Water sloshes against the side of the boat, chatter and glasses clinking are heard from inside. The 'Northern Sun' is a white boat —a Narasaki superyacht to be exact. The cruise liner is the height of luxury, with elegant décor, three levels, outdoor seating, a jacuzzi on the top deck and room for 12 guests. The boat is not easily disguised as its rope is tied to the dock between other, much smaller, boats.
"Why are you so pale?" Ash questions, a hand on another boat as he leans out to get a better look in the window of the yacht.
Tora holds a hand over her mouth, turning away as she glances down at the water below.
"You're not scared, are you?" He turns back to her, asking in a hushed tone.
"I'm not scared..." She hisses. "It's just —the water. I'd rather we weren't having to board a boat at all."
He furrows his brows. "You really are scared of water? That makes no sense."
As she opens her mouth to retaliate, two guards walk around the corner, talking to each other and looking around, guns in hand.
"What are they saying?" Ash whispers.
Tora purses her lips. "As suspected, they know about the mansion and they're reporting to Koji now."
From their position a boat away, Ash checks his cartridges for ammunition, pointing at the 2L bottle of gasoline between them. "You really think this is a good idea?"
She scratches the side of her head. "Nope, not at all."
"Good. I'd be concerned if you did."
They hear the guards talking again. Tora listens intently. As she strains to hear, one of the guards says,
"He's given us the go-ahead, untie the rope." Her eyes widen, and she hears footsteps as one of the guards climbs aboard.
"We'd better get on."
Following her lead, Ash and Tora slink around the side of the neighbouring boat, keeping an eye on the guard as he unties the boat from the dock.
They hurry towards him, Tora plunging a knife into his stomach before his fingers can reach his gun. He groans in pain, collapsing to the floor. Ash reaches for his walkie-talkie.
"Let's hurry."
They jump onto the back of the yacht, gaining their balance as the deck shakes and the engine starts up.
"No going back now." Tora jokes. "Let the carnage begin."
Agreeing, Ash twists open the lid of the gasoline bottle, standing back as he starts to throw fire-starter on the surrounding deck.
From the blueprints they acquired of the boat while at the mansion, they are aware of the floor plan of each level and the trouble they're going to face.
Tora nods, ducking down as they see guests in the dining hall ahead.
Water ripples against the back of the boat as it slowly chugs along, and the moonlight bounces off of the surface. She looks out at the water and the salty breeze dances in her hair. She feels serene, despite knowing what is about to unfold on this boat.
Moving to the side as Ash draws a line of gasoline, she watches as he closes the bottle's lid and sends her a nod. "Ready when you are."
She flicks open her father's ornate golden lighter, glancing down at the kanji and gripping it tightly in her hand. Standing back, Tora reaches down to the line of gasoline, tapping the surface with the lighter and watching as it quickly ignites into flames.
The pair quickly move away, turning to look at the dining hall as the door is thrown open. A guard runs out, reaching for his gun, and Ash shoots him between the eyes. Another runs out after, only to meet the same fate.
A well-dressed guest screams, pointing her finger at the two dead guards and more guests rush out.
"Now." She tells him.
Ash jumps up, running over to the guests and aiming his gun at them. Guests scream more as he threatens them, Tora following his lead and shooting her gun twice into the air to gain their attention.
"Listen up!" She shouts in Japanese. "No one will get hurt, we're only here for the boss!"
Someone in the crowd sobs, quickly stifled by another guest. A few moments later, encouraged by Ash's gun, the crowd is ushered towards the lifeboats on the bottom deck.
"They were ready for our attack?" Tora mutters to herself before pointing to the lifeboats. "Leave now before you get in the way!"
Security guards run out, guns raised, but Ash shoots them before they can even cock their pistols. Another runs around the side, making straight for her. Tora shoots him in the chest, then dodges another guard as he throws himself at her. Her knife slices his throat open, spilling his blood over the deck, before she hauls his body overboard.
"He must be inside," Ash reloads his gun as they're ducked down behind cover. "Go, find him for yourself."
An encouraging smile from him sends Tora on her way, firing bullets as she runs around the side of the dining hall, past screaming guests--who leap out of her way, and into the lifeboats. Ash appears from behind cover, shooting anyone who attempts to fire on her.
Frantically looking around, she finds a ladder, wiping the sweat from her brow as she wraps her hand around the lowest rung. She swallows the lump in her throat, not looking down at the water as she climbs desperately.
A bullet flies past her and grazes her cheek. She whips her gun out, firing at the guard above, and dodges as he falls past her and hits the deck below. In one swift movement, she jumps up onto the deck.
