Final Defeat
Chapter One
Dana Owens
The operation was moving smoothly, everything was going as planned. All Kaori had to do now was hope nothing went wrong.
Nothing will go wrong! She thought, determined to keep her cool.
She watched her team mates march in and out of the warehouse like a line of ants, carrying boxes to the truck, dropping them off and then returning back to the building again. There were only five, not including herself, yet they worked diligently, loading the truck in minutes. The large space in the warehouse, which had once been filled with goods, was almost empty now due to their assiduous effort.
She tapped her foot impatiently and checked her watch again. They were going to cut it close. The building was to be emptied and the site cleared by 3:15 A.M., it was now 3:10. They would soon enter the hazardous zone of being caught.
"Five minutes, hurry!" She yelled, hiding her nervousness. This was the first mission in which she was completely in command of. She had worked hard for her rank of Team and Operations Leader, if she were to screw up on this mission, she was sure her title would be stripped from her . . . or at least she would never be trusted with such a task again. It was very rare that a woman would take charge of a team, so she was determined to prove herself worthy of the title.
It was then that she noticed the fighting break out among her men.
"What d'ya think you're doin'?" She yelled out, before realizing what was happening.
Her men were being attacked by three short, stocky men in trench coats, all bearing weapons. She ducked behind the truck, as to avoid the onslaught, and began to yell out orders to hold ground and fight as they had been taught.
Her team was one of the few left which held true to the Japanese teachings and fighting skills after the Foot Clan had divided due to the murder of it's leader. Now all that was left of the Foot was simple gang-like bands, fighting for the benefit of themselves rather then the whole. Her team, which was a small branch of the divided clan, was more lax then the original Foot, but it still put the teachings into play.
As she watched her men and the assailants vie, she noticed the three men fought in a similar style to that of the Foot's teachings, only they were far more skilled then her amateur team. One of the attackers yielding a bo took on two of her men, each with kantana, easily bringing them both down.
At the sight of her falling men, she gripped the hilt of her tanto and begun to stand, but was immediately pushed back to the ground by a sudden blow to her back. She hit the asphalt hard, only to have her arm twisted behind her painfully. Her attacker drove his knee into her back and wrapped a large hand over her mouth.
"Don't move." She heard him say forcefully in her ear.
As if to defy him, she tried to jerk her arm loose, but he only twisted it further back, causing her to grimace.
"Now what did I just say?" He said, amused.
She groaned, frustrated, and lowered her head back down the hard pavement. She tried to let her muscles relax as much as they could to avoid injury. She hoped one her men would see her, but after a few moments passed, she found herself frantic once more.
Kaori cursed herself for letting such a trivial task become out of hand. It just figured that this would happen to her, on the first mission too. Once she got out of this, she knew her superiors wouldn't trust her with another mission anytime soon.
She waited for the man atop her to shift his weight so she could slip out of his hold, but realized that moment wasn't likely to come. He yelled something to one of his companions who joined him at her side.
"I think this is the leader." He said, referring to Kaori, who was listening intently.
There was a short pause before the other spoke. "You sure? . . . Then let's take her down, I'm sure she has the information we need."
Kaori thought for a moment of what knowledge she might poses that would be valuable to these men, but was suddenly jerked to her feet.
"Stand up." Her captor ordered roughly in what she realized as a Brooklyn accent.
Reluctantly, she drew herself to her feet, hands still held behind her back and mouth covered.
"We need to cover her eyes." The second guy said decisively.
"Then how's she suppose to get down the ladder? We throw her down?"
"Whatever it takes."
At that Kaori let out a muffled cry and tried to jerk her head around, but was instantly redirected forward.
