Vice Girls Finish Last, Part I
By Autolycus, maynlinz@earthlink.net
An epic free-for-all with guest stars galore in the City of Angels.


This is a work of fiction. Any similarity to real persons is only a figment of
your imaginations. Let's face it, we all wish these babes were real! Anyway,
they're not, so go take a nice cold shower.

BABES IN SPYLAND XVII:

VICE GIRLS FINISH LAST

Part I

(c) 2000 Autolycus

Here's the deal: This is the story of a genetically altered female who is not
only a perfect physical specimen, but also has psychic abilities. She was
created by the US government to be the ultimate espionage agent, although her
creator/father, the late Dr. Smitrovich, didn't know that at the time. She was
seized by an ultra-secret anti-terrorist government agency, the Aegis Group,
and (ultimately, but against her will) trained in the martial arts and other
forms of combat, although she refuses to kill anybody. The new head of the AG,
Major General Margaret Holm, basically approves of her methods, and certainly
has no complaints about her record, but is determined to make her part of the
team nonetheless. By the way, her name is Jessica Chance and this is her
encounter with a fabulously popular all-girl band called The Vice Girls and
its rather infamous manager, not to mention some of Sun City's luminaries.

For Giordano

Jessica walked into Major General Margaret Holm's office, after the obligatory
ogling by her Personal Assistant, and immediately noticed two things: 1) her
desk was unusually clear; and 2) she was smiling. It took the redhead only a
second to realize that the reason for the first was the absence of General
Winsome's old files, leading her to speculate that that was the explanation
for the second. "Good morning, Ma'am," Jessi said as she approached the desk.
"All finished going through the General's files, I see."

"Morning, Chance, and yes, thank the Goddess, I'm done with those blasted
files," she replied, gesturing for her to be seated. "They were more like his
private journals than files, though, filled with his thoughts on everything
from organized religion to water filtration techniques, but mostly with his
insane ramblings about 'acceptable casualties' and 'the two faces of justice'.
He sincerely believed that there were two justice systems in this country: One
for the masses and one for the elite. And, what's more, he approved, arguing
in fact that the division didn't go far enough."

"Sounds like a twisted version of Plato's Republic," Jessica mused, shaking
her head.

"Exactly. I'll arrange for you to read them, once we've cleaned them up and
compiled them, of course. Right now they're mostly notations on the edges of
official documents. His private copies, of course," she added. Margaret Holm
was a robust woman in her fifties with short, light hair and dark, piercing
eyes.

"Of course," nodded the redhead.

Holm casually leafed through a brand new folder and Jessica waited patiently
for a few minutes before asking, "Are we waiting for someone, Ma'am?"

"Yes, Chance. Your partner for this mission," she said without looking up from
the file.

"About this partner business, Ma'am-" Jessica began.

"Sorry I'm late, Major General," said a willowy blonde as she entered the
office, hastily adjusting her top and hose. Kallista Blackhart, codenamed
'Pyromaniac' because things had a tendency to get extremely hot, literally,
when she was involved, was in her mid-twenties at best, and had dirty blonde
hair and large brown eyes. She was thin, with an almost boyish figure, except
for the alluring curve of her hips, and was clad in a scandalously short black
leather mini-skirt, a white blouse, and a black leather vest. She had on
unusually large metallic bracelets and was wearing high-heeled boots, also
made of black leather. "Car trouble." Kallista slid into the chair next to
Jessica and winked playfully at her.

"You can't be serious, Ma'am!" the redhead exclaimed.

"Agent Chance, if I didn't make myself perfectly clear last time, let me spell
it out for you: You will be paired with different agents-As is clearly
outlined in the Aegis guidelines-on all future missions. Agent Blackhart will
be your partner on this particular assignment. End of discussion," Holm said,
her dark eyes blazing.

"Yes, Ma'am," Jessica sulked. It didn't help matters any when Kall stuck her
tongue out at her.

"Besides, I think you'll be more than happy to have this mission, regardless
of who your partner is," Margaret added with a slight smile. She flipped a
switch and the room darkened as a screen lowered behind her. A moment later a
grainy photo of an Asian woman was projected on it. "This was taken at LAX two
days ago."

Jessica gasped and Kallista asked, "Who is it, Ma'am?"

"Dr. Koyuki Takagashi," the redhead replied. "Why didn't customs grab her,
Ma'am?"

"She didn't arrive on an international flight. In fact, she apparently arrived
in this country via a military transport plane shortly after her escape,
courtesy of General Winsome," she added with a quick glance at Jessi that
acknowledged the redhead's initial suspicions about the pair's relationship.
"She then took a private plane to LA earlier this week. We only got this photo
because she happened to walk through the airport lobby on her way to the
passenger pick-up outside the main terminal. Because of the low quality and
briefness of her camera time, it took our computers this long to isolate and
identify her likeness."

"Do we know who picked her up? Or did she take a taxi?" Jessica asked.

"Unfortunately, no one has been questioned in this matter yet, but I did send
an e-mail to the Police Commissioner of the LAPD filling her in on our
situation, so that may have changed by the time you two get there," Holm said.
"As you might imagine, the Japanese authorities are eager to have her captured
and returned to them so she can serve the rest of her sentence."

"Are they sending any operatives to assist with her apprehension?" Kallista
asked.

Major General Holm nodded. "But they won't arrive in LA for another few days
at least-Something about 'tying up loose ends first'. I don't need to tell you
how pleased our government would be to have the good doctor in our custody and
waiting for them, do I?" she asked, looking at them expectantly.

"No, Ma'am," they both replied.

"Good. I don't know how much time you've got before the Japanese agents
arrive, so make it count," Margaret said, handing each of them a packet. "This
contains recent pictures of Dr. Takagashi and your plane tickets. You're
booked on a flight to LA that leaves from Ronald Reagan this afternoon. Good
luck."

"No sweat, Ma'am, she'll be bagged and ready for shipping by the time they get
here," Kallista said, rising and heading for the door. "You coming, Chance?"

"I'm right behind you. I just need a minute with the Major General," Jessi
said, closing the door after the blonde. "Why Blackhart, Ma'am? She obviously
knows nothing about Dr. Takagashi or her involvement in the mind transference
process."

"How much time have you spent in LA, Chance?" the older woman asked.

"A few weeks, maybe a month all told," the redhead admitted.

"Exactly. Agent Blackhart was born there. She grew up there. She knows that
city better than most and can schmooze with the best and brightest and mingle
with the lowest of the low. Trust me, Chance, she'll be invaluable in locating
and apprehending Dr. Takagashi. Any other questions?"

"No, Ma'am," Jessica said with a sigh.

"Good luck, Jessica, and I don't know if the Japanese will allow you to
question Dr. Takagashi once they have her in their custody, so make the most
of your time with her before they arrive."

"Thank you, Ma'am," Jessi said, surprised at the Major General's candor.

She left the office and the voice of the Vice President/President-elect spoke
from the speaker on the desk. "Do you think she'll find what she's looking
for, Maggie?" she asked quietly.

"I wouldn't bet against her, Madame Vice President," Margaret replied with a
half-smile.

"Couldn't get out of it, huh, Jess?" smirked Kallista when the redhead exited
the office. She slid off the desk of the young officer that served as Holm's
Personal Assistant and fell in step beside Jessica as the redhead walked
purposefully from the office.

"I just wanted to be sure you weren't going to be excess baggage on this trip
and the Major General assured me you wouldn't be," Jessi replied as they
headed for the underground garage. "Make sure you don't make a liar out of
her."

Kallista suddenly belted her sharply across the mouth, staggering the
surprised redhead. "Don't start questioning my abilities, damn it! I may not
be some bio-engineered freak like you, but I've made it this far and, in case
you hadn't noticed, Jessica, we have equal security clearances. So don't go
thinking you're better than I am!"

"I am better than you are, Kallista," Jessica replied, rubbing her lip. "Not
because I was bred to be, but because I was taught to be. But there's nothing
preventing you from bettering yourself, now that the General is out of the
agency. It's up to you, Kall."

Kallista glared at the redhead, her thin body shaking with rage and the
bracelets on her wrists glowing until they were white with heat. Then, even as
Jessi tensed herself for a confrontation, the blonde exhaled loudly and the
bracelets returned to their normal color as they cooled down. "We've got a
long flight ahead of us, Chance. We'll talk on the way to LA," she said,
walking towards the elevator.

Jessica nodded and followed her.

* * * * *

After two years the investigation was finally winding down to its inevitable
climax as the Tokyo Special Forces Unit closed in on the remaining members of
Dr. Takagashi's fujinjas. It had been a costly enterprise, both in terms of
money, time, and lives-Two police officers had died and one of the fujinja had
taken her own life rather than be captured-but they had seven of the murderous
female ninjas in custody and had tracked the remaining four to a house on the
outskirts of town and were making the final preparations for the raid that
would bring this grisly case to a long-overdue close.

The two people responsible for the success of the investigation were Reiko
Miyazawa and Asami Komatsu, the SFU's finest investigators. Despite their
relative youth-They were both in the late twenties-the pair had risen quickly
through the ranks first of cadets and then of officers to achieve their
esteemed status on the SFU by virtue of good old fashioned hard work and
dogged determinism. They had distinguished themselves time and again in the
field and had the best capture rating not only in the SFU, but in the entire
Tokyo police force. And, in spite of the fireworks that often accompanied
their busts, they also had the fewest fatalities, both of suspects and
officers under their command. This had naturally earned them not only the
respect of their peers and supervisors, but also several medals and
commendations from the Mayor and the Chief of Police.

Not that Reiko and Asami cared about such things, but they appreciated the
recognition if only because more often than not it allowed them greater
freedoms than those enjoyed by their fellow investigators. The pair had met
back at the training academy and quickly established a not-so-friendly rivalry
that had eventually turned into a close camaraderie based on mutual respect
and finally into a fast friendship. Both were attractive women with Reiko
having short hair that she constantly streaked with a dizzying variety of
colors, as opposed to Asami's traditional long straight raven tresses. Asami
was a bit taller than Reiko, standing at 5'6" to her partner's 5'4", but both
had alluring curves and Komatsu's legs in particular were shapely pillars that
seemed to extend all the way to Heaven itself. Which, in a way, they did.

Both women openly resented the timing of Dr. Takagashi's surfacing in America
and hoped that she would still be at large by the time they arrived so that
they could have the honor of taking the not so good doctor down. But they
reluctantly agreed that capturing the final quartet of fujinjas was their top
priority as the murderous clan had been responsible for the deaths of numerous
individuals since becoming mercenaries after their boss' capture and
incarceration.

The raid was scheduled for two nights from now, which seemed an eternity to
the two investigators as they checked and double-checked all of the
arrangements.

"I'll bet she did it on purpose," Asami said softly as she glared at her
computer screen. Reiko looked up from her lunch, a piece of seaweed dangling
between her full lips, and gave her partner a questioning look. "Takagashi.
I'll bet she waited to come out of hiding until she heard the last of her lady
assassins was going down."

"Right. And she would find out about the coming raid exactly how?" Reiko
smiled, slurping the seaweed into her mouth.

"The same way she escaped from prison, fled the country, eluded US customs'
officials and wound up in LA," Asami replied smugly.

Reiko's face contorted in puzzlement. "You don't really think she did that, do
you, Sam?" she asked.

"Not really. But sometimes I'm not sure how far her influence spreads, you
know what I mean, Rei?" she replied, casting a quick glance at the offices of
the SFU Supervisors.

"Oh, come on! Now you're just being paranoid." Reiko shook her head and
shoveled the rest of her sushi into her mouth, chuckling softly.

"I hope you're right, but I've got a bad feeling about this raid."

"How bad?" The other woman's face got suddenly somber, having learned long ago
to take her partner's 'feelings' very seriously.

"Like when Nahama and Fujitsu bought it," Sam replied solemnly.

"Shit."

* * * * *

Jessica settled back in her first class seat and scowled at the sun, knowing
that even though it was still relatively high in the sky here by the time
their plane touched down in LA it would already be set and Lupe would become
the Goddess only knew what. The redhead tried to convince herself that her
friend would undergo a no more drastic change than that which had accompanied
her first attempt to cure her, i.e., her original wolf form, and that she
would wait out the next three days in the relative security of Cassie's
silver-fixtured bathroom, but she had an uneasy feeling that even though her
latest serum had indeed put a halt to the nightly transformations, it had only
done so at a terrible price.

Her musings were cut short as Kallista cleared her throat and said harshly,
"Okay, Jess, let's get a couple of things straight right from the get-go.
First, when we clashed in the past it was only because I was following
Winsome's orders."

"That's what most of the Nazi's claimed," Jessica replied, glancing over at
her.

"Will you cut me some fricking slack! For the love of... I'm trying to
apologize here," Kall hissed.

"And here I thought you were making excuses for happily carrying out the
orders of a madman and killing one hundred and twenty-one people in the
process," the redhead said.

