Ladies, gentlemen, and the rest of you as well-

Well, I blame myself for this chapter taking so long, since big bad Daddy-J had his part done eons ago. Well anywho, special thanks to J [dog(j@hotmail.com, for you ignorant swine] for the cowrite on this mamma-jamma. I'm sure you're all familiar with the routine- questions, comments, etc. are more than welcomed, and are very much encouraged. Flames can suck a goat's stinky rear. And on that pleasant note, enjoy!

-- Mani

Milon Gandeus had first thought, when his father and his right hand man Omar had left Brightsand on extended business and left Milon in charge of the guild, that he was finally getting his chance to make something of himself. He'd make a change or two here and there, let everyone see what the guild could be like without his father's old fashioned notions of business discipline, and gather a following among the employees. After all, his father was getting on in years now, and Milon wasn't the only one thinking that it might be time for a change of management.

However, it came as little surprise to most of the employees of Brightsand's most commonly unknown or disavowed native organization, the Assassins Guild, that Milon's turn at the wheel was turning out to be a disaster. There had been the rather uncomfortable presence of the Evergreen Mafia moving into Brightsand, and bringing with it spill-over from its mob war; the shifting of power from the Glassworkers Guild to the Magicians Guild, along with the security crackdowns imposed by the Trackers Guild, who now policed the city; fiasco after fiasco involving the ninja Mani, including the nearly disastrous affair in Shinbi and culminating in the demonic episode that had befallen the entire city just the previous night. After all that madness even Milon was praying for his father's return. He still planned to usurp control of the guild someday, of course, but all he wanted now was a vacation.

A rest did not seem to be forthcoming. Milon found himself seated at his desk the very day after the girl Lily had transformed into a demon and nearly destroyed the guildhouse, with yet another problem settled squarely in his lap. Across the desk stood Lamiki, the amply endowed elf woman with black hair and green eyes, and Thadeus, the green imp with tattoos up and down his arms. All Milon had the presence of mind to do at the moment was stare at them, though not at Lamiki's chest as he usually did.

"Did you hear her?" Thadeus said after a long while of silence, arching an eyebrow at the slim brown haired man.

Milon shook his head. He had heard, but he couldn't believe it. "You what?" he asked, disbelief clear in his voice.

"We quit," Lamiki repeated herself. "Q-u-i-t." She traced the letters out on the desk before Milon, until he finally slapped her hand away.

"Who's we?" he demanded.

"Me, Thad, Roan, Dendra... eight total." She replied as though it should have been no surprise.

Milon turned to look up at Rueben, the darkly clad ninja, who stood beside him. "Can you believe this?" Milon laughed nervously, the shock still plain in his eyes. Rueben looked back at him but said nothing, his face characteristically stony. Milon looked back to Lamiki, finally able to wash the confusion from his face. "Look, nobody quits the guild. You're a member for life. That's how it's always been. You wanna negotiate salary? Fine, let's negotiate. But nobody quits."

"What makes you think you can keep us here?" Lamiki replied, a smirk on her lips and defiance in her green eyes.

Milon leaned back in his chair, beginning to feel more confident. "Well, there's Mongo and Cletus, for starters," he answered with a sidelong smile, nodding in turn to the two brutes who manned the door behind the elf and the imp. "I suppose we have a retirement plan, but I don't think you'd like it much. What do you think, Rueben?" He looked again to the ninja. "Should we retire 'em?"

"Actually, Milon," Rueben said, his eyes fixed firmly on Lamiki, "unless I miss my guess, I recommend letting them walk."

"What?!" Milon blurted.

"Thank you, Rueben," Lamiki nodded to him before looking triumphantly back to Milon.

"I'm not on your side, Lamiki," Rueben answered flatly, "but I've never known you to be stupid." He turned to Milon. "I doubt she would have come in here to do this without knowing what your response would be, and being prepared for it."

"That's right," she nodded. "Milon, why don't you have a look out the window? You'll see how prepared I am."

Milon eyed her suspiciously for a moment, before rising from his chair and going to the window. He slowly pushed aside the curtain, and froze. Standing in the street just outside the guildhouse door was a troop of men and women in uniforms from the Traders and Magicians Guilds. One of them, a hairless man with a goatee in a magician's uniform, actually waved to Milon. He immediately drew the curtain closed, and paused before he turned again to face the elf. His face had turned white, and his body was nearly shaking.

"You... you brought them here?!" Milon hissed venomously, barely able to speak over his rage. "You... told them about..."

