Previous Post Adventures in Parodyverse: A Random Shooting, Part 5     Lara Night wandered aimlessly around Chiaki’s luxurious condo, feeling clean and well rested.  Normally, the condo had large floor to ceiling windows to let the light in - or soon, a night view of the city, since the sun was setting - but Lara had the heavy wooden blinds closed.       Though Chiaki told her the windows were heavily tinted, she worried that snipers might be lurking out there somewhere, and might be able to see her.  So she relied on the interior lights, and dwelled in a cave of her own making.     Fortunately she was used to it - it brought back memories of her early days of being semi-famous back home.  The press mobbed her home day and night, and she hid in darkness most of the time.  She learned to become self-sufficient in spite of that.  And Chiaki’s place was far nicer than the place she had then.     Just as she decided to raid the kitchen for dinner, she heard a noise from the entrance.  She peeked around the doorway to the living room carefully, and relaxed when she saw Chiaki gently place her sword on a free-standing sword rack in the middle of the room.  That rack had three swords mounted on it.     Ã¢â‚¬Å“Are you enjoying the accommodations, Lara?”  Chiaki asked, without even looking.     Lara smiled.  She kept forgetting that Chiaki could do that.  “Yeah, it’s nice,”  she replied.     The Samurai looked at the closed wooden sliding blinds.  “I’m not going to say anything about you about living in the dark.  I’d rather have you comfortable for now.”     The blonde smiled sheepishly.  She got the point.     Ã¢â‚¬Å“I have some time before the next phase.”  Chiaki told her.     Ã¢â‚¬Å“The next phase?  What are we, spies now?”     The Samurai laughed at the mild teasing.  “I meant, I’m waiting to see what the effects are of a little chat I had with a Senator.  I’ve tried to cut off the supply of snipers at the source.  Whoever wants you dead will have to reveal themselves.”     Ã¢â‚¬Å“That’s...pretty clever.”  Lara noted.     Chiaki sighed then, and her smile disappeared.  “Unfortunately this means I have to keep a low profile as well.  If my plan falls through, it means I will be the next assassination target.”     Ã¢â‚¬Å“Oh.”  Lara turned serious as well.  “If you’re hunted too, how will we find out who’s doing this?”     Ã¢â‚¬Å“The hunted must become the hunters.”  Chiaki told her.  “We have to keep a low profile...but we also need to stalk the assassins who stalk us.  That’s why I asked Akiko for help - her people will be our eyes and ears.”     Ã¢â‚¬Å“And I go where they say, and take out the snipers?”  Lara guessed.     Ã¢â‚¬Å“If necessary.”  the Samurai replied.  “However...I have a strong feeling whoever ordered the assassination will make themselves known shortly.”     Lara felt alarmed at the way Chiaki phrased that.  “What...do you mean?”  she asked.     Chiaki narrowed her eyes.  “I mean they followed me here.”     Ã¢â‚¬Å“The Senator you spoke to is behind this?”  Lara asked worriedly.     Ã¢â‚¬Å“No.”  the Samurai replied.  “My visiting him prompted a phone call, which prompted another, and another, threatening prosecution or loss of funding.  Naturally, someone in the chain will want things accelerated.  That means you and I killed quickly.”     Ã¢â‚¬Å“Why did you bring them here?”  Lara asked.     Ã¢â‚¬Å“Because here,”  Chiaki told her with an almost sinister smirk, “You have all the power, and the element of surprise.” ---     Chiaki’s pep talk had a profound effect on Lara.  The halls of the building which the Samurai’s condo sat atop had been plunged into darkness.  The Asian predicted that - she knew the assassins which hunted Lara would want darkness, and cut the power.     But they didn’t have knowledge of the building’s layout.  They didn’t have the benefit of years of planning for inevitable enemy invasion with secret passages and traps.  And they didn’t know Chiaki’s home could be rendered inaccessible from the outside with the flick of a switch.     They also didn’t know about the closed-circuit camera system Chiaki had installed all over the building, or that it was on an independent power system.     Ã¢â‚¬Å“Samurai?”  Lara asked as she saw a black clothed male slip past one of the cameras carrying a sword.     Ã¢â‚¬Å“Ninja.”  Chiaki responded.  “A clan I am not familiar with.”     Ã¢â‚¬Å“How can you tell?”     The Samurai rolled back the video a bit with a remote, and then paused it.  She pointed to a symbol embroidered on the invader’s shirt, and then zoomed in.     Lara was still in Chiaki’s living room.  It seemed to be safe from the invaders, who were wandering the halls of the building in confusion.     Ã¢â‚¬Å“Snipers...and ninja.”  Chiaki mused to herself.  “Who has both snipers and ninja, and ties to the government?”     Ã¢â‚¬Å“It doesn’t matter right now,”  Lara replied.  “We have to get rid of these guys first.”     Chiaki nodded.  “We’ll enter the secret hallways.”  She headed to a paper-and-wood wall behind the television and effortlessly slid it open.     Ã¢â‚¬Å“Oh, neat.”  Lara laughed as she followed Chiaki.  “I thought those were decorative, I never would have thought it was a door.”     Ã¢â‚¬Å“Exactly.”  The Samurai raced through the secret passage, sheathed sword in hand, leading Lara through two passages and a flight of stairs.  Then she finally stopped.     Ã¢â‚¬Å“Are you ready?”  she whispered.  “Ready your lightning.  You’re going to launch an ambush.”     Just as Chiaki predicted, as soon as she grabbed a heavy door and pulled it open, there were two of the dark-clothed ninja right on the other side.  They simultaneously reached for sharp metallic star-shaped projectiles.     That prompted Lara to react quickly, and the entire hallway lit up with a flash of light and a loud bang.  The two ninja were still smoking as they lay unconscious on the floor.     Ã¢â‚¬Å“I wish I could do that.”  Chiaki commented.  She reached down and searched the two.  They carried nothing but weapons.  Then she pulled off their masks.  Neither of them were Asian.       Ã¢â‚¬Å“Curious,”  she commented.  “We have to retreat so we’re not ambushed as well.”  With that, she led Lara back into the secret passage again.     Ã¢â‚¬Å“They’re going to wake up sooner or later.”  Lara pointed out in a whisper.     The Samurai nodded.  “The police will be here soon.  Rendering these ninja unconscious is a public service, so the officers are not harmed.”     As they walked some more, Chiaki explained some more.  “We probably have one more, ninja are in groups of at least three.  The third is going to be an expert in stealth, and difficult to find.”     Lara stopped suddenly, prompting Chiaki to turn around.  “What if it’s Akiko?  She would have access to ninja and snipers...wouldn’t she?”     Chiaki sighed.  “I would agree with you, except that the huge scope of this agrees with Akiko, that this is government.  And they want her dead as much as they want you.”     Ã¢â‚¬Å“I think I know what this is,”  Lara suddenly whispered once they were safely in the hidden passage.     The Samurai stopped, and was staring at her, waiting for her to explain.     Lara took a deep breath.  “It’s something that started a short time ago.” TO BE CONTINUED -- Story written and copyrighted (C) 2010 by Jason Froikin, and may not be  --    reprinted without permission.   -- Yuki Shiro designed by Jason Froikin, based on designs by Masamune Shirow --  Liu Xi Xian and the Psychic Samurai are original design by Jason Froikin --  Lara Night is an original creation by Jason Froikin

One would hope it's not CSFB's old ninja foes. They were not the kind of villains you'd want to mention around polite company.

I look forward to hearing Lara's explanation for all of the intrigue!