========================================================================= Date: Wed, 20 Mar 1996 10:24:54 -0500 Reply-To: Mike Breen Sender: Highlander TV show stories From: Mike Breen Subject: REVENGE AND REBIRTH III - Cast The First Stone, Part VI SHIKOKU, JAPAN - APRIL 1609 Kagero entered the darkened hut, praying that her Sensei and Dakuan were asleep, knowing they weren't, but wishing to get it over and done with. She looked at Patrick's form, shimmering in the lantern light, in the corner. Not looking at her, he said, "You went to him, didn't you?" Kagero was silent, looking at the dusty floor. "ANSWER me." "Yes," she said. Now Patrick turned to her fully, with his sword unsheathed. The blade glimmered in the flame, causing dapples of light across the hut's walls. In a lightning-fast move, he placed the blade at her neck, causing a small bead of blood to escape and run down its length. Quietly, he said, "I _told_ you not to do this, yet you deliberately disobeyed my order. I _should_ take your head." "Then do so now. I have dishonored you." At that, Patrick lowered his sword and said, "And you _still_ think so little of yourself that you want me to take your head, is that it?" "It does not matter what I think of myself, Sensei. I have brought dishonor and shame upon myself and you. I do not deserve to live. Are you _still_ so much a gaijin that you cannot understand that?" Patrick sheathed his sword and said, "I _do_ understand, perhaps too well. I forgive you, Kagero, and lift your dishonor." Kagero sat at the table and said, "He wouldn't see me." Patrick sat and raised an eyebrow. "He said I was a monster like Gemma and told me to make sure he never saw me again. And I wanted to see _him_ so much." "_Now_ do you begin to understand? What you want and what's good for you are not always compatible." She nodded sadly once again and said, "But I thought..." "You thought that since he already knew something of us from his fight with Gemma that there would be no harm in telling him the rest of it, and about yourself. It's not just to keep our secret that we don't tell our loved ones when we die, and break off everything and everyone. It's just as much for them. He was hurting from losing you, and you wanted to help him. That's understandable. But..." "It would have been better for him to think me dead than know the truth." Patrick nodded and said, "That, Kagero, is the beginning of understanding." "Be that as it may ninja girl," Dakuan said, "we still have a problem. Now that ninja Jubei knows you are alive, one hundred Immortals could not prevent Gemma from attempting to use you against him." "Exactly," Patrick said. "We _have_ to tell Kimagabi everything now. And _you_," he pointed at Kagero, "have to come with us. If Gemma was to find out where this house is, he'd capture you and use you as bait. Dakuan and I have a plan..." Jubei threw water on the fire and began breaking camp. It was morning, and time to move on. Kagero... he didn't want to think about that. Once again, he heard someone in the forests. He unsheathed his sword and said, "Show yourself." "Well. If it isn't my good friend Jubei Kimagabi," Dakuan said emerging from the shadows. "I thought the last time we met I told you I never wanted to see you again." "Yes, you seem to be doing a lot of that lately. You renounced the woman you love without letting her explain how she came to be as she is." "Kagero is like Gemma. An undieing monster." "Yes, Kagero is like Gemma. And yes, she is undieing and unaging. But she is no monster." At that Patrick emerged from the shadows with Kagero in tow. "It's time you learned everything," Patrick said. "You... you're the gaijin samurai." "Correct. I am Patrick O'Brien. It is an honor to meet you." "The honor is mine," Jubei said. Then, turning to Dakuan, he said, "For you to bring him here... you have my attention, old man." "Now that all old comrades are together again, I think perhaps it would be best if the Irelander told you himself," Dakuan said. Patrick told Jubei of the Game, the Prize, and the battle between good and evil. He told him of how he came across Kagero, and of the assistance he gave them in Motisuki. And he told him that Gemma was back. And through it all, Jubei ignored Kagero. "Then I'll take care of it. And if I die..." "You _can't_ take care of it. You've already tried to kill him," Patrick said. "But he _can_ be hurt," Jubei said. "I succeeded in cutting his throat and nearly beheading him seven years ago. Besides, this is a matter of honor." "It's _beyond_ honor now." "It's _never_ beyond honor. You wouldn't understand, being a gaijin." "I _wouldn't_ would I? I am four and a half centuries old. For the last seven decades I have been in China _and_ Japan. I have been a samurai longer than you've been _alive_. So who's _really_ the outsider here?" Throughout the day, the party discussed strategy for luring Gemma out into the open. Eventually it was decided, quite against Jubei's wishes, that he would be the bait, and _only_ the bait. Then Patrick would take over. Gemma was a big man, and Patrick had the best chance of