Andromeda

The Inner Man – Episode 21 – Reasons

The gunshot echoed through the room to Mashiro's surprise. He could feel the bullet going through his stomach and the warmth of blood already starting to drip out. Rachel gave him a smirk as she put away the gun and stood up. She brushed back her hair with her hand as she looked down at Mashiro. "Goodbye." Rachel walked out of the room along with the two men leaving Mashiro alone.

She walked through the corridors of the abandoned warehouse entering the main room where she did most of her planning. There were monitors setup in a corner of the room with computers and crates filling up much of the rest of the room. A few of her men were working on the computers gathering the information that she needed. They were the few that she trusted with the task, most of the ones she hired were simple thugs. She found them from the underworld organizations in Osaka, most being disgruntled by one thing or another. It was easy to buy help in the city and they did their job well enough.

Rachel sat down at the chair where the monitors were set up. She opened up a communications line to someone that had been waiting on her. It was a quick moment for the computer to handle the task and displayed video feed of the one that was waiting. On the screen was Shinzaburo, former director of Section Three, now in his new position of cleaning up lose ends. "It is done, he'll be dead a few hours."

"Good work. Your money has been transferred to your account. The rest will be transferred once you confirm the death of Chiko Toyozama and the doctor that was staying with them."

"Killing the child shouldn't be much trouble." The line closed and she turned around in her chair look out at the rest of the room. "Bureaucrats are all the same, syndicate owned ones are no different. They always are fearful of their secrets and losing their power." Rachel looked around at her men and stood up to address them. "Confirmed the location of the child and send two cars. He should be at the school or their house by now."

"Yes, sir!"

Chiko stared at the doctor waiting for an answer and trying to think about what he was going to do to actually save Mashiro if he was in trouble. He just hoped that he was worrying for nothing, but this was a long time to be gone for. Chiko had the feeling that there was something bad happening even though it was uncertain. The fact that he did not know what was happening only made it worse for him. Mashiro was the only one that could protect him and if he was gone, Chiko did not want to think about it.

"I don't have anything, the only car we have is Mashiro's."

"There has to be something that we can do, we don't know what is going on with Mashiro."

"Well, that is not completely true. I can see where he is probably."

"You can? Why didn't you say something sooner."

"I wanted to make sure you were alright."

"I'm perfectly fine as you can see, now find Mashiro!" Chiko said pushing the Doctor along to get him moving. After the initial push the Doctor began walking himself and went upstairs leaving Chiko at the steps. He stood at the bottom step too afraid to walk any further up to follow him.

The Doctor appeared from around the corner of the hall upstairs to look down at Chiko a little questioningly. "What's wrong, I thought you were worried about Mashiro?"

"I'm afraid of stairs or have you forgotten?"

"Since when?"

"Since I've had this body!" Chiko said angrily at the Doctor.

"Huh? Must have been those memory implants," he said quietly to himself. "I'll bring the computer down to the living room then." The Doctor then disappeared for a moment and reappeared with the terminal in his arms. He walked down the stairs uneasily as Chiko watched uncertain if he would fall or not. Fortunately, he made it down and set it on the table in front of the couch letting Chiko watch as he worked.

The Doctor flew through the systems at a speed that Chiko was unable to keep up. There were a lot of words that he saw, but it was all gone before he could finish a sentence. None of it made much sense to him anyway, but at least the Doctor knew what he was doing. Chiko leaned forward as the Doctor came to what looked like record logs. There were images of people along with a short profile of each one. The Doctor scrolled down quickly until he came to Mashiro in the list.

A few more windows popped up on the screen when the Doctor stopped. In front of Chiko on the screen was a map of Osaka with a blinking dot on it. It marked where Mashiro was at currently if he understood what the Doctor was showing him. "And Mashiro is there, right?"

"Correct. Section Three put tracking devices in all of their field agents."

"If they had that available to them, why didn't they find him sooner?"

"The range on it is not great, but it had also been masked out most of the time."

"Masked by what?"

"All of the signals in the city. It takes a while to break through the interference and then you have to boost the weak signal it emits. This house also has a signal jammer that Mashiro installed."

"How did you find it so easily then?"

"I stole their work, they had been trying to find him for months. The house here is naturally protected, so the only time the signal is detectable is outside."

"I see, and what is this at the bottom?" Chiko said pointing to some numbers at the edge of the screen.

