Badasses Of the Multiverse Book 5: “The Gambling Man.”

Volume 2: “Total Badass.”

Chapter 01: “A Buffet Of Crow.”

By Paul Cousins.

Copyright Disclaimer: All copyrighted places, characters, items, and events, within the story, are held by their current owners. No profit is being made on this work of fiction.

(_)

Reality, Lee's reality. Place, De La Plata Podrido, Mexico. Devil Hotel's Parking, on the north side of the island. Time, right after dark, two minutes after Lee escaped into the multiverse.

Benny was driving her car, as Dutch sitting on the front passenger’s side, and Janet sat behind Dutch, in the backseat.

They were coming back from the Plata Podrido Police Station, where they found out their lead was correct, and that Lee was the writer, with Police Chief Pedro Del Soto being Lee's willing accomplice, in their con of the women's family and friends.

They were currently heading back to the Devil's Hotel to capture Lee, while informing their family and friends of their discovery.

Both Dutch and Benny could tell that Janet was growing impatient.

Janet muttered, “The worst part about all of this, is the waiting.”

Given all three of them had enhanced hearing, due to a super-soldier serum they were given decades before, Benny and Dutch heard every word Janet said.

Benny kept her eyes on the road, as she stated, “Don't worry. We are coming up to the hotel, right now. Very soon, that bastard is ours.”

As Benny turned into the parking lot of the Devil's Hotel and Resort, from the entrance opposite to the Devil's Hotel building, what they saw in the parking lot was... Unexpected.

From the outside lights of the building, and parking lamp lights, along with their enhanced vision, they could clearly making out their family and friends, on the other side of the parking lot, from them.

They saw that their family and friends were standing together, facing towards the road, with looks of surprised and anger reflecting on their facing.

Benny slowed down her car, as she approached them, directly on the lane she was heading down. As she did so, as she asked, “What happen?”

Janet has moved to set in the middle of the backseat. She was looking between the two front seats, to the front window. Janet guessed, with more concern, than worry in her tone of voice, “From the look on their faces, I think Lee escaped.”

Dutch agreed, “That is possible. And if that is the case, from their expressions, it looks like each of them had a plate from a buffet of crow.”

Benny commented, “That is very likely.”

Janet said, “With Lee serving it.”

Dutch took a closer looked at the scowls of rage on several of the women standing in the parking lot, she asked, with concern in her tone of voice, “While I do not mind making commanding decisions. Taking into account the seriousness of the situation, I would like both of your opinions on the matter. Given how violent some of our friends and family can be, do you think it is wise to approach them?”

Benny suggested, “We will find Rock, and let her do the talking.”

Janet replied, “I agree. That would be the safest approach to take. Considering we want Lee, just as much as they do.”

Dutch stated, “Great idea. I think I even see her up front.”

Janet complimented, “And that is why I married you, Benny.”

Benny smiled, as she responded, “Thank you, dear.”

Benny then quickly found a parking play, near their family and friends.

Benny then put the car in park, turned off the ignition, pulled out the key, and pocket it.

After which, the three women swiftly got out of their car, and they walked briskly to the group of eighteen women, from their front.

A few seconds later, as they reached the group of women, they saw Rock was in front of the others.

With Rock having a calmer expression on her face than many of the women present.

As the three newcomers came to a stop, ten feet from the other women, Dutch turned to Rock, as she inquired, “What is going on here, Rock?”

Rock turned to Dutch, with a look of disbelief, and embarrassment, on her face. She answered, in a disappointed tone of voice, “Lee is the writer, and we had just confronted him. We then watched as he escaped into the multiverse, with my reality device.”

Benny questioned, in a disbelieving tone of voice, “How the hell did he get your reality device, Rock?”

Rock defended, “I only had it out on the bar counter for matter of seconds. And in that time, as a distraction, Lee had convinced Sam to walk up to Revy and I, and cop a feel from both of us. And his plan worked. As we beat on Sam, Lee walked beside me, and took the reality device.”

Dutch stated, “Given Lee's ideas in his stories, and the plans I have seen him pull off first hand, that little stunt has his fingerprints all over it.”

Rock said, “I know. And in the confusion that followed, I didn't realize I had lost my own reality device.”

Rock mentally berated herself, 'Especially, since I made such a big to do, towards everyone else, on keeping up with our reality devices, not to let them out of our sight, and not to lose them... I am such a hypocrite. Though, Lee is going to pay for this. It is just going to take a little more time to find him. But, at least we now know it is him. And that is something. All Lee has done is delay the inevitable.'

Benny guessed, “You figured out Lee was the writer, and you were so anxious to catch him, that you forgot that you left out your reality device.”

Rock admitted, in a bitter tone of voice, “Yes.” She then inquired, in a slightly calmer tone of voice, “And how did you find out Lee is the writer?”

Dutch said, “Our lead at the police station panned out.”

Rock replied, “Good. And we need some good news.”

Janet thought, 'And we may have another lead.' She inquired, “And that it is. So, is Sam still alive?”

Rock answered, “Miraculously. Yes. He is still breathing. We didn't beat him up that badly. Considering, after several seconds of doing so, I realized it was him. And I stopped hitting him. And I got Revy to stop hitting him.”

Dutch asked, “Where is he now?”

Rock said, “He is in the bar, right now. And we left him conscious. Though, he is in not shape to go anywhere.”

Janet responded, “Good. We have someone to question, after the girls calm down.”

Dutch looked over at the large group of women, then back at Rock, as she asked, with concern in her voice, “So, what is the current mental states of the women here?”

Rock stated, “Half of them are shocked that we were outwitted by someone most of us thought was a fool. And the other half are too angry to speak, or think clearly, at being denied their vengeance.”

Dutch question, “Which way is Revy?”

Rock looked over at Revy. She then turned back to Dutch, as she answered, “It is a toss up.”

Benny suggested, “Let's give them a few more minutes to calm down.”

Rock agreed, “That would be a good idea.”

Rock thought, 'It is too bad that Lee stole the our reality device, that had tracking abilities to it. Which is ironic. Though, I doubt Lee realizes that specific device can do that. It probably barely even knows how to work a reality device. So, we have the going for us.'

'Also, while the reality device has a homing device on it. We turned it off, so some of our other more dangerous friends would not accidentally come looking for us, and ruin our hunt.'

'Though, I believe that Dutch brought a tracking device. So, we still might be able to catch him. Yet, it would be best for everyone to calm down, before we do anything else.

The four women silently turned to look at the other women. They patiently waiting as the rest of the group worked out their frustration at the having victory snatched from them.

About a minute later, Mikoto, and the rest of the younger members of the group were the first ones to speak.

Mikoto commented, “Well, that man does know to make an exit.”

Nodoka agreed, “You got that right.”

Rebecca asked, “Lee knew who we were, since before the night we confront him with our weapons, at the Rats Nest. Yet, he was polite, and did not show any fear. How is that possible?”

Sarah commented, “Perhaps, beforehand, he made peace with his mortality.”

Kristina said, “That is possible. And his display of civility, and manners likely helped him, a lot.”

Yurika pointed out, “Well, it looks like we are going to have to go after him.”

Molly commented, “It is going to be so much fun going after him. Want to do the standard bet?”

Yurika replied, “Nah. Let's just find him.”

Molly said, “Agreed.”

Yukio commented, “At least this time, we know what to expect?”

Rebecca asked, “Which is?”

Yukio cracked a grin, as she joked, “The unexpected.”

A number of the other young women, giggled a little from Yukio's joke, which swiftly put them in a better mood.

Meanwhile, Sawyer had been one of the women that was more surprised with Lee getting away. In truth, she was not so much upset at losing Lee, but amazed that Lee was about to pull off such a daring in front of all of them, including herself.

Sawyer thought, 'Now, that I think about my experiences with Lee. I get the feeling that he thinks I am cute. And I won't admit to my friends here, but I am kind of happy that he got away. Given everything I have gained from his writings, I hold not anger towards him. I only came along on this hunt to meet the writer, which I have done, to support my friends, and to make sure my friends don't go overboard on their vengeance... And in all honesty, I am trying not to laugh at this current situation.'

Meanwhile, inside Violin's mind, Violin had calmed down enough, that she start to notice the mental laughter inside her soul. As she continued to hear the mental laughter, she quickly realized who it was, as she thought, 'Harvey, why are you laughing?'

Harvey happily answered, in thought, while still chuckling, 'I will tell you later, Violin. But damn, does Lee know how to leave in style.'

Next to Violin, Aeryn also calmed down. And she noticed her spouse's facial expression. She whisper to Violin, “Harvey?”

Violin turned to Aeryn, as she softly replied, “Yea.”

Nearby, Natsuru commented, “I cannot believe Lee pulled a Keyser Soze escape, right in front of us. And right after Revy called him on it.”

Akira stated, “The man excels at the impossible. Just look at the situation he is in.”

Natsuru replied, “I know.”

Ranma commented, “I cannot believe Lee successfully used that old large glasses and hat gag on us, to prevent us from realizing he was Mister Dance, for so long. I use to pull that stunt. I should have known better. And I should have called him on it, earlier. We might have caught him, if we did.”

Ranma thought, 'Though, to be honest. I am just annoyed that I lost, on principle. I am not that upset at losing Lee. He has always been nice to use.' She turned to look at Natsuru, Akira, and their three daughters, as she continued her thoughts, 'And I owe him a lot, for what he has given to me...' She said her family turn to look at her, as she mentally reflected, 'To us.'

Meanwhile, Shenhua thought, 'I cannot believe Lee got away. Fortunately, I have an ace of my own.' She turned to Lotton, as she asked, “Lotton, you are one of the most savvy women I know. Where would Lee go?”

Lotton turned to Shenhua, as she answered, “Shenhua. Thank you, for the compliment. But, Lee is likely more savvy than I am. All I can say is that wherever he went is likely not his final destination. It is just the next link, in a long chain, that would lead to his complete escape from us.”

Shenhua replied, “I appreciate your answer, Lotton.” She mentally grumbled, 'Damn.'

Revy finally found her voice, as she inquired, “One thing I do not understand is what would set Lee off to check of the hotel so quickly? He was clearly packed, and on his way out, before he stole Rock's of the reality devices.”

Lotton pointed out, “We already had that conversation.”

Revy sheepishly admitted, “I wasn't paying attention.”

Shenhua stated, “One track mind, Revy.”

Revy barked, “You better pray that does not become a nickname!”

Shenhua warned, “Don't tempt me.”

Rock spoke up, with a firm tone of voice, “Ladies. Focus on the matter at hand. Save the violence for Lee.”

Both Revy and Shenhua backed down, as the looked over at Rock.

Dutch agreed, “That would be a good idea. And to answer your question, Revy. We also found out the reason, a few minutes ago. That reason being the Lovelace maids are in town. And I would guess that Lee found out.”

Revy agreed, “That would do it.”

Rock stated, “And as I said before. That would also explain the singing confession he tried to do. Let us be honest. With full knowledge about us and the maids. Whom would you prefer to turn yourself over to? Us? Or, the maids?”

Revy, Benny, Dutch, and Janet replied, in unison, “Us.”

Benny commented, “Though, it would be one hell of a gamble. That while what we would do to him would be survivable. Then, that we would not turn him over to the maids. When we were finished with him. But, being a gambler, I could him see rolling the dice on that bet.”

Suddenly, everyone watched a recognizable food truck pulled up into the parking lot, and soon park near the group.

The group of women watched the trucks two front doors opened. Eda got out of the driver's seat, and Yolanda exited the front passenger seat.

As the two blond women walked up to the group, while still wearing their casual work clothing, they looked at the other women.

Yolanda and Eda came to a stop, a ten feet from the other women. They calmly looked at the women, as Yolanda calmly stated, “I take it. from the looks on your faces. That you know that Lee is the writer. And that Lee has already escaped.”

Revy replied, in an annoyed tone of voice, “Yea. And yes. You literally just missed him. He stole Rock's reality device, and jumped realities, right before we had him.”

Eda cracked smile, as she said, “You got to admit, that man's sense of timing is incredible. I guess being a pre-cog has its perks.”

Rock inquired, “I guess so. Now, what caused you two to run down here in such a hurry? And how did you figure out Lee is the writer?”

Eda explained, “We just talked to Roberta, and Fabiola. We all figured out the writer was Lee, at the same time. We wanted to get here, to prevent, a bloodbath. Lee may have screwed us, but he doesn't deserve whatever the maids have planned for him.”

Dutch snickered, as she stated, “You would know. Still, you may have a point. I wouldn't wish the maids against my worst enemy. Which Lee currently is. I am just embarrassed that the maids figured out that Lee was the writer, only hours after entering the city.”

Rock turned to face Dutch, as she stated, in an even tone of voice, “Embarrassing for you? You weren't here from the beginning. Lee suckered us. And we didn't even see it. We are suppose to be brilliant, cunning, and genre savvy. And Lee was able to trick us for months on end.”

Revy thought for a few seconds. She then commented, “Well, Chang might have figured it out. But, if so, there is no way to prove it.”

Natsuru was listening to the conversation, as she realized, in thought, 'Oh man. That mess Lee was talking to be about, by the hotel pool, the night after the poker game, was us. It figures. I cannot really hate him. He knew he was screwed then. And he knew he could not ask for my help, without tipping me off that he was the writer. And he knew that would put me in a bind. That is why he stopped me from telling him about reality travel.'

'Honestly, I was on the verge of telling Lee about the multiverse, against Rock's orders, and Lee must have guessed that. Also, since Lee is the writer, I am starting to think that the writer is less a scumbag, and more an idiot, like the rest of us.'

'Though, I doubt anyone here will listen to me. But, I will talk to Ranma and Akira about this tonight. When we are alone.'

'Still, I can help in other ways. Such as this discussion.'

Natsuru spoke up, “Don't feel bad about it, guys. Since Lee had to show so many of his secrets. Except that big one. At his poker game with River. And anyone that just came onto the scene would likely start to see that the wheels were already starting to come off of Lee's long con. I spoke to him, a few nights ago. And it sounded like even he realized that.”

Yolanda inquired, “Still, the most important question, concerning the maids, is whom here was fool enough to contact them about Lee, and his stories?”

Sawyer turned to Yolanda, as she confessed, in a solemn, sober tone of voice, “That is my fault.”

Yolanda turned to Sawyer, as she scolded Sawyer, in a very mother superior fashion, “Little one, do you realize that if things had gone differently, the maids might have torn this city apart looking for Lee? That many people would have died, and it would have caused unwanted attention to be draw towards us, by the rest of the world.”

“This planet has a fully functioning internet, and video cellphone, systems. And the maids rampaging across the city, in their uniforms, with their faces, hair colors, and hair styles, would likely be recorded. With those videos being released onto this internet, and going viral, across the world wide web, within hours.”

“From my time spent on this world, I realized that the people of this world are many things, but they are not idiots... Well, most of the are not... And I am sure you have realized this, as well. They will put two and two together, and realize the maids are the same maids from the Black Lagoon series. Then, the real shit hit the fan for all of us. Both us, and the population of this planet.”

“When those on this planet realize that multiverse travel, and world as myth, are both real.”

Rock listened to Yolanda, as she thought, 'Sometimes we forget that when it comes to the alumni of Roanapur, that Yolanda is up there with Balalaika, and Chang, in terms of authority, and being a badass. But, unlike the other two, Yolanda is more discreet about such matters.'

Sawyer looked down in shame, as she answered, in a meek tone of voice, “Yes. I now realize my mistake. I'm sorry. I mentioned, and sent a copy of the stories to Roberta without thinking. It happens. At least, the worst case scenario did not happen.”

Though, Yolanda still had a firm expression on her face, she agreed, in a more calm, and polite manner, “True. And I am glad you learned your lesson.” She then looked at the rest of the group, with a calm expression, on her face, as she requested, “So, is there anything that we can salvage this situation. Or, has Lee disappeared on us for good?”

Yolanda thought, 'While, I hope Lee gets away. It is wise to keep these women focused, and now allow them to vent out their frustrations on innocent people.'

Rock stated, “Well, we do have Lee's friend, Sam. So, we might be able to get some answers. I got a feeling that Sam may have known that Lee was the writer, for a while.”