Kallista's head jerked upright and she fixed her brown eyes on the woman next
to her. "You looked up my kill count? What kind of sick bitch are you?" the
blonde asked. "Never mind. Just forget it. Forget I ever said a damn thing and
we'll just find your doctor friend and then hopefully never have to say
another word to each other." Kall turned away from the redhead and thumbed
through the magazines in the pouch on the seat in front of her.

Jessica grunted and turned back to the window, silently willing the sun to
slow down.

* * * * *

Lilith Kahira entered her bedroom and stripped out of her business clothes,
tossing them aside without another thought, knowing in the back of her mind
that her Japanese maid, Yumi, would have them cleaned and pressed and back in
her closet by morning. She stood in front of the mirror, admiring her naked
form for a few minutes, trying to convince herself that since beginning her
training with Master Po she had lost some of her excess weight and was
starting to develop some real muscle tone. The Egyptian ran her hands up and
down her figure, pushing in at her waist and then sucking in her gut, but no
matter how hard she tried, her stomach was flat at best. She started to slip
her fingers into her curly thatch of black pubic hair but remembered that she
had to get ready for a Fortune 500 dinner and reluctantly withdrew them. She
then ran her hands over her belly again, punching angrily at the small paunch
and the way it jiggled after being struck. Cursing her lack of any abdominal
definition, she made a fist and curled her arm, frowning at the total absence
of any bulges in her upper arms and finally turned and walked into her
bathroom.

"Looking good, Lilith," said an Asian woman who was lounging in her
bubble-filled bathtub. "Why don't you join me?"

"Prison wasn't a happy experience for you, was it, darling?" Lili asked,
pouring herself a glass of champagne and sliding into the tub.

"Is prison a happy experience for anyone, Lil?" the Asian asked in kind.

"I suppose not." She took a sip of her drink and then submerged her head for a
second. When she emerged from the suds she poured a bit of shampoo in her hand
and began vigorously washing her hair.

"Let me do that for you," offered the other, scooting forward and massaging
the Egyptian's scalp. "It's the least I can do in return for your gracious
hospitality."

Lilith murmured agreement and moaned with delight as the Asian's long fingers
worked their magic. "Watch the hands, Koyuki," she said dreamily when they
slid down to her shoulders and worked the tense muscles loose.

"Don't you like this?" Koyuki inquired, digging her fingers into the other
woman's trapezius muscles and causing her to ease back until her head was
resting against the Asian's shoulder, her large breasts pressing against
Lilith's back.

"I do, but just be sure that a massage is all you've got in mind," she
replied, sitting up. "Do my back."

"Of course," smiled Koyuki.

"I trust that the accommodations I've provided suit your purpose," Lilith
remarked as the Asian scrubbed her back, running her nails down it and
bringing a quiver of pleasure from her. "That was nice."

"Glad you liked it. They're excellent. Are things progressing on schedule for
our trial run?"

"Yes, but I've been thinking that a less ambitious dress rehearsal might be in
order first. Besides, I want to test the limits of this, see how far the
subjects will go, that sort of thing," the Egyptian said, leaning forward and
rinsing the shampoo from her hair and then sitting back up and smacking the
Asian in the face with her wet locks. "Whoops. Sorry about that."

"Think nothing of it," said Koyuki with a forced smile as she wiped the water
from her eyes. "And I've already conducted more than enough tests to be sure
you won't be disappointed."

"This is costing me a lot of money, darling, not to mention the possible legal
ramifications should I be caught housing a wanted criminal. I think a few more
tests, personally supervised by myself, aren't out of the question. Don't you
agree?" she asked, turning to face the Asian, displaying her impressive tits.

"Whatever you say, Lil," nodded Koyuki, leaning forward eagerly. But Lilith
quickly slipped away and stepped out of the tub, laughing as Koyuki toppled
face-first into the bubbles. She took a sip of champagne and then, hearing her
private line ringing, went to answer it.

Koyuki extricated herself from the tub, toweled herself off and padded over to
the bedroom door to see Lilith sitting on the bed with the phone in her hand
and a strange look on her face. After a minute she heard a female voice on the
phone and Lilith replied, "Flowers? No, I don't think so, darling. But I do
want you to find out all you can about the circumstances that resulted in this
tragic condition." Another pause and then a mumbled reply before she hung up
the phone.

"'Tragic condition'?" questioned the Asian after a few moments.

"Huh? Oh, nothing to concern you, darling, just some unexpected news," Lilith
replied, standing up and retrieving a pair of silky underthings from her
closet.

"It sounded like bad news," Koyuki observed, moving so she could watch the
Egyptian get dressed.

"It should have been good news, but... it wasn't," she shrugged, slipping into
a pair of dark hose. "At any rate, it has absolutely nothing to do with our
little venture, so don't give it another thought, darling." She pulled a
stunning emerald gown over her head and wiggled into it, shaking her ass and
tits enticingly, and then looked back at Koyuki and said sweetly, "Zip me up,
will you, darling?"

* * * * *

Jessica sat in her seat, thinking back on her previous encounters with the
blonde next to her and had to admit that besides being a pain in the ass,
Kallista was also a damn good operative. Okay, so her methods were needlessly
brutal, but even the redhead had to admit that the majority of people she'd
killed were the kind of scum who probably not only deserved it but actually
preferred death to a lifetime in prison. Plus, she'd killed all of them in the
line of duty and most in self-defense. While Jessi no doubt would have found
some way to capture them alive, she had to acknowledge that for most agents
that wasn't a viable option in the heat of battle. Realizing that she had been
too harsh on the blonde she turned and said, "I'm the one who owes you an
apology."

Kallista started and slowly turned to look at the redhead. "Say again?"

"I owe you an apology. The Nazi crack was out of line."

"Way out of line," Kall corrected.

"Okay, way out of line. Listen, I've got a lot of things on my mind right now
and I'm sorry if I came down on you like..."

"A rabid mongoose on a comatose cobra?" the blonde offered.

"Yeah. Anyway, I'm sorry I questioned your ability to perform the job, too.
Even when we clashed, you were always a handful," she added with a smile.

"And you definitely kept me on my toes," the blonde admitted.

"Oh, and as long as I'm apologizing, I'm also sorry about breaking your
nose... twice." Jessica did her best to keep a straight face, cracking only
the barest of smiles.

"Sure you are. Just remember, Chance, what goes around comes around," Kall
said with a playfully ominous chuckle. "So tell me about you and this doctor
we're after and her connection to Winsome."

* * * * *

Koyuki sat up from pleasuring herself on the bed and watched as the slim
figure of Lilith's Japanese maid, Yumi, came in and picked up her mistress'
dirty clothes. The young woman let out a small gasp when she turned to find
the other woman in the room. "Oh! Please forgive me, Dr. Takagashi. I did not
know you were in here," she said quickly, bowing repeatedly as she back out of
the room.

The older woman bounded off the bed and followed her, her naked breasts
bouncing invitingly as she closed on the maid. "You don't have to apologize,
Yumi. As a matter of fact, I was waiting for you," Koyuki confessed, moving
around in front of the confused girl, blocking her way with her naked body.

"Waiting for me?" Yumi asked in a small voice.

Koyuki nodded. "I'm bored, Yumi, being trapped in this place with no one but
Lilith to talk to isn't my idea of fun. And tonight Lilith isn't even here to
keep me company. I was hoping you could," she said, looking down at the
younger woman with a predatory gleam in her dark eyes.

"I have much to do," she stammered, trying to ease around the larger woman.
"What do you mean by 'keep you company'?"

"Let me rephrase it in a way you'll understand," Koyuki grinned, knocking the
clothes from her arms and slapping the girl across the face hard enough to
cause her to drop to her knees, holding her cheek. "It's subservient types
like you that make it hard for those of us with a spine to achieve anything in
our country. The men are so used to seeing women only as objects of pleasure
or labor that they can't accept the idea of us as equals." She hauled the
sobbing girl to her feet by her dark hair and drove a fist deep into her
belly, causing all the air to hurriedly exit her body and her knees to buckle.
But the older woman held her aloft by the grip on her short hair and slapped
her again. "And then most of you have the gall to come over to America and
perpetuate the myth of the docile Asian because you convince yourselves that
when you do it for money, for non-Asians, that it's only play-acting." She
slammed her knee into the crying woman's gut. "But the sad truth of the matter
is that deserting Japan only makes things worse for those of us determined to
stay and fight it out, to make a difference for the next generation of women."
She roughly shook the younger woman's head back and forth, rattling her teeth.
"Don't you see that?" she asked the girl kneeling before her.

"So you would like me to not play the traditional role of the submissive
female?" Yumi asked, looking up into the dark eyes of the older woman.

"Exactly. Although, all things considered it might be-Ergk!!!!" Koyuki
suddenly dropped to her knees as Yumi's fist buried itself between her legs.

"As you wish, doctor," the younger woman smiled, ramming her knee into the
same spot. As Koyuki rolled over onto her side with her hands between her
legs, Yumi stood up and removed her outfit, revealing a much more impressive
figure than the slacks and shirt had hinted at. When she undid her brassiere
and released her large breasts, she let out a relieved sigh and caressed them,
working the pain out of them as she did every night in the privacy of her
quarters. Noticing that Koyuki was staring up at her, she leveled a kick into
her left tit that brought a howl and then stomped down on her ribs, causing
Koyuki to roll onto her back. "You think it's easy being thought of as a
geisha, doctor?" she asked, dropping a knee across the supine woman's throat.
She grabbed a handful of her dark hair and raised her head up only to send her
fist crashing into the older woman's jaw. "You think I like cleaning up after
that inconsiderate bitch? Attending to her every need?"

Koyuki coughed and tried to push the maid's knee off of her neck. When she
found she couldn't budge the other woman, however, she suddenly reached back
and fired a shot into her left breast hard enough to cause her to lean back.
The older woman quickly scrambled from beneath her and rolled to the relative
safety of the far side of the wide hallway. "So, Lilith does like women,
then?" she asked, smirking as she sucked air greedily into her body.

"Not those kind of needs, you pervert!" Yumi stood up and landed a running
kick to Koyuki's gut, causing the older woman's entire body to jerk backward
and her head to strike the paneled wall, dazing her. "On your feet, doctor,"
she said, helping Koyuki up with grips on her hair and her arm. She then
twisted the arm behind the doctor's back, forcing it up painfully between her
shoulder blades, and marched her into Lilith's bedroom. "You wanted my
company, well, that's what you're going to get." She threw her facedown on the
bed and then jumped on her back and wrapped her legs around Koyuki's waist and
squeezed. She laughed as Koyuki beat on her thighs with her fists and slapped
her sharply across the face. "Settle down and enjoy yourself, doctor. I know
you're more than used to this from your stay in prison." Yumi poured on the
pressure, locking her ankles together and rolling onto her side so that she
could pull Koyuki's face up and between her breasts. "I'll bet you even like
it." She wrapped her arms around Koyuki's head, cutting off all the doctor's
air passages, filling them with the soft flesh of her tits, and then applied
another powerful squeeze with her thighs, maintaining the pressure until her
legs quivered from the strain.

Koyuki screamed as her ribs were painfully compressed, but no sound escaped
from her fleshy prison. She clawed at Yumi's back and legs in desperation, but
that only caused the younger woman to roll her over onto her back so that
gravity was now added to the forces preventing her from breathing. Finally, in
a final effort to avoid being knocked out by this upstart servant, she slid
her hands in between their two bodies and forced them down between Yumi's
legs.

"Aaahhhh!!!!!" The maid shrieked as she jerked upright and slapped at the
claw-like hands fastened to her pussy. "Let go, you bitch!" She punched Koyuki
in the face, but the older woman shrugged off the half-hearted blow and
clamped down harder, digging her nails into the sensitive flesh until Yumi
cried out and began thrashing around like she was on fire. "Oh, for the love
of the Goddess, please let me go! Let me go!"

"Say 'pretty please'," Koyuki grinned, positioning herself on top of the
woman's legs to keep them from kicking her.

"Pretty please!!!" hollered Yumi, tears streaming from her brown eyes as she
sat up and looked at her rival.

"No," said Koyuki, snapping her head forward and striking Yumi squarely in the
nose with her forehead. The younger woman fell backward onto the bed, arms
akimbo and barely conscious from the combination of the head-butt and the
excruciating pain between her legs. Smiling, the doctor released one hand and
moved around so that she was facing Yumi's feet. She then scooted backward
until she was seated on the poor girl's neck and reached back and grabbed her
by the hair and forced her face up into her ass. She gave the younger woman's
pussy a good wrench to snap her to attention and said, "As someone once told
me: Now, get that tongue of yours working on my ass, and don't stop until I
tell you to." She leaned back until she felt the maid's tongue enter her and
finally released her hold on the young woman's tortured vagina, turning her
attention instead to the large breasts. But instead of mauling and pinching
them, she lovingly fondled them and even leaned down to lick and caress them
with her tongue.

