Without saying a word, the man stopped ten feet away from Hao and Luchist, withdrew a hand-rolled cigarette from a steel case in his coat, lit it with an electric spark that appeared in an arc between his right index finger and thumb, and started smoking.
The most feared shaman in the world asked him calmly, “You are aware that those are bad for you, right?”
“It’s just herbs and spices,” the duster gruffed, “‘bout as harmful as incense.”
“Be that as it may, just who are you and what are you doing here?”
“Neon the Dynamo, here on orders from Knives,” the man said taking a drag, “He told me to wait here, and inform him when your little display of Flower Power gets through playing around with the slacker and the misfit patrol.”
Curious about this tidbit, Hao inquired further, “And just why would your master want to know that?”
“Let’s just say that every gardener will try to cultivate as much as they can, and then begin to prune off the chaff,” Neon calmly stated, “Besides with Vash alive, things will be a lot more interesting during the next round. It also ups the chance that Marco’s dirty little secret will come to light in front of his fellow X-Laws.”
“And just what secret is that?”
“Don’t know, the Boss only said that it might shake the faith of some of them, and tarnish their holier than thou image amongst outsiders. Then again why don’t you ask Luchist being Marco’s former partner, and one of the three founders of the X-Laws he should know a lot more than I do.”
“Why not just destroy them and be done with it?” the ex-X-Law asked.
Neon responded, after taking another drag, “Not the way we work,” ‘Psycho.’
Hao ignored the man as he noticed another group approaching, “I see that my Hanagumi are returning.”
“And that’s my queue to get the boss on the horn,” ‘And get the hell away from here while I’m still breathing,’ Neon walked away from Shingumi and after he was out of eyesight tapped his hat, “Hey Lucky, wake up, get the boss on the horn and tell him Hao is done playing with his brother.”
Suddenly an orange cat spirit rose, stretched, and then oversouled in a peculiar devise in the techno ten-gallon; as its wearer calmly walked off into the distance.
*****
Not far away in the distance, a quintet of young ladies observed the exchange unnoticed by either party. “What manner of tragedy are you planning this time Hao?” spoke a twin pony-tailed maiden, who was clearly the leader.
“Whatever it is it will create a great deal of suffering,” spoke a long, sinuous, ethereal prism which appeared behind her, “That infernal elemental he commands will stop at no length to sate its hunger for the lives and souls of any it can acquire, and for one such as Hao (who will go to any length to attain his vision) such a monster is the perfect tool of conquest.”
“No kidding Alicia, Wakinyan and I can feel the harm they do everyday resonating throughout the elements,” spoke the tallest of the trio, “It’s like Hao thinks himself such a part of the natural world that he refuses to see the difference of existing in harmony with it, and using his power to beat it into submission.”
“Lita that goes without saying,” said the third member of their trio, a slight brunette of Scandinavian decent, “Even Odin’s insight is not required to show me the horrors that would occur should Hao’s vision of a Shaman Kingdom become a reality.”
“Your spirit’s insight aside Amy, we can’t allow the events of 500 years ago to repeat themselves,” the leader of the group spoke. ‘There is no more time to reason with him, for the good of all I must stop senpu in this lifetime.’
“Well you lot know what they say,” spoke a blonde with a slight English accent, “Tools rush in, while anglers steer with dread.”
Amy sighed at yet another of her teammates mangled sayings, “Mina that’s, ‘Fools rush in, where angels fear to tread.’”
“Still we needn’t linger,” the oft-silent fifth member of their party (a Mediterranean woman with long almost dark-black almost greenish hair) spoke, “I sense that the sixth and seventh members of our party lay ahead of us adjoined to other groups.”
“And can the all-seeing Cassandra envision these girls’ names,” Mina said mockingly.
“No, however I can predict that should you remain on that ledge for three minutes longer it will give way, alerting Hao to our presence, and after which time he will send the Spirit of Fire to kill us all,” the Romani smirked as the condescending limy scrambled away from the edge of the cliff and ducked behind a boulder.
Turning to the group’s resident gypsy Lita asked, “Would Hao have really tried to roast us, or were you were you just trying to turn poor Wilhelmina there into a gibbering wreck again?”
Cassandra twisted her lips into a smirk and replied in a hushed tone, “A little from column A, a little from column B.”
“Still should she not be the one of us that has the least to fear from Hao?” Amy asked as she leaned towards Cassandra and Lita, “I thought that her spirit was an ancient solar deity.”
“Amy,” Alicia spoke up, “When it comes to one such as Hao no one is safe, not even his own followers.”
*****
Elsewhere a beat-up old pickup was barreling down the desert paths, many of its occupants’ getting restless, “Yo Ed, you sure there isn’t anything you can do to make this scrap-heap go faster?”
“First of all Kir, I’m not the one driving, Haru is. Second this is the middle of the American Southwest if we push the truck too hard the radiator will overheat and the engine will break, and we don’t have luxury of time to let me make the repairs again which would be assuming that we find all the pieces. And finally there is only so much that alchemy and duck tape can do, I’m not a miracle worker you know.”
“Kir calm down and leave Ed alone,” The crow familiar’s partner said from his position reclining on the floor behind the seats, “We’ll catch up when we’ll catch up, in the meantime just relax and enjoy the scenery.”
“Jing the only scenery I’m interested in isn’t landscapes.”
“Don’t worry Kir there’ll be plenty of attractive ladies when we get to Patch Village,” Haru stated while keeping his eyes on the path ahead, “Heck I know of a cute Shinto priestess whose familiars are a couple of female crows.”
“What a cutie that likes crows, what are we waiting for? Haru kick this rig into high-gear, a delicate flower of the orient, and her lovely entourage awaits my presence!”
Nervous at the way things were going, Ed turned toward the truck-bed and addressed the suit of armor lying there, “Al just to be on the safe side, stay low and keep a firm grip on Plue.”
“Okay brother,” the suit of armor said while scooting further into the bed of the pickup, and clutching an odd shivering, drill-nosed dog who seemingly oblivious to everything except enjoying the giant lollypop that currently occupied its entire mouth.
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(Posted Thu, 02 Feb 2006 21:18)
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