After the chaos on the lower deck, the main deck is eerily quiet. Holding her gun up in front of her, Tora hesitates, then begins stalking into the grand bar.
"Come out, Koji!"
She throws herself to the floor as a gunshot is heard. Her eyes widen and she breathes heavily as Koji appears around the side of the bar.
"Are you looking for me?"
She narrows her eyes, aiming her gun at him from her position on the floor.
He stands before her, wearing a formal suit and bow tie with shiny black shoes and a cigarette between his lips. His expression is sinister, eyebrows arched as he smirks down at her.
"You must be the Tigress," He exhales smoke, holding the cigarette between his fingers. "It's a pleasure."
She grits her teeth, cocking her gun. "Don't recognise me, Uncle?"
His expression falters as recognition washes over his face —this is quickly replaced by an even more wicked look. "Yuri? What a surprise."
"We don't need to bother with the formalities, we can skip to me blowing your brains out." She huffs, levelling her gun at him. Her uncle stands watching her, and rage bubbles up inside of her, steadying her hand. With a snarl, she fires off the shot —letting it shatter a bottle just behind his head.
Without flinching, he stubs out the cigarette in an ashtray, watching as the bottle next to him smashes, the clear spirit spilling onto the floor. "Are you that bad a shot? Your parents would be disappointed."
Her chest simmers with anger and she jumps up, firing more bullets at him as he ducks behind the bar. He throws a bottle at her, Tora blocking it with her arms and wincing as the glass slashes through her sleeves.
She pulls a shard of glass out of her arm, cursing as he runs out the room and down the ladder. She hurries after him, shooting down at him as he jumps onto the main deck.
Sliding down the ladder, Tora throws her kunai at his arm, catching his blazer and throwing him to the floor. He's pinned down by the knife, Tora yanks it out and he spins around. She sends a blow to his stomach, leaning over him as he wheezes and sweat drips from his forehead to the deck.
"You'd better start talking, bastard." Her nostrils flare.
"What do you mean?" He questions, the sneer on his face re-appearing.
"The truth!" She cries out, punching the side of his face and the back of his head hits the floor, hair covering his eyes. "I want to know what happened and why!"
Koji is silent. For a moment, there is nothing but the sound of the water against the boat, and the crackling of fire in the distance. The raining of bullets is drowned out by Tora's heavy breathing and the thudding in her chest. It is eerily still.
"You want to know the truth?" He asks, his voice much softer. Tora holds him down by his wrist, a gun aimed at his chest.
"Don't I deserve that much?" She scowls.
He huffs a low laugh, his cheek pressed to the floor. "It's more complicated than you'd think."
"Try me." She sneers.
"You're not going to like this, but I'll tell you if you insist," He turns to look at her, his eyes a piercing green. "I was your father's second in command, his confidant, and I never ran away like I know he told you. I was never going to become the leader of the syndicate, not unless he died while you were still too young to take the title. I wanted the title for myself."
Tora's lip twitches as she pushes down on his wrist. "So you stood by my father for years, his most trusted member of the syndicate, his own brother. But you still betrayed him?"
"I knew he was close to figuring out the secret behind the counter drug, so I started hiring investors, like Simon Jones who you killed, to help me behind the scenes. They were instrumental in discontinuing the production of ingredients I knew were vital for the counter drug." Koji continues, his voice void of all emotion. "But I knew they were close to creating it, so I threatened Akio."
"Threatened him?"
Koji nods, a slow trickle of blood running down the bridge of his nose. "I told him I was going to kill you and your mother, so he disowned me and threw me out of the syndicate. That's when I decided to take a trip to New York."
"Dino Golzine, right?" Tora questions.
"Golzine ruled both the government and the underworld, I knew he could help me. So I told him Akio's plans and we staged a plane crash." Koji explains, looking past Tora. "Akio and Hina assumed I died in that crash, which made for a perfect set-up."
Tora grits her teeth. "Now tell me about that night."
"I stormed the house, killed your parents and grandmother before burning down their lab and all their findings with it," Koji tells her. "We couldn't find you, so we assumed you'd been hidden away by them in the house and surely burned alive. It would've been a happy ending."
"How dare you!" She cries out, punching him again, then shoving his face into the hard wooden floor.
Spitting out blood, Koji lets out a low laugh. "To avoid suspicion with my sudden return, Narita Kenji became the figurehead. However, the idiot wasn't too happy about everything we'd done, so we were forced to use Banana Fish. As the puppet leader, he was helpful, but every decision was made behind the scenes and Golzine was plenty of help. Even now he's dead, we can work alongside the military and we're even stronger than ever."