Yolanda said, “Good. There is at least, that.” She thought, 'And I will make sure that Sam does not suffer to much, for clearly being a loyal friend to Lee.'

Eda requested, “I would like to ask that man some questions, as well.” She thought, 'Though, ask. In a manner that requires no pain be brought to anyone.'

Revy smirked, as she stated, “Who doesn't. And at least we have someone, deserving, to take our anger out on.”

Yolanda remained calm, as she turned to look at Revy.

Rock said, “Well, come on. We better get this started.” She then turned towards the hotel, started walking passed the other women, and back towards the lobby entrance to the Devil's Hotel.

Most of the other women began to follow Rock.

Meanwhile, Dutch thought, 'I can see where the is going. I think it would be wise to get something from the car, and catch up with them.'

Dutch then ran back to the car that she, Benny, and Janet, had just used. She used her personal keys to unlock the trunk of the car, and she pull out a small item in her left hand. She then used her right hand to shut, and lock the back of the car. After which, she used her right hand to pocket her keys.

Afterward, while Dutch carried something in both her hands, to make sure she did not drop it, as she turned and walked briskly, to catch up with the other women. She caught up with the women, right as they all started making their way into the entryway of the front lobby of the Devil Hotel.

As Dutch caught up with the group, she saw that Benny and Janet were bringing up the rear of the group

Benny and Janet turned to see Dutch join them.

They saw what was in Dutch's hands, as Benny complimented, “Good idea, Dutch.”

Dutch replied, “Thanks. Someone had to get one of these things. And the sooner we use this thing, the better.”

Janet agreed, “You are right about that. Now, let us find this bastard.”

The three women then turned, and joined their family, and friends, inside the Devil's Hotel.

(_)

Around that time, across town, on the south side of the island, inside Daiyu Casino, in Chang's penthouse office, he sat behind his desk, in his nice, personal chair, as he had a meeting with his chief of security, Malcolm Reynolds, whom was sitting in a chair in front of Chang's desk, to Chang's right side. With the chair to Chang's left, across the desk, from himself, being empty.

Both of them were male. Chang was in his usual black suit, coat, and his light shade of black side-gusset dress shoe loafers. Though, given it was nighttime, he did not have on his sunglasses, which were in an interior coat pocket, on his person.

Malcolm was in his black suit, with black dress shoes.

Both men were armed. Malcolm with a semi-automatic pistol, in a should holster, under his left armpit. While Chang had his two semi-automatic pistols, in their belt holsters, beside each other, on his lower back, at his waistline.

Malcolm Reynolds had scheduled this meeting on short notice, and Chang allowed it do to the fact that Mal would not want to meet with him so quickly, on something, unless it was important.

Chang had just met with Mal, at his office, with Mal shutting the office door, to the hallway, behind them, as they had seated themselves.

Chang thought, 'This set up has turned out better than I had hoped. While I have my operation back to the same level it was in Roanapur. I don't have any superiors to deal with. And my organization is filled with competent people. My only concern is that River likes to disappear at random. But, I will figure out what is going on with her, soon enough. Besides, I have more important concerns to worry about.'

Chang focused on Mal, and he saw Mal looking back at him, with Mal having a calm expression on his face.

Chang requested, in english, “So Mal, what is it that you wanted to speak to me about, on such short notice?”

Mal said, in english, “Well, I just learned that half the police force, including Police Chief Del Soto, have left town, an hour ago, for some reason. Though, my team and I have yet to find out why.”

Chang stated, “That is interesting. Pedro knows who we are. From what I understand, he has for some time. Everything I have learned about him states he is a badass in his own right. And he has known for a while what was going on.”

Chang mentally reflected, 'It is best I do not mention to Mal that Lee is the writer. If for any other reason, than the fact I would be admitting that I knew that Lee was the writer, and I had yet to tell him. With him realizing that I likely knew for at least the few days. Since after Lee's poker game with River.'

Chang continued, “Pedro did not run when Revy and her crew showed up. Nor, did he run when we showed up.”

Mal responded, “I know. That is what concerns me. Also, another concern is how many of his officers know about us, as well?”

Chang stated, “I would say the half that left know about us. And whatever, or whomever it was, it must have seriously scared them, to want to leave in a hurry.”

Mal asked, “The questions are, who spooked them? And is this person a threat to us?”

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door.

Mal turned in his chair, to face the door, as Chang looked towards the door, across the room from his desk.

Chang inquired, in english, “Who is it?”

On the other side of the door, a woman's voice said, in english, with a chinese accent, “Mister Chang, I know you wish not to be disturbed, but I believe that this is an exception, considering who is here to see you.”

Chang ordered, “Then, let them in.”

One of Chang's female subordinates, in a black suit, open the door. She then let Roberta and Fabiola into the room. With the women, in black and white maids uniforms, walked into the room. With women coming to a stop, a few feet inside the room, as they faced Chang and Mal.

Mal stated, “At least we now have our answer as to who scared them.”

Chang kept his eyes on the maids, as he agreed, “Yes. These two ladies would do it.”

Chang then looked over at his subordinate, as he complimented, “You did the right thing to bring them to me. I will let you know if we need you.”

The woman simply nodded in response. She then shut the door behind her. Next, she turned, and briskly walked down the hallway, to get away from the two terrors she had to escorted to her employer.

Inside Chang's office, Fabiola remained silent, as Roberta flatly greeted them, in english, “Hello Chang. Hello Mal.”

Chang calmly said, “Hello Roberta. Hello Fabiola.”

Mal casually replied, “Hi girls.”

Roberta said, “Chang, I heard you went back in business, and started a casino again. I did not realize it was here. Once I learned that this casino was named Daiyu, and whom else was here, I realized it had to be you.”

Chang commented, “Yes. It is obvious. And well, the location was good, and the prices were right.”

Roberta replied, “After walking around this town, I would agree that this city is a good fit for you.”

Chang inquired, “Thank you. So, what can I do for you ladies?”

Roberta stated, “We have just come to town, and we believe that we know who the writer is.”

Fabiola spoke up, in english, “He is the man named, Lee.”

Chang thought, with more annoyance, than worry, 'Oh no. Talk about dropping a grenade in a crowded pool. I think Pedro may have had the right idea.'

Chang remained calm, while Mal's jaw dropped.

As Mal composed himself, he stated, “Lee is the writer? I was less than a foot from him, at one point. I even shook his right hand at one point.”

Roberta commented, “Yes. Lee is clearly a slippery one. He lost us at the Rat Nest, before we realized who he was.”

Chang asked, “Is the Rats Nest still in one piece?” He mentally lamented, 'Knowing them and bars, I doubt it.'

Roberta answered, “No. But, the bartender left before the fireworks. So, she would be alive.”

Chang thought, 'Sometimes, I hate being right. But, at least that cute bartender is alive.' He replied, “That is nice.”

Roberta pointed out, “And given your calm expression, Chang, you clearly knew that Lee was the writer, before I said it.”

Chang smirked, as he commented, “Guilty, as charged.” He thought, 'Well, it looks like I am going to have to tell Mal, and the others, likely earlier than I had planned too.'

Mal turned around to face Chang, as he said, “You knew?”

Chang turned to Mal. He shrugged, as he stated, “I was wondering how to tell you, Mal. I did not want you to kill him, just yet.”

Mal relaxed, as he replied, “Okay.”

Chang thought, “Well, he took the news much better than I had hoped he would. I hope the others take the news just as well.'

Chang then looked over as the maids, as he continued his thoughts, 'Though, I still need to deal with these two more immediate problems.'

Chang said, “But, I am not going to cross you two. So, I take you it that you two ladies want to head to the Devil's Hotel?”

Roberta warned, “Yes. And, as you believe, it would be wise not to cross us.”

Chang stated, “I will have a limo escort you over to the hotel.” He thought, 'And my having a car, and not a limo take you two. That will help put you both in a better mood, towards me.'

Fabiola stated, “No tricks. Eda already lied, and gave us directions here.”

Chang commented, “Really? You might find this interesting to know. I do not have all the details, yet. Because I wasn't here at the time. But, from what I understand, Eda and Lee has a one night stand.”

The maids looked at each other for a few seconds, then back at Chang and Mal.

Fabiola said, “That is interesting.”

Chang pulled out his cellphone, and opened it with his hands, as he looked over at the two maids. He calmly offered, “Ladies, make yourself comfortable. I want you both happy, while you are here. I will have a limo ready for you, within a few minutes.”

Roberta responded. “As long as you get us to that hotel, as soon as possible, we will be happy with you.”

Chang replied, “That ladies, is what I intend to do.”

Chang looked down at his cellphone. He dialed the hotel extension phone for his casino's limo service, into his cellphone, as he thought, 'I will cannot handle handle both the maids, and Mal, at the same time, over Lee. I am just going to have to let the maids go after Lee. While I work on a different angle with helping, Lee. Which requires me to figure a way to placate the maids, Revy and her crew, Mal and likely Spike. The last two should not be that much of a problem, since they work for me. The rest, on the other hand, will be a problem. But, a problem I have dealt with before.'

'Also, it is a good guess that once the maids get to the Devil's Hotel, they will inform the others that Lee is the writer. If they do not already know. Given Eda gave the maids wrong directions, she and Yolanda likely already headed to the Devil's Hotel, to help Lee. And they will likely spill the beans to Revy, Rock, and the others, that Lee is the writer.'

'I would not be surprised if both of them have no developed a soft spot for Lee. Yolanda, for what Lee gave back to her. And Eda, for the way Lee has treated her. Even at River's poker game, Lee comments on Eda were polite. And those two supporting Lee will only help me with my long term plan. Because, they have the ears of many of those within Revy's group, and even the maids may listen to them, with time.'

'And I do not have to worry about Lee not knowing about the maids. Given Pedro was warned of the maids. That mean someone warned him. And that could only be Lee. So, Lee knows about the maids, and he has probably already escaped the Devil's Hotel, and this island, before Eda even reached the Devil's Hotel.'

'Roberta did say that Lee gave them the slip once. So, he already know the maids were in town.'

'And given Lee's skills. As long as he is a moving target, he buys me time to help him, in the long run.'

'Still, I wonder why the maids are after Lee? Lee, nor myself, did anything horrible to them. The only questionable things he did was to Garcia... That gender bending curse... Yes. That would send them on the warpath.'

'Though, this may still be a salvageable situation. Given my offer to Lee. I will just have to think on this for a while, as I hope Lee can stay one step ahead of everyone. And given Lee skills, that he has shown so far, he does have a good chance in doing so. He escaped the maids once, and he has a head start, which will buy us both more time.'

'Perhaps, I should ask River for help, on this problem, the next time I see her. She has been a good sounding board, for the last few days, as we have been trying to iron out our plan, to bring Lee into the fold. By saving his life, getting the other off his back, and giving him a job. We just have not exactly figured out how to do that, yet.'

'But, for right now, I just need the maids away from here, so I can further plan what my next moves are going to be on this matter. And I already have a few ideas on what I am going to do next. But, I will think on them, in a little while. Once, the maids are on the other side of the island, and I do not have to worry about them causing me trouble.'

Chang then held his cellphone up to right ear, as he heard the other end of the line picked.

Next, Chang began to make arrangements to get a limo ready, to take Roberta and Fabiola from his casino, across the town, to the Devil's Hotel, and thus getting him, his personnel, his customers, and his casino, out of the line of fire.'

(_)

At that moment, inside the Devil's Hotel restaurant, by the outside of the bar counter, facing the right wall, River was still male, in his disguise, as Sam. With hims still in his male, casual clothing and black cowboy boots. Though, River did not have on his fake beard, which he had in her right side pants pocket.

River was in a sitting position, on the floor, as he leaned his back against the bar counter wall, between to stools, while he collected himself. His groin was still sore from the blow to that region of the body, which Revy had given him, for daring to cope a feel of both Revy and Rock.

And to be honest, River felt herself fortunate that was the only really painful injury he had received, from the beating that Revy and Rock gave her, for her stupid act, which allowed Lee to steal Rock's reality device, and hopefully escape into the multiverse, before anyone else realized what had happened.'

It was then, that River heard foot steps coming into the room, from the restaurant entrance, to his right side.

River looked up, and over to her right, to see the group of badass women walk back into the bar. River did a quick mental scan of them to find that Lee was not there, and that he had indeed escape into the multiverse.

River happily thought, 'At least Lee escaped. And into the multiverse. And in Lee doing so, it made the pounding I got, worth it. Still, except for the soreness in the groin, I am over the pounding. And none of the women coming towards me, know that myself, as River, and my fake identity as Sam, in my male form, are one in the same.'

'And I never really showed these women my male form. The subject just did not come up. The only people that would recognize my male form, are my brother, and my friends from the Serenity, including Chang.'

'I lucked out, that with my fake beard, I was able to fool Chang, as to who I was. On the few times I had to meet Chang, as Sam, in both of Chang's genders.'

'And this is why I avoided the casino, as Sam.'

'Still, they are likely going to want answers from me, in very harsh ways. And if I want to avoid some more pain, injury, and possibly death, I better show them that who really am.'

'Fortunately, I have long since learned to sneeze on command. Though, I need to wait for the proper time to do this.'

River, and everyone else in the bar, heard Revy order, in a direct, flat, no nonsense tone of voice, in english, “Everyone out. Now.”

Melvin, and the other people still in the bar, took one looked the large group of women walking into the bar, whom clearly were in no mood for questions, and they quickly go up, and walked around the women, to exit the restaurant.

(_)

From behind the bar counter, Melvin stood, as he looked at the women whom just came into the bar. He thought, 'It looks like Lee was able to escape. There is no other reason the girls would be this pissed off. Still, that is to be expected. And I am happy Lee escaped. Though, it is best that I discreetly get my gun, and leave.'

'And given the situation, I settle up with the customers later. Paying the bills is not worth our lives.'

'I will check back here, in two to three hours. To see if the girls have left. If they have left, I will clear up, then. If they are still here, I will wait until morning, to come back and clean up.'

Given Melvin wanted to make sure none of the women even saw him with a gun, and risk an unneeded confrontation. Melvin decided that rather than walking over and pulling out his gun, from its holster, under the bar counter. And then tucking it in his shirt. He instead pulled out a small, cardboard wine box, that was on a shelf, under the counter, near a small trash can, which had a plastic bag in it.

The box was for a bottle of wine he had brought to a pair of customers, at a nearby table, a few minutes ago.

Melvin placed the wine box under the bar counter, by where he had his semi-automatic pistol was holstered. He then stealthy pulled out his pistol from under the counter, and he placed the firearm in a wine box. The hammer of his firearm was half-cocked, so it would not fire. After he was sure the pistol was secured, he closed the wine box, and he carried the box, with him, out from around the front exit to the bar counter, passed the women and out of the restaurant.

(_)

Meanwhile, on the other side of the counter, near where Melvin had been, River was about to start to get up, Revy turned, and pointed at River, with her right hand and extended right index finger.

Revy stated, “You stay. Now, get up, walk over there, and sit in that chair.”

Revy pointed at a nearby chair, in the center of the room, which, in the commotion, had been set away from the table it had come from, with the chair facing the front doors, and the women whom were not interested in River, in a bad way.

Revy then dropped her right hand to her side.

River mentally reflected, 'Well, I guess I was right. It looks like I am going to have to pay the piper on this. Though, it could be worse. And this just means I will have to implement my plans. At the proper time.'

River got up, and walked over to the chair Revy ordered him to go sit in, and he sat down in it. As River did so, he faced the door, and the standing women by the double-doors of the entrance.

A minute later, after the room fully cleared out, save for River, and Revy's crew, women then walked around, in a semi-circle around River, in a direction where they were looking River, in his face.

Some of the women pulled out chairs, from nearby tables. Turning the chairs around to face River, as they sat in them. Other women sat in chairs around the tables, as they faced River. A few even walked to the nearby bar counter, on the left side of the room, here they sat on the stools by the bar counter, or stood, and leaned their back against the bar counter, while the faced River.

Among those at the bar, Dutch sat in a stool, a few feet from the rest of the group at the bar counter. While the others had their attention focused on River, Dutch was working on a tablet like device. She had pulled the tablet device from her car. The device scanned for, and tracked, reality traveling.

While, Dutch listened on the conversation next to her, she worked on the tablet device, as she silently thought, 'Someone had to do the work around here, while the rest of the girls play.'