"Good girl, Yumi. I can see that we'll get along beautifully for the remainder
of my stay here," she smiled, sitting up and flipping around so she could look
down into the other woman's defeated eyes. She placed her excitement-moistened
pussy on top of her unresisting mouth and was pleased when Yumi began eating
her out without being told to do so. "Beautifully," moaned Koyuki, stroking
her own breasts and arching her back as she exploded all over Yumi's
tear-streaked face. After her inner fireworks had ceased, she scooted back
until she was lying completely on top of the other woman, breast to breast,
crotch to crotch, and began to tenderly run her fingers through her short,
dark hair. She kissed the woman beneath her, happily noting that the nipples
pressing into her own were just as erect as hers and enjoying the taste of her
juices mingled with the younger woman's saliva. "Won't we, Yumi?"

"Yes, Dr. Takagashi," she replied dutifully.

"Call me 'Mistress,'" Koyuki instructed, giving her breast a playful squeeze.

"Yes, Mistress," Yumi said miserably.

"Good girl," smiled Koyuki, thinking the only thing better than this would be
if it were Jessica who was underneath her.

* * * * *

Jessica stopped in her tracks and stared at the car, shaking her head. "I
can't believe you actually went to the expense and trouble of having your car
flown out here," she said, placing her bags in the vehicle's trunk.

"Hey! I love this car, Jess. Besides, it's very LA. We'll fit right in,"
Kallista smiled, closing the trunk and getting into the driver's seat. She
gunned the engine and the 2010 Special Edition Powder Blue Volkswagen Beetle
Convertible shot out of the underground garage and into the world famous LA
traffic. Kallista switched on the stereo and cranked it up as she flew up the
freeway on-ramp.

"I'm sure we will," sighed Jessica, glancing up at the full moon and wondering
how Lupe was doing.

"So, what should our first stop be?" the blonde asked, swerving around a car
and then flipping off the driver.

"The LAPD. I want to see if anyone questioned the parking personnel about who
might have picked up Takagashi," the redhead replied, cringing as the VW shot
across four lanes of traffic to make the exit.

"Boring, but I guess it's a starting point," Kall shrugged, casually running
the stop sign at the end of the off-ramp and expertly, if narrowly, avoiding
the cars in the intersection.

Jessica squinted her eyes as the VW accelerated down the busy streets,
ignoring any and all traffic signals, until it finally skidded to a halt in
front of the LAPD.

"Here you are," Kallista smiled.

"Here 'I' am?" questioned Jessi.

"I don't do cops," the blonde replied airily.

"I thought you did everyone," Jessica shot back, unable to resist the dig on
her partner's well-known reputation as she got out of the car.

"Very funny. NOT. Anyway, me and the LAPD don't exactly get along, so I'll
just wait for you outside," she said, indicating the parking lot and turning
her stereo up even louder as she zoomed away.

Jessica shrugged and made her way inside, smiling politely at the officers who
stopped to stare at the stunning redhead. She walked straight up to the Desk
Sergeant and asked to see the Police Commissioner. The man across the desk
from her scowled and shook his head. "Not likely, miss," he said. He looked
like he hadn't seen the inside of a gym for over ten years and probably hadn't
seen his feet for even longer than that. Wondering how these slobs managed to
stay employed, she flashed her Aegis ID card at him and his attitude
immediately changed. "Fourth floor, Agent Chance, just follow the signs once
you get off the elevator." She thanked him and then opened the door to the
inner offices once he buzzed her through.

Police Commissioner Miranda Yates turned out to be a slightly overweight woman
in her late-forties or early fifties with salt and pepper hair and blue eyes
that commanded respect. Her figure was still good, despite the extra meat, and
she had an attractive face. Jessica imagined that both had hurt more than
helped her career as they introduced themselves and shook hands. She gestured
for the agent to have a seat. "Would you care for something to drink, Agent
Chance?"

"Thank you, but, no, Commissioner Yates. I prefer to take up as little of your
time as possible," she added with a smile.

"I wish all of you federal types had that attitude," she replied. "Fair
enough. What can I do to help the Aegis Group, Agent Chance?"

"I'm here concerning an escaped international criminal we have reason to
believe is in the area," she produced a photo of Koyuki from her handbag and
handed it to the Commissioner. "Surveillance cameras at LAX picked up her
image two days ago and the Japanese authorities have requested our assistance
in recapturing her."

"I see," said Yates thoughtfully. "I know all about Dr. Takagashi being in the
area from the e-mail I received from your superior. How can the LAPD be of
help?"

"I was hoping that the airport's employees had been interviewed to see if
anyone recalled the vehicle Dr. Takagashi left the airport in."

"I'm afraid not, Agent Chance," the Commissioner replied with a shake of her
head and a harsh laugh. "I only got the e-mail this morning and this is a busy
time for us, with the full moon bringing out even more of the city's criminal
types than usual. Not to mention a serial killer preying on our prostitutes.
So, no, Agent Chance, I'm afraid we simply haven't been able to spare the time
or personnel to question the porters at LAX."

Jessica nodded and stood up. "Of course, Commissioner Yates. It was just
something I had to check out," she said, shaking the other woman's hand.

"Keep me in the loop on this, Agent Chance, and don't hesitate to let me know
if you need the assistance of the LAPD," she replied, smiling warmly, even if
her eyes betrayed her insincerity.

Jessica made her way back out to the parking lot and almost had to hold her
hands over her ears as she approached Kallista's VW. She got in the
passenger's seat and the blonde started and turned the stereo down to a
tolerable level. "Any luck?"

"Remind me in the future that I don't do cops either," Jessica replied, with a
frown.

"So now where to?" grinned Kall.

"Back to the airport. We'll have to question them ourselves."

"Great." The blonde sighed and revved the VW's engine and tore out of the
parking lot, cutting off a black and white and causing it to crash into one of
the parked cars. She looked over at Jessica and winked and the redhead laughed
and shook her head bemusedly.

After another harrowing drive-Involving no loess than four close calls, one
nearly overturned semi, and too many middle fingers flashed by both Kallista
and other drivers to count-they arrived back at the airport. Kall drove
straight to passenger pick-up and whistled for one of the airport porters.
"This Japanese babe came through here two days ago," she said, handing him a
photo of Koyuki. "It's worth a hundred bucks to my friend and I if anyone can
tell us who picked her up." She stuffed a crisp twenty in his shirt pocket.
"Spread the word, okay, dude?" she smiled, patting his chest over the bill.
"My number is on the twenty. Call as soon as you've got anything." She blew
him a kiss and stomped on the gas, causing a tour bus to screech to a halt
behind her. "Now what?" she asked Jessica, roaring up the freeway on-ramp.

"I'd like to check into our hotel and spend some time in something that
doesn't move for a while," the redhead replied as the VW shot into traffic to
the familiar sound of screaming tires and shouted curses.

"I'm reading your mind, Jess. Next stop: Bubble bath," she grinned, flying
across four lanes of traffic and then passing a Jaguar on the shoulder when it
didn't change lanes and let her by. "California driver," she snarled, flipping
the shocked man the bird as she sped away.

Jessica laughed and pried her fingernails from the dash.

"Relax, Jess," Kallista advised, pushing close to 120 mph as she swerved in
and out of vehicles with reckless abandon. "Just sit back and close your eyes
and we'll be at the hotel before you know it."

Against her better judgement, the redhead closed her eyes and settled back in
the car's extremely comfortable seat. Unfortunately, this only made her mind
work overtime in regards to the alarming sounds she could hear all too well
over the blare of the stereo. When she heard a siren in the distance she
thought their ride was over, but Kall just floored it from the sound of the
engine and soon the siren was a faded memory. A sudden wrenching of her body
in the seatbelt told her that they'd exited the freeway and the honking and
sound of slamming brakes verified that they were back on the city's streets.
When the little car finally powered to a halt, she opened her eyes and saw
that they were parked in front of the Hollywood Hilton. She couldn't get out
of the car fast enough.

"See? That wasn't so bad, was it?" Kallista grinned, hopping out of the car
and handing the waiting valet a bill. "Take extra special care of my baby,
dude, she's had a rough day."

"Yes, Ma'am," the man replied, pocketing the cash and happily sliding into the
driver's seat.

They checked in and were assigned adjoining suites and made their way up to
their rooms. "Game for a little night life later, Chance?" Kall asked as they
rode up the elevator. "Or are you as beat as you look?"

"Let me grab a bath and then we'll see," Jessica replied evasively.

Kall nodded and they entered their rooms without another word. Jessica
immediately phoned Cassandra's but all she got was the doctor's voice-mail.
Hoping that Lupe was safely locked away for the duration of the full moon and
assuming that Cassie was at her club, she stripped out of her clothes and
headed for the bathroom.

"I knew you were a natural redhead," Kallista said, looking up from where she
was just turning the enormous tub's faucet on.

"How did you get in my bathroom?" Jessi demanded, grabbing a towel and
covering herself up.

"Our bathroom, Chance," Kall corrected, adding a generous amount of bubble
bath to the water.

Jessica looked behind the blonde and, sure enough, there was a second door
that led to the adjoining room. "I'm calling the manager to see about getting
different rooms," the redhead snapped, turning on her heels.

"Oh, come on, Jessica, it's not that bad. Join me for a bath. I won't bite,"
Kall grinned, sliding into the bubble-filled tub. "It'll be just like when you
were little and had sleepovers with your girlfriends."

Jessica stopped and slowly turned around. "I never had sleepovers or
girlfriends when I was little," she said quietly.

"Oh... Then there's no excuse for not making up for lost time. Besides, we
didn't get to finish our talk on the plane and I've got a couple of things on
my mind. Come on, Jess," the blonde coaxed. "I promise I'll be good."

Jessica smiled at that and dropped the towel and slipped into the tub facing
the blonde. "Happy?" she asked.

Kall suddenly reached down and grabbed her by the ankle and yanked her under
the water. "I am now," she laughed when Jessi sat up sputtering, her face
covered with suds.

"You're gonna regret that, Kallista," Jessica growled playfully, sending a
handful of water into the blonde's face.

Seconds later the two grown women were splashing water at each other and
giggling like schoolgirls. They moved closer, increasing the ferocity of their
splashing and the level of their laughter, and then wrapped their arms around
each other and frantically sought out each other's mouths as they surged up
onto their knees. When Kallista's hand slid down between Jessi's legs,
however, the redhead suddenly broke off their embrace and scooted to the far
end of the tub, shaking her head and with a frightened look in her green eyes.

"Hey, are you all right, Jess?" Kallista asked, crawling towards her.

"You promised you'd be good," Jessica replied, scooting away from the blonde.

"Whatever. But don't play it like you didn't kiss me back," Kall shrugged,
content to lean against the side of the tub.

"Look, it's a long story, and it's not you, okay? It's me. It's something I
need to work out before I can be with anyone that way. Understand?" Jessica
said hopefully.

"Not even a little bit," Kallista replied with a big smile. "You wanna talk,
you need to talk, I'm more than happy to listen, though, okay?"

"Thanks, Kall. And speaking of talking... Isn't that how you lured me into
this tub in the first place?" the redhead asked with a smile, moving until she
was next to the blonde.

"Yeah, it was. Listen, Jessica, I owe you an apology, too. If I'd known what
Winsome was really like, what he'd done and why he wanted you dead, I never
would have gone along with any of it. I may be a little wild and more than a
little lethal, but I love this country and I'd never do anything to hurt it,"
she said, looking into the emerald eyes of the redhead. Jessica nodded and
leaned in to kiss her, but Kall pulled back and shook her head. "I also wanted
to tell you that I wish I'd watched that damn DVD before handing it over to
Winsome so I could tell you who your mother is. You've gotta believe me that I
don't know, Jess. Melanie never told any of us that I know of, just the
General."

"I know, Kall. Winsome was a twisted piece of shit, but he was also a
decorated war hero and your boss. I don't really blame you for following his
orders. I know how he could make following his personal agenda sound very
reasonable-Hell, I even fell for it a couple of times!" she added with a
laugh. "And I blame myself for not getting to know any of you better while he
was in charge. He told you I was a rogue and I gave you no reason to doubt his
word. Even though I thought you were all in on his plotting, that was childish
and stupid on my part. I should have taken the time to find out for sure who I
could trust."

"He played us, all of us like a maestro plays a Stradivarius," Kall said,
wrapping her arm around the redhead's shoulders and hugging her tightly.

"Mmm, that's nice," cooed Jessi, snuggling against the blonde's small breasts.
"We can kiss if you want, but no petting."

"You make it sound so clinical, Chance." Kall laughed and dunked Jessi's head
and then pulled her up into a deep kiss. "Just let whatever happens happen. Go
with the flow, as they used to say out here."

Jessica nodded and let herself melt into the blonde's arms. "So, tell me how
you got involved with the group," Jessica said dreamily as Kallista fondled
her breasts and kissed the back of her neck.