defeating him. Jubei _was_ a skilled swordsman, and if it were a contest between two mortals, he would have killed Gemma long ago. But in their last fight, Gemma just kept coming, dieing and reviving, until the molten gold on the burning ship finally captured him, and sent him to the bottom of Motisuki harbor. This is what bothered Patrick _and_ Jubei. How could someone lift that big a bulk from that far beneath the surface? It could only mean that at least one more Immortals had drowned themselves several times bringing Gemma back to the land. Before they went to sleep for the evening, Patrick broached the question to Dakuan. "You are correct. Another Immortal _did_ rescue him, and killed himself several times in the process. It is someone relative to your past, Irelander, which is part of why I sought you out. The one who rescued Gemma from his golden hell is he who killed your beloved wife, Hejan Yi." "Kurdt VonHoffer," Patrick snarled. "Yes. VonHoffer was the first Sensei to Gemma. When he found out that he had gone down with the gold, he came to Motisuki, saw the ship's hulk in the harbor, and began his long task of bringing Gemma up to the surface. It took him five days and nights, but eventually he succeeded. Then it took him the better part of a year to remove all the gold he was encased in. The last year was spent in re-training him. When VonHoffer found out that Gemma had met his misfortune at the hands of Jubei and Kagero, he realized that Gemma would wish to seek revenge. He would find Jubei, Jubei would lead to Kagero, and Kagero would lead to you. So you see, _all_ of this is your doing. By choosing to stay in Japan, rather than returning to Europe to avenge your first Teacher, VonHoffer stayed as well, and found Gemma in time to mold him into the evil Immortal he is." "Jubei..." "What would you have me say, Kagero?" "That you missed me. That you loved me. That you _still_ love me." "I do. And that's why it hurts." "I cannot help what I _am_, Jubei." "I know. And I know you're not a monster. You can't help the way you were born." "Then why can't you accept it?" "Because..." Finally, Jubei looked her straight in the eye and said, "It's _because_ of what you are I cannot pledge myself to you. What will you do when I die in combat, or worse yet, become old and enfeebled?" "I..." Kagero fell silent. "I thought so. Once this mission is completed, we must go our separate ways. Forever." For two days they traveled south in the general direction where Gemma and VonHoffer had built their house. Soon after noontime on the third day, both Kagero and Patrick felt it. "What is it?" Jubei said seeing the far-away look in the two Immortals' eyes. "There's at least one other Immortal nearby," Patrick said. "You cannot tell more than that?" Dakuan said. "I might if Kagero wasn't here." "I can circle around the back and..." "No, Kagero," Patrick said. "We should stick together. You may have to take on Gemma yourself if VonHoffer is here. I intend on taking his head." "_Intend_?" "VonHoffer is as good a swordsman as I am. Besides, once I absorb his Quickening, I'll be down for a minute or so. You know as well as I that Gemma will take my head in that minute." "And this dosen't bother you, Irelander?" Dakuan said. "Not in the slightest. So long as I kill VonHoffer, nothing else matters." "I guess you're not such a gaijin afterall," Jubei said. Patrick smirked then looked at Jubei and said, "Are you ready?" "I'm ready." He got up and moved away from the brush that they were hiding in. Standing in the middle of the clearing, sword unsheathed, he screamed "GEMMA!!!" He didn't have to wait long. Gemma emerged, looking for all the world like he hadn't spent a year encased in gold. "Jubei," he said, nonchalantly. "I thought you would have sense to stay away from here. Where are your Immortal friends?" "What immortal friends? This is between you and me." "You know I can feel them just as they can feel me." Gemma clenched his fist and hit Jubei hard in the gut, sending Jubei's katana flying out of his hand, and Jubei collapsing to his knees. "Fine," Gemma said. "I'll kill you now." "Let's go," Patrick said to Kagero. "Stand ready." "Good luck," Dakuan said. Patrick jumped out of the bushes, Kagero behind him. Gemma, seeing the new challenge, said, "You must be the gaijin samurai. And Kagero, who's head I intended on taking back in Motisuki. I will enjoy taking your heads." He unsheathed his sword. It was at that moment that Kurdt VonHoffer, dressed in clothing worthy of a shougun, emerged from the house. "What's going on, Gemma?" he said. "That," he indicated the collapsed Jubei, "is Jubei Kimagabi. My old adversary. These two are Kagero and the gaijin samurai. Everything is going according to plan, Sensei." "Good," VonHoffer said. In a lightning-fast move, he turned towards Patrick and threw a dagger straight at his heart. Patrick, unable to block it, felt it enter his chest, pierce his heart, and do its damage. It wasn't the first time he was stabbed through the heart, and it wouldn't be the last. He collapsed to his knees, light-headed, as VonHoffer