(_)

Back in the center of the room, River outwardly remained calm, as he looked around the room, at the women staring back at him. Though, when he heard Dutch's thoughts, he inwardly laughed.

By then, Revy walked up to River. Revy stood six feet from River, as she looked own at River's face, while she smirked.

In response, River silently looked up at Revy's face.

Revy continued to smirk, as she said, “Now Sam. You are going to tell us everything about Lee, and yourself.”

River thought, 'Now, would be the proper time.' He shrugged, as he replied, “Well, if that is what you want, Revy. I might as well start with the big secrets, first.”

River made himself sneeze, and instantly changed into a much smaller, very recognizable, woman.

Nearly all the women exclaimed, in unison, “River?!”

River looked around the group, as she chirped, “Surprise.” She then used her hands to swiftly tightened her belt a few notches, around her now smaller waistline. She also leaned down, and retied her boot laces tighter. When she was finished, she leaned back up in her cushioned chair.

Benny asked, “Wait a minute. How can you and Sam be the same person? We saw you both at the same time at the talent contest.”

River replied, “Time travel.”

Benny inquired, “Oh. And since you, as Sam was upset, with you as River. I am guessing that Sam was your past version, and you as River was the future version in that situation.”

River confirmed, as she said, “Correct. While I was Sam, as the judge for the contest, I was annoyed that my future self would crash that party, with Chang. Whom did not know what was going on. I was not planning to do that, at the time. I was worried that my future self would blow my cover as Sam. And my future self would not tell me what was going on, telepathically, until after the contest.”

Benny said, “Now, that I think about it. You almost did blow your own cover, then.”

River replied, “I know. I made mistakes during this whom adventure.”

Benny commented, “Okay. I guess that makes sense, in our crazy life.”

River held back a giggle, as she thought, 'You don't know how crazy it is.'

Janet had been paying attention to the conversation. She asked, “River, that is one of the least of your mistakes, during your time here. Still, I want to know, why did you time travel, into your recent past, and crash the talent contest, in the first place?”

River coyly answered, “I had very important reasons in doing so. We will likely cover those reasons, in a few minutes.” She thought, 'It is because, that was when I learned Lee is dying of cancer. And informing you of Lee's cancer, at this point, might earn him some points towards mercy, from some of you.'

Janet replied, “Fine.”

Meanwhile, Revy had to spent several seconds silent, as she fought to keep herself calm enough to speak, after learning that River had tricked them all, and aided Lee in escaping.

By then, Revy was finally able speak in a manner, that was not laden with curse words. She inquired, with barely control angry, more towards herself for being tricked, than towards River, “River. Of all the damn people we know, that could pull a stunt like this. It had to be you. How long have you been at this?”

River calmly said, “Since before you got here. I have been implementing my plans before Lee even crossed the Mexican-U.S. border. And during that time, I got to know, Lee. He really is a nice guy.”

Janet inquired, “Be that as it may. How long has Lee known that you, and Sam, were the same person?”

River commented, “Not until very recently. I revealed who I was, with an intentional sneeze, right after we ditched the maids, late this afternoon.”

Violin spoke up, “That makes sense, considering anyone could tell that Lee was scared to be near you, as a woman, during the poker game.”

River conceded, “Yes. I regret that I could not tell Lee the truth, at that time.”

Benny inquired, “Given how meticulous Lee clearly is, with his planning, and actions. How did he take the news of your real identity?”

River answered, “He honestly took the news a lot better than I expected he would.”

Akira inquired, “Did he laugh? Or cry?”

River admitted, “He laughed, because he did not feel like crying.”

Akira commented, “Well, he took the news better than I would have.”

Aeryn pointed out, “Considering you stated that Chang did not know that you and Sam, were not the same person, during the talent contest. Am I correct in assuming that Chang continues to not know that you and Sam are the same person?”

River answered, “Yes. Chang does not. I did this on my own.”

Kristina stated, “Chang is going to be pissed when he learns that you let Lee win that poker game, and lost him a million dollars.”

River said, “No. Lee won that game, fair and square. With Chang likely making more money, on the back end, with Lee winning, than if I had won.” She thought, 'Actually, I know for a fact, from reading Chang's mind. And talking to him, after the poker game, that Chang did make more money with Lee winning. Not that I am going to tell any of you, and risk putting you into worse moods. Though, I need to remind you.'

River commented, “Besides, neither of us wanted to be in that game in the first place.”

River looked over at Revy, as she continued, “And we are still both annoyed with you, Revy, and Chang, over that. That is one of the reasons I let Lee talk me into copping a feel of yours and Rock's asses, Revy.”

Ranma snorted, as she said, “And we thought you were crazy before.”

Nodoka commented, “After doing something like that, I am surprise you are still alive.”

River said, “Honesty. So, am I.”

River thought, 'Though, I dodged, or leaned out away from most of their more dangerous blows, without you realizing it. Though, there is something you all need to know, on that matter.'

River stated, “And for those whom have not experienced it. Getting hit in the groin, as a man, does hurt as bad as men say. For women, it is not as bad, but close. Women just don't have the lasting soreness afterward that men do from being hit in that place. And don't change back into a woman, after having that happen. The pain, and soreness, just moves, and enlarges, if you do.”

River placed her right hand over her lower stomach, as she grimaced in pain, for a few seconds.

Rock stated, “It still serves you right for doing that to us.”

River responded, “I am not going to argue that point.”

Rebecca asked, “What about your beard? When you were, Sam?”

River commented, “It is completely fake. I have it in my pocket. I saw no point in wearing it, once Lee knew who I was. Besides, it sometimes gets itchy when I wear it. Still, the beard even fooled, Lee. And it is very hard thing to fool Lee. As Benny stated, Lee is meticulous. He was watchful of every little detail. I guess it comes with being a writer.”

“I figured, since he wrote it so that gender bending prevents beard growth, which I am happy about. Almost as much as no longer having to deal with monthly periods.”

Ranma interrupted, “Speak for yourself.”

River said, “Point taken. Anyway, I figured that wearing a full fake beard, the same color as my dyed red hair, would be a blind spot for Lee. And I was correct.”

Molly asked, “Everyone has a blind spot. So, why did you do all this in the first place?”

River responded, “The same reason, as for almost all my actions. Curiosity. I am a super-genius whom is not a villain. Though, I date one. It is very hard for me to find something that keeps my interest for very long. But, doing this, and being with Lee, has kept my interest for the last few months. That is a rarity for someone like me.”

Yolanda inquired, “What was it about Lee that kept you interested?”

River stated, “Well, as I said. Lee is a nice guy. He makes for a great, loyal friend. But, another thing is his precognitive skills. Since his ability is almost completely instinctual, I could not read his mind when he used it, while playing cards.”

“This made for an interesting situation, when playing cards with Lee, while he used is precognitive abilities. Which he was up front about, when he was doing so. And there was no cheating on his part.”

“Though, even with my intelligence and telepathy, when he used his precognition, I was the one with the disadvantage at the card table. And I do love a challenge. Especially, when the person challenging me is so polite when playing me. And when that person is being honest and open about using such abilities.”

River thought, 'I loved helping Lee develop his... Or more actually, her precognition, and bringing out her true potential. Lee and I, are both, deep enough in the hole, as is. I should never mention that Lee is a male to female transsexual to these women. They likely would not understand.'

Yukio joked, “Damn. You two really do need to get a room. Speaking of which, are you going to dump Chang for Lee?”

As meticulous as River was being, as well. Yukio's comment caught River off guard. As such, River swiftly stated, “No. I like Chang too much. He has kept my interest for years.”

Yukio thought, 'But, how much do you like, Lee?' She noticed River staring at her, and obviously reading her mind. She continued her thoughts, 'Don't worry, I will keep your secret. Besides, I admire Lee for what he did for my sisters, and I. For our second chances at life. And good lives at that. We owe him big. And we really don't want to see him hurt.'

River cracked a smile towards Yukio for a few seconds. She then looked away from Yukio, towards the rest of the group.

Benny inquired, “River, it is becoming clear that your plan was to capture Lee, and inform us. So, at what point were you going to tell us that Lee was the writer?”

River said, “When I had Lee where I wanted him. I was real close to getting him to surrender to me. I was planning to both help him, while negotiate some form of redress of grievances for you, against Lee.” She mentally added, 'Though, Chang was working on an even better deal for Lee. And when I learned of this plan, by reading Lee's mind, I made my plan, plan B. So, I was really buying time, and help Chang with his plan. But, I am not going to tell any of you that.'

Revy looked at Rock. Rock noticed the slightly confused look on Revy's face. She explained, “River was working towards having Lee turn himself over to her, and let us have our revenge, but not as much as we likely planned.”

Revy did not reply, as she turned back to face River.

River stated, “Then, the maids came to town, and my plans blew up in my face. Though, Lee still trusts me. And I look forward to seeing him again.”

Revy said, “After this stunt, we are not letting you anywhere near Lee.”

River could sense most of the women agreed with Revy's sentiments.

River thought, 'Oh well. I can help Lee in other ways.'

Janet realized, as she accused, “Wait a minute, River. You can read minds, and you have been with Lee for this entire time.”

River thought, 'There is no point in denying the obvious. Still, they are not going to get what they want from me, that easily.'

River admitted, “Yes. I read Lee's mind. But, do not think for a second that I am going to tell any of you about his deepest, darkest secrets. If I started doing that, you women would have to kill me, out of paranoia, to keep such secrets you have, from getting out.”

Revy smirked, as she stated, “Who said you had a choice in the matter?”

River returned Revy's smirk, as she responded, in a direct, and straightforward tone of voice, “Revy, I have been tortured by the best. I am one of the few people here that can honestly say that I likely had a more painful time as a teenager, than you did. And you are all amateurs. Even Sawyer here. Compared to the professional torture technicians that worked on me for extended periods of time, as a teenager. You are not going to get me to spill any of my secrets, about anything.”

Akira spoke up, “River is right. You will not break her.”

River mentioned, “Besides, if all of you tried to gang up on me, I can take down around half of you in a fight, before you would finally put me down, for the count.”

Revy slumped her shoulders slightly in defeat, as she conceded, “Fine. But, what will you tell us about, Lee?”

River's smile turned more genuine, as she answered, “Plenty. I guess you could say that I am about to present his defense for him, for his impromptu trial.”

Janet joked, “Well, you are going to have to put on one hell of a defense for this jury of the damned.”

River lips curled into a mischievous grin, as she stated, “I plan to.”

Revy warned, “Speaking of mind reading, you better not be reading our minds.”

River deadpanned, “Revy, there is not much for me to read about your mind, that I would find interesting. Except for some interesting sexual positions you know about. And honestly, I am not that much of an ass fan, myself. As either a woman, nor a man.”

Revy suddenly blushed beat red, as several of the women in the group started laughing, for a few seconds.

Though, River remained silent, as she thought, 'Though, while you mind is boring, Revy. The persona of your previous life, as Jack Sparrow, is a very fascinating mind to read. And while I realize we had to seal you memories of Jack, Revy. I do regret I did not get a chance to spend more time with Jack.'

'Revy and Jack, are like day and night. And I know deep down Revy, that you admire and like Lee, as a person. Because, Jack did. And at the end of the day, you are both the same person. Though, you both look at life in different ways. It is just at your ego and control issues, will not let you admit how you truly feel about Lee.'

'And while it is tempting to tell you all about Jack Sparrow, and how Revy is the incarnation of him. As a way to deflect attention from myself and Lee. It is to risky. And I do not know the ramifications of how the situation will play out, from you all learning such information. Especially, you, Revy.'

As everyone calmed down, River commented, “Now, to the defense. To start with, the most tragic part about all of this is that Lee really is a nice guy. Okay, he lied to all of us. Given his situation, he had to. But, he was always polite to us. Surely, you can take that into account when you finally catch him? But, he does not deserve to suffer like many of you want him too.”

Rock stated, “River, you have gotten too close to Lee. Though, I think you misjudged us.” She mentally added, 'I hope.' She continued, “When we catch him. And we will. We will have Annie scan his mind, and from what we find, we will decide how to deal with him. He will suffer, but not as much as some of us would like.”

River looked at Rock, as she responded, in a kind tone of voice, “I appreciate that, Rock. But, you need to know, I have read Lee's mind for months. He is arguably as messed up in the head as the rest of us. I think one of the reasons he wrote what he wrote, was to try to keep himself sane.” She thought, 'Which is likely true.'

Revy stated, “Even so, there still needs to be a reckoning for his actions.”

River responded, “You are right, Revy. I am not arguing that point. Even Lee mentally admits that some sort of recompense needs to be done. Still, given what I also read in Lee's mind, I do not think Lee was in full control of himself when he wrote those stories. I think someone was pulling his strings, just as he was pulling our strings. Like a muse, or something.”

Akira commented, “That is possible. And if that is the case, we may need to layoff on his revenge. But, we will do something to him.”

River pointed out, “Just try to remember that Lee is a human being who unknowingly put himself, and us, into some very bad situations. The way he thinks, and talks, he clearly realizes how badly he screwed up. And he would like to make it up to you. But, he has no idea how to approach you without you all likely turning him to shreds.”

Shenhua shrugged, as she said, “I will give you that point.”

Janet asked, “What I do not get is why Lee did not just find a hole to crawl into, under a rock, and hide from us?”

River thought, 'Now, to mention Lee's cancer.'

River stated, in a sober tone of voice, “Because Lee is dying of cancer. In this world, the type of cancer he has is terminal. Even with treatment, he has two to five years. And he didn't have the money for the medical treatments. So he had only six months, or less, to live. With around four months already spent. His whole plan was getting a reality device, and finding a cure for his cancer, somewhere in the multiverse. Escaping revenge was a side benefit.”

Benny replied, “That explains a lot.”

Lotton snorted, as she commented, “Good luck to him. Considering the way he wrote book three made finding a cure for cancer, for B, very, very difficult. With the price of being cured, being B's manhood.”

River conceded, “Lee has long since realized how screwed he made himself by writing that about B.”

There was some minor snickering in the room, among some of the women. But, nothing else came of River's concession.

Ranma asked, “So, Lee has only a few months to live?”

River answered, “Yes. A few months. Maybe less.”

Rock commented, “That works for us.”

Shenhua grumbled, as she pointed out, “Only if we can find him.”

Janet stated, “We can track still him down. He is not that smart. Also, with his cancer problem, we can blackmail him into surrendering. It would be ironic if Lee was put through the vat process, himself.”

River could see grins begin to show on the faces of a number of the women.

While not showing it on the outside, River inwardly smiled, as she thought, 'Actually, that was Chang's offer for Lee. And given Lee is a male to female transsexual, Lee was more than willing to take Chang up on his offer. But, if I told you that, that would just mean you will find another way to have your revenge on her. Because, you would realize that Lee would welcome being changed into a fully functioning woman.'

River agreed, “Yes. I know that both Lee, and I, would admit that it would be poetic. Yet, Lee is a lot more intelligent than you all give him credit for. He knowingly faked playing the fool, for the most part. Except for when he played me at the casino. That is when he brought out his A game, to the forefront. He has become an expert at manipulating people.”

Rock said, “I will admit that he is good a manipulating people. But, he doesn't know everything.”

River smiled mischievously, as she responded, “But, Lee can come pretty close to the truth, with his guesses. Or, you would have caught him by now. Want play a little guessing game, Rock?”

Rock replied, “Sure.”

River commented, “Lee believed that hawaiian shirt that Revy bought you, at the beginning of your series, which was never shown, was a blue color t-shirt, with small pink and green leaves on the front of it. And in front of the leaves in a lighter blue, than the shirt background, is a left fist, with the back of the fist facing forward. With the middle finger extending in, giving the bird, fashion. And there are letter on the chest area of the shirt, across the upper part of the hand, and the fingers, that reads. Fuck you. And you kept you shirt, hung on the wall. Which facing the shirt, it was to the right of your chest of drawers, which you kept a small TV on. The shirt was across from your bed, in the corner. With you window to the right side of your bed. And the window was at a ninty degree angle from your window. Am I correct?”

Rock demanded, “How the hell did you both know that?”