"His vitals, from the looks of it he is not doing so well. Heart rate is dropping. He's dying!"

"What?!" Chiko said grabbing the Doctor by his shirt. "Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm dead serious. Whatever it is, if he does not get treatment soon he'll die from what this is saying."

Mashiro slumped over in his chair looking at the door as his vision blurred some. He did not know how long he had left, but it would definitely be slow as he bled out of his stomach. It would have been smarter to simply kill him out right, but he knew that she would get more pleasure from knowing that his death was slow. Mashiro coughed some as a little blood came out of his mouth. "Not exactly how I imagined dying. Sorry Chiko…"

His vision continued to blur, his headache not improving. His mind hung around the last words of Rachel before she had shot him. It was bringing back memories that he had wished to leave buried in his past. A time when he was working in the Special Forces for the American Government before the scandal, before everything. He was younger than and more carefree about what he did without concern for consequences. He was a ruthless assassin for the government, but there was another side to him that only one person had seen. It was his softer, vulnerable side that was striped away.

Back then he was living in what became the North American States, the old United States of America. He would be on assignment a lot for the government, so what he could call a home was in Washington. It was provided by the government for his many services, but he was usually not living in it very often. Then he met her, Rachel, she joined his group one year after him after they lost their previous intelligence agent. At that time he was only twenty-two and very young.

When he saw her for the first time it was hard for him to quit staring at her. Though, she did not seem to notice him, to his disappointment. However, they were being dispatched for a mission and he did not have time for youthful romance. It was her first time out of the academy, so he took the time to help her out. Even if she did not want time, he still tried in spite of it. During the mission to take out a political figure they came under attack during their escape.

She had become injured during crossfire and was falling behind the group. Mashiro went to help her and became trapped with her. The enemy soldiers were getting close to their position and Rachel needed medical attention. He became cornered within his mind and that was when he first appeared. That was the moment that he changed within and lost himself to the void for what seemed like forever. There was no longer any fear in his mind or regret just the desire to protect someone.

He was able to get Rachel out and to safety, but it had changed him. However, he did not know better and let the beast within consume him. He feed himself to it mind, body and soul so that she would be safe. And after the mission Rachel and him became close. She would become afraid from time to time of him, but it seemed to only increase her curiosity of him. Mashiro did not know if it was the beast or him that she actually loved in the end. However, he was young and in love not caring about anything else.

Mashiro groaned softly as he opened his eyes to the same door though more blurred now. 'How long was I out? I can't let my past back in…' He pulled on his bindings to test them again, but he no longer that the strength to get free. His hands came to rest as he coughed again tasting the metallic flavor of blood across his tongue. It was getting worse, his head was feeling light again as his vision became almost all white.

The Doctor had been in Mashiro's room for a while now it was starting to worry Chiko what he could possibly be doing in there to take so long. He had said that he was going up to get a few things that they would need to rescue Mashiro, but the Doctor was vague about what those things were. Chiko was not sure if he wanted to know, but if it was going to help Mashiro out he would just have to live with it. He was becoming tired of waiting on the Doctor though, but going upstairs was too much of a problem for him. It was upsetting to have to be so dependent on someone else for so many things, but Chiko knew he could not avoid it being a child.

Chiko looked up the stairs when he heard some strange noises to find the Doctor coming out of the room. When Chiko saw the Doctor he nearly fell over in surprise. The Doctor was slowly with wobbling legs carrying a massive amount of weaponry. He had guns, launchers, belts with ammo and just about anything else he probably found in Mashiro's room. The man could barely move having completely over done it. Chiko sweated in embarrassment watching him trying to take a step to the stairs and falling over.

All of the weapons collapsed around him in a pile as the Doctor sighed in relief. Chiko stood back up and walked up a couple steps before completely shaking. "I think you over did it, doc. Just take what you can carry."

The Doctor stood up trying to pick up everything again. "I can carry…this all…" However, he could not carry it as Chiko knew and the Doctor gave up letting it all fall away. He picked up a few things and walked down the stairs to Chiko. "I got something for you as well."

"Me? I'm not so good with guns."

The Doctor let out a gasp, "I would never let you hold a gun, they are much too dangerous for you to be handling." The Doctor held Chiko's hand while saying this as though trying to comfort him for some reason. All it did was make Chiko feel a little creepy about the Doctor, which was not something new he realized. Then the Doctor rushed down the last two steps pulling Chiko along with him coming to the closet behind the stairs.

