Hotaru's legs wrap around Michiru's midsection, and her hands swat over and around her to get at the gun. Michiru fights back as best she can, unable to shake off the girl nor really stop her attacks. They buck and gyrate together, as if in some bizarre dance. Wheeler tries to take a shot for the little girl, but he's aiming with his left hand now and can't get a clean shot.
Seeing that she can't get at the weapon like this, Hotaru changes her tactics. She wrapped her arms tightly around Michiru's neck and begins to squeeze, as she kicks off her shoes to reveal her bare feet. Michiru crams her hands in between her neck and Hotaru's arms, but she still is in great distress.
The hotel doors swing wide, and out come Truitt, Akens, and Neary, the former brandishing a cheap revolver and the latter holding the PSG-1 as if it was a venomous snake. They freeze in their tracks when they see what's going on, even though Sandmen security forces are hot on their heels. Michiru staggers backward into the car, hoping to scrape Hotaru off.
The paralysis does not last long, and the three Hoffmann agents are spurred into action when they see Hotaru's toes begin to run together like small pools of quicksilver. She is merging her legs into one ring to make sure she can not be removed from Michiru until she was unconscious.
"Get the car!" yells Truitt, as she rushes toward the entangled combatants. Hotaru ignores her, and Michiru is struggling too hard to respond.
Truitt, knowing she can't shoot or she will likely hit the person they're trying to save, attempts to dislodge Hotaru with a series of punches. Without looking up, Hotaru releases one arm from Michiru's neck and deflects the first blow, grabbing the ex-thief and flipping her like a pancake. Michiru tries running against the car to crush Hotaru, or at least knock her off.
"You did not kill an impostor," Hotaru says into Michiru's ear as she fights to not black out, "That was the real Setsuna. She had become something greater, and she had hoped to share it with you. Why do you continue to resist? How much more pain do you wish to cause before you see that our way is the logical way?"
Michiru spares the breath to say "You're lying." Truitt starts to get up. Wheeler still can't get a clear shot. Sandmen emerge in the hotel lobby, Neary forces her body against the door to prevent them from leaving. It is the back door, and going through the front and around to their location would give the agents time to escape.
"Why would I lie when I only wish the best for you? She was no demon. The force of your attack threw her into a wall. The bricks caused her blunt-force trauma and a piece of glass punctured her skull. Her brain could no longer properly control its bodily functions. Her lungs could not provide her with air. Her nerves could not relay commands to her limbs. She died much as anyone else would have. As strong as the etoile have made us, there are some things we cannot survive." Akens pulled the unmarked Hoffmann Institute van around from where it was parked. Neary uses the sniper rifle as a pole to hold the hotel doors shut, but it will not hold for long if the three Sandmen keep striking it.
Michiru wanted to say something, but couldn't -- she didn't have the words nor the breath. What Hotaru said had to be true. Youma disentigrated when they were hit, they did not go flying into buildings. Alien control or not, Michiru has just killed Setsuna. Truitt aims her pistol at Hotaru, though she can't get a clear shot either. Akens jumps from the van to throw his body against the doors, aiding Neary in keeping them shut.
Michiru fell facefirst to the street, Hotaru still clinging to her like a leech. Hotaru's grip on her neck loosens; after all, all she wants is for Michiru to be unconscious so she may be remade. Hotaru rises from the unconscious girl, not realizing that she may now be hit without risk of hitting Michiru, and almost immediately a .357 slug enters her right shoulder and exits along with a sizeable quantity of blood, muiscle tissue, and carbon-fiber. She falls -- not dead, but operating under less power as her cyberware repairs the damage done to her body.
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(Posted Sun, 07 Sep 2003 00:17)
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らんま1/2 © Rumiko Takahashi
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