River answered, “First. It was not from me reading your mind. It was Lee who figured that out. He pulled that information from other information, from a picture at the beginnings of the of the Boys and Girls omake. There was a similar shirt located in the exact same place, in your female counterpart's bedroom, by your chest of drawers and TV.”

“Only this t-shirt had a more feminine color scheme of have a pink background, blue and green leaves, a light pink left fist, and dark pink lettering. Given gender reversal between her and your realty, Lee guessed the shirt color scheme was reversed in your reality, to have a more masculine looking shirt.”

Dutch said, “Not bad.”

Yolanda commented, “My. Lee does have an eye for the details.”

Violin stated, “If that is the case. I now understand why you never wore that shirt, Rock.”

Revy said, “Rock, I still say that shirt would look good on you, whether you are male or female.”

Rock shrugged, as she replied, “That shirt was just too loud for my tastes.”

There was some light laughter, from the other women, that lasted for a few seconds.

River thought, 'Now, to further my point about Lee. If I can get them to realize how dangerous Lee now is. They might back off on finding her. Giving me time to find her, first.'

River looked around the room, as she focused on one of the women present. River continued her thoughts, 'And to further my plan. I know just the person to talk about.'

As the laughed died down, River pointed out, “Lee skills of deduction go far beyond just shirts.” River looked over at Eda, as she stated, “Take for example you, Eda.”

Eda looked over at River, as she inquired, with confusion evident in her voice, “Me? River?”

River commented, “Yes. You. From what I read in Lee's mind, he had a theory on your past. Let us see how close it is to the truth. He took the name on your cheerleader uniform, Sanditea, from the Viva Youth omake clip, and he looked into that name, on the internet. And what Lee found was interesting.”

Revy spoke up, “Now, that was a funny omake.”

Rock stated, “I lived in it, as a dream, and even I will admit that it was funny.”

Revy stated, “And Eda, you did look cute in that cheerleader uniform.”

Eda replied, “Thank you, Revy.”

Revy commented, “After seeing that, I regret not inviting you to Akira's dual deflowering.”

Meanwhile, Akira began blush.

Eda said, “I am glad you realize that. I have occasionally wondered why Lee did not include me in that little scene.”

River stated, in a firm, even tone of voice, “Because even Lee's imagination has limits. First, he did not find cheerleader outfits, nor school girl uniforms, to be sexy. It is too close to pedophilia for his tastes. Lee loathes pedophilia, and similar concepts.”

River noticed that Rebecca and Yukio smiled at River's comments.

River thought, 'I am not surprised that you two would support Lee on such matters.' She then focused her attention back towards Eda, as she continued her thoughts, 'Now, back to the matter at hand.'

River said, “Though, Lee did understand that such uniforms could be used for comedy. Just not sexuality.”

Violin commented, “Perhaps we should be happy about that.”

Lotton said, “I agree.”

River went onto say, “I think we can all agree on that point. Also, keep in mind, Lee never actually wrote the scene for that night, at the Jackpot, in Roanapur. Lee wrote the scene leading up to that pansexual experience for Akira, hosted by Revy, Sawyer, Shenhua.”

Sawyer cracked a smile, as she remember the event. She muttered, “Good times.” She mentally added, 'I thank Lee for that one.'

River heard Shenhua's thoughts, as she mentally lamented, 'I am not touched those thoughts, with a ten foot pole.'

River commented, “And Lee wrote the aftermath scenes.”

Janet recalled what she read of book one of Lee's stories. And she realized that River was right. She stated, “So, basically what the girls did that night, was all their doing? On their own?”

River answered, with a bit of hesitation in her voice, “Yes. Except for a few events, that Lee listed afterward, to answer some minor questions. Which is kinda of scary, though intriguing, considering what I read the thoughts, concerning that night, from the four minds of those involved in the event.”

Revy smirked, as she stated, “And I am very proud of what we did that night. I think we would have won gold medals in the sexual Olympics, with some of the things we pulled off doing that night. If such a contest existed in our reality. Which it doesn't. I checked.”

Shenhua and Sawyer giggled for a few seconds.

Janet turned to Akira, as she stated, “I am surprised that you were sane afterward such an experience.”

Akira looked over at Janet, as she admitted, “Actually, soon after those events, I lost a good chuck of my sanity. Remember, Lee turned me into a bad girl, for a while there. Though, that night did work on my sanity some.”

Natsuru pulled her left hand around Akira's right shoulder, as she said, “But, we were able bring you back to your senses, and sanity.”

Ranma stated, “Yes. Sexual therapy is a real thing.”

There were some snickers and giggling in the room, from overhearing Akira, Natsuru, and Ranma.

Akira looked around the group of women, as she conceded, “Though, it was not that bad. It was just a lot to take in at once. Like jumping into the deep in of the sex scene, without first testing the waters, in the shallow end.”

Violin said, “During my second childhood, in japan, when I first learned about the multiverse, and I actually tracked down your series, Akira. I have agree with Lee. You did build up a lot of bad karma in you own series, before Lee got his hands on you.”

Akira deadpanned, “I know. I feel what Lee did to me in book one, had me work off all that karma.”

Violin said, “I would agree with that.”

Benny turned to Dutch, as she commented, “Back to the Viva Youth omake. Dutch, you never did show us what you looked like as a boy.

Dutch looked up from her tablet, and over at Benny, as she smirked. She said, “And I never will.”

Benny shrugged, as she replied, “Have it your way.” Benny turned back to look at the rest of the group.

Dutch turned back to look at the tracking device she was working on, as she thought, 'The reason I don't tell you is because, as a child, I rivaled Boris, in the pretty boy department. Though, even I was floored when I saw what B looked like as a boy, compared to when I knew him in Roanapur.'

'Also, I do not even want to think about what Lee would have done, if he knew that about myself. And I have no intentions of getting any ribbing for being a pretty boy, from the others here, at this point in my life. Several decades after my own childhood ended.'

'Though, I am glad I have been able to keep that secret from everyone... Oh no...' She looked at River, whom was looking back at her, with a smile on her lips. Dutch mentally requested, 'River, I sometimes forget you are a telepath. Even given the circumstances, we find ourselves in. Could you please keep this to yourself.'

River continued to look at Dutch, as she stated, “Don't worry about it.” River thought, 'The others know better than to ask, Dutch, nor I, about what I was just commenting on. And I need to get back to talking about Eda. If I hope for my plan to work.'

River then turned to look at the crowd, as she continued her explanation, “Anyway, back to Lee's theories on Eda's past.”

River turned to Eda, as she went onto say, “Eda, you are a woman who has spun a web of lies. At one point, you even claimed that your hometown was, Langley, Virginia. Though, I agree with Lee in that was you were likely saying that, as a joke, to screw with Russell's head, for being an asshole, right before you bullet through his head.”

Eda stated, “Yea. I enjoyed killing him for being an asshole that could not keep his big mouth shut.”

River responded, “That is neither here, nor there. But, with one genuine clue, the name from your cheerleader shirt. Lee believed he was able to cut through the lies, nail down your place of origin, and find out the truth about your past.”

Revy smirked, as she said, “This should be good.”

Eda commented, “I doubt any single clue could allow Lee to know my past. I don't even think about my past. So, I know you have never learned about my past, from my thoughts.”

River stated, “You are right about that, Eda. Which makes me stating this, all the more juicier for me.”

“The clue Lee figured out your past from, was the, Sanditea, word on cheerleader uniform, from the Viva Youth omake clip.”

“By using the internet, Lee was able to find a similar name to, Sanditea. He tracked the similar name to some high school sports teams, from the same school. Such as baseball, softball, and american football. The name being, Sandite. He figured the “a” at the end of, Sanditea, was just the feminine version of the name. The rest of was logical.”

“Lee built a profile of Eda, using that high school as the starting point, and with Roanapur being the ending point. And he began to fill in the gaps. Which, once he figured out where you were from, became surprisingly easy.”

“Lee theorizes that you were raised, and maybe born, in Sand Springs, Oklahoma. A suburb of city of Tulsa, Oklahoma. Where you were a cheerleader, at the high school, of that town, during your teenage years. With this helping you maintain you physical shape. After you graduated high school, you enrolled at the University of Tulsa, to study law.”

“You likely minored in languages. Spanish, for obvious reasons. Given the changing demographics of the U.S. population. But also, you likely studied chinese. Considering, at the time, China had the largest population pools in the world. Though, you could have studied hindu. Because, during that time period, India had the second largest population pool. Having a background in either of those two languages would have contributed to your later assignment to Thailand. Considering Thailand is between India and China.”

“Still, I will get to your assignment to Roanapur, later.”

“You likely joined the Delta Sigma Theta sorority, given the organization leans towards having its members support, and be a part of, public service.”

“Sometime, either when you were still studying law in college, or you had just graduated, the government noticed your grades, saw you were also studying languages. They did some digging into your background, and they decide to recruit you.”

“This is because you fit the profile they wanted. A young, healthy, athletically fit, polite. Or, at least you knew your manners. Intelligent, U.S. citizen. Whom has never been in trouble with the law. Whom has very good social and leadership skills, from your high school cheerleader days. Whom, due to joining Delta Sigma Theta, was interested in public service. And whom also has a background knowledge of the law.”

“The government agents that recruited you likely considered you to be perfect military officer material.”

“Given the tattoo on your right arm. The blue cross and shield, with green thorns rising from the sides of the cross, and the shield. In the U.S. government structure, blue is most associated with the U.S. Navy.”

“You were likely offered a scholarship to attended the Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland. You accepted, and you transferred to Annapolis, where you finished your schooling.”

“Though, you likely had to retake a number of classes, because the course credits were not transferable. Still, you graduated an officer in the U.S. Navy. And during your schooling, when you were still in Tulsa, you realized that the real power is not on the battlefield, but behind the scenes, in the board rooms.”

“Right before, and after graduation, from Annapolis, you did your best to make sure you were transferred to the bureaucratic side of the U.S. Navy, where your legal knowledge would be best put to use.”

“This is probably the time where you learned your bureaucratic and back channel skills. With this knowledge serving you well, later on.”

“Lee also figured this out, that from your weapon of choice, your Glock, that at some point, you were transferred from the U.S. Navy, to NATO. This is because Glock pistols are issued to officers in NATO. You probably refined your diplomatic skills while serving in NATO. And you likely successes caught the interest of the U.S. intelligence branches.”

“So, you were eventually shuffled around again, to one of the U.S. intelligence branches. Given that Langley, Virginia joke, and your dislike for the drug enforcement administration, and national security agency, most of the Black Lagoon fans, including Lee, guessed you were an agent for the central intelligence agency.”

“From a flashback in the Black Lagoon series, dealing with Russell, one of your early assignments for that agency was a diplomatic function in D.C., with senators, of political leaders, and business men. The assignment was located inside a french restaurant, the Fontainebleau. This is where Russell saw you with a Senator Jack Bonham.”

“You did not have your shades on during that meeting. And from Lee's thoughts, I have to agree. That when you want to, Eda. You can dress like a lady.”

“For example, at that meeting, you were wearing a naval blue suit, with blue cloth jacket, formal blue short skirt that went to just above your knee, a long sleeved formal white blouse, and pale violet leg stockings. Also, you had on a golden bracelet on your right wrist, a choker necklace that was strung with large white pearls, and gold earrings, with large red rubies inside the earring loops. Along with this, your long blond hair being tied into a hairdo, at the upper back of your head, with a few strands being allow to drop long the sides of your face.”

All that Eda could muster to say was, “Thank you.”

Eda thought, with slightly relief, 'I am so happy that Lee can keep a secret. Because I believe River when she said that she pulled this information from Lee's mind without his permission. This means that I do not have to kill Lee that next time I see him. The only reason I killed Russell was that he couldn't keep his damn mouth shut, when I told him to do so.'

'If Russell had just shut up, when I warned him to, I would have not killed him. Instead, I would have convinced Revy, Dutch, and the others, to ransom his ass back to the Florida mafia, which he belonged to. And that ransom payout would have just been another layer of icing on the cake of that entire mission.'

'Though, I now realize that even killing Russel, to keep my secret, did not work out in the long run, because that entire event was shown in that series. Still, on more personal matters, I count Lee as friend, even though River here is airing out my dirty laundry.'

Eda then saw River crack a smile. Eda thought, with slight annoyance, 'Yea River. I know you are reading my mind. But, that doesn't mean you should be a smug bitch about this situation. Just be happy I know I cannot take you in a fight. And I blame you. Not Lee. For spilling all the beans about my life, to those here. Also, I know there is nothing I can do about this information getting out, now.'

River responded, “You're welcome. Thank you. And I wouldn't worry about it. You are among friends.”

There was a little confusion among the crowd a River's comments. While Rock thought, 'River must read Eda's thoughts. And she then verbally replied to Eda's thoughts.'

River ignored the confusion, as she went onto say, “To continue. Eda, you were at that meeting to discuss the support of some treaty called NAFTA. And you were concerned about nations that were part of the EAEC, and a few among the OAS, being against NAFTA.”

“Given the EAEC stands for, East Asia Economic Caucus. Even then, you were gaining experience in dealing with U.S. businesses, and Eastern Asia politics.”

“Also, the OAS stood for Organization of American States, which is a group composed of nations in both North and South America.”

“This was likely one of the factors that eventually got you assigned as the liaison between Yolanda and the U.S. government, at the ripoff church.”

“And this type of meeting was more inclined with internal politics, and not NATO. So, you were likely with that agency, then.”

“Also, the discussions of that NAFTA treaty, and the existence of the EAEC, puts the time of when you had that meeting, and also time you joined that agency, to be around the late nineteen eighties.”

“So, not counting what other missions you had, it is clear that you had quite the exciting career, before coming to Roanapur.”

“And the rest is history.”

There was dead silence in the hotel restaurant, as everyone turned to Eda and they saw that Eda had slowly paled more and more as River continued talking. Meaning that everything River has said was true.

Revy broke the silence, by turning to Eda, as she teased, “So, you were a Navy woman, Eda?”

Eda sighed. She then turned to Revy, as she responded, “And you are a pirate, Revy. Or, were. At this point, I am not really sure. Though, even I will admit that is fits the motif of our lives.”

Revy shrugged, as she agreed, “True.”

Natsuru commented, “Oh my. Lee is like a real life Sherlock Holmes. Though, I would not compare him to Professor James Moriarty, because I believe Lee is genuinely nice. And from his writings, and what we personally know of him, he does value the lives of other people.”

River commented, “As I said before, he is a nice guy.”

Ranma stated, “No wonder he showed us those Sherlock Holmes movies. Given what River is telling us, Lee is working at even higher level that we realized.”

River chirped, “The levels that Lee has are like a staircase.”

Rock turned to Ranma, as she asked, “What films?”

Akira answered for her lovers, “We already told you about the films. Along with that screwy Tropic Thunder movie we watched with Lee. We also watched to newer Sherlock Holmes movies, starting Robert Downey Junior, as a badass Sherlock Holmes. And Jude Law playing a nearly equally badass Doctor John Watson.”

Dutch looked up from her tablet, as she asked, “How badass?”

Ranma stated, “Some of the things the characters pulled in that movie impressed even me. And keep in mind who I am. And damn, that version of Sherlock knew how to think on his feet, during a fight.”

Dutch commented, “We will have to schedule a movie night for those movies.”

River requested, “If you don't mind. I would like to join you. Lee loved watching those movies. And I wanted to see what they are all about.”

Dutch turned to River, as she stated, “Sure. I don't mind. We are after Lee. No you.” She then looked back at her computer tablet.

River replied, “Thank you.”

As this went on, Eda thought, 'Lee knew so much about me, from so little information. Dear lord, if this is how his mind works, I am so happy that he prefers to run, instead of stand and fight. This guy could probably present a legitimate danger towards us.'

River turned to Eda, as she said, “You got that right.”

Eda then looked at River, as she thought, 'River, I am starting to see why you admire, Lee. That man can play at so many different levels at once. He would have made a wonderful spy. I am going to have to stick around with this posse, to make sure they don't accidentally kill Lee, when we do finally capture him.'

Eda saw River crack a smile, as she simply nodded once, in agreement.

Eda thought, 'Still, I need to know if Lee knows more about me. And this might be my only chance to find out.' She then forced herself to verbally ask, “I didn't realize Lee knew that much about me. Is there more?”

