“When we had just arrived, right?” Dorian asked. “I had such bad jetlag then.”
“Well, I am already suited up,” I told them, handing Veronique her phone back.
“You can’t be serious,” said the metal vampire.
“As it stands, the people of Japan aren’t too happy with the Cherry Blossom Girls,” I explained. “If we can do something like rescue the Emperor, we may get the public on our side. Feel me?”
“No.”
“Everyone get suited up,” I said, ignoring her negativity. “Let’s take out the terrorists, try not to kill them, get a private word with the Emperor, and then get back to our hotel. I know this is jumping right into things, but it’s what we are here to do.”
“And if it’s a trap?” Chloe asked.
“Let’s be ready for that as well. We’re leaving in five minutes,” I told them, making the ‘wrap it up’ sign.
People were going to exploit us, and we were going to be scapegoats for a lot of things that we didn’t cause. But I was convinced that high-profile rescues could change this.
After all, people love their royalty.
Chapter Eight: Rescue Mission
There wasn’t a lot of time to go over schematics or try to figure a way into the Imperial Palace via the sewers.
For this to work, we had to strike fast, and above all, we had to avoid as much collateral damage as possible.
“As soon as we arrive, Grace is in charge of damage control. Chloe, back her up,” I told the CBGs, all of whom stood before me now, suited up.
We had two cellphones out, providing us with pictures and maps of the Imperial Palace. The easiest place to teleport was going to be an open space in front of a bridge, a classic Japanese castle behind it with a classic pagoda roof.
“I will take care of any metal,” Veronique said.
“Yes, and Michelle, I have a very important mission for you.”
“Me? What’s that?” she asked, slipping her knife back into its sheath.
“I need you to find out where the Emperor and Empress are. The complex is large, so I need you to go around all the nooks and crannies and identify how many terrorists you can find, and also where the Emperor is being held. Do you think you can do that?”
“I know I can do it!”
“And don’t attack them, not yet, anyway. Remember, you’re just gathering intel.”
“Right!”
“Do not engage the public,” I reminded the group. “Let’s get the military and any other law enforcement there on our side.”
“And me?” Ingrid asked.
The beast morpher was next to Stella, who had just gotten out of the shower, her hair wet and pulled into a ponytail. It was odd not seeing Stella with her Dutch braid, and for a brief second, this made me ponder how much haircuts defined who we were.
“I don’t want to release Tulip unless we have to. So once we arrive, take your beast armor.”
“May I make a suggestion?” Ingrid asked.
“By all means.”
“It may be better to send Tulip out. He can round up any of the terrorists that are holding the perimeter.”
“True, but just stay in your beast armor form for now. If we need Tulip, we’ll let you know. Finally, Stella, you’ll be playing defense as usual.”
“Can do,” she told me.
“Which reminds me, I should switch out my powers.” I raised my hand to high-five Stella, replacing Veronique’s metal manipulation power with Stella’s vector ability. This would allow me to cast a shield and knock people aside if I needed to.
“Are we good?” Grace asked.
“Maybe it would be best if you go invisible first, before we arrive,” I told her. “You can act as our secret weapon in that regard.”
“Will do,” Grace said, starting to fade away.
“Finally, if this is an ambush, our new mission will be to get out of there as quickly as possible. So stay close, and be able to rendezvous with us. Once we have established that this isn’t an ambush, and once we know where the terrorists are holding the Emperor and the Empress, we may split up at that point.”
“I think we should stay together.”
“We’re a bigger target when we’re together,” Chloe reminded Veronique.
“That doesn’t matter to me. There is nothing that the Japanese government has that will be able to take us down. But our superpowered enemies? That’s a different ballgame. And for that, it would be best if we stay close,” Veronique said.
“Got it, let’s aim for that then,” I said with finality. “Are we ready?”
“On me,” Dorian said, stepping forward. “And remember, I may need a moment to recharge after sending us so far away.”
And just as we had done not thirty minutes ago, we appeared in Dorian’s teleportation tunnel, or whatever bastard of quantum mechanics she had conjured up, all of us running, Dorian leading the pack. Of course, Michelle caught up to her, the young speedster backpedaling a bit in a way that reminded me of Skyrim, of all things.
I had sunk a good couple of years into that damn game, and I always found it funny when the character I crafted ran backward to avoid something.
But portal traveling I did not find so funny.
Everything was blasting past me, purple lightning crackling on my periphery, Chloe to my right, Veronique and Ingrid behind me, Grace invisible somewhere, my stomach doing somersaults.
I hadn’t thought about what we were doing, only that we were doing it. And maybe this was a bad idea, maybe we should have just let the standoff come to its own natural conclusion.
Too late for that now, Writer Gideon, Grace thought to me as we appeared on a paved space, dozens upon dozens of police and people in military uniforms turning to us.
“Shield is up,” said Stella, who was now down on one knee, all of us a little jarred from how quickly we had arrived.
“I’ve got this,” invisible Grace said, and a moment later a military official came forward, speaking in English to what the others must have thought was a ghost.