Chiko did not like where this was going and tried to pull away from the Doctor. The Doctor's grip was unfortunately too strong for him at the moment. He opened the door of the closet and dug around through the clothes for a moment until he found what he was looking for. Chiko closed his eyes not wanting to know what was coming next. "Oh good, you want to be surprised!"

"Hey, what are you doing to me?" Chiko said with his hands over his eyes not wanting to know. But he quickly realized that the Doctor was removing his clothes. Chiko let go of his hands for a moment as the Doctor pulled off his blouse making Chiko feel bare for a moment. He opened his eyes to get the Doctor to stop, but by the time that he had the Doctor was already finished.

"All finished!"

"What?! I don't know if I want to see…" The Doctor closed the closet door and put Chiko in front of it where there happened to be a mirror place. He was now wearing an almost all black dress with few too many strings, laces and ribbons for him to keep track of.

"What do you think?"

"That some imagination you got, doc…suddenly I felt like I'm a maid. And yet I feel like it should be in leather and having a whip in hand…" Chiko sighed out loud tired of looking at it already. 'That's some fetish you got…'

"So, what you think?"

"I…uh…don't know. Its not quite what I was thinking and why is it all black? And I can barely breath, the strings in the back are so tight."

"I made it black for the night time, since we are going to be sneaking around I thought it would be useful."

"Right…planning ahead."

"I made it as your standard transformation costume since it suits your dark personali-"

The Doctor did not manage to finish his sentence as Chiko punched him in the face very casually sending him across the room. He turned around to face the Doctor that was lying crooked on the wall. "Watch what you say! And what do you mean transformation? On second thought, I don't want to know."

The Doctor pulled himself out of the wall and stood back up dusting himself off. He then grabbed his glasses by his hand adjusting it in a wide grin across his face that made Chiko step backwards in fear. "You have the same abilities as my daughter does, so it's only natural that you should transform. Though there are a few modifications that I made to suit your…err…person."

"You don't mean what I think you do?" Chiko slumped over in the uncomfortable dress in disbelief. It was not what he was wanting; the memories were embarrassing enough to have.

"I gave you the ability to transform into Black Cosmos, which is quite different from Kohana's White Heart," he said in a reassuring manner.

"That doesn't make me feel any better," Chiko said looking at the dress that he got put in. He looked around trying to see if he could remove it, but everything was in the back. His hands had even less luck fumbling over the knot that he could not undo. The Doctor rushed over quickly stopping Chiko from making any further attempts. "I can't walk around like this, I'm taking it off now!"

"No-no-no-no. There is another way. You don't have to physically remove this ever. It was design specifically for the special abilities the body has."

"Why am I not liking this even more…" Chiko said becoming worried.

"In order to go back into your school clothes, you just have to mentally concentrate on the dress. There is also a mental trigger, speak the word 'De-transform' within your mind and you will change back. It will go away and be ready whenever you wish."

"Uh, but I don't want it to be ready. I want it gone."

"Please. I won't give you your magic wand!"

"That's supposed to encourage me?" Chiko said with his hands on his hips looking at the Doctor on his knees begging to him. It was make him a little ill to watch him whine, but it was too embarrassing to stay in this dress. "I'm losing my patience with you, doc. I've been trying to be polite here." He really did not want to be at the moment, the urge to strangle the Doctor was at the breaking point. However, he made a promise to Kohana that he would try to be calmer in handling matters. But he did not say that he would not do it again.

'Please, Big Brother,' Kohana said in Chiko's mind.

'Gah! Not you too.'

'Do it for me! Then we can be like magical sisters!'

'That's no more encouraging that the other reason.' Chiko looked at the Doctor dejected and feeling surrounded. He knew that he was not going to win this argument with both of them ganging up on him. Besides, he knew that Kohana had more methods of encouragement than just words. Having to live through a nightmare was something that he preferred to avoid. He had not forgotten the trick she played on him in Tokyo with Nobu.

"Fine…" Chiko said sighing reluctantly. He began to try what the Doctor told him, though he remained a little skeptical about it working. Chiko thought that it was only Kohana that could do those things. 'De-transform…' After he spoke the words to himself he was enveloped in light suddenly and dropped to the ground naked. It only took Chiko a moment to see what happened and with the Doctor staring at him he promptly ran his hand through his face. "What's the meaning of this!?"