"You really wanna know?" the blonde asked. The redhead nodded and Kall sighed
and said, "Well, you of all people should know that the Aegis Group chooses
you, you don't choose it." Jessica chuckled and Kallista continued, "I was a
pretty normal kid, loving parents-Daddy was a military man and mom was a
lawyer; they're both retired now-plenty of friends, never much of a
trouble-maker beyond the usual childhood pranks. But when I was in high school
I fell in with the wrong crowd and started shoplifting, big time. When I got
caught I was belligerent and unrepentant, so without so much as a 'Fare thee
well' I was shipped off to a military academy. I don't know who was more
surprised at my success there, me or my parents, but I just seemed to
naturally excel at everything I tried from hand-to-hand combat to handling a
gun. Okay, I got into some scraps with both male and female cadets, but the
only time I ever lost a fight was when a gang of boys jumped me one night
during a training exercise. They beat me pretty bad for 'showing them up' but
it could have been worse." She craned her neck to look into Jessica's eyes and
knew she understood what she meant. "Anyway, it was shortly before I graduated
top of my class that I was approached by Winsome about the Aegis Group.
Looking back on that meeting, I guess there was never a choice, even though he
made it sound like there was."

"Oh, yes, I'm well aware of that particular skill of his," Jessica said,
reaching back and caressing the rock hard nipples of the blonde.

"Anyway, that was back in '04. I joined the group after graduation and here we
are eight years later," she finished.

Jessica turned around and draped her arms over Kall's shoulders as she
straddled the smaller blonde woman. "Here we are, indeed," she smiled, leaning
in and kissing her.

* * * * *

Rei and Sam were just getting ready to call it a day-Or, rather, a night,
since it was well past sunset-when one of their fellow officers poked his head
into the office they shared and informed them, "The Chief wants to see you
before you leave."

The two ceased their preparations to leave and headed to the office of Chief
Inspector Daikato, exchanging anxious glances as they made their way through
the mostly deserted hallway.

Daikato was a small man with thinning hair and nervous, dark eyes that were
barely visible under his extremely large, thick eyebrows. The officers often
joked that he looked more like a criminal than a cop. "Come in and sit down,"
he said, looking up from some papers and smiling in a manner more befitting a
maître d' than a commanding officer. The two detectives nodded and sat down.
"I just wanted to take the opportunity to personally wish you luck on the
upcoming raid and congratulate you both on a job well done on this case."

"Thank you, Sir, but your congratulations are premature and undeserved until
we have eliminated the final four members of the fujinjas," Sam said.

"Perhaps, but that's another matter I wanted to discuss with you," he said,
thoughtfully gazing at them from beneath his massive eyebrows.

"Sir?" questioned Rei.

"Elimination. That won't do. Every effort must be made to make sure these four
are taken alive, detectives. The only way to satisfy the public's need for
closure with a case like this is to have a trial. And you can't put corpses on
trial. Do I make myself clear?" he asked, trying to sound intimidating but not
succeeding.

"Very clear, Sir," they both replied.

"Excellent." He stood up and shook their hands warmly. "Now go home and get
some rest. Tomorrow we will run through the procedures and if everything goes
fine the next day we will end this case happily," he said, sitting back down.

"Everything will go perfectly, Sir," Sam assured him.

"I know it will," he replied without looking at them.

They stood looking at each other for a minute and then exited his office,
grabbing their coats and bags and then heading for the garage. Once there, Rei
blurted out, "What was that all about? It's like he was saying goodbye or
something. And he shook our hands. He never shakes hands with anyone."

"I told you I had a bad feeling about this," Sam replied as she got into her
car.

"Shit."

* * * * *

Jessica was just beginning to enjoy the breakfast room service had delivered
when she happened to notice one of the headlines on the paper sitting on the
silver tray. All thoughts of hunger gone, she grabbed the newspaper and read
the story with growing alarm. When she was done she set the tray aside and
quickly dressed, grabbing snatches of a bagel as she did so. As she slipped
into her slacks she phoned Cassandra's but only got her voice-mail, just as
she had the night before. She then called the LAPD and learned what hospital
Simone had been taken to. Jessica gulped down the last of her coffee just as
Kallista emerged from the bathroom. "What's the rush, Jess?" she asked,
sitting on the bed and grabbing a piece of toast. She was still in the lacy
underthings she'd put on after the pair had finished their bath last night.

"I need to take care of something," Jessi replied. "Something important."

"We're here to do a job, Chance, not run personal errands," the blonde
reminded her.

"I know. I wouldn't do this except..." she began.

"Don't tell me. It's a long story, right?" Kall demanded, clearly annoyed.

"It is. I promise I'll explain it to you later, all of it, but right now I
need a lift to a hospital," she said with a hopeful smile.

Kallista picked up the paper from the bed and the one headline that caught her
eye was STARLET BRUTALIZED AND LEFT IN SERIOUS CONDITION. She looked up at
Jessica and the redhead nodded. She quickly read the story and then shook her
head. "It says Stallion is paralyzed from the neck down after being attacked.
Ignoring what any of this has to do with you, what do you think you can
possibly do for her?" Kall asked.

"Please, Kallista, I need to at least talk to her. To tell her I'm sorry."

"Fine," growled the blonde, getting up and stalking into her bedroom.

"Thanks for understanding," Jessica called.

"Save your thanks, Chance, because I not only don't understand, I think
jeopardizing the mission for a personal concern is irresponsible and
unprofessional," she yelled back. "The only question is which of us is the
bigger idiot: You for doing it, or me for not stopping you." She favored the
redhead with a crooked smile as she emerged from the bathroom and headed for
the door. "Well, don't just stand there. Let's get going."

Jessica bounded over to her and hugged her. "Thanks, Kall," she said, kissing
her on the cheek.

"Just remember that I'm the one that was against this when we're up for
disciplinary charges," she snarled playfully, slapping the redhead's ass as
they walked down the hallway toward the elevator.

After dropping Jessica off at the hospital Kallista was about to return to the
hotel so she could finish her breakfast and enjoy a relaxing shower when her
cellular phone rang. "Your dime, my time, don't waste either," she snapped.
When it turned out to be the porter she'd given the twenty to yesterday she
pulled a U-turn, bringing half a dozen cars screeching to a halt, and headed
for the airport.

Her VW screamed into an opening between two tour buses-Never mind that she was
parked perpendicularly in a parallel zone-and she climbed over the hood, being
unable to open either door, and quickly located the porter who'd phoned her.
He was standing next to a similarly dressed but older man. She handed the
younger man a twenty and gave him a peck on the cheek. "Nice work, dude. What
can you tell me about her, pops?" she asked, displaying a photo of Koyuki to
the man. She had a hundred dollar bill partially covering the picture.

"I saw her get into a limousine," he replied, reaching for the bill.

Kallista laughed harshly and held the bill out of reach. "That's like saying
she got into a car and expecting to get paid for it," she said, shaking her
head and gesturing to the numerous limos lining the pick-up area. "You'll have
to do better than that, pops."

"It was black," he offered, looking hungrily at the hundred.

Kall once again pointed to the abundant black limousines in the area and shook
her head. "Sorry, pops," she said, tucking the bill in her shirt pocket and
turning to go.

"The driver!" he suddenly exclaimed, grabbing her arm.

"What about him?" Kallista asked impatiently.

"That's just it! I just recalled that it wasn't a him, it was a her. A huge
blonde woman wearing a traditional chauffeur's outfit, complete with the hat
and mirrored glasses," he blurted out.

"Good timing, pops," Kall smiled, handing him the hundred. She vaulted over
the hood and into the driver's seat of her car just as a parking scooter was
weaving its way through the line of traffic towards her. Kallista waved to the
frustrated woman and blew her a kiss as she punched the gas and headed for the
freeway on-ramp, leaving dozens of angry drivers in her wake.

She got back to the hotel-I'll spare you the gory details of her drive-and
warmed up the breakfast in the microwave as she rummaged through the phone
book for limousine services. As she wolfed down the reheated fare she began
calling the more prestigious ones until the receptionist at Royal Coaches
Limousine Service remarked that it sounded like Lilith Kahira's driver.
"Zaynah... Big tall Arab with blonde hair, built like a linebacker, but with
curves, you know. Zaynah... Damn! I can't recall her last name. Something with
a lot of consonants," she said with a laugh.

"No sweat, honey, it shouldn't be hard to find an Arab Amazon with blonde
hair," Kall replied. "Thanks for the info." She hung up the phone and then
headed back to her own room and retrieved her laptop from her suitcase. "Okay,
let's see what we can find out about you, Ms. Lilith Kahira," she said,
sucking on an orange slice as she booted up the computer. Her eyes widened as
she read that among her other enterprises Ms. Kahira had until recently
represented the well-known actress Simone Stallion. "Quite a twisted little
web," she mused, continuing to read. Kahira's parents came from the Arab
Republic of Egypt to America back in the 1980's and her father made a modest
living producing low-budget mostly direct-to-video films featuring
steroid-pumped men and silicon-enhanced women in all kinds of danger. Young
Lilith had been fascinated by the whole Hollywood scene from an early age and,
after an unsuccessful bid for stardom herself, contented herself with becoming
an agent instead. Her big break came when one of her lesser known clients-A
porno star with the improbable name of Simone Stallion-got signed for the kind
of big-budget picture her father had always dreamed of making, but had
constantly eluded him. As Simone's fame rose, so did Lilith's until she was
representing a vast stable of not only actors and actresses but artists,
athletes, and singers as well. She eventually became the undisputed richest
woman in the world, finally eclipsing both the media personality Oprah Winfrey
and the publishing magnate Nan Summers in terms of the total worth of her
numerous holdings in the late 00's. "Why would someone like Kahira need to be
mixed up with Takagashi?" Kall asked herself as she continued to scan the
remainder of the billionaire's biography. Among her recent success stories are
the wildly popular girl-group The Vice Girls, whose latest album "Eat Shit and
Die" has sold over a hundred million copies as of 30 September 2012. Other
clients include... Kall nodded at the impressive stable of talent and again
asked herself why Kahira would be involved with a ruthless bitch like Dr.
Takagashi.

"I guess there's only one way to find out," she sighed, closing her laptop and
gulping down her orange juice.

A few minutes later she parked her car on the sidewalk in front of the Kahira
Industries building and, ignoring the security personnel and the receptionist,
stalked through the lobby and into an elevator. Once everyone else had
disembarked on the lower floors, she removed a packet of tiny tools from her
boot and set to work on the lock that provided access to the uppermost floors.

"I don't know who you are or how you got up here without an appointment," said
a mousy brunette when the doors opened on the top floor, "but Ms. Kahira is
with clients and can't be disturbed."

"I don't need an appointment, honey, I've got a badge," Kallista replied,
flashing her Aegis ID card and heading straight for Lilith's office.

To her surprise, the smaller woman moved to intercept her, adopting a martial
arts stance. "I said that Ms. Kahira wasn't to be-Urk!" Pam suddenly gagged as
Kall's hand closed around her throat and lifted her up until she was standing
on tiptoes.

"Here's the deal, sweetheart," the blonde said sweetly. "I'm going in to see
your boss and you're going to go back to your desk and not do a thing to stop
me. Because if you do try to stop me, I might just have to snap this pretty
little neck of yours." She increased the pressure, causing Pam's face to turn
an ugly shade of blue. "Understand?" The brunette nodded and made desperate
gurgling sounds. "Smart girl," nodded Kallista, releasing her and marching
into the office as Pam fell to her knees coughing and gasping as she rubbed
her throat.

"What's the meaning of this intrusion?" Lilith demanded, standing up from
behind her desk. Seated on chairs in front of her were four girls and an older
woman.

"Tell the tykes to take a hike, Kahira. I've got some questions for you," Kall
snapped, flashing her ID card.

Lilith reddened and said quickly, "Please, stay right where you are, darlings.
This won't take a minute." She came around to meet the blonde and guided her
into the converted workout room.

Just as the pair reached the doors, however, the elevator opened and half a
dozen armed security personnel poured out and trained their guns on the
blonde. "Are you all right, Ms. Kahira?" asked the apparent leader of the
team.

"I'm fine, Fitzsimmons. Nothing to worry about. Our impulsive friend is with
the federal government, so, of course, she can't be bothered with things like
asking for permission or the like," Lilith said, glaring over at the blonde.

"Very good, Ma'am," Fitzsimmons snapped. He saluted and he and the rest of the
team lowered their weapons as Lilith and the blonde entered the makeshift gym.

"Now, Agent Blackhart, what can I do for the Aegis Group?" Kahira asked as
soon as the doors shut behind them.

"You can tell me where Dr. Koyuki Takagashi is, for starters," Kall replied.

"And why should I know where she is, assuming, of course, that I even know who
you're talking about?"

"Because I have a witness that saw your chauffeur pick her up from LAX three
days ago. Still gonna bluff, or are you gonna be smart and fold?" Kall asked
with a smirk.

"I only play to win, Agent Blackhart. Your witness must be mistaken or dear
Zaynah was acting on her own initiative, since I gave her no orders concerning
picking anyone up from the airport," Lilith said easily, placing her hands on
her hips and staring the blonde in the eyes without so much as blinking.
"Unless I need to be driven to lunch or a meeting, Zaynah is free to use the
limousine for anything she wants, provided she is here to pick me up when I'm
ready to leave."

"You're very generous, Ms. Kahira," Kall said, not believing a word of it.

"One of my few faults," Lilith replied. "Is there anything else, Agent
Blackhart?"

