"Hello, children. My name is Madame Taya. Because you were foolish enough to stumble onto my plans, I・m afraid that I can・t let you go home, so you should get to know me, Montaro, and the other two numskulls, because I know that we・ll all be spending a lot of time together in the very near future."
"I have an idea. Let us go and we all forget this ever happened," I said.
"Robyn!" Rowen scolded.
"What?" I said, turning to the one and only Brain Child (I swear, there are some days I wish Sage had pink hair. . . then I could call them Pinky and the Brain Child!). "She and her boys continue to thieve, and we go on with our lives. Seems like a perfectly good idea to me. Don・t you have college applications to sort through or something? Don・t you want to get back to that?"
Madame Taya did not seem amused. "Girl, shut up."
I gulped, suddenly feeling even smaller than usual.
"You don・t understand. Even if you do promise not to say anything, I can・t risk you suddenly changing your minds or letting something slip," she said, standing up as she smoothed out her skirt. "That・s why I need to decide what to do with the three of you. Be grateful- I could just have my boys kill you know, but I feel merciful today."
Rowen cocked his head to the side. "Madame Taya, may you enlighten us as to what it is you・re up to? It seems as if you plan on keeping us around for a while and I would ask that you don・t keep us in the dark as to what your motives are. Money seems to be one of them, but why do I get the idea there・s more to it than that?"
Madame Taya seemed to take a strange sort of delight in this comment, clasping her hands together enthusiastically. "Oh, I love it, I love it, I love it!!! Having captives makes my work so much more interesting," she said. "But you say that you want to know what my motives are? Why I・ve turned to this life of crime?"
"Well, yes," said Rowen.
"Revenge, my dear boy," she said. "Revenge."
"Revenge on who?" asked Kento.
"Oh, my family, society in general, that kind of thing," she said. She started to walk back and forth, her heels clicking with each step she took. "My family only ever cared about my older sister, Mihoshi. SHE graduated from high school on my twelfth birthday- no one bothered to get ME anything, even though she・d graduated in the middle of her class and I was at the top of mine. Then she had to the nerve to graduate from college on my sweet sixteen birthday! NOTHING AGAIN! Whenever she came to visit, I was always being ordered around to get things for HER. I wanted their attention, but they were too engrossed with Little Miss Perfect. She even got married when it was my turn to graduate- as VALID VICTORIAN, NONE THE LESS! They didn・t bother to come to my graduation! They never loved me!"
We all remained silent. What could we say? It was lie? We felt sorry for her? What?
"I turned my back on them. They never noticed. Never cared, never will. When I got into the working world, I decided I was going to be the most SUCCESSFUL woman in Japan. I tried so much- fashion design, marketing, computers, everything. And I was one of the only ones who did it right. I worked for Sony for a while and found a critical error in one of their accounting reports- it would・ve cost them TRILLIONS of yen and thousands of employees their jobs- and told my supervisor about it. He fixed it, then took all the credit for it! I quit. When I went to work in marketing, I came up with a brilliant marketing plan- it was wide spread, didn・t cost much money, and would be able to pull in millions. They didn・t like it, went with someone else・s idea that didn・t cover nearly half as much area than mine did and cost more than double of what my plan would・ve done. They went out of business because they ignored me!
"Don・t you see? Life has been so awful to me and I want REVENGE. Revenge on my parents for never paying any attention to me. Revenge on my business partners who took the credit for something I did. Revenge on my bosses who ignored a brilliant plan. The only people who・ve ever respected me are Montaro and those other two dimwits! Together, we・ve stolen millions, perhaps even billions by now. We・re rich. This is what we・re all successful at. This is our calling!" She then started to cackle insanely.
I think we all came to the same conclusion: Madame Taya was a fruit salad.
Our now obviously cuckoo captor turned back to us. "Now that you know my story, children, I・d like to know your names and the exact reason as to why you were all sifting through my profits. As I said, we・ll be together for quite a LONG time, so I・d highly suggest getting to know each other now."
Rowen was silently nominated as the speaker. "Well. . . my name is Rowen, the girl is Robyn, and the other guy is Kento. We got lost and our car ran out of gas, so we started to walk to try and find some place where we could call our parents or get more gas or something. We didn・t mean to find the money- Kento and I had gotten into an argument and he slammed his foot into the tiles. Heck, Robyn was ASLEEP until your men came in!" he said. "We weren・t TRYING to go through your loot. We just wanted to get home."
Madame Taya nodded, biting her bottom lip. "Hmm," she said, looking the three of us over. "I find your story interesting. Got lost and just ended up at the wrong place at the wrong time, correct? That mistake will cost you dearly. I just can・t let you go- you・ll condemn me just like the rest of society. But I will be merciful to you. Perhaps I can get the three of you to. . . help me."
I gulped. "Help you with what?"
Madame Taya grinned. "I think I have the PERFECT idea. MONTARO! YOU AND THE OTHER TWO GET IN HERE RIGHT NOW!" she screeched. All three of us winced from the volume and pitch of the screech. The three henchmen returned, all skidding to a halt before the woman. "Yes, Madame Taya?"
"Find a room for our guests. They are to be left there overnight while I tell you what our plan is. You are to untie them, but only after you are CERTAIN there is NO ESCAPE for them. They are to bed fed and given bedding. Hurt them and I will hurt you. Is that clear?"
"Yes ma・am!" all three men said. Without further adieu, each of the henchmen picked us up (I was picked up by Montaro) and brought us out of the room. I looked around, seeing that we were in a hallway, the wall that of cement bricks. They stopped at the end of a hall and opened up a door.
Inside was a pitifully empty room. I don・t even think there were any dust bunnies in there it was so empty. All three of us were dropped on the floor while one of the larger henchmen checked our surroundings to make sure it was secure. Montaro and the other thug had left, but soon returned with three collapsible cots, blankets, and pillows. They set them up quietly. I noticed Madame Taya standing in the door frame, watching them (and us) intently.