The Doctor slowly recovered himself from being slammed into the wall again to speak to Chiko. "Its…because you weren't wearing anything else other than the dress. It'll be different the rest of the time."

Chiko was already grabbing for his school uniform to put back on. After he was clothed finally he walked out of the living room with his arms apart in the air upset. He walked into the kitchen to get a glass of water to calm down. When he went to reach up to the cupboard he realized that he was too short to reach. "Mashiro…" Chiko paused remembering that he had to go help Mashiro who was in danger.

He then ran out of the kitchen and picked up the Doctor dragging him to the door. "We have to go find Mashiro! We've already wasted too much time."

"But I haven't told you about the rest," the Doctor said protesting.

"Fine, tell me on the way," Chiko said as he opened to the door to find that there were eight men stepping out of two cars. He stopped in the doorway not certain what was going to happen next. He did not know if he could do anything. It was always Mashiro doing the rescuing and fighting for him. Chiko stood in the doorway trying to decide what he was going to do; there was no way out for him.

"Doc, stay inside," Chiko said throwing him out of sight. He realized that there was little choice in the matter at this point. They were all here for him; he could either go quietly or painfully. He had opted for the painful method and hoped that he could take them. 'Hope I can get to you in time…' Chiko stepped out of the house into the front lawn as the men began to surround him. "I hope you came looking for a fight boys."

A couple of them laughed at him in response. One replied, "That's funny coming from a little girl."

Chiko tilted his head suddenly. 'Probably would have sounded better if I was guy…oh well.' He narrowed his eyes becoming serious even though the men surrounding him were still laughing at him. However, Chiko stopped caring about what they were thinking of him and launched himself into a full sprint at the closest one he saw. He leapt into the air rising quickly to the level of the man's face and ran his already extended knee through. Chiko continued on past him landing roughly to the ground on one leg.

He looked behind him to see the man collapsing to the ground not moving, the man's nose broken and bleeding. The attack by Chiko snapped the rest out of their slack attitude towards him. They all became just as serious as he was to win. The rest started to surround him as Chiko recovered himself. He stood up and turned his head around trying to watch everyone's movements. His arms spread out from his sides not sure what his next move was going to be now.

They were all prepared and would not be surprised any further by him. He had hoped to take out a few of them before it came to this. However, Chiko had little time to think about his next move as they slowly approached him. A couple of them pulled out knives as they stepped forward making Chiko nervous. They were typically looking to kidnap him, but if they knew the truth then that no longer matter. Chiko stepped back a little until he realized that there was someone behind him.

Three of them rushed at him quickly and Chiko could only think to duck down to the ground. The men nearly collided with each other due to how small Chiko was. The one that recovered fast enough kicked Chiko in the stomach as he was crawling away. Chiko was send rolling across the ground slowly coming to a stop outside of the circle. He coughed up through the pain that he felt through his stomach, though to his surprise it was not as strong as he was expecting.

Chiko stood up and jumped at the nearest one hoping to take another out, but they stepped out of the way. He fell to the ground and tried to run out of the circle he found himself back in. They quickly closed off the way that he was going forcing him to change direction. Each turn he made they countered by blocking him further until he was just going in circles under their control.

Chiko stopped in the middle breathing a little heavy as he tried to figure out what he was going to do. The men continued to close in on him. Chiko made his move and ran for an opening out of the circle, but they closed it. However, he did not stop and aimed himself straight at one of the men ramming his head into their stomach. He sent the man flying across the lawn as Chiko rolled to a stop. The man lay on his back coughing in pain unable to move. He was down two of them now and the rest began to rush him. Chiko charged towards them as fearless as he could with his eyes seeing the gleam of the knife blades coming close.

He ducked down and swung his leg around quickly take down the first two in front that were charging him. The initial impact on the first man he hit had cracked his bone laying him on the grass clutching it. The other received a painful kick from behind that it knocked his knee out of place as he dropped half of his weight on the leg. The man was on the ground a moment later in pain.

Chiko continued his attack on the remaining four as they became angered that they were being beat by an eight-year old girl. He rammed his foot into the shin of the next man while he was still on the ground bringing him to his knees. Chiko swiftly stood up and ran his fist through the man's face now that he was level with him. The man flew backwards into the man behind him taking them both to the ground.