"This won't be hard unless you make it hard sweetheart." Her captor said dully. There was a movement behind her and then a cloth blind fold was tied over her eyes. Fortunately, his grasp on her wrists loosened, and with a simple maneuver, she freed her hands and tore off the blind fold. She whipped around, facing him, and focused her energy on what should have been a crippling kick into his middle, but when her foot made contact, it felt as if he wore some sort of armor under his coat. He stumbled back a few steps, but was quick to regain balance and charge her. She pulled out her tanto, ready to slash at him, but he moved quickly and grabbed her wrist, twisting it. She ducked under her arm and spun around, freeing herself from his grasp. She kicked back at him, aiming for his head, but he intercepted her leg and wound it to the side, sending her down in a spinning fall. She managed to land face down, catching herself with her hands, and was back up in a instant, facing him. He pulled out a pair of sai and jabbed at her, she jumped to the side, scarcely dodging his strike. Returning with a kick, she sent the weapon flying from his grasp, not expecting the heavy kick which he planted in the small of her back, knocking the wind out of her. Before she could make another move or regain her breath, he was on top of her again, this time his knee on her face.
He roughly tied the cloth over Kaori's eyes, this time griping her arm especially firm to ensure she didn't attack him again.
"She looked like she was gonna kick your ass for a second there!" A new voice said.
"Fuck off, Mike." Her adversary replied gruffly and then ordered her to get up once more.
She clenched her teeth and awkwardly pushed herself to her feet. "Whatever you're planning on doing, you're gonna be sorry. My men'll-"
His hand went back over her mouth, cutting her off. "More like what's left of 'em." He shoved her forward, and she could do nothing but walk blindly.
She tried to think again about what knowledge she had that would be so valuable to these men. Had she witnessed anything unusual? Had she done anything she shouldn't have? The only thing which came to mind was her association with numerous crimes that accompanied her membership in the clan, which, as she thought about it, would definitely qualify her for just such a situation.
After many minutes of trudging through the vile muck, the precession halted for a moment and stepped up onto a flat, dry surface.
"Take her to the back, keep the blindfold on." Leo said, the echos now gone.
She was pushed forward through a doorway and forced down onto hard, straight back chair. After her hands were tied behind her, one of them pulled up a chair and sat down, facing her. For several moments he sat there, saying nothing. His breathing slow and shallow. When he did speak, it was with a firm, steady pace. "Do you know why you're here?" It was Leo.
"How should I know? Who the hell are you guys and what do you want with me?" She spat, wishing her hands were untied so she could express just how irritated she was.
"We just need some information we think you may have. Please don't make this any more difficult then it has to be."
Kaori nodded slowly, licking her lips. She wasn't about to say anything, regardless of what it was they wanted to know. "Who's we?"
There was a pause. "We're ninja, like yourself, trying to set things straight. What do you know about the Foot clan?"
The question caught her off guard. The Foot clan? "Very little."
He waited for her to say more, but when she did not, he pressed her for more information. "Tell us what you do know."
"I know next to nothing about them, you got the wrong person." As to weather she was speaking the truth or not, she wasn't about to let them know.
"I don't think you're telling the truth. I think you do know what we want and I think you will give it to us."
"And what makes you so sure? I don't have to tell you anything. Not only have you interfered with business that you had nothing to do with you, you have abducted a very important person to a very serious crowd."
There was a silence, but Kaori could tell they weren't buying it. "What serious crowd might that be?" He asked skeptically.
She felt her cheeks flush. She was not a person to be taken for a fool, and often times could not control her actions when she was. "My men will not stop until I am found and when they come, I'll make sure to it that you're punished for what you've done!"
He now spoke with a harsher tone. "I asked only that you cooperate with us, but you seem unable to do that. Once more, what do you know about the Foot?"
"I know mine's about to kick your ass!"
"Yeah, I'd like to see ya try." She recognized the voice immediately as belonging to the one she had brawled with earlier.
"I did it once, who's to say I can't do it again?"
She heard him bolt forward and then stopped by one of his companions.
"Leave her here, maybe tomorrow she'll have more to say." It was Leo again. He pushed the chair back and stood, looming over her.
"Yeah, if she knows what's good for her." Her contender said, his voice low and angry.
With that, they filed out quietly, leaving her bound in the chair.