River answered, “Oh, yes. Given studies publish for the time, and the fact you were a cheerleader, he estimated you lost your virginity, was between the ages of twelve and fourteen. Also, I am sad to say, that at the time, Lee did not like your personality. Though after you slept with him, and he got to know you more as a person, his opinion of you went way up.”

Eda commented, “That is nice. So, dare I ask why he did not like me?”

River stated, “You may not like it. But, you do have some glaring character flaws. Like all of us. And I guess being characters, we would have character flaws.”

There were a few groans from the crowd of women.

River said, “I apologize for the pun. Still, Eda, you likely never grew out of the queen bee high school personality, you likely had as a teenager. Because of this, you possibly had an overinflated ego. This is backed up by your choice of clothing. When you were not dressed as a nun, you wore clothing that made you look like a teenage girl trying to get laid.”

There was some snickering among the crowd of people.

Eda ignored the snickering, as she requested, “Go on.”

River stated, “Given your outgoing personality, and choice of dress, against the more conservative clothing your assignment required you to wear, for you undercover job, it is likely you did not choose your assignment.”

“If Russell's flashback gives any indications, your previous assignments were to spy on people in a formal setting. But, given your outgoing personality, you likely slept with someone you shouldn't have. And you were sent to Roanapur, by your superiors, due to your indiscretions.”

Revy snorted, as she commented, “Lee knows you well, Eda. I guess he nailed you in more than one way.”

Eda pointed out, “Well, my ego has long since deflated. But, I am still hot. We slept together. Why didn't he include more of me in his stories. Not that I am complaining.”

River admitted, “Yes. You are a hot, sexy woman. That is the case. And yes, you both did. But, hotness is not that much of a factor in fiction in text form. Keep in mind, he figured out all that, and he was at the time, not interested in you.” She looked out, among the crowd, as she continued, “Imagine the type of profiles Lee has in his head on those of you he is interested in.”

River voice gained a hint of embarrassment, as she continued, “Still, the profile he has of me is not very flattering, either. He clearly prefers objectivity, over thinking below his waistline. As a writer, that is a good trait to have. But, as a person, it really is not.”

Janet commented, “No wonder our feminine charms did not work on him.”

Shenhua said, “I never thought I would ever meet a man that would not at least think a little below his waist.”

Eda confirmed, “Well, Lee did. He enjoyed the sex with me. But, I get the feeling he enjoy our dinner conversation more than the sex.”

Janet shrugged, as she commented, “Some people are that way.”

Akira spoke up, “Actually, right after we saw the Tron Legacy movie, as we were all leaving the theater, Lee whispered to me that he found sanity attractive in a woman.”

Rock stated, “Lee said something similar to me.”

Revy stated, “No wonder he did not try to come on to us. Beside knowing better. We are not his type.”

River thought, 'I don't think Lee even knows what her type is. I believe that Lee is mistaken. It is not so much insanity that she finds a turn off, but violent people are a turn off for her. Which, I don't blame her for.'

'I realized this half an hour, after I revealed my identity to her. It occurred to me that she still likes me as a person. Even though she knows I used to be really insane. But, she has no problems with being my friend, because I am not really a violent person, by nature. Still, I have to get these women to understand something they missed in my explanation.'

River then held up her right index finger, as she stated, “You are all missing the major point here. One word. One word was all Lee needed to track down all that information. And Lee knows a lot more about everyone here, including myself, than one word.”

“Lee has even learned how to use a single word to shift the situation to his advantage. Such as the whole, Tex-Mex ordeal. And he came up, and implemented, that plan in under thirty seconds. Watching that man work up a plan is like watching Rock or Violin here do the same thing. He comes from the same type of genre savvy.”

River then moved both her hands to her lap.

Rock asked, “If Lee is that savvy, then he was likely pretending to be someone else in front of us. So, the question becomes, who is the real Lee? The fool we lived with, here at the hotel? Or, the gambler that you played at the casino?”

River answered, “Neither. Lee is a natural chameleon. He watches people and imitates their mannerisms, that he thinks best fits the given situation for himself. But, he is untrained. So, he makes mistakes. Still, as I said before. Lee really did beat me at cards, that night, at the casino. I was not expecting him to tell so many jokes. Though, because of all of this. As much as I do not want to say this. Lee may have no real personality of his own.”

Akira spoke up, in a sad tone of voiced, “Actually, Lee does have a personality. A very, very dark personality.”

River looked at Akira, as she sternly asked, “What do you know of Lee?”

Ranma, and Natsuru looked way from River, as Akira looked at her. Akira answered, “After we first came here. After the Rats Nest massacre, and that chase through town, in the GTO. We three decided we wanted to play a prank on Lee. We just thought he was some polite guy, and we wanted to see what made him tick. We noticed that he did not drink much. As such, we can up with as idea that we would invite him to drinks at the hotel bar here, late at night.”

“So, right before the bar closed, with only him, us, and the bartender, when Lee went to the restroom, we spiked his drink with a Mickey Finn. After he consumed some of the drug, it got him real drunk, really quick.”

“We were expecting him to just breakdown, and cry. Instead... He had a psychotic episode.”

“Think on par of one of us, on a bad day situation. And even then, he was emotionally holding himself back. In that state of mind he was in, he clearly wanted to hurt us, but he still able to barely able to keep himself under control. And he wasn't keep himself in control for his own sake, but for our sake.”

River stated, “I do not remember reading Lee's mind about the incident. Nor, from your three minds.” She thought, 'And Melvin likely didn't think about it. Because it must have been really bad. And he knew mentioning it after the fact would only cause trouble for everyone.'

Akira responded, “Lee likely didn't remember the incident. And we didn't like to think about it, let along talk about. We felt very guilty about what we did.”

River replied, “Fine. Now, let me read your mind over the event.”

Akira said, “Okay.” She then started thinking over that night's events.

(_)

Meanwhile, in the Devil's Hotel lobby, the two clerks at the check in desk, saw two women walk into the lobby, from the front entrance.

They also notice that the music in the lobby had suddenly changed.

The two clerk instantly recognized the new music track, from a movie both of them enjoyed watching, years ago. Still, they also realized that musical track would only start playing due to the newcomers being extremely dangerous.

For as the clerks wisely ducked under their desk counter, the lobby speakers continued playing the musical track, Battle Without Honor Or Humanity, from the Kill Bill Volume One soundtrack.

(_)

In the front of the hotel lobby, right in front of the lobby doors, from the entryway, Fabiola stood to Roberta's right side.

Fabiola turned to Roberta, as she inquired, in spanish, “Where do we go from here?”

Roberta turned to Fabiola, as she answered, in spanish, “We will start with the hotel bar. Sawyer stated, in her e-mails, that it is this way.”

Roberta then turned to their left, as they headed for the hotel restaurant and bar.

(_)

Back in the hotel restaurant, several seconds later, River had finished looking into Akira's mind, concerning the night that Lee had a psychotic break.

River looked down at the floor, as she quietly said, “Lee's mental masks are so well made. I had no idea he was that messed up.” She then looked up at the group, as she stated, “More so, than I previously stated, earlier.”

Revy question, “Given how polite Lee is, how messed up could he be?”

River pointed out, “You are forgetting that his manners are another mask to him. If what I am reading from Akira's mind is correct. Underneath Lee's masks, he is sadomasochistic sociopath. Remove his masks. and he is likely as dangerous as you are, Revy, during one of your Whitman Fever incidents.”

River's comment caught everyone's attention.

River went onto say, as she looked around the crowd, “Though, I can also state that, except for the lies, his general day to day actions, and acts of kindness, are genuine.”

River then looked over at Revy, as she continued, “He clearly tries to be something besides what life made him into. Though, I am not one to judge, on such matters.”

Rock spoke up, “Who of us is?”

No one present dared to touch that question.

Yolanda stated, “Still, if someone got a hold Lee, he could be dangerous.”

A new voice, coming from the restaurant entrance, bluntly stated, in english, “Then, we will find him, first.”

Everyone turned to face the newcomers. Whom they saw visibly scared half the group, and set the other half of the group on edge

At the entrance they saw Roberta and Fabiola standing in their maid outfits. With Roberta standing to Fabiola's left side.

While Roberta showed off her slasher smile, she continued her statement, in a cold merciless tone of voice, “We will capture him. We will break him. And finally, when there is nothing left but agony. We will end him.”

River sternly responded, “You will not lay a finger on Lee.”

Roberta focused on River, as she coldly said, “Ah, but little girl, you are going to help me.”

As Roberta and Fabiola began walking towards the group. Specifically River, Revy and Rock, whom stood up from her seat, immediately stepped between them, and River, while facing Roberta.

Roberta and Fabiola then came to a stop, ten feet from the group. Sixteen feet from River.

Revy stated, “Stand down, Roberta. River is off limits. If you harm her, you will have to answer to her lover, Chang, her family, the Serenity crew, and her friends, the Lowe family. And those groups working together could take you in a fight, and make your life a living hell.”

Revy then turned to River, as she stated, “But, Lee is fair game.”

River remained silent towards the rest of those present.

The two maids remained where the stood, as they both thought over Revy's warning.

Natsuru whispered to Akira, “This could be bad.”

Akira quietly responded, “I agree. As much as I would like to see Roberta and River go at it. To see which of them is actual the bigger badass. I would not want to be on the same planet at them when they did so.”

Natsuru softly replied, “You got that right.”

A few seconds later, Fabiola turned to her teacher, as she said, in english, “We do not need help from this tramp to find the master's violator.”

River frowned at the insult. She thought, 'With the maids here. It looks like my plan to get them to back off of Lee is a bust. While I had a chance to convince the others to lay off of Lee. I realize, from what Lee knows, that these to maids will not back off on their hunt. And I do not want just me, and them hunting Lee.'

'Besides, the maids will pressure the others to continue the hunt. And with the others along, they will help reign these two in. And offer some distractions for me to save Lee.'

'Still, there are other ways I can help Lee in this conversation. I just have to wait for the proper time.'

Roberta and Fabiola turned to Eda, as they frowned at her.

Roberta sarcastically stated, “By the way, Eda. Thank you for the bad directions.”

Eda turned to Roberta, as she deadpanned, “Sorry. I thought you meant the casino hotel, not the Devil's Hotel.”

The maids noticed that some of the girls giggled at Eda's comment.

Revy warned, “No fighting girls. Or, you will be thrown out of the room. Besides, Eda probably gave you bad directions to prevent violence from breaking out.”

Rock thought, 'Revy, the peacemaker. Now, that is a scary thought.'

River suppressed a giggle, at Rock's thought.

Eda stated, “Revy, is right. That is why I lied to you, both. I am trying to keep things from exploding.”

Fabiola smirked, as she commented, “Well, when it comes to the Rats Nest, you're a little late on that. Though, the bartender left before the place went up in flames.”

Revy inquired, “You blew up the Rats Nest?”

Roberta answered, “Yes.”

Revy stated, “Damn. That is the only decent bar in town, where I could get drunk in peace.” She let out a deep breath. She then continued, “Still, I expect you two to behave yourselves, here.”

Roberta and Fabiola just glared at Eda, but they decided to do nothing about her, as they turned their attention back to the rest of the group.

Violin spoke up, “Moving on. There is one thing about Lee that is still bothers me. I noticed the first time I saw Lee, when he was introduced to us, he was scared out of his mind, when he was surrounded by all of us. Which makes sense, now. But, somewhere along the line, he got a lot more confident. And that casino game is a total mystery to me. He displayed skills, and knowledge, at the same time, during that game, that would take decades to learn.”

Aeryn supported, “Now, that I think about it, honey. You're right.”

All eyes turned to River.

River giggled uncomfortably.

Revy inquired, in a less than amused tone of voice, “Something you want to share with the rest of us?”

River swallowed hard, as she thought, 'Oh crap. I am going to have to tell them about the time loop. And when they realize what Lee did to them, during the time loop, they will never stop hunting her down. Still, if I tell them, I can at least smooth things over.' She requested, in a weak tone of voice, “Promise me, in exchange for learning this, should you capture Lee, that you will kill him quickly.”

Shenhua warned, “We promise not to kill you quickly, if you answer us, right now.”

River explained, “Alright. I am sure everyone here remembers the Day of the Dead holiday. November second. And I am sure some of you feel as that day was never going to end. Well, it almost never did. We all got stuck in a temporal loop, with that day repeating over and over again.”

“Personally, I did not mind much. From what I can piece together, in most of those time loops I secretly spent time with Chang that day. It was a very romantic day for us. We ended it by swapping genders as we made love on the beach, and then we continued our love making in her hotel room. And I got to repeat that experience over and over again, for years.”

“Anyway, it was like from the movie Groundhogs Day, with Lee in the role of Phil. Though, from reading Lee's mind, he was not the cause of the loop. Just the poor sucker that was caught in the eye of the storm.”

Rock quietly asked, as she feared she already knew the answer deep down, “How long?”

River quietly said, “Around twenty years.”

River's soft comment had the effect of a loud scream, as nearly everyone else yelled, almost in unison, “TWENTY YEARS!!”

Meanwhile, Dutch, Benny, Janet, Fabiola, and even Roberta had begun laughing.
Between the laughs, Janet commented, “So, that is what Lee meant by saying that he felt like he had spent several years here. With such high stakes on the line, only a lunatic would be so open about the truth. Yet, he knew we wouldn't be able to piece to together the truth in front of him.”

River stated, in an amused tone of voice, “Don't laugh too hard, Dutch, Janet, and Benny. The time loop effected the entire planet, including the Bahamas.”

Janet, Benny, and Dutch immediately stopped laughing, as the maids laughed even harder.

Benny recalled that day. She then stated, “Relax guys. I remember that day. We took that day off, and had a great time that night.”

Dutch commented, “Twenty years worth of days off with you two doesn't sound that bad.”

Janet said, “I agree.”

By then, the maids had started to calm down.

Akira stated, “Still, if we hope to catch Lee, we have to know what he learned while in the time loop.”

Ranma mentioned, “I brought something with us, in our hotel room, that should let us remember those years. After having to deal with so many brain altering techniques, earlier in my life, I now travel with some medication that removes almost all such techniques. Just give me a few minutes to go get it.”

Ranma then got up from her chair, and she quickly walked out of the room.

Violin turned to Fabiola, as she asked, “So, Fabiola, barring this hunt, how has life been treating you?”

Fabiola turned to Violin, as she responded, in a casual tone of voice, “Fine. You?”

Violin replied, “Fine.”

Meanwhile, Sawyer turned to Roberta, as she commented, “I hope I did not cause too much of a ruckus at the Lovelace household, by sending you a copy of the stories, and telling you about the writer.”

Roberta turned to Sawyer, as she calmly said, “No. That has not been the case.”

The two maids then caught up with their friends.

(_)

Five minutes later, Ranma returned with a small oil lamp in her right hand, by its handle, while she held a zippo lighter in her left hand.

Ranma lit the lamp. She then closed the lighter's top, extinguishing the flame. After which, she put lighter away, into her left, side pants pocket.

Ranma continued to hold the lamp, by its handle, with her right hand, as she explained, “This is magic. Just breath in the smoke, and effect should happen in a few moments. But, make sure you are sitting when you do it. This will be like a rush, and total recall, of what you want to remember. It can be disorientating.”

Ranma then walked towards the group, as she let each woman inhale a little of the smoke, from the lamp.

River stated, “I decline.”

Ranma turned to River, as she pointed out, “I understand why you decline, River. But, from what I understand, this smoke will not make you remember things you do not want to recall. I made sure the magic this lamp uses has was designed to prevent someone from going crazy. And I will let you borrow it for Chang, later. Having the ability to recall twenty years of love making would be a wonderful favor for him to owe me.”

River conceded, “Fine. You can let me borrow the lamp, tomorrow.” She turned to Revy, whom had just inhaled the smoke.

River read Revy's surface thoughts, for a few seconds. River then mentally reflected, with relief, 'Good. Jack Sparrow is still sealed inside Revy. I guess that the smoke does not transcend to past lives. Which is good for everyone involved. Though, Revy and the others, is going to be really pissed, any second now. Once they realized how Lee tricked them in the time loop. And I have to be ready for their response, with my own reply.'