"Just one thing: Are you telling me that you don't know Dr. Takagashi, or just
that you didn't give your driver any orders to pick her up from the airport?"

"I know her by reputation, of course, but I've never had the pleasure of
meeting her. I thought she was in prison," Lil added innocently.

"You know, Ms. Kahira, if I find that not to be the case, you could be brought
up on federal charges," Kall stated.

"I told you, Agent Blackhart: I play to win and I never bluff. Good day,
agent, and good luck with your inquiries," Lilith said coolly, opening the
door and revealing that the security team was still in the lobby. "Ah,
Fitzsimmons, glad to see you're still here. Please escort Agent Blackhart out
of the building as our business is concluded. Isn't it, Agent Blackhart?"

"For the moment, Ms. Kahira," nodded Kall, following the security team into
the elevator.

"If there is a next time, Agent Blackhart, please use the parking lot,"
Fitzsimmons said as he watched her get into her VW.

Kall flipped him off and gunned her motor before peeling out and doing a 360
around him as he stood perfectly still. She then zoomed onto the street and
around to the side entrance to the underground parking garage. She zipped
through the rows of cars until she spotted a huge black limo parked near an
elevator. As she screeched to a halt, a tall blonde got out of the front and
stood with her arms folded across her large chest.

"You must be Zaynah," Kall grinned, jumping out of her car and walking up to
her. She stood back a few feet to avoid having to look directly up at her. The
blonde giantess nodded. "I've got a guy who swears you picked up this woman at
LAX three days ago." She produced a photo of Koyuki and handed it to the
driver, who didn't even appear to glance down at it before shaking her head.
"You and your boss wouldn't happen to be related, would you?" Kall asked. The
blonde Amazon just stared at her, her shaded eyes gazing impassively into the
agent's brown ones. "Listen, let me make this easy on you, honey. I'm not
really interested in taking you or your boss down. All I want is Takagashi.
You cooperate and she goes away and no one has to know you or your boss ever
had anything to do with her. What do you say, Zaynah?"

In reply, the chauffeur slowly and deliberately ripped the photo in two and
then quarters and then eighths before letting the pieces flutter from her
fingers.

"Good choice, honey," smiled Kall, walking up to her. "Now, just tell me where
she is and-Ooompphhh!!!!!" She gasped as Zaynah buried her left fist in the
pit of her belly and then casually lifted the unresisting agent over her head,
in effect impaling her. Before Kall could even begin to catch her breath, the
driver stepped out from under her and she fell onto the concrete floor on her
stomach, with her chest absorbing much of the impact. She rolled over and
curled her legs up into her gut, but Zaynah didn't allow her any time to
recover. The big blonde reached down and easily picked her up using her
leather skirt and vest as handles and then hurled her across the parking lot
and into one of the numerous concrete pillars. The Arab smiled grimly, removed
her dark jacket and then stalked toward the dazed agent.

Kall smashed into the support face-first and fell to her back with blood
gushing from a broken nose. The pain seemed to snap her out of her stupor and
she wiped her nose and then glared at the blood. "I don't fucking believe
this!" she snarled, jumping quickly to her feet and pointing her fists at the
approaching chauffeur. "What? Does my nose have a friggin' target on it?" She
fired off twin balls of white-hot flames and Zaynah barely managed to dive out
of the way as they sailed past her and struck the limousine.

When the car exploded in a spectacular fireball, the blonde driver was sent
flying by the resulting force. As an alarm sounded and sprinklers went off,
drenching both women and putting out the burning limousine, Zaynah shook her
head and looked up from all fours to find that Kallista was directly in front
of her. "Whoopsie. Sorry about the ride," Kall grinned, snapping Zaynah's head
with a kick to her cheek. "I hope they don't take the cost for that out of
your paycheck." This time the driver's head was propelled in the opposite
direction by a shot from the same foot. Zaynah shook off the blows and started
to rise when Kallista fired a powerful punch to the back of her head that laid
her flat on the ground. The agent stomped down on her neck and then jumped up
and drove the point of her elbow directly between the dazed driver's shoulder
blades, flattening her impressive breasts painfully against the hard floor.
"You ready to be reasonable, sweetheart?" Kall asked, standing up and leveling
a punt into the taller woman's ribs that sent a shudder running the entire
length of her long body.

Zaynah suddenly snaked her arm out and her massive hand closed around Kall's
ankle and with a quick jerk dumped her on her ass. She lunged toward the
downed agent only to have the heels of Kallista's boots ram into her tits. The
force of her own charge propelled the driver up and over the blonde agent and
she crashed hard onto her back. As Zaynah massaged her aching boobs, Kall got
to her feet and jumped in the air, landing so that her boots once more
battered the larger woman's breasts.

The blonde driver made the first noise the agent had heard since the
encounter's beginning: A high-pitched wail of pain and fury. Smiling, Kallista
spun around like she was doing the 'Twist', mashing the brutalized boobs and
tearing the white shirt open in the process, and then dropped one knee across
Zaynah's throat and the other back over the sore tits. "That isn't what I call
reasonable, honey," she scolded, punching the diver in the face and breaking
her glasses if not her nose. "I'm only gonna ask you one more time: Where is
Dr. Takagashi?"

"Go to the Devil, infidel," replied Zaynah, spitting contemptuously into
Kallista's face.

"Lights out for you, baby," growled Kall, wiping the spittle from her cheek
and then driving both her thumbs into the driver's throat, just above her
collar bone. Zaynah gagged as her blue eyes practically bulged right out of
her head, but the driver had enough presence of mind to slam a fist into the
smaller woman's gut and then grab the battered tissue in a devastating claw
hold. Kallista screamed right before the Arab's other fist crashed into the
side of her face. Were it not for the iron grip on her tortured abdominals,
Kall would have been knocked to the ground. As it was, she was only knocked
for a loop and was definitely seeing stars as the driver slowly stood up,
maintaining the punishing hold and actually using it to press the struggling
blonde agent over her head, grinding Kall's back painfully into one of the
dripping sprinkler heads. Zaynah then used her free hand to land powerful
punches to the blonde's ravaged face.

Feeling herself blacking out from the pain and fearing the worst as the Amazon
headed for a pillar, Kallista suddenly let fly with a haymaker that landed
flush on Zaynah's right ear. The driver grunted and dropped to one knee and
the blonde agent punched her in the other ear as the deadly claw hold loosened
enough that she was able to slide free and land behind the taller woman. "Now,
then," said Kall, firing crushing shots into Zaynah's kidneys, causing the
Arab to groan as each landed, "where were we? Oh, yeah, it was lights out time
for you." The agent clapped both hands simultaneously over Zaynah's ears and
then delivered a stunning spin kick to the back of her head that sent her
sprawling face-first into a pillar. When she attempted to shake off the impact
and continue the battle, Kall rushed over and jumped up, landing with her legs
on either side of Zaynah's neck. She clamped her thighs around the taller
woman's throat and then grabbed the pillar with one hand and the Arab's blonde
locks with the other, jerking her head up and back so that it was flush
against Kall's crotch. The blonde agent next rocked her hips backward and then
thrust them forward, smashing the driver's face into the concrete support over
and over until the huge body went limp.

Kallista opened her thighs and let go of Zaynah's hair and the driver's
bloodied face dropped onto the ground. The victorious blonde leaned against
the pillar for support and fanned herself with her hand. "Phew. It's times
like this I wish I smoked, 'cause I sure feel like a cigarette about now," she
said, nudging the inert body of the driver with the toe of her boot. Satisfied
that she was out for the count, Kall pulled off the remains of her white shirt
and tore it into strips, which she used to bind Zaynah's hands and feet,
hog-tying her. She then leaned down and rolled the unconscious blonde onto her
back, shuddering at the mess her face was in. "You should have just told me
what I wanted to know," she said, shaking her head and walking over to her
car.

Kall's VW flew through of the garage past the fire engines and other emergency
vehicles, blowing the occupants kisses as she did so, and tore up the ramp and
out onto the street. A few harrowing minutes later she arrived at her hotel
and, ignoring the looks from the other people in the lobby who were taken
aback by her disheveled appearance and the blood and oil on what was left of
her clothing, she went straight to her room. Annoyed, but not yet concerned,
that Jessica hadn't returned, the weary blonde ran a hot bath and, after she
felt clean and revitalized again, called the front desk.

"Yes, Ms. Blackhart, what can the Hollywood Hilton do for you?" asked a male
voice.

"The Hollywood Hilton can get me Lilith Kahira's address. And I don't mean her
business address, buddy. Comprende?"

"Of course. I'll ring you back when I have that information, Ms. Blackhart."

"Would it be possible for you to bring it up to my room personally?" Kall
inquired.

"I suppose so. Is there any special reason for wanting that, Ms. Blackhart?"

"I just thought it would be safer, and it would also give me a chance to
personally thank you for the excellent service your hotel has provided,"
Kallista purred. "See ya soon."

She sank back down into the tepid water and waited for the receptionist.

* * * * *

Yumi knocked on the door to Koyuki's room and then entered when the older
woman called out a reply. The doctor was sprawled atop the covers of the large
bed, lying on her stomach and wearing nothing but a pair of thong-backed
undies. "Ms. Kahira wishes to speak with you, Mistress Koyuki," she said,
approaching the bed and holding out a cellular phone.

Koyuki reached up and grabbed the phone without lifting her head from the
pillow and mumbled into the receiver. "We've got trouble, Koyuki. I just had a
visit from an Aegis Group agent," Lilith informed her.

"A tall, busty redhead?" Koyuki asked eagerly, sitting up and wiping the sleep
from her eyes with her free hand.

"No, she was short and blonde," Lil replied. "The point is that someone saw
you getting into my limousine, darling, and now I'm afraid that this Aegis
bitch will come sniffing around my place looking for you."

"Want me to kill her if she does?" Koyuki asked, glancing over at a pair of
large suitcases sitting against the wall.

"This isn't Japan, darling. You can't just kill people, especially government
agents, and expect nothing to happen," Lilith said with a scowl in her voice.
"Just keep out of sight and don't do anything stupid. We're very close,
darling. Don't blow it now. Besides, maybe we can use the tests I want to
conduct to keep this G-girl out of our hair, killing two birds with one
stone."

"I like the way you think, Lil," Koyuki smiled. "I'll get things ready."

"Do be discreet, darling," Lilith cautioned.

"Stop worrying and I'll see you tonight," Koyuki said and severed the
connection. She looked up at Yumi and licked her lips. "Oh, sweetheart, you
are an absolutely gorgeous sight to wake up to." She reached out and took hold
of Yumi's hands and gently pulled her onto the bed. "I'm going to need your
help, Yumi, but first I want to just enjoy the feel of your flesh and the
taste of your lips." She kissed her and then pulled back when Yumi's mouth
didn't respond. "You don't mind, do you, Yumi?" the older woman asked, her
dark eyes glinting ominously.

"Of course not, Mistress Koyuki," Yumi replied automatically.

"Good. Then let's put a bit more feeling into this, shall we? I'd hate to have
to repeat what happened last night," Koyuki said, grabbing hold of the younger
woman's right breast and applying just enough pressure to cause her to
grimace. "And I don't think you want that either, do you?"

"No, Mistress Koyuki," Yumi said, her eyes beginning to well up.

"Good girl," she smiled, releasing her grip on the smarting tit. "Now, let's
try that kiss again, okay?" Yumi nodded and Koyuki leaned in and kissed her
and this time the girl parted her lips and sent her tongue out to meet the
other woman's.

* * * * *

Kallista opened the door to her room wearing nothing but a towel and smiled at
the attractive black man. "I really appreciate this, Barry," she said, reading
the name off his nametag and inviting him inside.

"It really would have been perfectly safe for me to phone this information up
to you, Ms. Blackhart," Barry replied, handing her a slip of paper. "That way
I wouldn't have interrupted your bath."

"Oh, you didn't interrupt anything," she smiled, taking the paper and laying
it on a table without looking at it.

"Will there be anything else, Ms. Blackhart?" Barry asked, backing towards the
door.

"As a matter of fact, there is one more thing you can do for me, Bare," she
said, stepping close to the handsome man.

"And what might that be, Ms. Blackhart?" Barry inquired, his back against the
door.

"I think you can guess," Kall replied, dropping her towel and pressing her
small, firm breasts against his chest.

"Th-th-this is highly inappropriate, Ms. Blackhart," Barry stammered as she
began to undo the buttons of his shirt.

"You can cut the act, Barry. I've stayed in a lot of hotels-No, make that a
lot of Hiltons-and I know that the second my friend and I checked in you boys
downstairs bid against each other to see who would be answering our calls to
the front desk and who would be covering," she explained, sliding the shirt
over his head and revealing his well-muscled chest. She then undid the belt
from around his waist and looped it around his neck. "So I know this was what
you were hoping for and I'd hate to see a nice guy like you waste what I'm
sure what was a good sum of money." She led him over to the bed and slowly
peeled his slacks off, taking her time so that he was good and hard by the
time she was on her knees in front of him. "Oh, and by the way, the redhead
doesn't do guys, so you can forget about her in your little betting pool. But
you can tell the girls on the staff that they might have a shot," she winked,
carefully pulling his briefs down over his large, erect cock and then tickling
the end of it with her tongue. "Now, then, let's get down to business, shall
we, Barry?"