One of the henchmen pulled out a gun while the other two untied us. "Once your hands are free, put them behind your head and don・t move until this door is locked. If I hear any rattling or something that sounds like an escape attempt I・ll blow someone・s head off, so sit tight until we come back with your food. Got it?" said Montaro. The three of us nodded as we put our hands behind our head. Only until Montaro shouted that the door was locked down any of us drop our hands.
Rowen leaned up against one of the four walls and slumped down to the floor. "Well, now what? We・re being held captive by a mad women out to get society and she wants to use us for something. Question is, what does she think she needs us for?" he thought aloud.
"Does it matter? Why don・t we just bust a hole through the wall and make a break for it?" said Kento. "I mean, you have enough power to crack pieces of mystical armor and I can demolish buildings. With our armors escaping will be a snap! So let・s get to work already!"
"No," said Rowen. "We don・t know where they・ve taken us- they・ll find us again before we get very far, and if they know we can blow walls up, they・ll try and force us to do that to bank vaults or government buildings. If they think we・re that useful then they・ll NEVER let us go!"
"What makes you think they・ll let us go at all?" I said. "They・re criminals, and they know we・ll turn them in, even if they DID release us. Kento・s right, we need to find a way to escape but we CAN・T use the armors. Yet. Keep your armor orbes on hand, boys, because they could still be useful."
My friends nodded. "Okay, so. . .what do we do now?" asked Kento.
"Wait for them to return, I guess," I said.
Rowen sighed, sitting on one of the cots. "They did say they・d bring food."
"Well, at least they aren・t starving us," Kento said, trying to be the optimist. No surprise, Rowen and I weren・t quite as enthusiastic as he was. "Aw, come on you two- it・s not over yet! I think we can outsmart these guys or at least outfight them- I・ll take the big stupid ones while you two take the shrimp and the bitch."
"You know, you shouldn・t say things they shouldn・t hear so loud- they might hear you," said Rowen. At the mention of that, Kento shut his mouth. Strata nodded in approval, then pulled his legs onto the cot and started to take a thinking position. "There must be a way out of here."
I claimed one of the cots as my own and hugged one of the pillows. "Maybe if we make a deal with them they・ll let us go," I said. "Like, Kento gives them gift certificates to his parent・s restaurant or Rowen gets his mom to help expose a legitimate business idea they come up with."
"Er, no," said Rowen.
The door opened and Montaro came in with a large tray holding three plates. He placed it on the floor. "Here・s your food," he said. "It・s all your getting until tomorrow morning. The other two goons will be arriving shortly with a pitcher of water and some glasses so you brats aren・t thirsty." With that, he shut the door.
Rowen stood up and walked over to the food. "Fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and macaroni and cheese- hmm, must be from KFC or something," he mused. "I think it・s safe, you guys- come on." Kento and I went over to where Rowen was kneeling, each of us grabbing a plate.
As promised, one of the larger thugs came in with paper cups and a pitcher of water. "Here," he said shortly. Kento gave the larger man a smile and thanked him. The henchman grunted in response, slamming the door shut. Hardrock poured us each a glass of water and we ate in silence.
As I ate, I thought about Cye and Mrs. Mouri. By now we should have been back in Toyama with them instead of in the thieves・ hideout. I frowned. Both of them were probably worried sick about us by now. I could just see Cye sitting by the window, looking through the curtain as he searched for Kento・s car. I lowered my eyes, almost crying at the thought.
"Robyn?"
I looked up to see Kento looking at me with sympathy in his eyes. I shook my head. "Don・t worry, Kento- I・m fine," I said. I sighed heavily, looking at the coffee-stained ceiling. "I was just thinking, that・s all. I bet that everyone back home is worried about us."
"Yeah, my mom・s probably ready to start a manhunt for me," Kento joked dryly.
"I bet Cye・s having kittens right about now," said Rowen. He snorted. "The poor nancy-"
"Cye really doesn・t like being called a ．nancy・, Rowen," I said.
Rowen shrugged. "Whatever. Cye, who is not a nancy, has probably worn a ring in the carpet from the pacing he・s been doing. Heck, I bet he thinks that Kento and I brought you to some cheap little motel on the highway and we・re all busy doing the nasty together."
I shot him a look. "Before you said that, I would・ve put that past you, Rowen, but now I・m not so sure about you, you perverted monkey," I said. Rowen raised an eyebrow after I called him a monkey, looking confused. "You heard me right, Rowen- I called you a pervert because you ARE a pervert."
"Am not!"
"Are too!"
"Am not!"
"Are too!"
"Am not!"
"Are too!"
"Am not!"
"Are too!"
"Am not times a million!"
"Are too times infinity!"
"You can・t multiply something times infinity!"
"So?"
"Would you two shut up?" said Kento. "That・s getting annoying!"
I laughed. "Look at us- we・re in trouble and we・re arguing amongst ourselves!"
Kento shrugged. "That pretty much describes what happened to Cye, Sage and I in the Dynasty."
Rowen held up a hand. "I think I just thought of something," he said.
Kento and I leapt to attention. "Yeah?" we both said.
Rowen laughed. "We don・t NEED a plan!"
My larger Chinese friend and I exchanged confused looks.
"I・m serious!" Rowen exclaimed. He stood and put his hands on our shoulders, a wide smirk on his face. "We don・t need a plan because sooner or later we・re going to get rescued! Don・t you get it? The armors! Cye, Sage, and Ryo will sense Kento and I in danger and come running! All we have to do is wait around for them to come to our rescue and we・re all home free!"
My eyes widened in excitement. Yes! Freedom was just over the horizon!