moonmaster
Without him, all of you would be lost souls roamin
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Ultimate Wolverine
Chapter 5
"Always There..."
BY: Moonmaster
Chapter 5
"Always There..."
BY: Moonmaster
9:00 PM
THE YASHIDA COMPOUND
Mariko wept silently in her darkened room. One thought raced through her head over and over again: Logan is dead, and I murdered him. She could not bare never seeing him again. Had it not been for Shingen, she would have killed herself. Now, she didn't know what to do. She could not imagine living without Logan at her side. She was suddenly startled by a knock at her door.
"What?," asked Mariko without interest.
"Mariko," said Shingen while opening the door. "We must talk."
"Whatever you have to say,...I don't care."
"Please, I told you before. There was never anything there. He never loved you."
"No. He did."
"You don't know-"
"I know! He never fought back! Last night......he never fought back. Because he...he..."
"Even if he did 'love' you, do you think you would have been happy with him? I would have, of course, disowned you. Could he have given you everything you wanted, everything you needed?"
"He was all I needed. He would have always been there for me. That's all I ever needed."
"Mariko, life isn't all about 'love'. I never loved your mother. There are more important things in life. Like business."
"Father, why did you come here to talk to me?"
"Business. I have an associate waiting outside who would like to see you," Shingen stood and walked towards the door. "I trust you will enjoy his company." A short, old man in a black suit wearing thick glasses entered the room. Shingen left.
"Ah, Mariko. Your father told me about you but you are even more beautiful in person."
"Who are you?"
"Ichiro, a friend of your father. Has he told you the good news yet? We are to be married in two weeks!"
"What?"
"Well, its less of a marriage," said Ichiro with a hint of laughter in his voice. "and more of a business transaction." Mariko didn't laugh.
"....No."
"Oh yes, Shingen told me that you have an....'independent streak'. I'm sure I could get rid of that."
"Go to hell."
"I can see that you want to be put in your place." Ichiro rose and brought his hand up, but Mariko grabbed his arm and snapped his wrist. He fell to his knees in pain.
"And where, exactly, is my place?"
"*****.....What will your father say when he-"
"I don't care what he thinks. Not anymore," said Mariko, with a renewed passion. She punched the man and he fell to the floor unconcious. She grabbed her sword and some of her things and pulled open her window. "Goodbye, father," she whispered as she slid into the darkness.
9:20 PM
Shingen looked out the window of his study. The stars twinkled gently and he took a sip of his champagne. He heard a door open behind him and turned around. One of his men came in the door looking flustered and tired.
"Shingen!"
"What's wrong?"
"The docks! It was...it was-"
"Calm down, calm down. Now tell me what happened."
"Down at the docks! We were unloading the shipment, just like you said. Then all of a sudden!"
"What are you trying to tell me?!"
"All of a sudden they were all gone! And the shipment it.....well.....it blew up."
"It 'blew up'?"
"Yeah. I barely escaped."
"'Barely escaped'. Of course." At that moment, Shingen's phone rang and he picked it up. "Oh............the entire warehouse. Really. Well, call me back in an hour or two." He hung up the phone looking more displeased than ever.
"Sir?..."
"I need you to make some calls. Tell Mr. Hachiko to take some men to the west side and check up on things. Tell Mr. Watannabe and his people to do some intel, see what they can hear. And call my driver and tell him I'm going back to the city."
"Are you sure that's a wise decision, Sir?"
"Do you really think I could have risen to the position that I'm in if I let myself be intimidated by animals? Get my things. I'm going to get Mariko." Shingen promptly got up and went to Mariko's room. When he opened the door, he found an open window and an unconcious body on the floor. He yelled for the man he had just sent off. He came running back up the hall looking confused.
"I have another call for you to make. Hear, call this number." He pulled out a red card with a hand print and a number on it and handed it to the man. "Tell whoever answers that the Yashida Clan requires their services and we're willing to pay anything."
2 DAYS LATER
5:00 PM
A cold breezed hit Mariko and she pulled her coat tighter. She could barely feel her legs. She had been walking since she left, afraid to stop or rest. They had tried to be stealthy, but Mariko was trained by the best and she knew the signs: she was being followed. She knew that they would strike when her guard was down, but she couldn't possibly go on. She quietly ducked into a small, dirty hotel and walked up to the front desk.
"Can I help you, ma'am?," said the man behind the desk.
"I just need a room."
"Alright," said the man while reaching under the desk. "We have Room Three open. Single bed fine?"
"Sure." He pulled a key from beneath the desk and handed it to her.
"Down the hall, second room on the left. Enjoy your stay."
"Yeah." Mariko walked to her room. Once she was far enough away, the man pulled out a phone and dialed a number.
"She's in Room Three.........Well, thank you for your generous payment."
In her room, Mariko immediately fell onto the bed and closed her eyes. She was exhausted, but she knew she couldn't stay for long. She closed her eyes, but was quickly jerked awake by a noise from the room next door. That's nothing, she thought. Someone probably just dropped something. But a feeling in her gut told her something was wrong. She put her ear to the wall and listened. She heard nothing. She hesitated for a second and then quickly ducked. A sword shot through the wall where her head had been. Mariko rolled off of her bed and grabbed her sword. Two swords cut neat holes in the wall behind the bed and three black clad ninjas rolled into the room. She whirled behind one of them and slit his neck easily. She and a second ninja began trading blows with their swords, until Mariko knocked him backwards into a mirror with a punch to the neck. He crumpled to the floor as the last approached. Mariko dodged a swing of his sword and kicked him to the floor.