"Anything you say, Ms. Blackhart," the man replied with a vigorous nod of his
head. He closed his eyes as Kall took his full length in her mouth.

* * * * *

Reiko rubbed her eyes and sipped gingerly at her coffee as she made her way
from the parking lot to the mock-up of the target residence that had been
constructed out in the countryside in order to have the raid go as smoothly as
possible. Reaching the "front yard," she found the men and women she and Asami
had handpicked for this assignment stretching and preparing for the grueling
day ahead of them.

"Good morning, Inspector Miyazawa," one of the officers greeted her with a
smile.

"There is nothing good about being up and moving around this early in the day,
Hinagato," she replied in a good-natured growl. "No sane person enjoys rising
before the sun has cleared Mount Fuji."

"Hi, Rei!" Sam's voice was loud and cheerful as she jogged over to her
partner. "Isn't it a beautiful day? And just perfect for our training. I adore
mornings like this. They make me feel so alive!"

Reiko grimaced and held her free hand over the ear that was closest to Sam's
mouth. "See what I mean, Hinagato?" she groaned.

Hinagato diplomatically said nothing as he joined the other men and women
lining up for final inspection before the exercise.

"What was that all about?" Sam asked suspiciously, noting the smile on
Hinagato's face as he lined up with the others.

Reiko took a last drink of her coffee and said, "You haven't changed a bit
since our days at the academy, Sam. Still up with the birds." She crumpled her
empty paper cup and tossed it playfully at the brunette.

"And you haven't changed either, Rei. Still grumpy as ever before noon," Sam
laughed, batting the cup into a nearby trash container.

"Let's just get this over with so I can go back to bed," Reiko sighed, placing
both hands on her hips and then arching her back until it cracked.

"That's not a healthy sound," Sam observed as her partner twisted her torso to
the accompaniment of snaps and pops.

"What are you talking about? My breakfast cereal makes the exact same noise
and it's very healthy," Rei replied with a lopsided grin, bending down to
touch her toes. "Ow!" She suddenly pulled back up and rubbed her side.

"See? The body was not meant to make those sounds. Are you all right?" Asami
asked, her face losing the smug look and growing concerned.

"For goodness' sakes, Sam, my body has been making those sounds for as long as
you've known me!" Rei snarled. "I'm fine. Let's do this." Asami nodded and she
and Reiko turned to face the officers who immediately snapped to attention.

"Okay, you're all aware that the four women we're after are to be considered
armed and extremely dangerous. However, every effort must be made to take them
alive," Sam said.

"This comes from the top, people," Rei said quickly when the officers began
grumbling. "Personally, I'd like nothing better than to see these assassins
all carried out in body bags, but..." She shrugged her shoulders. "So that's
the way this is going down. We do know from our surveillance teams that
they've got at least a half dozen hired guns guarding the house and you can
take those scum out without a second thought," she added.

Sam looked over at Rei and scowled as the men and women cheered.

"Ahem, yes, well, be that as it may, please remember that we are law
enforcement officers and not executioners," Asami said, quieting the group.
"Now, let's run through the insertion procedure. For the purposes of this
simulation we've secured the services of ten agents from the Office of
Domestic Security. They will be using everything short of lethal force to
prevent you from completing your mission and will be wearing special vests
equipped with sensors that will simulate successful shots when hit with your
laser weapons."

"The agents will be using rubber bullets and paint guns," Rei informed them.
"I don't need to tell any of you that both hurt when you're hit with them, so
you won't have to simulate going down when you're tagged. Obviously, the point
is not to get hit by them, but if you are hit in a vital area you will be
considered 'dead' for the duration of the current exercise. I expect zero
casualties on our side, people. So be careful and make your shots count."

"The ODS agents are already in the house and at my signal they will deploy
their 'guards.' Once the guards are in place the simulation will officially
begin. Now, for obvious reasons, we couldn't exactly recreate the interior of
the building in terms of furniture placement and the like, but the layout is
identical to the plans so make sure you memorize it once you get in. Also,
once the simulation begins it will continue until either the fugitives are
captured or killed or we are," Sam added.

"In other words, just like the real thing tomorrow night, there are no 'time
outs' allowed," Rei said with a grin. Sam radioed the agents in the house and
told them they were ready and then turned to Rei and nodded. "Okay, let's kick
some ass!"

"Remember, we want to try to take them alive but the first priority is making
sure it ends with this raid, one way or another," Sam said as the groups
separated into three units.

One, led by Reiko, would be in charge of taking out the guards. The other two,
under Asami's leadership, would simultaneously attack the house from the front
and the rear once the guards had been eliminated as Rei's squad filled the
house with tear gas and stayed back to make sure none of the four primary
targets slipped away in the confusion of the raid. The plan was to take the
guards out without alerting the fujinjas inside, which wouldn't be easy since
all of them were equipped with two-way digital devices that kept them in
constant communication with their bosses and each other. The only way to keep
the raid a surprise would be to hit all the guards at once and take them out
as quickly and quietly as possible. To that end all of Rei's team was equipped
with sniper rifles and when the signal was given they immediately deployed
themselves around the perimeter of the house.

"Eagle One, do you have target acquisition?" Rei whispered into her radio.

"Affirmative, Nest, target acquired," came the equally hushed response.

Rei proceeded to check in with the rest of her team and received the same
reply from each officer until Eagle Four. "Negative, Nest, target not
acquired. Repeat: Target not acquired," came the calm, but clearly frustrated
answer.

"Don't panic, Eagle Four. Just stay with it and let me know when you've
acquired the target," Rei said, masking her own aggravation. She then checked
in with the remaining two officers and received affirmative replies and then
told all of them to maintain their positions and not fire until she gave the
signal. "Any sign of the target, Eagle Four?" she asked. When the only reply
was a grunt of pain she immediately gave the order to fire and then waited
impatiently for word of target elimination from the other five officers. One
by one they radioed in and confirmed that their targets had been eliminated.
"Okay, Sam, we're about to hit the house with the gas. Are your people in
position?" she asked.

"Just waiting for you to clear the way," Sam replied. "What about that last
guard?"

"I'll deal with that loose end personally," Rei assured her. She then gave the
order to fire the tear gas canisters and was about to set off after the guard
when she noticed that there had only been four shots. She quickly checked in
and discovered that Eagle Five did not respond. Two officers down before we've
even penetrated the house's interior, she thought grimly. I hope the real
fujinjas aren't this tough. She made her way through the bushes, reminding
herself that tomorrow night they would have the added relative darkness of a
full moon to deal with, and froze when she saw a figure in dark clothes
slinking toward one of her team members. As the man raised his pistol,
however, his vest suddenly lit up like a Christmas tree and emitted a series
of high-pitched beeps as it recorded multiple hits from Rei's laser gun.

"I thought the idea was to take them alive, Inspector Komatsu?" grinned the
man, dropping his gun and turning to face her.

"You're not one of the fujinjas, Agent Shimada, just a guard, so you don't get
a free pass," she smiled, walking up to him. "Especially since you took out
two of my officers."

"Two? I only shot one, Reiko. You stopped me before I could shoot this one,"
he replied. "Maybe one of your radios is down?"

"Eagle Five, this is Nest. Reply. Officer Hinagato? I'm ordering you to break
off the exercise and reply," she barked into her receiver. Nothing.

"What's wrong?" asked Shimada?

"Trouble," Rei snarled, tossing aside her laser pistol and pulling an
automatic from a holster on her calf. "Sam, something's wrong."

"You're telling me," came the reply.

"What do you mean?" Reiko demanded.

"I think you and your team had better come in here, and bring the ODS agents
with you, all of them, even the 'dead' ones."

Rei and Agent Shimada, and the other agents and officers entered the house and
found Sam and her teams standing over the bodies of two female agents. Their
throats had been cut and the words 'NO MORE GAMES' had been written on the
wall with their blood. "Where are Fubuki and Yanagi?" Shimada demanded
angrily.

"They've got'em," Sam said, her hands clenched in rage.

"How the Hell did this happen?" Shimada screamed. "How did those murdering
bitches get in here? More than that, how did they even find out about this
operation?"

"We have a traitor at the SFU," Rei growled, kneeling beside the bodies and
noting the surgical precision with which the fatal wounds had been made. One
clean slice across the jugular with a razor-sharp blade, probably a sword from
the look of it. A kitana, Isako's, the assumed leader of the fujinjas, weapon
of choice. She was no doubt issuing a personal challenge and Rei was more than
willing to take her up on it. "Let's get the meds in here and then go after
those assassins!"

"We're obviously not ready to take them, Rei," Sam pointed out. "Maybe we
should postpone the raid..."

"Postpone it?! No way, Sam! We're going in today. Right fucking now!" she
snarled. "Move it out, people. We're rolling."

"That's crazy, Rei! We need to work out the details of the raid before we can
even think about actually doing it," Sam argued, grabbing her arm.

"Forget it, Sam. And forget about taking those bitches alive. I'm gonna blow
that damn house to Hell and them along with it," Rei said, shaking free of her
grip.

"And what about Fubuki and Yanagi? Must they die, too?" Shimada asked,
stepping in front of her.

Reiko slumped and the fire fizzled out of her eyes. "Damn it, Toshi, what are
we supposed to do? We can't just let them get away with this."

"No, we can't, but we're obviously now dealing with a hostage situation and
that calls for a different plan. We'll be happy to help you work out the
details and join you on the raid tomorrow night." He looked back at the other
ODS agents and they all nodded. "If you can hold off on blowing the house to
Hell, that is."

Rei smiled in spite of the pain she was feeling and nodded. "Okay, but if
anything else goes wrong, I'm going in there with a rocket launcher and fuck
Chief Inspector Daikato and his need for closure. He can put their bloody body
pieces on trial for all I care."

Sam and the others laughed and she put her arm around Rei's shoulders. "All
right, people, first thing we do is take care of our fallen comrades and then
we come up with a plan that will make sure the only people who wind up in body
bags tomorrow night are those responsible," she announced. Then she and
Shimada called in the deaths while Rei and her team went to find Hinagato's
body.

* * * * *

It was late afternoon by the time Kallista's VW screeched to a halt in front
of the gate to Lilith's house. She punched the intercom button and a woman
with a Japanese accent asked her what she wanted. "This is Agent Blackhart.
I'm sure your mistress told you I might be stopping by," Kall replied. The
gates opened soundlessly and she smiled and floored it up the long driveway.
Kahira's house was an impressive colonial style mansion with columns
supporting an extensive upper balcony and a front yard the size of a football
field. Kall braked hard at the foot of the steps, throwing up a cloud and bits
of gravel, and was out of the car before the dust had settled.

A pretty young Japanese woman met her at the door and asked to see her search
warrant. "Your mistress doesn't really want me to get a search warrant, does
she, honey? That would make her involvement in this matter part of the
official record and I'm sure she'd prefer that not be the case. Call her,"
Kall challenged.

"There is no need, Agent Blackhart," Yumi replied, standing aside. "Please,
feel free to search all you want."

Kallista scowled slightly, cursing her over-active libido for giving Kahira
enough time to prepare for her visit, and entered the house. She whistled as
she looked around the foyer and nodded in appreciation at the Egyptian motif,
complete with reproductions of tomb paintings and statues that were either
damn good copies or the real thing. Her money was on the latter.

She noticed with some annoyance that the maid wasn't bothering to follow her,
more than likely meaning that there was nothing to find, but went on with the
search regardless. After about half an hour she finally conceded that she was
wasting her time and was about to leave when she opened a set of double doors
and looked in at an enormous indoor swimming pool. The room had a glass
ceiling and flowering plants of every size and color surrounded the marble
tiled pool. There was even a miniature waterfall to give it a real outdoor
flavor, despite being completely enclosed.

"I'm very proud of this room, Agent Blackhart."

Kallista started ever so slightly, annoyed that she'd been so entranced by the
pool that she'd failed to notice Kahira's approach. "You should be. It's
magnificent," Kall nodded.

"Thank you. Care for a swim?" Lilith asked.

Kall turned to find that Lilith was wearing a dark blue French cut one-piece
swimsuit. "I didn't bring a suit," she replied with a slight grin.

"If it will make you feel more comfortable, darling..." Lilith slipped out of
her suit and then walked down into the water via the submerged steps at the
shallow end. "Come on, Agent Blackhart, I assure you the water is perfect."

Kall nodded and peeled off her clothing. "You're right," she smiled, joining
Lilith in the tepid water. "And you can drop the Agent Blackhart stuff. My
name is Kallista."

"Very well, Kallista. Call me Lilith, darling," Lil said, setting off for the
deep end with brisk strokes. Kall followed her and wrapped an arm around her
waist as she was in the process of turning. Lilith pressed against her for a
moment, until the blonde's grip relaxed, and then suddenly shot away,
laughing. "You won't catch me quite that easily, Kallista."