"Relax," Thadeus cut him off. "They aren't here to do anything. As far as they know, this is just another house that was damaged by that creature last night."

"But they will get a bit suspicious if Thad and I don't come out soon," Lamiki added. "Could get ugly if they decided they wanted to come in and check on us." She shrugged. "Your call."

Milon's fists were clenched as his body slouched roughly back down into his chair. He seethed silently for a long while, before finally saying, "get the hell out of my house."

"I came here to give you a warning too," Lamiki added. "Don't come after us. This is way over your head now."

"I said get out of here!" he roared, slamming his fists down on the desk.

The elf woman grinned as she turned to her companion. The two were quickly gone. Rueben went to the window, watching briefly as Thad and Lamiki walked from the guildhouse and joined the group of uniformed men.

"Why, Rueben?" Milon growled, his fists remaining tightly balled. "Why should we let them go? Why should I not let Mongo tear her arms off? Explain this to me."

"Haven't you wondered where those two have been spending all of their free time?" Rueben answered simply.

Milon arched an eyebrow. "Where?"

The ninja laughed shortly. "I think something big is on the horizon, Milon. You might want to open your ears, before the rest of the guild retires too." He turned then, and started for the door.

Milon sighed heavily. "Least we've still got you, right Rueb?" He chuckled slightly. "And with you, I'll bet I can really make something of our boy Mani."

Rueben froze suddenly. Barely turning, he looked over his shoulder at Milon, glaring at him with an intensity the younger man had never seen in the ninja. Milon's stomach suddenly flipped over and his knuckles whitened on his chair, believing that Rueben meant to kill him right then, though he had no idea why. Instead, the older man left the room, leaving Milon alone with only the two dumbfounded brutes.

"What are you two idiots looking at?" he snapped at them, once the fear had subsided. With similar shrugs, Mongo and Cletus left the office, closing the door behind them. Milon leaned back in his chair, pondering how best to describe his situation.

"Crap."

Outside, Lamiki and Thadeus, along with Sven, Parker, and the rest of the Crows, ducked into a conveniently vacant clothes store, out of sight of the Assassins Guildhouse, where Sven and his men changed clothes. It would be best, Sven knew, if none of the real trackers or magicians saw them walking around town in the borrowed uniforms.

"I can't believe this thing still fits," said Parker, the shaven headed mage, stripping off his old Magicians Guild uniform.

"It hasn't been that long, Park," answered Fey, a giant of a woman with purple hair and rust colored skin. "Besides, you've always been a little pudgy."

"Yeah, but I'm so buff now too," Parker shot back. He turned to her, and flexed his less than impressive muscles for all they were worth, drawing a chorus of chuckles from his companions.

"Thanks for the help back there, Kerrigan," Lamiki said, coming to shake Sven's hand before he had a chance to put his shirt on. "That went very smoothly."

"Yeah, well," the tall man stammered, clearly a little embarrassed as he pushed a few wayward strands of his long green hair away from his blue eyes. "We're just lucky we were able to get our hands on all these old uniforms. It's good to have connections, right?"

"I'd say so," Lamiki agreed. She crossed her arms such that they amplified her most outstanding features, and applied a look to him that made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up, among other things. "How'd you like to have a couple drinks with me before we leave tonight?" Sven was stunned silent, as were all of his men.

"He'd love to," Parker said, immediately appearing at his friend's side. "He really would."

Lamiki just laughed. "We'll see you all back at the house." Winking at Sven, she turned, and with Thadeus in tow left the shop. All eyes then turned to Sven expectantly.

"Wow," was the best he could come up with, drawing another chorus of laughter.

Eric Dulcimer considered Mani to be one of his best friends, but that did not make him any less nervous at the prospect of speaking to him.

He didn't know exactly what he would say to him, but Eric knew that he had to. After the hellish events from the previous night, he anticipated that Mani would more than likely not be in the best of moods; Eric could respect and understand that, but he imagined that perhaps the ninja needed to talk to someone, anyone, that would be willing to listen. As he mentally weighed the pros and cons of confronting his friend, the gate outside of the Magicians Guild slowly creaked open, quickly bringing the young man back from his thoughts. Eric's eyes first fell upon the two guards around his friend, who was looking as if he had not slept since the ordeal the previous night. The first of the guards stretched his hand towards the gateway, glancing at the ninja. "You're free to go." He reached out to put his hand on the young man's shoulder, but looked as if he thought twice about it as he pulled back. "Go in peace, good sir."