said, "You see, O'Brien, I cannot have you interfearing in my plan. Gemma wants your friends, I want you to suffer. Remember Yi, Irelander, when you come back..." "I suppose you feel smart," Jubei said, fingering the thin chord attached to his sword. "What do you mean, smart?" VonHoffer said. "Killing a man who hasn't had time to arm himself," the sword inched towards him... "is quite" closer... "dishonorable, even if his death," closer... "is _not_ permanent." Closer... "But then since you're" closer... "probably one of the Shogun of the Dark," closer... "and a gaijin besides, honor is a foreign concept to you!" Quicker than the human eye could follow, Jubei jerked the line and had the sword's hilt in his hand. With a blood-curdling scream, he attacked Gemma. Kagero, meanwhile, moved to attack Gemma from behind, saying, "Neither of us can kill him on our own, Jubei!" Dakuan made his move as well. He threw a poison-tipped dart at the retreating VonHoffer, catching him in the small of the back. He knew it wouldn't permanently kill him, but it _would_ slow him down. He then ran over towards Patrick and pulled the knife out of his heart. Patrick's eyes snapped open. "Aaa!" Dakuan said, startled. Patrick inhaled sharply. He sat and said, "Thank-you, Dakuan." Then he turned, and wide-eyed, stared at the two-on-one match playing itself out in front of him. He stood, grabbed Jubei by the shirt, and tossed him aside. "Irelander!" Jubei said. "This is a battle between two Immortals. You have no _right_ to interfere!" None of the three saw it happen, but the flash told them that the battle was over. Fearing the worst, they turned to see a victorious Kagero standing in the middle of the storm of Quickening, screaming and laughing. It knocked her to her knees, ignited several trees, and tore the paper barriers off of the house. When it was over, Patrick and Jubei moved towards her. But Jubei got there first and cradeled her in his arms. When her eyes opened, she smiled. The four set out to return to the hut that Patrick and Kagero had shared. Kagero knew that her training was now over. However much Jubei had helped her, However much they had unknowingly broken the Rules, she was now no longer a cub, but a player in the Game. Jubei understood why Patrick had such a violent reaction to he and Kagero taking on Gemma together, and he really didn't blame him. One day away from the ruins of Gemma and VonHoffer's house, they found VonHoffer's temporarily dead body at the side of the road. Dakuan examined it and smiled. He said, "Behold, ninja Jubei. This could have been you two years ago had not you and the ninja girl made love, and her poison killed that which I had infected you with." "You said you 'threw that hellish thing away' when I tried to kill you with that dart." "I also said you'd never see me again." "So you did." "And now, Irelander," Dakuan said to Patrick, "you can take the head of your adversary and be rid of him once and for all." "No." "No?" "No. There is no honor in killing a man who cannot defend himself." "I understand." In the mid-afternoon of the third day, the party reached Patrick and Kagero's house. Patrick looked at it and said, "This is where I say goodbye." "No, Patrick-sensei," Kagero said. "_I'll_ go." "Don't be foolish. It's time for me to move on. Maybe I'll go to work for the Tokugaua government." Jubei laughed and Dakuan said, "I don't think that's very funny." Kagero turned to Jubei and said, "I suppose _you'll_ be leaving too." "That depends," Jubei said. "Depends on what?" "On weather your Immortality has purged the poisons from your body, or you still kill the man you sleep with." Grinning evilly and taking Jubei by the hand, Kagero said, "You'll find out if you sleep with me." Smiling, Patrick watched Kagero and Jubei enter the house. Patrick turned to Dakuan and said, "Come, my friend. Let's see what kind of trouble we can stir up." BOSTON, MA, UNITED STATES - MARCH, 1996 "What will you do," Kagero said, "once you take VonHoffer's head?" "I don't know. Go away. Far away. I need some time to get myself back together. I just don't know how I can go on without her. I mean... no matter what happened to me, no matter how terrible a tragedy struck, I could always go to Rebecca. But now..." "Now you'll have to learn to stand on your own." Patrick nodded, then looked at his watch. He said, "I should get going." He stood, tightened his coat around him, and began to walk off. "Patrick-san!" He turned and looked at Kagero. She bowed deeply and said, "Fight with honor, my Sensei, and you will be victoious." Patrick turned, bowed, and said, "I will, Kagero. I will." Patrick stood on the Cambridge side of the BU Bridge which linked Commonwealth Ave with Memorial Drive, waiting for VonHoffer to arrive. Traffic was light at this hour, and no one would see their fight with the possible exception of a few hard-core intoxicated bar-hoppers staggering home after last call. He didn't have to wait long. The telltale tingling that warned him of another Immortal's approach was felt at the core of his being. He removed his sword from its usual