"But I will catch you, Lilith, one way or another. Why not make it easy on
yourself?" she suggested, paddling after the Egyptian.

"So I don't end up like poor Zaynah?" Lil asked, spinning to face her.

"She made me mad. Big mistake on her part," Kall said grimly, stopping and
treading water a few feet away from her.

"So I gathered. Of course, you have to realize that making Zaynah angry is
hardly a healthy thing to do either," Lil grinned.

A loud splash and the following wake caused both women to bob up and down like
a pair of ships in the trench of a tidal wave and Kall barely had time to look
behind her before Zaynah's powerful arms closed around her upper body, pinning
her arms to her sides in the process, and squeezed until she was able to grab
her left wrist with her right hand and really pour on the pressure. Kallista
groaned and thrashed her legs helplessly as Lilith swam up to her.

The Egyptian slapped her sharply across the face. "You little fool! Did you
honestly think I would just overlook the assault on my chauffeur, the
destruction of my favorite limousine, and the illegal search of my private
residence?" she demanded, burying a fist into Kall's gut and bringing a
strangled grunt from the helpless agent. "I have something to attend to, but
don't worry, darling, Zaynah will be happy to keep you company until I get
back to conclude our business personally. Play nicely with our guest, Zaynah
darling. And do try to stay conscious until I get back, Kallista."

The Arab smirked and nodded, increasing the pressure until her biceps and
triceps bulged and you could almost hear the sound of Kall's ribs as they came
close to snapping. For her part, Kallista could barely breathe, so any sort of
response from her was impossible.

Lilith laughed and exited the pool, toweled herself off and then, after one
more satisfied look back at the troublesome agent's predicament, left the
room.

"You hurt me this afternoon," Zaynah growled softly into Kall's ear. "Only one
other person has ever hurt me. I don't like to be hurt." She relaxed her grip
slightly and Kall greedily sucked air into her burning lungs. "Now I'm going
to hurt you." She knelt down until Kall's head was underwater while her own
was still well above the surface for ten seconds and then stood up. The woman
in her arms coughed and gasped and Zaynah smiled and then dunked her again,
this time for thirty seconds. When Zaynah brought her up again she barely had
enough strength to inhale. "Once more and you'll be softened up enough for the
fun to begin." The Arab knelt again, but this time she went a bit farther down
and Kall felt her feet touch the bottom of the pool. She instinctively pushed
off and rammed her head back against Zaynah's breasts, knocking the taller
woman off-balance and causing her to release Kall as she pinwheeled her arms
in an attempt to stay on her feet.

Despite how tired and hurt she was, Kallista knew this was likely to be her
only chance so she forced herself to turn around and then did an underwater
drop kick, planting both feet on Zaynah's chest and taking the big blonde
completely off her feet. She then grabbed one of the flailing ankles and
dragged the Arab to the deep end where neither would have a clear advantage,
using this opportunity to also catch her breath as much as possible.

As they reached the far end of the pool, Zaynah attempted to lunge forward and
grab her, but Kallista released her ankle and dove underneath the water. As
she circled around behind the Arab, Kall drove a fist into her belly and then
quickly surfaced and wrapped an arm around her throat while her legs enclosed
Zaynah's waist. She squeezed hard with both her legs and her arm while her
free hand punched the enraged Arab in the face.

"I'll kill you!" screamed Zaynah as she tried to pull the agent's legs apart.

"Not today, honey," Kall grinned, slamming her knuckles into the taller
woman's breasts.

Zaynah roared in pain and fury and changed tactics, ignoring the woman on her
back and making for the shallow end of the pool where she would have the
advantage. Kallista had been expecting this and increased the pressure around
the Arab's waist as much as possible while placing both hands around the
woman's bullish neck in an attempt to choke her out before she reached shallow
enough water to allow her to stand up with her head above the surface. Despite
this two-pronged assault the chauffeur struggled ahead and finally was able to
stand up. But she was nearly out on her feet as she waded for the edge of the
pool. Kallista broke off both holds and slid off Zaynah's back enough to
thrust her knee up and between the exhausted Arab's legs. The taller woman
howled and bent over so that her face was resting on the edge of the pool,
massaging her agonized pussy.

Kall nodded and climbed wearily from the pool and then walked over so that she
was standing in front of the sobbing Arab. "Now who did you say was gonna get
hurt?" she asked, grabbing her by the hair and pulling her completely out of
the pool. She kicked her hard in the ribs and then dropped an elbow onto the
back of her neck, causing the big blonde to flop around like a landed fish.
Smiling, Kall hauled her to her knees by the hair and then crashed her thigh
against the chauffeur's cheek, knocking her over onto her side. Kall wasted no
time and landed several sharp kicks directly into her bruised tits as she
tried to cover up. But this only left her gut exposed and the agent gladly
changed her target, driving her toes deep into the pit of Zaynah's belly time
after time.

"No more," pleaded the Arab, curling up into the fetal position.

"Yeah, right," chuckled Kallista, reaching down and forcing her up with a
handful of hair. She secured a reverse headlock and proceeded to pound the
bigger woman's tits with her knees and thighs while backing towards one of
several marble benches that lined the pool. Kall then spun her around and
pushed her down so that she was straddling the bench. She then released the
chokehold and raised her face up only to punch her right in the nose with
enough force to knock the Arab onto her back.

Kallista placed her right knee on the bench and then stepped over the supine
body with her left leg, pressing her fists into the heaving gut of the
battered woman. With a cruel smile on her full lips, she grabbed a handful of
hair and raised the Arab's face. "Nighty night, honey." She tagged her with a
solid shot to her jaw while slamming her knee into her aching pussy and
Zaynah's body convulsed spasmodically and then lay still as she slid into
merciful unconsciousness.

The blonde agent released her hold on the Arab's hair and Zaynah's head
dropped to the bench with a thunk. Kall took a deep breath and arched her
back, causing her small but nonetheless delicious breasts to jut up into the
air as she slid her right leg off the bench so that she was straddling the
unconscious body of the chauffeur. She looked down and her hands dropped to
her thighs and then slowly slid over onto the Arab's huge tits, fondling them
gently and shaking her head at how bruised and battered they were. When Zaynah
groaned, Kall quickly got off her and grabbed one of the towels from a rack on
the wall and tore it into strips as she walked back over to the chauffeur.
Wasting no time she tied the Arab's hands and feet together beneath the bench
and then reluctantly got dressed herself.

"I'd love to stay and play, honey, but I think I'd better get out of here
before your mistress gets back." She leaned down and kissed Zaynah and the
latter's blue eyes fluttered open with surprise. Before she could cry out,
though, Kallista stuffed a wadded up cloth into her mouth and then ran from
the room.

*

"That's twice she's beaten Zaynah," Lilith said quietly, gazing intently at a
monitor that displayed the bound blonde.

"She's obviously tougher than she looks," commented Koyuki, looking over her
shoulder and licking her lips hungrily at the sight of the helpless giantess.

"Obviously." Both women were in a secret underground room that was one of
several hidden beneath the mansion. Apart from the bank of screens displaying
various areas of her home, this particular room also contained a machine that
looked like an old ham radio with a miniature satellite dish attached to the
top of it. "What is the effective range of this device?" Lil asked, glancing
over at the slightly humming machine.

"Three to five hundred yards, providing there are no obstacles between the
transmitter and the receiver," Koyuki answered, watching lustfully as Zaynah
struggled to free herself, her large breasts jiggling enticingly as her
efforts increased in their intensity.

"Perhaps I should have Yumi release poor Zaynah..." Lilith suggested, reaching
for an intercom.

"No! Um, I mean, she's safe enough for the moment. Our first concern should be
Blackhart," Koyuki said casually.

"Of course." Lil smiled and pointed to a different monitor. "It seems she
hasn't given up yet, just as I said she wouldn't." The screen showed the
blonde agent snooping around the house. "Is that thing ready?"

Koyuki nodded without looking away from the bound chauffeur and absently
flipped a switch, opening a door that revealed four young black women in their
early teens. They were all wearing similar clothing, clearly sporting gang
colors, and looked far more angry than frightened. A thick wall of bulletproof
glass separated them from the older women.

"I don't know what you crazy bitches have planned, but I'm telling you right
now that you cunts are as good as dead if you don't let me and my posse out of
this fucking cage!" the largest girl shouted, banging furiously on the glass.

"Lovely. Where did you find them, darling?" Lil asked.

"Downtown. I sent my pets to fetch them from their party house while they were
sleeping off all the booze and drugs they'd done the night before," Koyuki
replied, casually gesturing to a pair of motionless women standing obediently
next to a wall. They appeared to be in their late teens and were wearing
tight-fitting red spandex body suits. One of the women had a nasty tear in her
outfit across her abdomen that cut cleanly into her flesh and revealed the
metal beneath the thin covering. Koyuki pushed a button on the humming device
and said, "Now just speak clearly and tell our little friends exactly what you
want them to do."

The four gang bangers froze and their eyes took on a glazed appearance.

"Girls, there is a blonde woman snooping around the house. I would like
something very unpleasant to happen to her," Lilith said.

"No, no, no," said Koyuki, shaking her head. "You have to be much more
specific, Lil. Remember, we're dealing with teenagers here and they're not
exactly renown for thinking for themselves."

Kahira nodded. "Kill her," said Lilith.

"That should do it," Koyuki grinned, flipping another switch that opened a
door behind the girls, revealing a staircase leading up and into the house.

The four women turned soundlessly and marched up the stairs.

"Now we'll see if bringing you over here was worth all the trouble it's been,"
Lil said, watching the screen that showed Kall as she continued to search the
house for some trace of the fugitive.

Koyuki scowled and said quietly, "Don't worry, you'll get your money's worth."

"How did you happen on this anyway?" Lil asked, watching the teens as they
walked purposefully through the mansion, searching for the agent.

"My earliest work was with radio signals," Koyuki replied absently as she
continued to gaze at Zaynah thrashing about on the bench. "That's how I
discovered the frequency that negates psychic abilities. I actually discovered
this frequency earlier than that one, but I didn't realize it until a visit by
my nephew years later. He was fooling around with some of my old equipment
when he suddenly froze. Not realizing what had happened, I yelled at him to
get out and was shocked when he actually obeyed me. Curious, I examined the
device he'd been messing around with and found it was one of my old radio
transmitters that was specifically designed to pick up waves of unusual
density, like the one that affects psychic abilities. I conducted some
impromptu experiments, having my nephew do all manner of menial things he
would never have willingly done in a thousand millennia, and realized that
he'd stumbled on some sort of super hypnosis frequency. Once the transmitter
was switched off, he immediately snapped out of it with no memory of what he'd
done while under its influence. As soon as he left I conducted further tests
on other subjects and it was then I discovered that the frequency only
affected adolescent brains. I also discovered that it was especially useful
for leaving subjects with a post-hypnotic suggestion, providing that it didn't
demand anything that was counter to their inherent personality or suicidal,"
she added, clearly disappointed by the fact. "So, thinking it nothing more
than an amusing toy to get my housework done for free whenever my nephew came
for a visit, I forgot all about it until I was arrested and jailed. It was
while I was in prison that I had time to ponder the true possibilities of my
discovery and why I contacted you upon my escape."

"Lucky for us both you did, darling. If this works as promised we'll both be
even more wealthy than we are now. Whoops, I forgot that all of your assets
were seized by the Japanese government when you were convicted," Lilith said
with plastic sincerity.

"Not quite all of them, Lil. I had some stashed for a rainy day," Koyuki
informed her without taking her eyes off of Zaynah's screen. "Not much, just a
couple of million, but enough to live on while I plotted my revenge. Of
course, now that we have this scheme, I won't need to wait nearly so long to
get some payback on-Oh! She's broken free." She pointed to the screen and Lil
saw that the Arab had finally managed to tear the cloth binding her arms.

"That's my Zaynah," nodded Lilith approvingly as she watched her chauffeur
untie her legs and then charge out of the room.

"No, you don't understand. You told the girls to kill 'a blonde,'" Koyuki
reminded her. "They don't know the difference between Blackhart and Zaynah."

"So whichever one they meet is the one they'll think I meant," Lil said
slowly.

"And the one who will end up dead," Koyuki said with a scowl.

*

Kallista made her way through the enormous house, half of her hoping she would
run into the treacherous Egyptian again so she could knock her brains out, and
half of her just wanting to find Dr. Takagashi and get back to the hotel so
she could surprise Jessica. The last thing she wanted was another
confrontation with Lilith's chauffeur, despite her 2-0 record with the big
Arab. She noticed the Japanese maid tidying up one of the bedrooms and thought
about beating the information out of her, or, noticing how attractive she was,
maybe using less violent methods of persuasion to get her to talk. But before
she could act on either of those thoughts four women were charging at her from
down the hall, the unmistakable glint of cold steel in their hands.