Mani slowly brought his own gaze to bear, wincing in the sun light. He took a moment to look about the area, his eyes lingering upon some of the ruined buildings around him. After a moment, his gaze found his friend Eric, who did not know quite what to say at this point in their meeting. The gate creaked shut behind the two as the guards made their way back within the guildhouse. Mani glanced over his shoulder as he watched them go, slowly turning back around to face his friend. He stared at him for a moment, a tense silence held between them.

"You're alive," he finally said, a weak smile forming on his fatigued face.

Eric wasn't quite sure as to the best way to answer, but nodded in response. "H... how are you feeling, Mani?" he managed to ask. The young ninja seemed to ponder the question for a moment before casting another glance over his shoulder and back towards the Magicians Guild.

"They just asked me a few questions. That's all." He turned back towards Eric. "They were a lot nicer than I thought they'd be, truth be told. Some of them even thanked me." Eric opened his mouth as he attempted to reply, and was somewhat relieved when he saw a familiar figure approaching from behind. Mani noted the observation and slowly turned around.

Approaching the duo was the ninja Rueben, clad in much lighter attire than they were used to seeing him in. He moved purposefully towards the two, and appeared to be traveling alone. "Good day Mani, Sir Dulcimer," he greeted, respectfully bowing his head towards the two. After seeing Mani return the bow, Eric quickly managed an awkward one of his own. "May I have a moment of your time?" he wondered, extending his hand towards the street.

Eric backed away. "I'll leave you two," he began, to which Rueben shook his head.

"You can stay, Eric. This concerns you as well."

Mani seemed to think it over for a moment before nodding and heading down the street with Rueben. Eric followed closely behind, but continued to keep a respectable distance from the two. After a moment of walking away from the Guildhouse, Mani took a deep breath.

"Milon wants me to stay, I imagine."

Rueben nodded slowly. "He will look for a new way to force you to stay." The older man glanced hard over his shoulder at Eric. "It will only be a matter of time."

A low grumble escaped Mani's lips, his eyes narrowing slightly. Milon was one of the last people he wanted to deal with currently, and just hearing the name made his blood boil. It was like a wound that had been reopened- just hearing the name brought about thoughts of violence, and Mani had to check himself from reaching for his weapons out of instinct. Despite the fact that this was one of the few times in recent memory he was unarmed, it was a practice that was hard to deny. As the two continued to walk, the young man's eyes fell upon several of the ruined buildings in the area. He found it hard to believe that he had been in the middle of it all the night before, but even harder still that he had survived.

"Are you here to save him the trouble of finding me later?" he wondered.

A short chuckle was Rueben's response. "Hardly." The elder ninja was silent for the moment, his eyes taking in the surroundings as well. His gaze lingered upon one of the buildings in particular, one that seemed to be entirely devoid of its roof. "Many of us are not pleased with the way the young guildmaster have been running things of late, and given that his father has yet to return, we are beginning to fear the worst; Milon will be in charge of the guild for a long, long time."

"Not if he tries to make me stay," Mani answered dryly. "I _will_ kill him."

Rueben chuckled lightly. "Actually, I'm here with another option."

Eric raised a brow as he glanced at Mani, who seemed a bit confused as well. "What sort of option?" Mani wondered.

Rueben looked about the area briefly, making sure no one else was within earshot. Satisfied, he motioned for the two to come closer. "We all know Milon is not going to let you leave Brightsand. He realizes now that you're a dangerous enemy to have running around, so if he can't make you work for him, most likely he will have both of you killed. You can't take on the entire guild, Mani, and Milon's not above using his every remaining resource to see to it that you and Eric never leave here."

Mani breathed in deeply. "And I suppose you can get us out, unmolested?"

"Possibly."

"How?" was his next question.

"How would you scare a big fish in a little pond?" Rueben replied. Mani just shook his head, not really in the mood for riddles.

"With a bigger fish?" Eric offered timidly, joining the conversation for the first time.

Rueben smiled. "Precisely. The young guildmaster can be brash at times," he admitted, shrugging. "But there are currently forces at work in this city that even he knows he would do best not to become involved with."

"So," Mani said, skepticism already plain in his voice, "we hook up with these 'forces' of yours, and Milon leaves us alone?" Rueben nodded. "What would the forces be asking of us?"

"The swiftness of your blade."

"We become mercenaries, then." Mani shook his head. "How would that be any different than working for Milon?"

Again Rueben chuckled. "Trust me when I say that the man you would serve is nothing like Milon."