The remaining two still standing swung their blades at him as Chiko rolled away. He continued to step backwards as they thrust and swiped at him. Chiko suddenly tripped over the sidewalk up to the house and the two took the chance to attack deep with their blades. The knives tore through his blouse and sleeve drawing blood from his shoulder. Chiko fell over and collapsed to the grass holding his shoulder with his hand.

The two continued not letting up as they struck again at him. He was too slow to get out of the way in time as the knives dug through the side of his chest. More blood dripped down him as he rolled over the grass. Chiko came to rest against the first one of them that he had knocked out. The man's suit was open partly revealing his gun holstered under his shoulder.

Chiko looked back at the two that were coming towards him and he stopped thinking. He reached for the gun and pulled it out firing it off several times with his eyes almost completely closed. His hand continued to pull the trigger until the gun was empty. Chiko did not open his eyes for another minute uncertain of what to expect. As he slowly opened his eyes he found that they were both lying on the ground blood slowly dripping out of them.

He slowly stood up, his hands shaking with the gun. They were both dead and he had killed them. He felt like running away, but his legs would not move. The Doctor slowly appeared from the house finding Chiko with the gun standing over the two men. He quickly ran over to Chiko slapping the gun out of his hands, as Chiko stood wide-eyed unable to respond.

"How could you do that?! They're dead!" the Doctor yelled.

Chiko could barely even understand what he said. The Doctor shuck Chiko around trying to get a response or anything out of him. After a couple moments Chiko snapped out of his daze looking at the Doctor's face full of disbelief. "I…I don't know. It…it just happened. I couldn't think." Chiko had never out right killed someone before. It seemed so cold the way it was done with a gun and simply pulling a trigger for their life to be over. He gathered his senses together and got free of the Doctor.

Chiko composed himself and started to walk back to the house. He closed the door to the house and slowly walked over to one of the cars left behind by the men that attacked him. "Think you can drive, doc?"

"But what about all of this?"

"Don't have time for it, Mashiro needs our help. Should probably kill them so they don't follow us."

"Chiko!" the Doctor said slapping him across the face.

Chiko was left unable to move for a moment. He had so casually said to kill them it was not until that moment that felt the impact of his words. It was like Mashiro when he was out of control. He did not know what he should be doing. He wanted to be like Mashiro and not be helpless anymore. Chiko could not stand not being able to do anything for himself and having someone else doing it all for him.

He had stopped thinking and was acting on instinct. The results made him suddenly afraid of what he was capable of doing. "I'm just saying what Mashiro would!"

"Mashiro isn't here and you aren't Mashiro!"

"I know that. So its alright if he kills people but not me?"

"You shouldn't kill. You don't have to kill anyone!"

"Its not that easy. You think I want to do this?" Chiko yelled before stopping at a dead end. He was in conflict with himself already. There was no certainty in his words or confidence. He could not even trust himself in what he was going to do next anymore. "We don't have time for this. Get in the car, doc." Chiko opened the car door and sat down in the passenger seat thinking to himself. 'Is this how Mashiro feels when he kills? No…probably not. He probably has no regrets.'

"This is not our car you know," the Doctor said as he sat down in the driver's seat. He started the car up and looked over at Chiko for confirmation.

"They won't be needing it anytime soon and we're in a hurry."

The Doctor quickly pulled out of the driveway coming to a jerky stop in the middle of the road. The car leapt forward and then stopped. Chiko looked questioningly at the Doctor as he was fumbling over the controls for the car. "When was the last time that you drove, doc?"

"Well I can't remember. There wasn't much need when you live in Tokyo."

"That's not reassuring, doc." Chiko's hands dug into the arm rests of the seat as the Doctor slowly remembered how to drive a car properly. He knew that there was little he could say himself as he had hardly driven that much either in Tokyo. As he said there was little need for it. It was typically faster to get around on foot or by train than anything else with all of the traffic in the city.

The car came to a rough stop at the intersection of the neighborhood making Chiko strain on the seat belt. 'This is scarier than when Mashiro drives.' The Doctor seemed to becoming more certain, but he had less talent at avoiding cars than Mashiro. It was not confidence that they were being avoided, it was reckless uncertainty and inexperience. They continued through the streets of Osaka with the faint sounds of screams coming from Chiko.