The group then took turns breathing in the smoke, including Benny, Dutch, Janet, and River. Though, they each sat down in a chair, when they inhale the smoke. Within seconds the instantly recalled things.

Ranma was the last one to do so. She sat down in a chair by Akira, Natsuru, Yurika, Nodoka, and Mikoto. She then inhaled the smoke, capped the lamp, to put the inner light out, and set it on the table by her. A few seconds later, she then remembered her time in the time loop, along with a few other older memories, of life events, that she did not realize she had experienced.

Meanwhile, just after Ranma recalled her memories, Revy blurted out, “How dare Lee make fun of my loving making. Just because I like using the back door, that is no excuse for mocking me over it.”

Rock just blushed at her lover's comment.

Though, everyone else was to wrapped up in their own memories, and thoughts, neither comment, nor laugh, at Revy's statement.

Akira commented, “Those pranks of his were sometimes truly childish. That refried beans prank was embarrassing for us. Especially, me.”

River spoke up, “Well, you girls shouldn't have tricked Lee into getting stoned without his permission. From what I read of his mind, before the beginning of the time loop, he was still upset about the pot brownies. And when the time loop happened soon after, it offered him the opportunity to get some revenge on all of you.”

Rock thought, 'Oh no. That final prank. The story. The implications.' She then noticed River was looking right at her. She then thought, 'River is reading my mind. She knows. Don't worry, River. I am not going to use this cosmic loophole. And I am not going to tell a soul about it.'

River just smiled at Rock.

Rock sighed in relief.

Natsuru admitted, “River, you may have a point about that. I mean, from what I understand, Lee never put any of us in such a position. We might apologize to him, if it wasn't for all the other crap he put us through.”

River looked over at Natsuru, as she rolled her eyes in frustration, as she sighed, as she said, “Sometimes I feel like the only grown up in the room.”

Violin commented, “Been there. Done that. So, I can sympathize. Still, I think I remember Lee kissing me.”

Rock replied, “I think Lee kissed all of us.”

River did not show any outward reaction, as she mentally lamented, 'She didn't kiss me. But, then she did not know it was me, at the time. So, I will let it slide.'

Akira responded, “You got to admit, Lee is a good kisser. And I don't think he tried to sleep with any of us.”

Violin then remembered some more things, as she mentally yelled, 'Harvey! I know you remember the time loop!'

Harvey mentally whimpered, 'In my defense. Like I said years ago in that loop. You were having really good sex with Aeryn. Besides, Lee didn't cause the time loop. And the fact of the matter is, when I later tried to get you to remember day to day, during the time loops. It never stuck. So, I decided to just go along for the ride.'

Violin mentally inquired, 'Fine. But, why didn't you tell me about the time loops, and Lee being the writer, afterward?'

Harvey mentally responded, 'Because knowing about the time loops would not have amounted to much. River is right, Lee is actually a decent guy. After he grew out of his pranking phase, he worked towards self improvement. I respect that. Though, if he had gone the other way, and become an evil hedonist, I would have stepped in.'

Violin mental replied, 'That is nice to know.' Violin then remember another interesting occurrence in the time loop. She thought, 'And this is why you kept suggesting those different sexual positions for Aeryn and I, during the time loops?”

Harvey mentally said, in a casual manner, 'Well, I could not let things to to repetitive and boring. And it was a good day for us and Aeryn. It is just that good day repeated for us, for around twenty years.'

Violin mentally said, 'Okay. Thank you for that. The differences help me separate one day from another.'

Harvey mentally suggested, 'From what I understand, Lee had a similar problem. Now, let us turn out attention back to the group. From the look on Shenhua's face, she is recalling the accidental pranking Lee did to her, with a cherry bomb. Very funny stuff.'

Violin mentally said, 'Really?'

Harvey mentally stated, 'Yes. We were just outside, in the lobby, as the events took place, on that day. Just listen.'

Shenhua cursed, “How dare he get me wet like that!?”

Sawyer turned to Shenhua, as she asked, “Like what?”

River defended Lee, “Oh come on. The cherry bomb in the toilet trick is a classic. And when Lee lit the cherry bomb, dropped it into one that men's lobby toilet, and flushed it down the drain, with it causing the toilets to explode. He honestly did not know you were on the women's side. Besides, you killed him once, during the time loop, over that matter.”

Several of the women laughed for a few seconds at Shenhua and Lee's misfortunes.

As they calmed down, Shenhua grumbled, “I killed him too quickly. I will not make the same mistake, again.”

River then turned to Revy, as she said, “And about that ass joke, Revy. I read Lee's mind about that joke. You have to admit that ass humping joke was a work of genius. The set up. The timing. The delivery. No wonder that man loves to write. Still, you need to know that Lee is truly not that judgmental when it comes to such actions take in the bedroom, between two consenting adults. He just honestly found the joke to be funny on its own merits. He didn't mean for it to be insulting. As far as he was concerned, you two would have never remember it, and he was not going to talk about it.”

Revy stated, “Okay. I can see your point...” Revy then remember something about the time loop, and Lee, as she exclaimed, “What a minute! That bastard owes us money!”

Everyone else suddenly remembered what Revy was talking about.

Akira said, with annoyance in her tone of voice, “That sneaky little con artist. Two thousand dollars, for two hours of our time, for a single day. Reset, rinse, repeat. And we never actually got to keep any of the money.”

Lotton giggled, as she commented, “Well, it was a good con. I might have tried that in his position. So, what did he learn?”

River stated, “I taught him spanish, and hand to hand combat. He got pretty good at both.”

Janet asked, “How good in a fight is Lee now?”

River thought, 'If I tell them, they might back off in the way the approach Lee. At the very least, they will think twice about a direct confrontation with him.'

River answered, “With Lee's precognitive abilities, he could probably hold his own with almost everyone here. He could give me, and the maids, a workout. Though, he might be crazy, he is not insane enough to tangle with any of us. Unless he has too.”

Rock said, “Yes. Lee has always be one to avoid conflict. I always admired him for that. I still do. Though, we need to know what other skills, and combat abilities Lee also knows. Especially, the skills that were taught by us.”

Revy remembered, as she stated, “Akira, Natsuru, and I taught him how to use a gun... Well, mostly Akira and Natsuru.”

Akira commented, “Lee is good with a pistol. But, he never could master dual wielding pistols.”

Natsuru said, “True. But, he is always a crack shoot with a rifle, and machine gun. So, he is dangerous with just about any type of firearm you could name.”

Ranma commented, “Yes. I was there with Akira and Natsuru a few times, when they were teaching Lee how to use firearms. Lee knows how to listen and learn. Later, he even convinced me to teach him a few tricks. Such as locked picking.”

Molly spoke up, “It is a safe bet that he broke into our rooms, and searched them during the time loop.”

Sarah stated, “I doubt he found anything of use. It is clear that reality devices did not work in the time loop, because Lee was still here afterward.”

River said, “That is true.”

Rock then remembered some instant woman packets that went missing a few times, in her suite, during the time loops. She thought, 'Could Lee have?...'

Rock looked over at River, and she saw River crack a grin.

Rock thought, 'Lee did... Which really doesn't surprise me.'

River silently said, with her lips, in english, “Not a word.”

Rock thought, 'Don't worry, River. Even I am not going to mention that to anyone here. Not even Revy. That would be like pouring gasoline on a fire. There is no telling what would happen. I may want revenge, but I am against rape, which is what most of them would consider doing to Lee, if they knew he already personally experimented with gender bending.'

River nodded in agreement, as she silently said, with her lips, in english, “Smart move.”

Violin said, “Lee conned me into teaching him physics, all the way up to the advanced courses. Along with how to take care and work on his car.”

Aeryn stated, “Learning all this means he has the intelligence to better himself.”

Lotton pointed out, “True. Though, that being said. Lee conned us for months, years, if you count the time loops. Either he is a genius, or we are idiots. I prefer to believe the former, over that latter.”

As silent reigned for several seconds, it took all of River's will power to not burst out laughing, as no one dared to touch Lotton's comment.

Rock then spoke up, “Now, that I think about it, I taught Lee some japanese. But, I started catching on that he was learning to easily, and he quit a little over midway, to where he clearly wanted to be on that.”

Natsuru spoke up, “Akira, Ranma, and I did to, for a little while, until we started catching on that he was learning too quickly, as well.”

Sawyer said, “I taught him how to formally dance, and sing.” Everyone looked at her. Sawyer noticed this, as she added, “A girl's got to have hobbies.”

Shenhua said, “I taught him speak and read, chinese, along knife throwing. It looks like he learned that card throwing trick a the casino from me... Oh no... He is deadly with a deck of cards.”

Janet asked, “What do you mean?”

Shenhua answered, “That card trick he did at the casino was only the tip of this iceberg, to his throwing abilities. I think I taught him too well.”

Rock stated, “You are right Shenhua. I remember watching him one day in the time loop, where he was throwing two cards as once, as two different dart boards. He was hitting the bull of both boards at the same time, at thirty feet. He even change it up to where he could swap out both targets and still hit the bull of the boards.”

Benny commented, “So, he can dual wield a deck of cards. What is so dangerous about that?”

Rock stated, “What is dangerous is that with his precognition, he is deadly accurate with the cards in the angles needed to be thrown to cut into his targets, most of the time.”

River giggled, for a few seconds. She then stated, “Yea. Lee is the only person I know of that can lay claim to being a dual wielding death dealer. Though, it does sound more cool than it actually is.”

Janet asked, “So what? How can a cardboard playing card cut deeply into something? I mean, as best, he could give us paper cuts.”

Eda stated, “Janet, you need to visit tornado alley, sometime. I can show you wooden telephone poles, with pine needles sticking through them. All it takes is force, and accuracy.”

Benny thought on Eda's comments, for a few seconds. She then said, “Eda, is right about that. I can see now, how having using a decks of cards, in such a way, could be dangerous.”

Janet realized what they were saying, as she replied, “Okay.”

Revy inquired, “But, why choose playing cards as a weapon? Why not just get a gun? I remember a bet he did with me. He shot a single can into the air, three times, with one of my cutlasses. We clearly taught him well enough to use such weapons.”

Akira and Natsuru replied, almost in unison, “Thank you.”

River pointed out, “Mexico has very strict anti-gun and knife laws. Especially, for foreigners. Lee knows this. So, he decided to find an unusual weapon, that was cheap, easy to replace, and that most people would dismiss as harmless. But, a weapon that he could use to defend himself with. If he had to. And a deck of playing cards fit his needs, and motif, well.”

“That being said. The only reason the police here did not come after you, is someone in their chain of command likely recognized you, and that person did not want to get the police here killed, by sending them after you.”

River thought, 'I will give Pedro some cover. I kind admire the man. He made the best of a bad situation. Chances are, with him getting that warning about the maids being here, he is already out of town, by now.'

Dutch continued to look at her electronic tablet, as she stated, “We think we found out who was the one to keep the police off of us? We will tell you, later.” She thought, 'Nice try covering for Chief Del Soto, River. But, we know that Pedro was the one that helped Lee.'

River mentally cursed, 'Damn it... Well, at least Pedro has a head start. Like Lee has.'

Revy smirked, as she stated, “Well, one thing is for sure, girls. We are going to have fun collecting from Lee, on what he owes us, plus interest.”

River sarcastically remarked, “Good luck.”

Everyone turned back to look at River.

Rock commented, “I do not see a problem with finding, Lee. Now, that we know what he looks like. And we will pull pictures from the security cameras, to give to our friends, here.”

River giggled for a few seconds. She then smirked, as she stated, “You think you had a good look at Lee. None of you, nor any cameras, have ever got a look at his face, without him wearing glasses, and a hat, of some type. That was intentional on his part. Black is not even his natural hair color. He planned his escape before he even baited you to come here.”

“Lee lives to be crazy prepared. And he plans several moves ahead of everyone else. That is why you haven't caught him, yet. He could lose the glasses and hat, and you probably won't recognize him.”

River overheard Revy curse, under her breath, “Damn it. She is right.”

Yurika pointed, “But, what about when he swap out his hat and glasses, as he left, a little while ago?”

Lotton commented, “Lee had his back turned to the lobby cameras, when he swapped out his hat and glasses. So, those cameras will be no help, either.”

Yurika muttered a cursed, “Damn.”

Benny stated, “River may have a point. If I got this straight. Lee is an intelligent, patient, and a skilled planner. He has an eye for detail, and deduction, that would make Sherlock Holmes proud. He is a master of disguise. He can speak multiple languages. He has an encyclopedic knowledge of just about everything. He has a wide variety of skills. Including combat skills. That would allow him to hold his own in a decent fight. And he is dying of cancer. So, he had no fear of death. And he has nothing left to lose.”

Revy commented, “That pretty much sums it up.” She thought, 'Except, Lee told me she wants to live. And I believe her. But, if I told you that, you could use that as a bargaining chip against Lee.'

Benny girlishly whined, “We are never going to find him.”

While Dutch sat in her stool, with her back to the bar counter. She faced the other women, as she spoke up, as she continued to look at her tablet in her hands, “Found him.”

Everyone looked over at Dutch.

Dutch looked up at the group, as she stated, “The signal says he is in the Babylon Five station. But, if I am reading this right, the date is far in the future from when the series happened.”

Benny, Violin, and Akira, got up from their chairs, and walked over to Dutch, to look at the tablet.

Dutch passed the tablet around. First Akira, then Benny, and finally Violin.

As Violin held the tracking device, she looked at the date on the flat screen of the tablet, as she said, “The date is January twenty-sixth, twenty-two eighty-one.”

Violin looked up from the tablet, and handed it back to Dutch. As soon as Dutch had the tracking device in her hands, Violin look out among the crowd. Violin stated, “From the date, I would say Lee was on Babylon Five, a couple of months before it was finally decommissioned, and blown up. Probably between when John Sheridan was having his final supper, on Minbar, and when John visited Babylon Five for a final, quick visit, during the final Babylon Five episode, Sleeping in the Light.”

Benny remembered what happened in that episode. And why Lee would head to Babylon Five, between those dates. Benny look at her family and friends, as she sarcastically commented, “Just wonderful. Lee really knows what he is doing. That would be the perfect time and place for him to go to, for his plans of escape to work. At that point, Babylon Five personnel would be moving everyone off the station, as they get the station ready to be decommissioned and blown up.”

“All quarter million of them, including the homeless lurkers. With Earthforce being so busy moving potentially tens of thousands of homeless people. Including many with no documents. Off the station. Lee could easily slip through, get on one of the shuttles, and be anywhere in the series. And that is a big place to search. As Lee will literally have an entire galaxy to hide in.”

“Lee knows the rules he wrote. The further the distance, the harder it is to track him. The longer time between the jump and scans, the more difficult it is to get a lock on the jump.”

“Lee will just go to another place, elsewhere in that galaxy, and jump to where he really wants to go, and we will likely lose him for good.”

Then, a thought occurred to Benny, as she commented, in a more calmer tone of voice, “Though, I doubt he would be crazy enough to jump in hyperspace. None of us ever tried to do so. And Lee never talked about reality jumping while in hyperspace. So, we do have time.”

Akira mentioned, “Actually, our family has been to that reality.”

Violin turned to Akira, as she asked, “Really?”

Akira looked at Violin, as she answered, “Yes. We spent a few months there. It really is a big place to hide.”

Violin cursed, under her breath, “Damn it.”

Akira stated, with encouragement in her voice, “I said it was a big place. But, I did not say we could not find him... Come on guys, he is not that smart. We just got to figure out where he would want to go.”

Violin said, “I doubt he would go to one of the alien worlds. That is too much of an unknown for him. And this is speaking from experience.”

Lotton stated, “Earth is out, given the plague that hit there. The plague was cured by then. But, given the way Lee wrote those gender bending outbreaks in book three, he would know how dangerous an outbreak could be. And how plagues can go dormant for years. If not decades. And even centuries. So, Lee will not risk going the Earth.”

Then, Janet realized something, as she lightly chuckled.

As the other women turned to look at Janet, while they wondered why she was chuckling, Janet looked around the road, as she stated, “I got it. I know where he is going. Where is the one place he writes about the most, besides Earth?”

Everyone looked at each other for a moment, then they realized, as they stated, almost in unison, “Mars!”