The Japanese man turned to the other soldiers and gave out the command for them to lower their weapons, to let us pass.
I could tell by the looks on some of their faces that they weren’t going to let this happen, the men and women in uniform were not about to let the Emperor get harmed. Chloe took care of that, the sound manipulator floating into the air, her throat glowing as everyone began to lay down their weapons.
There was a body of water across from us, and on the other side of the water were hundreds and hundreds of people, the media too. I spotted several helicopters overhead, and I had a feeling that more reinforcements were on the way.
“Grace, tell him to call off all reinforcements. We don’t need to be bringing down helicopters once we’re inside.”
The Japanese man began to speak again, this time into his headset.
“I’m taking my transformation,” Ingrid told us.
“Not to Tulip,” I reminded her.
“I know; we’ve already been over this,” she said as she pinched herself, her body starting to bulge, muscles pressing out of her form, veins swelling.
“Can I go yet?” Michelle was hopping from foot to foot, an excited look on her face.
“Yes, find the Emperor, and make it as quick as you can. Remember to return to us, and do not stab anyone.”
“Okay,” she said, disappearing in a flash.
“It doesn’t appear to be an ambush,” Stella said, her focus on her shield.
“No, it really doesn’t. But the ambush could be waiting for us inside, so we should stay close.”
“Should I do anything with their weapons?” Veronique asked me.
“No,” Grace’s voice answered from somewhere, possibly to our right.
“How are you feeling?” I asked Dorian, whose face was a bit red.
“I should be feeling better soon,” she said.
“Let me see if I can help any.”
I
placed my hand on Dorian’s shoulder, healing her, her skin returning to its normal color.
From there, I looked back up at the palace, wondering how the terrorist group had done it.
I was sure that the place was heavily guarded, not as heavily guarded as the White House, but definitely secure. This made me think that it could have been an inside job of sorts, that someone had let the Aum Shinrikyo in.
There was only one way to find out.
“Let’s do this,” I told the group, so stoked to be able to say the next line. “Let’s save the fucking Emperor of Japan.”
Michelle reappeared, a worried look on her face. “There are so many of them!”
“How many?” Veronique asked.
“So many.”
“That isn’t an answer.”
“More than twenty, no, yes, maybe. There are a lot.”
“Any Japanese security?” I asked her.
“All those guys have been shot or tied up. It’s pretty bad in there.”
“I’m ready to do something when you are,” Veronique said.
“Hold up,” I told her, returning my focus to Michelle, watching as she nodded her head rapidly. “And the Emperor?”
“They’re in that building there,” she said, pointing to the castle on the hill.
“Where in the castle?”
“In the basement.”
“Any supers?” Chloe asked.
“You mean people like us?” asked Michelle.
“Precisely. Anyone like us?”
“I didn’t see any.”
Our conversation was interrupted when a pair of men wearing black ninja outfits and kabuki masks—I shit you not— came running around the castle firing assault rifles at us.
The bullets all stopped midair, Veronique walking toward the men as they continued to fire.
“She is so pissed,” Michelle said, biting her lip.
“I guess that is our cue to get in there and do something about this,” said Grace, all of us turning toward the castle.
After the terrorists finished their bullets, one started to run away, the other loading another magazine.
He was the first to go down, his rifle breaking in two, the sharp part going under his chin, stabbing him through his mouth out the back of his head.
He fell to the side, choking on his own blood.
“Reminder that we’re trying to limit casualties,” I told Veronique as we reached her.
The metal vampire’s eyes were fixated on the man running away, bullets slowly swarming around her like angry hornets. A few of the bullets zipped toward the man, striking him in the back of the head and taking him down as we entered through a gate.
The rest of the bullets continued to hover around Veronique.
“Stay in a group,” I reminded the CBGs as we came to a lush garden, a few masked terrorists running out to meet us. These guys were also taken down by Veronique, who lodged several bullets in each of their thighs, melting their weapons as we walked past.
The castle grounds featured an elaborate fountain, beautiful hedges, everything manicured and sculpted in a way that screamed royalty. We looked up at the castle just as a window punched out, a man firing at us.
It was Stella who took this guy down, swelling one of her vectors toward him and yanking him out, tossing him to the ground.
“Minimize casualties,” I reminded the group, again.
We stood strong, looking up at the castle, bullets floating around us. It was a surreal moment, one of those times when I wished there were a photographer, possibly pitched off at a cool angle to make us look bigger than we really were.
Don’t get cocky, Writer Gideon, Grace thought to me.
“Sorry,” I mumbled as we prepared to move to the main complex.
“Check the other side of the door for us, Michelle,” I told the young speedster.
“Will do.”
Michelle disappeared through the door, returning moments later.
The explosion that followed sent all of us flying backward, Stella’s vector shield not able to protect us completely.
While we weren’t hit by any shrapnel, the force definitely scattered us. Veronique and Dorian got up first, Dorian’s paintbrush already in her mouth as she traced a purple ball of energy in the air.
