”164

And with that I started up the stairs. She was caught off guard but smiled and followed me up with speed.165