It was no secret that Mani wanted to leave the city. It was also common sense to assume that Milon would try to stop him from doing so. Any opportunity for him to get out of Brightsand was one he had to consider, because he realized that both he and Eric's lives would be in danger the longer they stayed. Milon knew that Mani would not work for him willingly- there were ways, however, that could ensure his loyalty, even if temporarily. Mani refused to place Eric in the position where he could possibly be used as a bargaining edge, or even worse, be killed. "Why would you do this for us, Rueben?" he asked, his voice low. He realized that the elder ninja was taking a serious risk by coming to him, let alone attempting to smuggle him out of the city to keep him away from his own boss.

Rueben took a deep breath, his hand absently stroking at his goatee. "If no one else tells you this," he began, sighing deeply. "We are grateful for what you did for Brightsand last night. You could have easily walked away and said to hell with this entire city, yet you risked your life for a place that has done nothing but screw you since you've been here." His voice dropped. "You hate Brightsand," he stated. "And I don't blame you. It hurts you to remain here. And the longer you stay here, the worse it will get. I have been where you are now, Mani, I know." Mani's eyes widened slightly at the admission. "I know that you want to leave this place, and I can help you do it." Rueben shrugged. "If nothing else," he remarked, "this is my own way of saying thank you."

Mani felt his eyes drop for a moment as thoughts of Lily returned to his tortured mind. She would want him to move on- she would not want him to remain and die. There was nothing more that he could have done for her, even if he stayed in the city. His life, like hers, would surely end in Brightsand if he remained. "W... who would be our employer?" he wondered, his thoughts returning to the matter at hand.

"A man that I knew, and trusted, quite some time ago." The look on Rueben's face was gravely serious as he spoke. "I believe I can arrange for a meeting," he stated flatly, "but realize this: meeting with him will be the same as agreeing. There will be no opportunity to say no after that point. I walked away once... but it was not easy. If you are hesitant to go through with this, tell me now."

Mani looked over towards Eric, unsure as to how the young man would respond to the proposal. Whereas he was used to doing work as a mercenary, the young man had not really been exposed to it before. Trying to gauge his feelings, Mani was surprised as to what he observed. Rather than the look of fearfulness and uncertainty he was expecting, Eric's eyes said anything but that. The young man nodded ever so slightly, but there was more confidence in that simple maneuver than he had come to expect from him. Eric had changed so much from when they had met in Harlequin so long ago- he was no longer the timid young boy that had offered a stranger the use of his room for the festival, but was now a confident young man, seeking his own path in life. It made Mani proud to see how Eric had matured over this time, seeing him deal with situations that he probably never dreamed he would be involved with.

Mani slowly turned his gaze back to Rueben, nodding as well. "How soon can we meet your friend?" he wondered.

Dusk found Shen back at the Brightsand sand barge port, the very place he had arrived the night before. Again he was accompanied by Pano, Ayana, and Rasiter, three experienced mercenaries who had served in his father's personal guard. An odd smirk found Shen's face as the four of them made their way to the east end of the docks. Only twenty-four hours in the desert city, beginning and ending in the same place, and the young man's life had once again been turned in a new direction.

Escorted by the trio of warriors, Shen had spent the day in shopping in Brightsand, replacing lost supplies. His own supply of money was gone, most of it in pockets of pirates now, but with his knowledge of Mafia operations Candle had already managed to secure several of the old bank accounts and stockholds, and gold was in no short supply. Shen's first stop had been at the Tailor's Guild, which had for a brief period been a Mafia possession. After the assassination attempt on Candle, the guild had regained its autonomy, and Jumpy's regime had shown no interest in bringing it back into the fold. The Brightsand tailors might be worth the attention, Shen had come to think. With only a few hours work they had made a new jacket for him to his specifications, similar to the one that had been ruined in Skenic but designed so that his technorg limb could easily slip in and out of it. The tailor had been a bit unnerved while taking measurements of the metal arm, but she had done an excellent job in spite of it. Shen had purchased several outfits while there, figuring that it would be nice to finally stop wearing borrowed or road-tattered clothes.

Aside from various other purchases, Shen had gone to a blacksmith, and had a gauntlet made to fit his technorg arm. The smith too had been spooked while taking his measurements, and had seemed somehow aggravated about only making one gauntlet rather than a set, but he too had done excellent work. The fingers of the black iron gauntlet had to be held together with leather straps to keep them from moving about randomly while he wore it, until Shen's metal hand finished regrowing its fingers. However, the closed metal fist protruding from his jacket sleeve was considerably less disturbing to Shen than the bare iron stub. All in all, Shen considered his first day back in real civilization to have been quite productive.