Natsuru commented, “Good. It takes two days, by the hyperspace gate system, to reach Mars from Babylon Five. We actually took a trip in hyperspace, from Babylon Five, to Mars. So, we would know.”

Rock asked, “When exactly did you go to the B Five reality?”

Ranma answered for Natsuru, “We went when our daughters were around eight, or nine. It was around ten years after the main part of the series ended. Though, a number of years before the events of Sleeping in the Light episode happened. And if I remember, at the time, Mars gov was building a hyperspace gate, in orbit, for their planet. So, they wouldn't have to rely on Earth Alliance gates for commerce with Alien nations.”

Lotton stated, “That figures. But, this gives us a timeline to work with. Good job girls.”

Natsuru said, “Thank you.”

Ranma replied, “No problem.”

Revy stated, “Now, we know where Lee is heading, and when. I am not playing games anymore. I am contacting the rest of the crew. The reward is whoever catches Lee can have first dibs on revenge against him.”

Janet said, “Good idea. Also, there is another line of investigation we can look into. Let me tell you what we found out about Lee's friend, Police Chief Pedro Del Soto. The other guy that judged the talent contest, besides Lee, and River here.” She mentally added, 'And I don't even want to think about how River was both a judge and contestant. Nor, why she gave herself, and Chang such a low score.'

River just silently rolled her eyes, at Janet's comment for a few seconds. She then looked back at the women around her.

Revy stated, “You can tell me all about it, after we are finish here. Also, what about Melvin? Was he in on the conspiracy?”

River stated, “No. He was not in on it. He just a guy that wants to live a quiet life here. And given some of the horrible memories I have seen in his mind. He has earned some peace and quiet.” She mentally added, 'Oh Melvin. You are just someone trying to get out of a bad situation that was not of your own making. You do not need to be dragged back into this mess.'

Roberta asked, “Who is this Melvin?”

Natsuru thought, 'River is clearly covering for Melvin. So, she likely knows the score, from reading Melvin's own thoughts. And we promise him that we would help.' She stated, “Just a badass bartender that works in this hotel. Like you, he is just a nice person, unless you piss him off. Which Revy found out the hard way.”

Roberta lightly chuckled. She then said, “Really? Anyone that can take Revy down a notch cannot be all bad.”

Natsuru agreed, “Exactly.”

Rock looked over at River, as she stated, “Now, to deal with River. Revy, Aeryn, Violin, you are coming with us to the Casino.”

River looked over at Rock, as she guessed, “You are going to take me to Chang, and my friends, and tell them what I did. Revy is coming because Revy can smooth things over with Chang. And Aeryn and Violin are coming, because you believe they can take me in a fight, if I try anything.”

Rock cracked a grin, as she happily commented, “Yes. Yes. And most certainly, yes. Though, given you are reading our minds, I thought you would already realize this.”

River stated, “Rock, your mind is so full of plans, plans within plans, and counter-plans, that it is hard to read your thoughts.”

Rock laughed for a few seconds. She then smirked, as she said, “I will take that as a compliment. Now, get up, we have much to do.”

River then did as instructed, as soon she, Rock, Revy, Aeryn, and Violin, left the restaurant, and walked towards the hotel parking lot, and to the Lagoon family's red GTO.

Meanwhile, the other women continued to talk amongst themselves, for a while longer. As they discussed topics, on various possible ways to catch Lee, to more casual conversations, such the maids being informed about some of the places of interest there were on the island city of De La Plata Podrido.

(_)

Twenty minutes later, Rock pulled the red GTO under the carport awning, in front of the main entrance to Daiyu Palace Casino.

Rock drove, with Revy in the front, to the right of Rock.

Violin was behind Rock. River was in the middle of the backseat. And Aeryn sat behind Revy.

Rock pulled up to the front entrance, by the curb with the right passenger sat facing the main entrance of the casino.

Rock stopped the car, put in park, and turned off the ignition. The five adults then got out of the car, with Rock and Revy opened the doors, getting out, and pulled up the front seats, and helping the others out.

Rock and Revy then raised their seats and shut their doors. Though, they did not lock there door.

As all of the adults stood around the car. Those on the drivers side, walked around to join their friends, on the passenger side of the car, where the sidewalk was, under the large awning of the building.

Meanwhile, the nearby female valets, on the sidewalk, immediately recognized River. Also, one of the valets exchanged Rock's keys, for a ticket stub, to park her car.

The five adult women then headed for the front doors.

Given the valets knew who the women were. Especially, that River was their bosses lover, the five women approached the front doors, the valets opened the doors for all five women.

As they entered the front lobby of the casino, they continued walking, near each other, in a group.

As they walked, Violin asked, “So, River, how are we going to do this?”

River said, “Well, to prevent confusion, we need get the gang here together, and tell them at once. Unless, Rock, or Revy, has a better plan.”

Revy replied, “Nope.”

Rock inquired, “That plan works for me. So, how do you want to contact everyone?”

River answered, “Just follow me. And no, I am not leading you into a trap. We need to go the gaming floor, find the pit boss on duty. It will likely either be Spike, or Jetta. And the pit boss with then contact Chang, to make arrangements.”

Aeryn questioned, “Don't you have a cellphone, which you can contact him, yourself?”

River turned to Aeryn, whom was to her right, as they continued walking. She commented, “Come on, Aeryn. You have been at this game long enough to know that communicators, cellphones, and the like, will beep, vibrate, or whatever, at the worst possible moment. Also, Lee has the right idea. If I had a cellphone, Chang could track me down, by tracing my cellphone signal.”

Aeryn conceded, “Good point.”

River then turned back in front of them, as they made their way to the gaming floor.

(_)

A minute later, they reached the gaming floor.

Violin recognized the song being played, she thought, 'This song is, The Wicked Symphony, by Avantasia.'

River thought, 'Thanks for the telling me the song's title and band, Violin. And the lyrics really speak to my situation.'

River came to stop, with the other four women stopping around her.

Rock inquired, “So, where is the pit boss?”

River requested, “Give me a couple of seconds.”

River then mentally scanned the room. It was not to difficult for her to find whom she was looking for. She just tuned out players and dealers, focusing on the cards and the money. And instead she focused on the few individuals on the gaming floor that was focus on making sure the gaming floor ran smoothly, and fairly.

And River found the woman she was looking for.

River stated, “Jetta is on the duty. Please, let me do the talking.”

Rock said, “No problem.”

River then started walking in the direction of the restaurant, to the right of the gaming floor entrance, from the front lobby. The other four women followed River.

After they made their way through the gaming floor, to about half way between the restaurant, and the elevator bay, they saw Jetta nearby.

Jetta was wearing a black suit, and black dress shoes, as she performed her duties at the pit boss for the floor.

While they walked over to Jetta, the black haired woman, noticed them, and she turned to face them.

As the five women came to a stop in front of Jetta, the black haired woman smiled. She greeted them, in english, “Hello ladies. What can I do for you?”

River requested, “I need you to call Chang down here?”

Jetta commented, “Let me guess, it involves the strange clothing that you are wearing?”

River said, “Yes.”

Jetta shrugged, as she pulled out her cellphone from her coat pocket. She then dialed a number. Next, she held the phone to her right ear.

As the other end picked up, she said into her phone, “Chang, I need you to come to the gaming floor. It is important.”

On the other end of the line, Chang asked, “How important?”

Jetta answered, “River is here. She is strangely dressed, and she has four strange looking women with her. I believe they are your friends from the islands. And they don't look happy.”

Chang stated, “I will be down in a minute.”

Jetta then closed her cellphone, and put her phone away, back into the interior coat pocket she had it in. She then turned to River, as she inquired, “Dare I ask what is going on?”

River responded, in a defeated tone of voice, “It is more of a question of where should I start?”

Jetta winced, as she questioned, “That bad?”

River replied, “Yea.”

They group then waited for Chang to come meet with them.

(_)

A few minutes later, Chang made it down to the gaming floor, from his penthouse office.

As he approached the six women, the women turned and saw the he was wearing his usual black suit, and black long coat, but he was not wearing his glasses.

When Chang came to a stop in front of them, none of the six women said a word to him.

Instead, Chang looked at the six women, and he then focus on River, whom was wearing ill fitting, men's clothing. He calmly asked, “What is going on, River?”

Though, before River could answer, Revy stated, “Chang, we need to get the others together. The Bebop crew. The Serenity crew. Along with Annie and Arcee. So, we can talk in private.”

Chang looked over at Revy.

Revy looked at Chang, as she smirked. She said, “River got caught doing something very naughty.”

Chang inquired, “How naughty?”

Revy licked her lips, as she maintained her feral grin, while she responded, “Deliciously naughty.”

River quickly stated, “It is not sex.”

Chang look at River, as he commented, “I know. Sex would be too simple an explanation for this situation. So, where do you want everyone to meet?”

River stated, “Just tell them to meet in the garage, in back, so Arcee can join in.” She then turned to Rock.”

Rock said, “That will do.”

Chang looked over at Jetta, as he ordered, “Make it happen.”

Jetta just nodded, as she pulled back out her cellphone, opened it, and dialed a number.

(_)

Ten minutes later, seventeen adults meet in the back garage of the casino. Both the outside and insides door to the garage, were closed, and locked, from the inside, so the adults could talk in private.

Mal, Inara, Zoe, Simon, Kaylee, Jayne, Jetta, Faye, and Spike stood in semi-circle, around Rock, Revy, Violin, Aeryn, and Chang.

River was standing between the fourteen adults, with Annie and Arcee, standing to her right. With Arcee in robot mode.

Those present, were either in their usual casual clothing, or in their work clothing. Except for Arcee, and River. With River wearing her male clothing, she had wore, when she was disguised as Sam.

River looked at the others, as she thought, 'Twice in one night. This is not a good sign.'

Spike was the last to join them, as she walked walked over to stand by Jetta and Faye

As Spike walked up to Jetta and Faye, Jetta asked, “Where is Julia?”

Spike stated, “Don't worry. She is asleep. And one of Chang's women, whom I personally know, and trust, is with her. I will introduce you to her, after the meeting.”

Jetta replied, “Okay.”

Faye said, “Looks like things are about to start.”

All three women turned their attention to Chang, whom was standing by Rock, Revy, Violin, and Aeryn, as he looked at River.

Chang asked, “River, I know this is going to get very complicated. So, let us start with the simple questions. Why are you dress like that?”

Chang then used his right hand to point at the oversized, male, clothing that River was wearing. He then dropped his right hand to his side.

River turned to Chang, as she sheepishly said, “It is a long story.”

Rock ordered, “Tell him. Or, I will.”

River looked over at Rock. Then, she looked directly at Chang, as she inquired, “You know, Lee's friend, Sam?”

Chang replied, “Yes.”

River admitted, “That was me, in my male form, while wearing a fake beard.”

River comment caught the Serenity crew by surprise. The other adults in the room took the disclosure in stride.

Kaylee whispered to Simon, “I didn't know she had it in her. To pretend to live as a guy. That takes guts.”

Simon quietly replied, to his girlfriend, “River is just full of surprises.”

Chang remained calm, as he looked at River. He thought, 'River, I am sure you have a good explanation. So, play along.' He stated, in a disappointed tone of voice, “Really? Why does that not surprise me? Still, we will be talking about this, later.”

River replied, “Most certainly.”

Then, Revy was the one that drop the bombshell, “Now, to the heart of the matter. Believe, or not, Lee is the writer. And he escaped into the multiverse with a reality device he stole from us.”

Rock look over at Revy, as she thought, 'Thank you, Revy. For not stating how that happened.'

Revy continued, “And River here, as Sam, helped him escape.”

Faye inquired, “Lee, that skinny guy, that played the poker game, with River here, is the writer?”

Rock answered, “Yes. And he was right in front of us the whole time.”

Jayne stated, “Talk about hiding in plain sight. And this guy did it for months on end, in front of your group, Rock.”

Jayne, Inara, Kaylee, Simon, Jetta, and Zoe, laughed for a few seconds.

As they calmed down, Jayne looked over at Revy, as he commented, “That must have really bruised your egos.”

Revy looked over at Jayne, as she warned, “Watch it, Jayne. I am not in the mood for jokes. But, you are right.”

Mal looked over at River, River looked back at him. He asked, in a calm tone of voice, “Why did you help this man, River?”

River answered, “Mal, I know you are upset about the gender bending, but Lee is a nice guy.”

Mal stated, in an even tone of voice, “I will make that determination on my own.”

River thought, 'It does not take a genius to figure out that Mal is upset with me. And that he is pissed with Lee. Though, I have known Mal long enough, to realize he will get over it, eventually. Plus, Chang is planning to bribe him. So, that will help.'

Spike spoke up, as she flatly inquired, “So, River. The next question becomes. Did you cheat at that card game, with Lee?”

River looked over at Spike, as she answered, “No. I did not. Lee really is a good card player. And he didn't cheat either.” She then looked at Faye, as she continued, “Even though our first dealer cheated against him.”

Faye looked at River, as she thought, with a bit of venom, 'River, I know you are reading our minds. And I am sure you know that I was under orders from your boyfriend, Chang. So, don't deflect this conversation towards me.'

River heard Faye's thoughts, as she said, “Still, Lee caught the cheating, and he was able to continue in a fair manner.”

Faye thought, 'Thank you.'

Chang said, “Be that it may, River, keeping secrets like this does not help anyone.”

Mal coughed.

Chang looked over at Mal.

Mal said, “It is only fair that you tell them what you know.” He thought, 'Chang, while you didn't tell us the details, of who the writer is. It is clear, from the way you reacted, when the conversation came up, about the writer, over the course of the last few days, you knew who the writer is, before this. I was just still trying to figure out how best approach you on the matter.'

River cracked a grin, as she thought, 'I do not know how Mal found out that Chang knew about writer. Though, it is ironic that now with Mal knowing that Lee is the writer. And the shoe to be on the other foot.'

Aeryn inquired, with interest in her tone of voice, “Tell us, what?”

Chang looked back at Aeryn, Rock, Revy, and Violin, as he light chuckled for few seconds.

Chang then stated, “I will come straight to the point. I figured out that Lee was the writer the day after the poker game.” He mentally added, 'I will leave out the kidnapping, and that Annie and Arcee know, as well.'

Chang saw, in the corner of his eye, River's grin get slight wider, with happiness towards him.

Jayne shook his head, as he commented, “Those two are just made for each other.”

Inara spoke up, “Yes. They even keep the same type of secrets.”

There was snickering from a few members of their group.

Though, those snickers all died quick deaths, as everyone saw that from the look on Revy's face that they could tell that Revy was furious.

Revy looked at Chang, with fury in her eyes. She questioned, in a dangerously low tone of voice, “Why didn't you tell us that you figured out Lee was the writer?”

Chang looked at Revy, with a smirk on his lips, as he admitted, “Because, I want him.”

Chang casual response caught Revy offer guard. Causing her to calm down a little, while not immediately replying to him.

On the other hand, Rock inquired, “What do you mean? Why do you want him?”

Chang turned to Rock, as he casually said, “Rock, no pun intended, but you cannot be that dense. Lee pulled a magnificent con on all of us. A con that took months to figure out and plan. And he did this under intense stress, and limited resources...”

“I honestly don't know if I could have pulled off this con, with the limited resources Lee had to rely on.”

“Lee displayed a high level of skill and intelligence, at both using one's knowledge and skills to manipulate people into doing what he wanted, constantly on the fly, with him solving problems that kept coming up, without him getting caught. That is genius level intelligence and planning. There are only a few people in the multiverse that could pull that type of con off on us.”

“Also, he knew who we were beforehand. He knew how dangerous we are. Yet, he still continued the con, while dealing with us, day in and day out. That take guts. That takes courage.”

“Due to all this, plus the fact his knows his manners. And that he can play ball. Means the man is worth more to us alive than dead. Sure, he did some horrible things to us. But, I sincerely believe that he didn't realize what he was doing, when he wrote those stories. Also, he did a few good things for us. That being said. We could use someone like him.”

By then, Revy had thought over what Chang said. Revy asked, in a calm tone of voice, “What could Lee bring to the table?”

Chang turned to Revy, as he answered, “Lee brings an interesting point of view on things. He is the type of person, when you ask a question. He will not only give you the right answer, but he will tell you seven different ways to look at both the question, and the answer, so as to solve other questions and answers.”