- - - - -

Mashiro slowly moved his head around trying to lift it. Everything seemed so heavy and weak to him. He could barely even see the blood on the floor anymore with his vision. His head was starting to hurt again and he could hear strange sounds going through his mind again. There were more memories entering his thoughts as he fought to remain awake. He could not avoid the images, his past that was pervading his last moments.

It was the sounds of gunfire again echoing through his mind. A year had passed since he had meet Rachel. They had moved in together and were making plans. Both of them realized that their line of work could leave either of them dead at any moment. But he did not care, he was living for the moment and there was warm pleasant feeling running through him. He was happy, the last time that he would feel such a way.

The mission was routine, but the location was anything else but normal. They were going into Japan to kill someone that was an enemy of the U.S. government. There were few details, but they all knew that it was a risk. Both governments had strong ties with each other, if something happened to them it would be a political scandal that would shatter everything. It was just another typical mission; the government simply denies all knowledge of them.

Rachel had seemed worried about the mission, telling him the night before that she had a strange feeling about it. Mashiro did not like the sound of the mission, but they had a job to do and he was going to protect Rachel. In the year since the incident, he had learned to harness the other side of himself. Though he wondered if he was simply losing control at points rather than being the one in control. He did what he needed in order to protect her though and that was all that mattered to him. If it meant selling his soul he had done it.

The team entered Japan as tourists to disguise themselves through the mission. It was not until their recon began that things started to turn strange. One of the team members suddenly became ill and was forced to go to the base for treatment. Then a fight in the street compromised the recon. There were more and more coincidences occurring that were destroying the mission. Mashiro was becoming shut out of the briefings and distracted.

He did not understand what was going on that he was not being allowed to go on the recon or participate in the efforts. There were not many times that he would be involved since he was simply the assassin. He just needed to know who to kill and nothing more. It was simpler if you did not know whom your target was and why they needed to die. No feelings or regrets just the cold fact that they have to be dead. But there was an unusual amount of secrecy with him that it was making him suspicious.

Mashiro started his own investigation on the target. He did not much more about who it was other than where the team had been doing their recon. He had gone alone not telling anyone what he was doing, even Rachel. Even she had seemed distant to him during the mission. It was then that he learned that the world was far more complicated than he imagined.

Mashiro groaned softly in his chair as he strained against the bindings that held him in place. He tried to open his eyes, but when he did he could not see anything. It was all just a blur now. All he knew was that his wound was still slowly dripping, emptying his life out on the floor until there was nothing left. He was beginning to lose feeling in his body now as his mind became lightheaded again. Mashiro passed out in the chair silent not even recalling memories of the past anymore.

- - - - -

The Doctor had eventually managed to figure out how to drive the car, but they were already at their destination now that it did not matter anymore. Chiko was more than glad just to be out of the car now. He had never known anyone to be so poor at driving, especially an adult. He might not have driven much, but he knew that even he could have done better. Chiko looked over at the Doctor to make sure that he was ready for whatever might come next.

The warehouse felt like the last one he was taken too when that woman Rachel had kidnapped him. He did not like the feel of this at all. His stomach was tightening up on him making him feel like he wanted to throw up at any moment. There was no one outside waiting for them or guarding the place, which made Chiko worry. He expected that they would have to fight their way all the way to Mashiro. Chiko just hoped that they could reach Mashiro in time before it was too late to help.

"You ready for this, doc? No turning back now."

The Doctor looked at a device he had in hand and then over at Chiko. "I don't like violence."

"Then why you bring all of the artillery? Never mind, just stay behind me if you don't want to fight," Chiko said stepping in front of the Doctor looking down the path to the warehouse. He took a step forward and was stopped by the Doctor.

"You shouldn't fight either."

"And how you suggest we get Mashiro, tell them to surrender?"

"It might work."

Chiko hit the Doctor over the head with his fist. "You've been through all of this and now you're chickening out?" Chiko marched on towards the warehouse not sure what was going to happen next. The Doctor followed up behind him quickly, though it was difficult for an adult man to be hiding behind an eight-year old girl. Chiko sweated in embarrassment, but tried to ignore him as much as possible. They reached the door when the Doctor stopped him again. "What now?"

"Don't forget what I told you."