Now he was back at the docks, were he would meet up with Candle and his small company of mercenaries. From there they would all go to the desert outpost Riller's Line, where Shen would take his first steps towards the goal that now consumed his thoughts: avenging his father. A part of Shen actually hated what he was doing. He was abandoning his search for his sister, though temporarily, to raise an army and reclaim Evergreen. His search for Keta could not be completely set aside, of course, but the coming events would demand most of his attention. Another part of the young man, a part that his father had instilled in him since his earliest childhood, told him that it was the right thing to do. Once he had restored control of Evergreen, and had the influence of the family behind him, there would be nowhere in this world - or any other that might get involved - that anyone could hide his sister from him. More than that, a third part of him, the vicious, primal anger that was making itself a permanent part of his deeper psyche, demanded it. In his heart Shen lusted for the blood of Gil Raffordy, the man responsible for his father's murder, even more than he wanted revenge on the dragon Nall.

The small party came to the end of the docks, where Candle's men were loading a pair of sand barges with a stack of crates; mostly weapons, money, and supplies that Candle had stockpiled during his time in Brightsand. The red haired man himself was standing a bit to the side, conversing with a pair of men. Bidding the others to help loading the ship, Shen went to speak with Candle.

"Hey, Little Boss," the tall man greeted him as he drew near. "This is Mister Kiff, and his son Jarvis." He motioned to the two men he was speaking to, an grizzled old man with a thick gray beard and a wooden leg, and a short, thick-featured younger man with a long scar down his cheek. The resemblance between the two was obvious. "They're going to be our pilots."

"Nice ta meetcha, boss," the old man rasped in what was clearly a Zeelund accent, shaking Shen's hand. His son just nodded.

"Pardon us, Mister Kiff," Candle said, "but we're going to need a moment or two."

Mister Kiff nodded. "C'mon, boy," he said to his son. "Time fer an inspection." He hobbled away, his son following just behind.

"Kiff has been smuggling opium for more than twenty years," Candle explained. "He knows as much about who operates in this region as anyone. It might be worth it to keep him on for a while."

"Can we trust him?" Shen asked flatly.

Candle grinned. "I don't believe there's enough going on in Kiff's head for him to even think about trying to trick us, and his son is even slower. They're both fine barge pilots, though, as I hear it. A good smuggler has to be able to outmaneuver authorities and raiders, after all."

Shen nodded. "Excellent work, Candle."

"So, how was your day? I see you've been to the Tailor's Guild."

Again the young man nodded, a slight smile forming on his lips. "Your confidence in them was well placed."

"I have a whole crate full of stuff from there," Candle chuckled.

"How much longer 'till we can leave?"

"Not too much," the tall, red haired man answered with a shrug. "There's just a couple of boxes left. After that I guess we're just waiting for Thadeus, Lamiki and Sven."

Shen arched an eyebrow. "They're not here?" Candle shook his head. "Should we be suspicious?"

He grinned slightly at that. "Maybe. I'm told they went out for drinks. They probably just lost track of time. I don't know about Thadeus, though."

Shen glanced at his watch. "If they aren't here in five minutes, we leave without them."

"Right."

"...and for the love of the gods, don't say anything stupid." Thadeus the imp had been on edge ever since he had been approached by Rueben, Mani, and Eric back at the tavern, and have been giving instructions to the trio since agreeing to take them to se e the boss. It wasn't an easy task, but Rueben was finally able to convince him to take them along as well.

"We appreciate this, Thadeus," Rueben remarked, grinning slightly. "Just try and relax."

The imp mumbled something under his breath as he grudgingly agreed. Mani paid it no mind, his attention turned to the dockyard. Despite the time he had spent in the city, he had never truly gotten a chance to walk through the area. He had seen it at a di stance on several occasions, typically as he was using the rooftops of the city to get back and forth. Most of the warehouses in the district were quiet at this time in the evening, though the occasional sound would drift through the warm, nighttime air. The group paused for a moment as Thadeus paused at an alleyway, grunting as he pointed in the direction. Leading the way, the imp slipped through, with Mani, Eric and Rueben close behind.