"What do you want from me?!," screamed Mariko with her foot firmly on his throat. "If my father had wanted to capture me he would have sent better assassins."
"Exactly," said the ninja. "His aim is not to capture you. He wants you to return on your own."
"Why sould I?!"
"Well, if you don't you will die. We are merely the weakest that the Hand has to offer."
"Oh god. The Hand?"
"Oh, I know your father told you about us. I'm sure your scared now-" Mariko snapped the man's neck with her foot. She sat back down on the bed and stared blankly.
8:00 PM
Mariko dried her eyes as she walked the familiar path home. As she neared the Yashida Building she felt that invisible hands were guiding her to a prison she could never escape from. She stopped and with a deep and heavy sigh, opened the doors to the lobby. She found it was oddly dark inside. So dark, in fact, that she couldn't see her hand in front of her face.
"Father?," said Mariko apprehensively into the darkness.
"Mariko," said Shingen calmly appearing out of no where. "You have come home."
"Y-yes, father. I was wrong. I never needed Logan. I want to marry.....what was his name again?"
"We have more important matters to talk of right now, my daughter. We have an.....enormous problem."
"What is it?"
"It seems that the empire I strived so hard to build is being slowly...but surely being dismantled."
"How terri-"
"Stop the bull****. Just tell me where he is."
"Where who is?"
"Where Logan is."
"Logan is dead, father. I k-killed him."
"Then you must have done a bad job, because these attacks have his 'stink' all over them. Now tell me where he is or I'll have to take drastic measures!"
"I DON'T KNOW!"
"Fine then. Lights, please," said Shingen over his shoulder. The light suddenly glared and it took Mariko several seconds to realize what she was looking at. The room was filled with a near incalculable number of Hand ninjas. They blanketed the floor and hung from the banners on the walls. They were armed to the teeth and right behind Shingen stood a ten man line of archers with their arrows trained on Mariko. "Now, one more time: where is Logan?"
"I don't know," whispered Mariko in a voice that was barely audible.
"Very well. You know, I always wanted a boy anyways." Mariko closed her eyes and braced her body. She heard the bows snap and the arrows whistle as they sliced through the air. Time seemed to slow until she heard the sound of the arrows punctureing her body. Then, to her surprise, she heard a haggard speak from in front of her.
"I'm right here, ya bald mother****er." Mariko opened her eyes to see a short silhouette standing before her. She looked down and realized that she was unharmed.
"L-logan?," asked Mariko.
"Worse than this darlin'," said Logan looking behind him. Shingen stared coldly at Logan before adressing the black mass behind him.
"Kill them." Shingen receded into the throng and disappeared. The ninjas began to creep forward and draw their weapons.
"We can't do this, Logan."
"We don't have to. We just need to get to the other side of the room. The only man I want is your father." Logan waited for Mariko to say something, but she didn't. She simply drew her sword.
The ninjas were fast and powerful, but they were no match for Logan and Mariko. They were running on pure adrenaline and could not be stopped. They took out the archers before they could draw back their bows. They cut down swordsmen in single blows. They dodged shuriken with deadly speed. They cut a bloody path through the lobby until they reached the elevator. Once they were in the elevator their hearts began to slow. They sat in silence until they stopped one floor from the top. Mariko stepped out of the elevator and turned to Logan.
"You know what I have to do now?," asked Logan.
"Go." The doors closed and Logan rode to Shingen's office on the top floor.
"Shingen."
"Ah, Mr. Logan," said Shingen stepping from the shadows. "Have a seat. May I offer you a drink?"
"Shut up. No more games."
"Fine. Let's get down to business, shall we?" Shingen pulled a sword from a rack behind his desk. Shingen and Logan both lunged at each other and took deep swipes, but Shingen's was deeper. Shingen sliced across Logan's back after he had falled to his knees. Logan spun around and caught two more of Shingen's attacks with his wrists. His third attack missed and Logan slashed him across the shoulder. Logan ducked to avoid a sweep of Shingen's sword and jumped back up to swipe him across the chest. Logan caught another blow with his wrists and knocked Shingen to the floor. Shingen impaled Logan's side from the floor and brought his sword up for a fatal blow but Logan caught and grabbed Shingen's collar with his free hand.
"Am I worthy of Mariko now?!"
"I don't know. Why don't you show me?" Logan popped his claws in Shingen's face. He crumpled to the floor. Shingen was dead. Logan stood in silence.
"Mariko,...." Mariko appeared from behind Logan and knelt at her father's side. "I have to leave. I don't deserve you. I never have. Before I met you, I didn't even know what love is. Since I've known you, the world has....felt completely different. For the first time I knew what it was like to care about something more than yourself. But I don't deserve you. I'm sure there's someone who does. Someone who will treat you right. Someone who will provide for you. Someone smart, brave,.....good. I'm none of these things. I'm unworthy of all that you have to give."
"No, Logan....My father was greedy, selfish, cruel. And so were you. But people can change. If they want to. My father didn't. You did. You are brave. You are smart. You are good. Your everything I want. And you do deserve me. You saved my life. I murdered you, but you came back to save me again. You've shown me that you deserve my love more than anyone else ever has. You just haven't shown yourself. You don't need money. You don't need power. All you need to make me love you is yourself. Logan, will you help me bring the Yashinda back? Will you stand by my side?"
"No matter what happens. No matter how you feel about me, I will always be there for you." They stared into each other's eyes and said nothing. They embraced and they were all alone except for the darkness and the silence. And finally, Logan realized that he wan't alone.
TO BE CONTINUED IN
ULTIMATE WOLVERINE VOL. 2:
VOWS
ULTIMATE WOLVERINE VOL. 2:
VOWS