place beneath his coat as VonHoffer appeared at the Boston end of the bridge. "It ends here, VonHoffer," Patrick said. "If your wish is to die tonight, Irelander, that is your prerogative. However, I had many more things I wanted to do with you. So much more planned. Destroying your life completely before you die would have been so gratifying. However, to take your head will be revenge enough for me." But Patrick chuckled and said, "There is nothing more that you can take from me now. And you are wrong about tonight. This night, vengeance is MINE!" With that, Patrick lunged at VonHoffer... "D'Gornio," he said as he picked up the phone. "Frank," the desk sergeant said. "There's a disturbance on the BU Bridge." "That ain't our precinct. I'm going home." "It's two guys fighting with swords." "Christ," D'Gornio said. "That's _all_ we need." The Headhunter case had been re-opened yet again when O'Riley's body had been found underneath the World Trade Center pier. His prime suspect, in fact his _only_ lead in this sorry mess, "professor" Patrick O'Brien, had been missing for twelve days now. The more he thought about it, O'Brien was looking like it. And the more he thought about it, O'Brien was looking untouchable. The CIA had denied him emphatically, but the CIA denies everything and everyone. The one way to be absolutely sure was to make an arrest and see what alphabet agency rose out of the soup to claim him. But without witnesses, without a shred of evidence, he had no grounds to make the collar. His only lead, the fact that Stink had been staring at his house, was flimsy at best, circumstantial at worst. He needed something else. _Anything_ else. He said into the phone to the desk sergeant, "Ok, send some uniforms down, and I'll be there as soon as I can." Patrick and VonHoffer had their blades locked. "I'm ending it here, VonHoffer," he said. "Too many innocents have suffered and died over the centuries because I let you live time and time again. I should have killed you in Japan when I had the chance. I won't let anyone else be destroyed!" VonHoffer pushed Patrick away and renewed his attack. Each time he attacked, Patrick blocked him, and turned his attacks against him. VonHoffer was afraid he wouldn't walk away from this bridge. Patrick's rage had focused him, and there was nothing he could do to counterattack. Suddenly, they both felt another Immortal nearby. Shrugging it off, They continued their fight. VonHoffer managed to collect himself and beat Patrick back to the railing against the edge of the bridge. They had their blades locked above Patrick's head. Patrick began to shift his grip so he could break free, when he heard a hauntingly familiar female voice say, "Patrick!" Astonished, Patrick lost his concentration as his eyes shot over towards the source of the voice, now standing not five feet away from them, her own sword unsheathed, her coat and hair billowing in the chill breeze from the river. Rebecca. Perhaps it was his astonishment at seeing her either alive or a ghost. Or perhaps it was the shifting of the grip on the hilt of his katana. Or perhaps it was both. But VonHoffer saw the opening, pressed down on the katana and caused it to leave Patrick's hands. The sword arched and tumbled and finally fell, point first, into the Charles river. And Patrick knew it was the end. He closed his eyes and waited. "FREEZE!!" "Drop the sword!!" VonHoffer raised his blade to deliver the fatal blow. "I said drop the fuckin' SWORD, asshole!!" Five uniform police surrounded Patrick and VonHoffer, guns drawn. VonHoffer dropped the sword to the ground as Frank D'Gornio got out of his car and began walking over to the scene. O'Brien, he recognized. And he wasn't very surprised to see him there. As for the other man who the uniforms had dragged over to the car and now had handcuffed, he looked familiar. As they stuffed him into the back seat, he knew where he had seen him before. "Oh my good God," was all he could say. Patrick walked over to Rebecca. She extended her hand towards his, and he took it, twining his fingers around hers. The flesh was there and _real_, Patrick could even feel the pulse at the bottom of the palm of her hand beating against his. Rebecca was alive. He was about to ask her what had happened to her when he felt his own coat get tugged and found himself slammed against a police cruiser. He felt his arms pulled together, felt the cuffs clamp around his wrists, and heard the uniform cop say, "You have the right to remain silent. If you should waive the right to remain silent, anything you say can be used against you. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, the Commonwealth will appoint one for you..." <<>> <<<"Revenge and Rebirth" will continue>>> <<>> (c) 1996 Mabnesswords We're now over half-way done! There's two more parts to tell, then "R&R" will be over. Thanks to everyone who voted in the "Rebecca Death Contest." The votes were overwhelmingly to spare her. In any event, the final tally was 25 said let her live, 3 said kill her. Here's a few quotes that I found extremely interesting and thought I'd share.