After negotiating the dark corridor, the group found themselves at another part of the dockyard, where there looked to be two sandbarges being loaded by a crew of workers. Pausing for a moment, Thadeus made a motion towards the one closest to them. "The b oss should be onboard this one," he made known, to which Rueben nodded. "I'll see about getting him to talk to you." The imp began to lead the way, with the three following closely behind. Several workers onboard muttered quick greetings to Thad as he pas sed by, before noticing that Rueben was with the group as well. There were some looks of surprise, but they were quickly replaced with greetings on his behalf as well. Most, however, quickly fell silent as they saw that Mani was with the group as well. Th e group from Brightsand in particular was familiar with the young ninja's exploits, especially with his episode with the demon the night before. Mani found himself looking about the barge, before hearing a short laugh coming from Rueben. Mani turned to se e what the elder ninja had seen, and found that his gaze had found two individuals on the deck, looking to be locked in a discussion of sorts. "If I didn't know any better," Rueben casually remarked, smirking. "I'd say that the little boss has finally gro wn up." Thadeus was silent as he bid the three to stay, heading over to the two men

Shen and Candle stopped their conversation as each noticed the green imp Thadeus approaching. "Hey boss," he said, looking back and forth between them as though unsure who to address.

"Where have you been, Thad?" Candle answered him. Shen remained silent.

"Well..." he began, obviously just a bit nervous, "we're taking on more people now, right?" He motioned over his shoulder, where three men stood facing them just out of earshot. "These guys are looking for jobs. Just the kind of guys we're looking for, I figure."

"Friends of yours?"

"Yeah, one of them is. The others are... well, I should probably let them explain it."

Candle nodded. "Call them."

Thadeus motioned to the three men, who then came forward. The first was an older man, the tallest of the group, with dusky features and hardened brown eyes. The second was a young man, probably near Shen's age, with bronze skin and dark hair. The last was another young man with boyish features and light brown eyes. All three wore simple clothes suited to the heat of the desert sun, with jackets to protect them from the chill of evening. All three were also visibly armed.

The green imp motioned to the older man. "This is-"

"Rueben," Candle cut him off, an odd grin finding his face. "Rueben Dankov."

"I'm honored that you remember," Rueben replied with a bow.

Candle looked to Shen. "This guy was Assassins Circle back when you were just a boy."

Shen's gaze, however, was fixed firmly on the bronze skinned young man. "You're the ninja," he stated rather than asked, "the man who fought the demon last night."

"That's right," he nodded, preceded by an almost imperceptable sigh. "My name is Mani."

"Mani?" Candle said, his eyes widening slightly. He looked to the third stranger. "Would that make you Eric?"

Eric could only blink repeatedly, shocked silent for a moment. "Y-yeah, I'm Eric."

"Unbelieveable," Candle chuckled. "These are the two guys who saved Kolko's life."

Thadeus's jaw was so far agape he could have swallowed his own sword. "You... you all know each other?!"

"I'm as surprised as you," Rueben answered, looking to Mani, who looked to Eric, who just shrugged.

"Is... is Kolko all right?" Eric asked. His nervousness was glaring against the calm of his companions.

"She's fine," Candle answered.

Shen turned a harsh glare on Thadeus. "Have you been telling people about us?"

"No, no boss," the imp answered quickly. "Rueben came to me."

The dark skinned young man was silent for a moment, surveying the Rueben, Mani, and Eric suspiciously. He looked back to Thadeus. "Bring Pano here." The green imp just looked confused. "My companion, the centaur," Shen clarified. The imp bolted off, happy to be clear of the situation.

"So then," Shen said, turning his single blue eye to Rueben. "You were part of my father's family, and you left it. Why would you want to be part of mine?"

Rueben sighed slightly, looking away before he answered. "The reasons I left had nothing to with the family. I didn't run, Master Shen. Your father gave me leave. I would be honored to have a hand in avenging him."

Shen glanced to Candle for confirmation. The red haired man nodded. Shen then looked to Mani and Eric. "What about you two?"

"We're here to fight," Mani answered simply.

"Do you have any experience as mercenaries?"

"I've done more than my share of fighting," Mani replied. "Don't usually take money for it, though."

"Can you take orders?"

Mani paused before answering. "As well as the next man, I suppose."

Shen just surveyed the two silently for a long moment. He gaze fell on Eric. "Have you ever killed a man?"

Eric looked at Mani before answering. "No."

"You've never even fought a man, have you."

Again he glanced to the ninja. "No."

At that point Thadeus returned, with the giant centaur Pano in tow. Shen's harsh gaze remained on Eric, but a grin found his face. "At the very least, you're honest." He looked to Mani and Reuben. "I value that. But I hope you all appreciate what you're asking to become a part of."

"We do," Reuben answered.

Shen nodded, and turned to address the centaur. "Pano, these three will be accompanying us to Riller's Line. I want you and the others to keep an eye on them."