"I'm still trying to forget it…" Chiko said with a red face. He pushed the door open only to be greeted by several men in the hall pointing fully automatic machine guns on them. There was barely a moment to spare before the metal doors were nearly ripped from the hinges by the spray of bullets. Chiko and the Doctor hid against the walls as bullets exited the building. The Doctor was not moving and Chiko did not have anything to fight back with on him.

Chiko looked over at the Doctor hoping to get his attention. "Hey, doc! Doc! Give me one of your guns you got."

"But you shouldn't use it…"

"I don't have anything else, besides you going to do anything with it?" The bullets stopped for a moment and Chiko looked around the corner just enough with his eyes to see that they were waiting for him. He pulled back quickly when they finally noticed him. "Either use it or toss it to me, doc!"

The Doctor slowly pulled out a gun from his pocket with his hand shaking profusely. Chiko prepared to receive it once there was a pause in the shooting. Unfortunately the Doctor was too nervous to think straight and tossed it immediately. Chiko tried to reach to grab it, but the bullets knocked it out of reach to the ground by the parked car. He pushed himself back against the wall staring at the gun in the distance. There was no way he was going to reach it now he knew.

Chiko face became red with embarrassment, as he knew what was going to need to happen. 'I'm going to kill them all once I'm through with this!' He closed his eyes and tried to close his mind from Kohana a little with what was about to happen. 'Transform!' Suddenly a light burst out from Chiko shining through the area bringing the shooters to a pause in confusion.

Chiko became stripped of his school uniform in the light as a white slip materialized around him. Then white stockings formed around his legs. Pitch-black sparkles of dust gather around him forming the dress with a puffy white slip layer under the dress. At his hands long white gloves materialized going past the elbow. Then a ribbon tied up his hair into two ponytails with the rest of the hair flowing free. The final touch was a cloth choker with a cute black ribbon tied in a bow.

Chiko returned to the normal darkness of the evening with a red face still. He tried not to look at it too much knowing already that he was thinking about it. He started to turn around the corner when he saw the Doctor enamored by him. The sight made him trip over his own shoe out in the middle of the doorway. Chiko became exposed to the men in the hall, who had a momentary lapse at the sight.

"You look so adorable, spin around!" the Doctor said clasping his hands together with stars of joy in his eyes.

"Get away from me. Now's not the time!" Chiko yelled back at him in his face as he suddenly heard the clicking of weapons. The brief respite that he had was over and they were now firing at him without mercy. "I'll make you pay for having me say these lines!" he said with anger intensifying his attack. "Cosmos Magic Star Rod!" A black rod with a yellow and white star at the end appeared in Chiko's palm as he grasped it.

"Now, from the dark void of emptiness where there is only vengeance, Cosmos Magic Striking Comet Stream!" The star at the end of the rod shined brightly before changing into a streaming line across the hall. It's light filled the hall as the men stood in shock and confusion. When the light subsided the bullets were all caught in a misty trail leaving them stunned. Chiko flicked the rod and the mist disappeared letting the bullets drop to the ground. While the men did not know what to do, Chiko charged towards them feeling lighter on his feet than usual.

"Now! Piercing the solitude of forever with the blade of infinity, Cosmos Magic Black Sword!" The rod in his hand changed again this time into a sword, a thick double-edged black metal sword with the star at the end of the hilt. Chiko swung at them once in a black arc trailing the sword's motion that knocked them all down. He looked down at them as they became surrounded in blackness immobilizing them.

Chiko did not waste anytime and used the sword to force the next door open that the men were protecting. "Come on doc, we don't have time to wait!" He saw more men in the next hall coming at him as he charged onward. "I'm coming Mashiro!"

Preview for the next episode:

"Trying to die on me now Mashiro?! You can't escape me that easily!"

"Ugh...I'm really not in the mood for this right now."

"Don't worry I will get you out of the clutches of that evil old lady."

"You know she is not that much older than you."

"That-that's beside the point! I'll rescue you since you can't seemed to help yourself."

"Arrogant aren't we now. Don't need me helping you anymore then?"

"What you talking about, I'm saving you so you can save me!"

"I think you got your brain scrambled up by Kohana."

"Never you mind that. And you're sidetracking me now. The next episode of The Inner Man, Rachel. Is this the final showdown between her and us? I sure hope it is, Mashiro won't live through a third time."

"Hey!"

"Hehe...better not miss it I'll be doing the kicking still! Tee hee!"