She lobbed it toward the entrance, her power cutting through the smoke and disappearing. Dorian fired off a few more blasts, anger on her face as Veronique sent all the bullets she had toward the entrance.
Chloe was up next, using her echolocation ability, immediately coming down and telling us that they were behind a barricade.
“A barricade made of what?” I asked.
Michelle appeared again. “Something really strong,” she said. “That’s why Veronique’s bullets didn’t break through!”
“Let me go in there,” Ingrid said, still in her beast armor, “I’ll clear them out.”
“Better idea,” I said, looking to the others. “How about you let Tulip out?”
Ingrid smiled just about the biggest smile she had ever shown me as she pinched herself again. The rest of Tulip started to form, her jaw distended, teeth pressing out of her flesh, the creature’s gnarled face taking shape.
Seething now, Tulip took off toward the smoke; I heard a couple of screams inside once the terrorists saw what was coming for them.
“Do you think that was a bazooka?” I asked as we edged along the perimeter, waiting to see an indication from Tulip that she had cleared out the foyer.
“No idea,” Grace said, her form solidifying. “I need to be able to see them, and I can’t quite understand their thoughts, at least the ones that are being broadcast.”
She was beautiful in that moment in her Scandinavian form, her Cherry Blossom Girl superhero outfit tightly hugging her body, not a smudge on her body, not like the rest of us who had experienced some of the previous blast.
“Sorry about the blast,” Stella said again, mostly to Veronique, who seemed annoyed that she hadn’t been able to protect them against it.
“Didn’t you have a shield up?” Dorian asked.
“I did, but I don’t know. I don’t know why it didn’t protect us more. Maybe my focus was on the guy that I had taken out of the window.”
“Tulip is done,” Michelle said, appearing in front of us, nodding excitedly. “He’s also starting to explore the castle, so we should probably go get him. I tried to stop him, but I wasn’t able to. Fiona was always better at that than me.”
“You’ll get better at it,” I finally told her, after contemplating for a moment how I should respond to what she’d just said.
There was no point dwelling on the past. Right now, we need to rescue the Emperor and the Empress.
“Grace, Veronique, and Michelle go after Tulip. The rest of us will head downstairs toward the Emperor.”
“Don’t worry,” Dorian said, stepping between Veronique and me. “We will be in communication with you,” she assured the metal vampire.
“Good, don’t go too far.”
I knew that Veronique didn’t like separating, but we simply had too big of a group to move together all the time, and someone needed to get control of Tulip. Besides, there were probably more terrorists upstairs, and even though Tulip could take them all out, it was best if he had backup.
We entered the foyer, Grace, Veronique and Michelle headed to the right, the rest of us going to the left.
“I’ve got a shield up,” Stella said. “It will protect us better this time. Again, sorry.”
I stopped, placing my hand on her shoulder. “Mistakes happen.”
She whipped her shoulder away from me. “And people die when they do.”
“What a cute conversation,” said Dorian, “but rather than have it now, can we have it later? We’re trying to rescue some people here.”
“Right,” I said as we came to a stairwell. I turned to Chloe. “How many are down there?”
She nodded, her throat glowing as she used her echolocati
on ability to assess the situation.
“There are several guards, four to be exact. But it goes down further, and I can’t figure out how many are down there. Not yet anyway.”
“Got it. Dorian, send out a few energy creations, and then we’ll go with Stella up front, shielding us, Chloe taking down anything that makes it past Dorian’s attack.”
“Affirmative,” Dorian said, her paintbrush coming out of her mouth as she traced up two homunculus-sized beings with blasters for arms.
She sent them forward, the sound of gunfire immediately meeting my ears once they reached the bottom floor.
We came down after them to find three of the terrorists dunzo, one still awake, trying to load his weapon and fire it again. He was blasted backward by a burst of sound, and slammed into a wall, a heavy portrait falling on his head.
The door behind us kicked open and another terrorist in ninja clothing and a kabuki mask popped out, firing his gun immediately. Stella’s vector shield protected us from the bullets, while I used Grace’s power to slug him in the stomach.
Chloe finished the job by offering him a knee to the face that sounded like it hurt. He hit the ground, and a few seconds later, I saw a pool of blood forming around his head.
“Damn, Chloe,” I told her.
“The CBGs are not to be fucked with.”
“I see that.”
Grace, is everything okay? I thought aloud as we continued down the hall to another flight of stairs. I wished I had a moment to stop and appreciate the art on the walls, the beautiful portraits that looked like they cost millions of dollars, but now wasn’t the time to appreciate art.
Focus, Writer Gideon, I had to remind myself.
I heard Grace laugh inside my head. Yes, focus. We’ll be joining you soon. The top is cleared; Tulip is almost morphed back to Ingrid.
“Grace and the others are coming,” I said as we stopped at the next stairwell. “Chloe, will you do the honors?”
Another masked terrorist came running up the stairs, firing his weapon, his bullets slapping against Stella’s shield and bouncing off.
He was down in a matter of moments, his body pressed to the ground by the throbbing bass sound, the man crying out in terror as his whole form shook.
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