"Sure, boss," the centaur nodded.

"Find yourselves a place on either barge," Shen said, looking to Mani, "and don't do anything to make Pano nervous. We'll speak more later."

"Thank you, Master Shen," Rueben said, bowing slightly. Mani and Eric mimicked him, then Rueben lead them towards the nearest of the two sand barge.

"Nobody move!"

A sudden shout caused everyone to freeze. A small army of men, more than forty humans and mystics and all visibly armed, suddenly poured out of the shadows and surrounded the docks. With cries of alarm, Candle's men formed a defensive semi-circle against the new arrivals, but they were clearly outnumbered. At the center of the encroaching army was Milon Gandeus. On either side of him, their hands bound behind them, gags across their mouths, and being propelled forward by a pair of hugely muscled brutes, were Lamiki and Sven. By the bruises on their faces it was clear that both had been soundly beaten.

There was a moment of tense silence as Milon's men came to a stop, and the two hordes faced each other down, every hand clutching a weapon. With a nod from Milon, the two brutes threw Lamiki and Sven to the ground. "Roan, Guntar, Dendra, Thad..." the guildmaster said, nodding to various faces in the crowd before him. He froze suddenly, seeing Rueben and Mani in the back. "You too, Rueb?" He shook his head, a sneer twisting his face. "Too bad, too bad. It's time for all of you to come home. All of you." He glared at Mani as he spoke the last words.

"You're crazy, Milon," Thadeus growled at him. "You don't know who you're messing with!"

"Shut up!" Milon roared back, pointed his crossbow at the imp. "I don't need advice from backstabbers! I have some for you, though. Everyone who works for me surrenders right now, and I _might_ only cut your salaries. Otherwise, I'm going cut a lot more than that."

Shen came to stand at the center of his men, opposite Milon, framed by Pano and Candle. "Who is this man?" he asked.

"Our former employer," Rueben answered.

"A complete jack-ass," Mani added. Shen glanced at him, arching an eyebrow.

"Gandeus," Candle clarified. "Milon Gandeus, current head of the Brightsand Assassins Guild. Above half of my people used to work for him."

"Your people?" Milon laughed. "I don't think so. They still work for me. Nobody leaves the guild."

"Guildmaster Gandeus," Shen addressed him. "I will compensate your guild for the loss. Turn around, and leave. There's no need for bloodshed here."

Milon smirked. "You must be the new spender in town, huh? Forget it. I'm in charge here, not you. You wanna contract? Fine. You get it through _me_. Come talk to me later, we'll do business. Right now, you get out of here, before you get hurt."

"You're making a mistake."

"I don't think so, pal. We outnumber you two to one."

Shen's single eye narrowed. "Mister Marlow," he called to one of Candle's mercenaries, his stare fixed on Milon.

"Yeah boss," answered a lithe man with long, dark hair in a ponytail.

"Mister Gandeus' escorts are yours." The two brutes next to Milon looked at Marlow, then each other, and laughed.

"Both of them?" Marlow asked.

"Yes."

"Right now?"

"Right now."

"Yeah, ya skinny little punk," chuckled one of the brutes, "right n-" He was cut short. In a blur of motion, Marlow plunged his hands into his jacket, produced a pair of silver firearms, and fired, each weapon unleashing a simultaneous blast of sound and smoke. It happened so suddenly that everyone froze. The two brutes looked at each other, each's eyes widening at the smoking hole in the other's chest. Then they fell over backwards, hitting the ground with heavy thuds.

"Kill them!" Milon shouted, fumbling to raise his crossbow. Before he could repeat his order, Shen produced his own pistol, and fired. Milon's knee exploded in a splatter of blood in the dust, and he dropped heavily to the ground, screaming.

"Have you ever seen one of these?" Shen roared, holding the pistol up for the rest of Milon's men to see. "They can even the odds quite quickly. If you want to die with more dignity than that, walk away, and do it another day."

"Kill them!" Milon shrieked through his teeth, writhing in pain as he held his shattered knee. "Kill them all!"

One of Milon's men stepped forward, raising his sword, ready to give the order to charge. There was another explosion from Marlow's guns, and the would-be leader was blasted off his feet, his corpse sliding backwards an impression distance.

"Let's get out of here!" came a shout from the rear of Milon's men. One by one at first, but finally in mass, Milon's men turn and broke, dispersing into the evening shadows again.

"No! Come back!" Milon wailed. "Come back!!"