She slammed the door closed, startling the maid, and then tackled the servant
to the floor as several bullets penetrated the heavy wooden door. "Keep your
head down," she snarled, pulling an automatic from her boot and then crawling
across the room to the door and waiting with her back against the wall next to
it. When the door was suddenly kicked open and two of the girls rushed inside,
Kall lashed her foot out and tripped them and then rolled over in front of the
door to face the other two. She was about to fire her gun when she realized
that her assailants were just kids.

Her attackers had no such reservations about shooting her, however, and they
immediately opened fire.

Kallista's reflexes were quick enough that she was able to dive out of the
way. Unfortunately, the two girls she'd knocked to the floor weren't as swift
and they wound up being perforated by their colleagues. Ignoring both their
dead companions and the Japanese maid, the two girls rushed into the room and
opened fire on Kall as she scrambled behind the bed. As bullet after bullet
slammed into the thick comforter and mattress, Kallista tensed herself and
waited for the sound of an empty chamber. As soon as she heard the guns click
impotently, she stood up and ran at the window, crashing through the glass and
diving onto the balcony, tucking and rolling as she landed. Before the two
girls had reached the shattered window, she was up and running. They opened
fire on her again just as she leapt over the side of the railing and down to
the driveway. Without hesitating she clambered into her car and tore down the
drive, toward the gate, which she was pleasantly surprised to discover was
open. She punched the gas anyway and zipped out onto the road and didn't so
much as slow down until she reached her hotel.

Meanwhile, seconds after the two girls followed Kallista through the window,
Zaynah, wearing nothing but a towel that was far too small to adequately cover
her large frame, rushed into the bedroom, also looking for the blonde agent.
She was about to climb out of the window herself when the two girls who had
pursued Kall turned and saw her. They opened fire and Zaynah had to dive back
inside to avoid being shot. When the pair of gang bangers started to climb
back into the bedroom, the big Arab grabbed them by the hair and slammed their
skulls together, knocking them out. Zaynah let out a sigh of relief and sat
heavily down on the bed.

"Thank goodness you're all right!" Koyuki exclaimed, running into the bedroom
and seeing the Arab unharmed.

"Dispose of these four, darling," Lilith said, entering a few seconds later.
"And do try to be more efficient than you were with our government friend."

Zaynah frowned and got up and picked up the two unconscious girls in one arm
and the two dead ones in her other arm and turned to make her way out of the
bedroom. "Take these and hide them in stores and clubs while you're out,"
Koyuki said, slipping a bag containing several small radio transmitters into
her hand. "It should make things interesting for the next few days."

Lilith nodded approvingly and then turned to her maid. "Don't just stand
there, Yumi, get something to clean up all this blood," she instructed,
pointing to the carpet and the trail left by Zaynah. "It's so hard to find
decent help these days," the Egyptian remarked to Koyuki.

"That's why I just build mine," replied the Asian with a wry grin.

Lilith nodded thoughtfully. "I may have you build me some once this business
is over, darling," she said as Yumi returned with an armload of cleaning
supplies and started on the carpet.

* * * * *

"That was pretty good," Asami said, glancing down at her stopwatch. "But we
can do better. Let's run through it again."

Reiko threw her hands up and shook her head. "Enough already, Sam! We're all
too exhausted to think straight, forget about shooting straight. I say we call
it a day and meet back here tomorrow for a final run-through before we hit the
real thing," she suggested. The tired men and women murmured agreement.

"It's not that late, Rei. We need to take advantage of every minute before the
raid to get this down," Sam countered.

"Actually, Inspector Komatsu, I have to agree with Inspector Miyazawa on this
one," said Agent Shimada, gently, but with no mistaking the forcefulness
behind his words. "I think some down time to relax and let our nerves get
loose is just what we all need." Sam opened her mouth to protest, but Toshi
placed a hand on her shoulder and added, "Besides, that last run was perfect
and it's always nice to end the day on a positive note, right?."

Sam crinkled her mouth but nodded. "Okay, go home and get some rest, but I
want all of you back here early tomorrow morning, ready to work your asses
off. Is that understood?" she asked.

"Ma'am, yes, ma'am!" replied the officers with grinning salutes.

"Get out of here, you shameless suck-ups," Sam laughed, waving them away. They
all raced for the cars, looking a lot less tired than they had a few minutes
ago and Sam shot Toshi a questioning glance, but the ODS agent was
conveniently looking away from her. "See you in the morning, Rei, Toshihiro.
And remember, we're knocking off early so we can get some rest."

"Sheesh, Sam," sighed Reiko, blushing bright red.

"I'm sure I've no idea what you're implying, Inspector Miyazawa," said Shimada
with a painfully straight face. "Do you know what she's talking about,
Inspector Komatsu?" He slid his hand over onto her butt and gave it a little
squeeze.

"Eeps! Um, nope, no idea at all, Agent Shimada," she replied, goosing his ass
in kind.

"Whatever," laughed Sam, heading for her car. "Just make sure you get some
sleep tonight."

Once she was out of sight, Rei and Toshi fell into each other's arms and
kissed hard and deep. "I thought she'd never leave," panted Toshi when they
finally broke for air.

"Me neither!" nodded Rei, rubbing herself against his chest and staring up
into his steel gray eyes. "So, Agent Shimada, your place or mine?"

"I was thinking that if we spent the night here, we would save a lot of time
tomorrow morning," he replied slyly, glancing over at the mock house.

"I like the way you think, Toshi," smiled Reiko, reaching down and grabbing
him by the front of his belt. She then led him into the house. "Good thing
someone thought to have this place equipped with a bed..."

"Yeah, lucky for us whoever did that made sure it was a king size, too," he
said with a wink as they approached a huge mattress lying in the center of one
of the bedrooms. "Sheets and all. It's amazing the things one can request from
general supply if one only knows where to look and who to ask."

"We must remember to thank them," Rei said, falling backward onto the bed and
pulling Toshi down on top of her.

* * * * *

"I know there's a full moon tonight and all the craziness that usually brings
with it," remarked NightFox as she simultaneously punched one boy in the face
and kicked a pair of girls in their stomachs, "but it seems like all we've
done tonight is run into young people intent on random acts of violence." She
was a woman with dark hair and eyes that seemed to glow with azure flames,
wearing a tight-fitting outfit made of dark blue spandex which wrapped itself
around her like a python, fitting so snuggly as to be almost indistinguishable
from her own flesh. The suit left her back and midriff exposed while covering
her breasts and pubic area. Her hands and feet were encased in gloves and
boots, both of which climbed past their respective joints before ending in
thin strips which attached to the main costume, and her face was concealed by
a dark mask which flared at the corners of her eyes, giving the impression of
ears. A golden belt encircled her waist and a similar band encased her ivory
throat.

"I hear you, NightFox, but the funny thing is that they're not even bothering
to loot or pillage, just burn the city to the ground," Raven added, dodging a
chain and catching the boy who was wielding it with a crushing uppercut. "It's
like they don't even care if they get caught." She was wearing little more
than a backless once-piece black bathing suit with a plunging neckline that
was covered with sparkling rhinestones. A light blue 'R' in a horizontal oval
was emblazoned on the upper left cup and a silver belt hung loosely from loops
around her waist. She also had matching boots, stockings, gloves and a black
mask over her eyes.

"I had no idea there were so many delinquents in LA," the super heroine
sighed, dropping a girl with a one-two combination to her face and then
spinning around and catching three of her accomplices with kicks to their
chests that sent them sprawling.

"And this coming from a transplanted delinquent," Raven laughed, jumping up
and kicking a pair of kids in the face before they could use their knives on
her.

"Former delinquent, Raven," NightFox corrected, lashing out and dropping five
kids with a well-timed series of punches and kicks. "And, technically
speaking, I was never a delinquent anyway."

"Yeah, right. You were the Goddess of the Underworld, Fox. That hardly makes
you a Girl Scout in your youth," Raven reminded her, grabbing two kids by
their shirts and slamming them into each other.

"I wasn't always the Goddess of the Underworld, you know," NightFox said a bit
defensively as she laid out the last of this particular group with quick shots
to their heads. "I started out as a Sky Goddess."

"Really? I had no idea," said Raven, shaking her head as she joined her
partner and looked sadly at the dozen kids moaning around them.

"Forget it. The important thing is to find out why these kids went crazy
tonight," NightFox said, kneeling beside one of the girls and examining her
face. "And I doubt it had anything to do with the full moon."

She stood up as a patrol car pulled up and the familiar figure of Officer
Parker emerged and frowned at the sea of battered kids. "You might be
interested to learn that this isn't the only group of kids out causing trouble
tonight. The mall in north Hollywood looks like a war zone and so do several
other neighborhood shops," he informed them as police vans pulled up and
officers began loading the kids into them.

"We know. This isn't the first group we've encountered tonight either,
Parker," NightFox said. "Any idea what's causing them to lose it?"

"They're kids," shrugged Parker. "They don't need any reasons."

"I'm gonna guess that you're not a father, are you?" Raven asked as she and
NightFox climbed onto their motorcycles.

"Wrong, Raven. I have a kid. But I haven't seen her for over three years," he
informed her. "She lives with her mom. And save me your apologies. You
couldn't have known."

She nodded and revved her engine and then she and NightFox rode off without
another word. "Crap! Me and my big mouth!" Raven grumbled into her headset.

"Don't beat yourself up over it. Like he said: There's no way you could have
known," NightFox reminded her.

"Yeah... Hey! Where are we going?" Raven asked as they zoomed right by a group
of kids in the process of wrecking a grocery store without slowing down.

"The police can handle the kids on their own. We need to find out what caused
them to go berserk and stop it, and then track down whoever's responsible and
make sure they spend some quality time behind bars," NightFox informed her.

"Sounds like a plan, but it doesn't answer the question of where we're going."

"To the mall, Raven. That's where we'll find some answers."

"Cool deal! Maybe we can do a little shopping while we're there, huh, Fox? I
mean, your wardrobe is in serious need of an overhaul."

"Don't you ever think about anything besides clothes and gadgets?"

"You say that like it's a bad thing."

NightFox laughed as she and Raven's bikes came to a stop outside the remains
of the mall. "So much for any bargain hunting, Raven," the super heroine
remarked as they surveyed the extensive damage. There had obviously been
several fires and one end of the mall, which had been dominated by a large
department store, was a real disaster area. A few police cars
unenthusiastically patrolled the parking lot, but made no effort to hinder the
pair as they got off their bikes and headed into the remains.

"The people who did this are sick, NightFox," Raven snarled as she walked
through the ruined building.

"No arguments there, Raven. Using kids to do your dirty work is as low as you
can get," NightFox agreed as they made their way slowly through the charred
and smoking remains of the mall, sadly noting the fire-damaged Christmas
decorations hanging limply over their heads.

"Huh? I'm talking about destroying all these great clothes," Raven said
absently. "Anyone who would..." Her voice trailed off as she slowly came to a
stop in front of one store that was in even worse shape than those around it.
"NOOOOO!!!!!!" she screamed, dropping to her knees.

NightFox walked over and placed a hand on her sidekick's shoulder and looked
up at the darkened sign. "Easy, Raven, there are other Gap stores," she
soothed.

Raven's body began to shake and she slowly raised her head, revealing a face
twisted with rage. "The person who is responsible for this needs to die," she
said softly. "And I'm not talking about those kids, I'm talking about the
person controlling or manipulating them."

"What happened to a hero doesn't kill anyone if they can help it; not even the
villains?" NightFox asked with a wry smile.

"There are exceptions to every rule, Fox, and the scum behind this just proved
it," Raven replied, entering the store and gazing wistfully at the rows of
soggy, smoke-blackened clothing.

NightFox laughed and was about to continue on to the nearly destroyed
department store when she suddenly stopped and cocked her head, listening to
something Raven couldn't hear. "What is it?" asked the sidekick.

"A voice, heavily distorted, saying 'destroy, destroy, destroy' over and over
again," NightFox answered, making her way over to where a section of the wall
had collapsed and beginning to go through the debris. "There's also a weird
hum, like a radio signal broadcasting nothing."

"I don't hear anything," Raven said, walking over with a scowl on her face.
"What are you looking for?"

"This," said NightFox, holding up a tiny transmitter. She switched it off and
then suddenly froze, a strange look creeping into her azure eyes.

"Now what's wrong?" Raven asked, suddenly realizing that her partner was
scared.

"Sakhmet has just materialized on this plane of reality," she said with
obvious dread. "And she's close, way too close for comfort."

"Wonderful," sighed Raven. "She was more than a handful for you and your
sister last time she showed up."

"Inanna and I had barely concluded a brutal battle when she challenged us,"
NightFox quickly pointed out. "Of course, she was using the body of Lilith
Kahira that time, too."

"What's that mean?" yelped Raven.

"This time she isn't, meaning she'll be far more powerful," NightFox said.

"Oh, great," groaned Raven. "As if these nutsoid kids aren't giving us enough
trouble already, now we've got to deal with a psychotic Goddess."

"You wanted to be my sidekick," NightFox reminded her with a grin, placing her
arm around the younger woman's shoulders. "Welcome to my world, lover."

Raven growled softly and stuck her tongue out at her partner.

To be continued...

(Soon)

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