"So, that's it? That's the truth?" She questions, pushing her gun against his cheek. "All because you were jealous of his position as boss, you decided to turn against him and revolt?"
"We were sick of his leadership and his plans to save those soldiers. It was disgusting."
Tora lands another savage blow to the side of his head, screaming out her frustration. Koji throws his arms up, bucks his hips and shoves her off him and onto the floor.
"You're as pathetic as your parents!" Koji yells. Tora scrambles to her feet, a hand on her stomach as she regains her breathing. "Don't just stand there, Yuri! Fight me!"
Clenching her fist, Tora raises the gun back up, Koji lunging at her and grabbing her legs. He tosses her onto a nearby table. The table breaks, knocking the breath out of her, her gun flying to the side. On the floor, surrounded by shards of wood, Tora throws a kick to his ribs and Koji catches it with his arm.
Pinning her down, Koji digs his knees into her arms, keeping her in place. With a sadistic grin on his face, he grabs her left wrist, pulling the knife from her sheath as she struggles against him.
"What are you doing?" She cries out, trying to rip her hand out of his grip.
His knife slices into the top of her left pinkie finger, cleanly cutting off the tip. Koji howls with laughter. Tora screams as he cackles, tears streaming down her cheeks.
"Welcome to the syndicate, Yuri! You're one of us now!"
Koji hits her, and she hears her something break a moment before her head smacks into the deck, and blood gushes from her nose. Vision blurring, she clutches at her bloody finger, ears ringing as another shot is fired nearby.
Appearing from the side of the boat, Ash levels his gun at Koji, his eyes blazing with fury. Tora blinks away black spots and sees blood pouring from Koji's leg. He narrows his eyes, grabbing his wounded leg and wiping his forehead.
As he's distracted, Tora desperately reaches at a loose rag nearby, squeezing tight around her wounded finger.
"Ash Lynx, isn't it?"
"Don't you dare touch her," Ash warns, cocking his gun.
Koji huffs a laugh. "What are you going to do if I do?"
"I've got someone here that you won't want dead," Ash tells him, yanking someone forward: a woman dressed in a lab coat. Tears are streaming down the woman's face, and she's trembling with fear. "Doctor Ayako Fukami. She knows all your discrepancies and all about the night in question."
Koji's eyes widen slightly, aiming his gun back at Tora. "A game of chicken?"
Ash shakes his head. "No, merely our pawn. What's your next move?"
Ash's eyes flick to Tora, who lays in a bloody heap in what's left of the table. Blood pours from her finger and drips from what is clearly a broken nose. As Koji leans closer to her, Ash shoves his gun into Ayako's head, and the doctor cries out.
"Careful, Koji." He warns.
Smirking, Koji's fingers grip the necklace around Tora's throat, and he takes it from her. "All this time I thought we'd burned all their findings when it turns out you had it with you all along in this necklace."
Ash narrows his eyes. "So you worked that out?"
"That the card is in the necklace?" Koji cackles. "Of course I did. This microSD contains all the counter drug findings, as well as my discrepancies that Akio had racked up in case he needed blackmail material. Isn't that right, Fukami?"
The doctor whimpers. "I don't know what you're talking about!"
"Whose side are you on?" Ash questions her, gripping her wrist tightly, pressing the gun to her forehead. "Do you know what else the card contains? It has the make-up of the counter drug."
Koji's grin widens. "What a nice surprise! I'll be keeping this!"
From underneath her uncle, Tora groans, vision clearing as she eyes the necklace in his hand. "N-no —that's been with me this whole time?"
Koji looks down at her pitifully. "You really are useless, aren't you, Yuri?" Sneering down at her, he gets to his feet, leaning on his good leg. Taking a step back, he spits on her, and turns away.
Her face pale and her hand throbbing, she pulls herself up from the floor, swaying slightly. "No— no, you c-can't have it."
Ash shakes his head, a grin appearing on his face. "It's all yours, Koji."
Koji's eyebrows furrow. "What are you talking about?"
Ash lowers the gun from Fukami's head. "You're the useless one here, Koji. Call yourself a boss, yet you're the most clueless in this situation."
"Ash?" Tora questions.
He nods to the necklace in Koji's hand. "We can let him have it, Tora. The card your necklace has inside is useless. It's a fake, after all."
-
-
-
"well, your left hand's free
and your right's in grip" - Alt-J