"Excellent work, Mister Marlow," Shen nodded to the gunman. Marlow bowed theatrically, reholstering his weapons as he did. "Someone help them," Shen said, motioning to Lamiki and Sven. While a several of the mercenaries surrounded their fallen comrades, Shen walked to stand over the writhing Milon, kicking the fallen crossbow away from his hand. He just stood there for a long while, watching the man squirm.

"What... what are you gonna do to me?" Milon asked finally, his voice quivering.

"That is the question, isn't it," Shen answered, staring down at him. After another long moment of silence, he called out, "Mani. Come here."

Mani glanced at Rueben, who just shrugged. The young ninja pushed his way past the mercenaries, coming to stand beside Shen.

"Kill him," Shen said simply, still looking down at Milon.

"What?" Mani blanched.

"It's an order, Mani. Kill him." The fear in Milon's eyes was plain as he looked up at the ninja.

Though he did not show any signs of it, Mani's stomach suddenly turned as the order came. Looking down at the squirming and bloody form of Milon Gandeus sprawled out on the deck before him brought the ninja a grim measure of satisfaction. To see the young guildmaster at his complete mercy, after he had been at his for so long… without a word, Mani drew his blade and pointed it at his throat. The impossible occurred as Milon's eyes got even wider, fear etched across his face.

"I... I'm sorry!" he shouted frantically. "For everything! For Shinbi, for Lily, for..."

Milon was suddenly cut off as Mani snarled, pressing the blade even closer to his throat. His expression was replaced by a look of rage as his hand trembled around the grip of his blade. "You're not worthy to say her name," he growled, his breaths now hea vy and ragged. Milon could only sit there in shock, knowing that his life was about to come to a painful end at the hands of the angry young man. Mani stood there with the blade just seconds away from ending Milon's life, breathing heavier and heavier as he stared at his prone and bloodied figure before him.

It disgusted him. To see the young guildmaster before him disgusted Mani to no end. Begging for a life that had done nothing but think of his own self from day one, asking to be spared his wretched existence. Mani did not know how many lives the selfish y oung Gandeus had destroyed… this was his opportunity for retribution, to avenge those that had been tainted by the existence of this man. One thrust, and it would be over. His knuckles whitened as he gripped his blade tightly.

He had run through the scenario in his mind a hundred times over within the span of only a few seconds. One thrust; Milon would not even have time to clutch his throat before his sword sliced clean through to his spine, resulting in a quick death. It was more than he deserved. Mani's eyes lingered on the fallen guildmaster. His eyes dropped to what remained of his kneecap, then slowly rose back to Milon's face. It was a tainted victory- it should not have mattered to him, but it did. Mani felt robbed. He had sworn to kill Milon himself, and that opportunity still presented itself to him. Yet, to have him tossed before him like a dying dog- he had been victorious by virtue of Milon's death being at hand, but there was no denying the emptiness that was to c ome from it at this point.

Then deal with the emptiness, and be done with it.

"Damn it all to hell..."

Do it for Lily. If nothing else, do it for her.

"I..." A deep sigh escaped his lips.

"Damn it all to hell..." Much to Milon's surprise, the young ninja slowly pulled his blade away from his throat. "I can't do it…" Mani shook his head slowly, sheathing the blade. "Not like this..."

Shen's glare bored into Mani with almost physical force. It was difficult for Mani to tell if the young man was enraged, or just surprised. Shen held him there for a long moment, before suddenly dropping to one knee over Milon, and raising his technorg limb over his head. Milon screamed, raising his arms over his face defensively. It did little good. The iron limb shattered Milon's forearm as it rushed downward, smashing solidly into the fallen man's face. There was a horrid crunching noise, and a splatter of blood. Milon's squirming ceased.

Wiping the blood off on Milon's clothes, Shen made a quick inspection of the metal gauntlet to make sure he hadn't dented it. He then pushed Milon's arm aside, examining the corpse's collapsed face. His sister had told him once that no kill would ever feel the same as the first. Looking at the dead man, he felt nothing. No anger, no satisfaction, no nausea. Nothing.

Shen rose to his feet, turning again to face Mani, who was visibly shocked. "You come to me asking to join me, and then disobey a direct order," Shen said calmly. He laid his metal limb on Mani's shoulder, leaving small smears of Milon's blood on his clothes. "You're either a man of principle, in which case I'm quite impressed, or you're trying to trick me, in which case this will end very badly for you."

The young man turned to face the others. Most of them were just as shocked as the ninja, Candle especially. "Finish loading the barges," Shen said. "Let's get out of here."