Violin guessed, “So, you planned to keep quiet, until you figured out how to make of offer to us, to where you get Lee, in one piece, without worrying about reprisals, over his hide?”

Chang looked at Violin, as he flatly admitted, “Exactly.”

Chang turned to the others, as he asked, in a calm, thought even tone of voice, “Any of you have a problem with that?”

Jayne said, “No.”

Inara commented, “None, whatsoever.”

Zoe stated, “I am willing to let things slide.”

Jetta admitted, “I have no problem with him.”

Faye complimented, “At least he is polite.” She thought, 'Except when someone cheats him at cards. But, that is reasonable.'

Kaylee smiled, as she stated, “Hey. He brought some fun into my life.”

Simon said, “He did give us new opportunities in business and pleasure.”

Arcee said, “A person crazy enough to pull this off should be admired.”

Annie commented, “I have no problems with Lee.”

Spike and Mal chose to remain silent.

Revy commented, “Well, River has a similar plan. And as we told her, we will have our revenge.”

Chang turned to Revy, as he responded, “But Revy, I am willing to sweeten the deal, for all those whom feel wronged by Lee, with gold, and possible favors.”

Revy conceded, “That is tempting. And we will need to discuss you offer amongst ourselves. And we will think on your offer.”

Chang thought, in a positive frame of mind, 'That is not a, no.'

Chang turned to River, as he asked, “So, what was your plan?”

River answered, “About the same as the pitch you are making right now. A controlled level of revenge. But, one that Lee would survive and recover from.”

Chang replied, “That is good to hear.”

In response, River slightly smiled at Chang.

Jayne turned to Mal, as he commented, “Mal, didn't you say Lee was sick, when you shook his hand during the poker game?”

Mal turned to Jayne, as he answered, “Yes.”

River stated, “Lee is dying of cancer. At best, he has a few months to find a cure, before the cancer kills him.”

Spike stated, “Damn. Talk about rotten luck. I may want a measure of revenge against him, but that is not a way a person should go.”

Mal said, “I agree.”

Chang stated, “So, as we can see, we do have a limited amount of time.” He turned to Revy, as he asked, “So, what are you going to do now, Revy?”

Revy turned to Chang, as she answered, “We know when and where he heading. And we are going after him.”

Mal requested, “Care to share that information?”

Revy answered, “Sure.” She thought, 'River would tell them anyway, after I left. So, I might as well.'

Spike asked, “So, where are Lee?”

Revy stated, “The Babylon Five reality.”

Jayne commented, “That is a big place to hide.”

Everyone turned to look at Jayne.

Jayne stated, “Hey. Bob is my drinking buddy. He... Well now, she loaned me a copy of that series one time.” He mentally added, 'Honestly, I would like to thank Lee for giving me such a good friend as Bob. Still, I am annoyed with Lee dealing with gender bending. Just not as much as the captain.'

Rock continued for her lover, as she said, “Fortunately. As Revy said. We know when and where he is. And where he is going.”

Chang requested, “Does someone have a pen and paper?”

Jetta stated, “I do.” She approached Chang and Rock, as she pulled out a pen and notepad from her coat pocket.

Jetta handed the pen and notepad to Rock.

As soon as Rock took the two items, she flipped open the notepad and she began writing on it, in english.

A few seconds later, she finished. As first handed the notepad to Chang. She then handed the pen to Jetta, as she said, “Thank you.”

As Jetta put away her pen, as she replied, “You're welcome.” She then walked back to join Spike and Faye, before she turned back around to look at the rest of the group.

Meanwhile, Chang looked at the notepad, as he stated, “I appreciate this.”

Rock stated, “No problem. If you find him, we will still get a piece of his ass.”

Chang looked over at Rock, as he put away the notepad, into a coat pocket. He said, “As I stated. I am willing to negotiate.”

Rock responded, “I know. That piece of paper has the date and other information, to head to the reality, time, and location we, tracked Lee to. But, we know where he is heading.”

Faye asked, “So, where is he going?”

Revy shrugged, as she said, “Where else? Mars.”

The other adults chuckled a little at Revy's comment.

Rock stated, “It takes two days of travel in hyperspace, from Babylon Five, to reach Mars.”

Chang asked, “How would you know?”

Rock stated, “Akira mentioned that years ago, her family spent a few months in the Babylon Five reality.”

Chang replied, “That helps a lot.”

Jetta turned to River, as she inquired, “Where does Lee's fascination with Mars come from?”

River looked at Jetta, as she answered, “Best I can figure is that Lee saw the original version of the movie, Total Recall, as a child, and the film had an influence on him.”

Chang thought, 'Why am I not surprised? Plus, that movie likely inspired some of his mind screw plots, and personal actions, with us.'

Revy stated, “Now, that we have settled that, let's get down to my offer.” She then looked around the crowd, as she continued, with a wicked grin on her face, “Whomever catches Lee, gets first dips on revenge against him. Though, we want him alive, and conscious, and mostly unharmed, so he is in the shape, where we can have our revenge, as well.”

Spike commented, “I will consider it.”

Mal shrugged, as he inquired, “That sounds fair. Do you have a limit to how many of us can come?”

Rock answered, “No. We will even provide you with some of our encrypted radios.”

Mal replied, “That would be nice.”

Chang turned to Rock, as he stated, “We will finalize our plans tomorrow.”

Rock looked over at Chang, as she said, “That works for me.”

Spike turned to Revy, as she smirked. She asked, “So, besides us, and your group, who else are you bringing to this party, for our little fox hunt?”

Revy answered, “No many. The maids are coming. None of us are crazy enough to try and stop them from doing so. Also, I was going to invite Balalaika and B. I would be tempted to call the Lowe family, but I feel they would likely help, Lee.”

River spoke up, “Oh. I am sure they would. Three of them were created by Lee, and the fourth was given everything she could possibly want in life. I should know, I have read their minds.”

Violin stated, “I hope Balalaika and B do not bring Hotel Moscow with them. There wouldn't be a planet left, with the maids, plus Hotel Moscow, after Lee's ass.”

Aeryn said, “Violin is correct. Blowing up a planet will only bring unneeded, and unwanted, attention. We know, because we have done it before.”

Violin winced, as she commented, “Multiple times.”

Revy shrugged, as she responded, “Relax. When I contact them later tonight, by a reality jump, and a phone call.” She turned to Rock, as she continued, “I will be gone only five minutes.” She turned back to Aeryn and Violin, as she went onto say, “I will request Balalaika and B make this a personal hunt, and keep their army at home. Like the offer we made to those two, to being with.”

Chang pointed out, “Still, Balalaika and B can be as dangerous as the Lovelace maids.”

Revy agreed, “I will give you that one. They are damn close to being equal to the maids.”

Mal look over at River, as he stated, “Though, that being said. River will not be joining us. She has clearly become too close to the target.”

River looked over at Mal. She stated, in a disappointed tone of voice, “I understand. Still, please keep in mind that Lee is a nice guy. I can read your mind, Mal. I know you are upset with both him, and me. But, I am asking you, as friend, go easy on him.”

Mal said, “If he surrenders to me, I promise not to harm him, until we return to the casino. If he fights, all bets are off.”

River sighed, as she thought, 'I guess I will have to take what I can get.'

Chang turned to Revy, Rock, Violin, and Aeryn, as he stated, “Well girls. If that is all you need to tell us. I hope you have a pleasant night. We will talk in the morning. Say around nine AM. And good hunting. Still, I need to speak to my personnel, in private.”

The four women turned to Chang, as Rock said, “No problem.”

Revy replied, “Have fun.”

Violin said, “Night, Chang.” She turned to the rest of the group, as she said, “Night, guys.”

Aeryn stated, “This meeting was adequate.”

Just as the four women were about to leave the rest of the group, Rock turned to River, as she asked, “No hard feelings?”

River looked at Rock, as she stated, “It depends on what condition Lee returns in.”

Rock replied, “Then, we will have to see.”

The four women then turned and walked away from the group, towards the door to the garage, that lead into the casino, and towards the gaming floor, and then the front entrance. With the door being locked from the inside, that was no problems exiting the room.

Several seconds later, the four women had left through a door to a back hallway, as they headed to the front of the casino, where they would retrieve their car.

After those in adults still in the room heard the door shut behind them, the adults looked at each other.

Arcee spoke up, “Well, have fun. I will not be going,”

Faye asked, “You aren't?”

Arcee commented, “I don't feel like going. And someone has to run this place while you are gone.”

Chang turned to Arcee, as he stated, “Thank you, Arcee.” He then looked at the others, as he said, “Now, I have two items to talk about. Speaking of running this casino, I except you to be back within an hour of leaving. This casino does not run itself. Though, I am sure Arcee can use the cameras and run the security and gaming areas from teleconference. But, I do not want to test out that theory.”

Mal cracked a grin, as he said, “We will be back before you know it.”

Spike turned to Mal, as she complimented, “Nice line.”

Mal turned to Spike, as he replied, “Thank you.”

Jetta spoke up, “We will keep them out of trouble.”

Zoe stated, “Yes. We adults will be chaperoning this hunt.”

The adults then laughed at Jetta and Zoe's comments.

As everyone calmed down, Chang offered, “Also, there is a reward for ten large gold bars, for each of you, if you bring Lee back here in a salvage way. You can punch him a few times, but bring him back here in a way he is awake, and he is not crippled, nor dead.”

The other adults looked at Chang, in his eyes, to acknowledge they heard him.

Mal smirked, as he said, “We will try not to hurt him too much.”

Spike commented, “I will make no promises.”

Chang stated, “And I do not want any of you to leave, until tomorrow. I want all of you to be at your best. There is no rush. And I want you to spy on the others in this hunt. Secretly bring recording equipment with you. And be prepared to use it.”

“So, even if we lose Lee. We will be able to work on being one step ahead of everyone else.”

“And I will want copies of any such recordings, by early tomorrow afternoon, my time.”

Mal said, “Works for me.”

Spike conceded, “I can live with that.” She mentally added, 'I will just have one of the women I trust, babysit Julia for an hour, while I am gone. Some of them actually like helping me with Julia. And they all know better than to cross me.'

Jetta commented, “Good. This will give me time to talk to the dealers, about tomorrow. Just in case, we are late.”

Kaylee stated, “I love spy versus spy.”

Inara said, “A good rest is always wise, before a big day.”

Zoe agreed, “Especially, before a big hunt.”

Simon said, “Lee is going to regret giving us such experience with being bounty hunters.”

Faye agreed, “You got that right, Simon.”

Jayne smiled mischievously, as he said, “I finally have an excuse to breakout my big gun.”

Annie chose to remain silent.

Chang ordered, “Okay, guys. I think we are done here. I will give you the location information to you in the morning.” He mentally added, 'I know that a couple you would go to night, if you had that information. But, getting some sleep would be a wiser course of action for everyone.' He continued, “Also, Jayne, Zoe, please escort River to my penthouse living room.”

Both Jayne and Zoe responded to Chang, by silently nodding.

Chang turned to River, as he thought, 'It is not that I don't trust you, River. It is just that you can be spontaneous, and too much is on the line for you to go rogue, and try to find Lee, yourself. I believe I can handle the situation, and save Lee. But, I need to time. And you going off on your own, might throw a monkey wretch in my plans to bring Lee back here, safe and sound.'

River looked at Chang. She nodded, as she said, “Okay.”

Chang then turned to Annie, as he requested, “Annie, I would like to speak to you for a moment.”

Annie turned to Chang, as she said, “As you Earthers say. It is your dime.”

Chang cracked a grin, as he said, “You have been around us way too long.”

Annie return Chang's grin, as she replied, “Perhaps.”

Inara said, “Well, I have to get back to the spa.”

Mal stated, “And we need to get back to the security office.”

Jetta commented, “And the gaming floor is not going to police itself.”

Spike said, “I need to check on my daughter.” She mentally added, 'And do some thinking. As what type of revenge I would like to have on Lee.'

Kaylee turned Simon, as she inquired, “Are we still on for our date tonight?”

Simon looked over at Kaylee. He smiled, as he responded, “Of course. I have been looking forward to it all day.”

Arcee thought, 'Well, Chang needs some private time to speak to Annie. And I cannot go into the normal areas of the casino. But, I can do something else. And invite someone with me.' Arcee offered, “Anyone want to go riding around town with me?”

Faye said, “Sure.” She turned to look at Chang and Jetta, as she continued, “If it is okay with my bosses?”

Chang and Jetta look at each other. They turned to Faye.

Chang shrugged, as he said, “Go ahead.”

Jetta stated, “Sure. Just don't be out too late.”

Faye replied, “Thanks, Jet, and Chang. I will be back in an hour or two,”

Arcee smiled, as she said, “Grab a helmet, and let's go, sister.”

As Faye quickly got a black helmet from a nearby table, Arcee transformed into motorcycle mode, while giving the radio signal a nearby garage door to the outside parking lot, to unlock and roll up.

A few seconds later, Faye sat one Arcee's seat, with her helmet on, as Arcee roar out of the garage, and onto streets of Plata Podrido. With Acree signaling the open garage door to close behind them.

Less than a minute later, the garage clear out, except for Chang, and Annie.

Chang and Annie looked at each other, as Annie commented, “It is real nice of Arcee to give us some privacy.”

Chang agreed, “Yes. It is. And it allows me to speak to you in private. I noticed that you were quiet during the meeting just now.”

Annie responded, “There was no point in speaking, when everyone already had their minds made up.”

Chang questioned, “How was the mood in the room?”

Annie stated, “Barring Mal, and Spike, most of them were mildly amused by the situation. They were on the fence with hunting Lee. They will only do it because Mal and Spike want to, along with it being an excuse to have some fun.”

Chang said, “I can understand that. Most of this crew would ditch this nine to five job, if I did not pull on their reigns occasionally. Along with the great pay, and wonderful employee perks, I provide them. And you.”

Chang mentally noted, 'Still, I cannot treat them too favorably, when compared to my rank and file employees. Or, that could cause moral problems for everyone. Still, I give my rank and file employee some nice perks, and wonderful pay, as well. So, everyone is getting a piece of the pie, from our little operation.'

Annie complimented, “You have better managerial skills than I do. And in my former job, I had a reputation of literally choking people to force them, and their coworkers, to fall in line.”

Chang shook his head, as he said, “I am not even going to dignify that comment with a joke.”

Annie replied, “Thank you.”

Chang thought, 'Well, with a compliment like that. I think I am finally making my way out of the dog house with you, Annie.' He inquired, “So, what about Spike and Mal?”

Annie commented, “Both of them want blood, but they think Lee does not deserve a quick death.”

Chang inquired, “Okay. That is still workable. So, what do you want to do?”

Annie answered, “Let Lee be. I don't want to go after him. That man has been through enough.”

Chang said, “Yes. He has. And I have a good excuse in mind to allow you to stay here. Since River is not going, you can babysit, River. It will give us both an excuse for you to not go.”

Annie responded, “Good idea. And thank you.”

Chang replied, “You are welcome.”

Annie said, “If you don't mind. I am going to go have some dinner at the casino restaurant.”

Chang said, “Go ahead.”

Annie inquired, “By the way, what are you going to do about River?”

Chang admitted, “Nothing really. The main thing I intend to do is keep her from throwing a wretch into my plans. There are too many wheels in motion with the situation, as is. And all three of us agree we want Lee to turn out fine. Lee is polite, intelligent, skilled in a number of areas, and nice to be around. I had some wonderful conversations with him. And that is a great combination to have as an employee. And as a friend.”

Annie commented, “Also, in a lover.”

Chang admitted, “True. And I know you are thinking the same thing I am.”

Annie questioned, “Has River fallen for Lee?”

Chang responded, “Exactly. Still, I would not be angry. Lee has been a perfect gentlemen around River. And as Sam, Lee did not know River was River. Until likely very recently. Still, I have plans for that situation, as well. Plans that would benefit all parties involved.”

Annie replied, “I am sure. Though, I do not want to know.”

Chang said, “I appreciate that. Yet, I am not sure what I am going to say to River, when I talk to her, when I head up to the penthouse. I think, I will walk around the casino for a while, so I can think.”

Annie complimented, “That is a wise course of action.”

Chang cracked a grin, as he agreed, “Yes. It is. Now, go enjoy your supper, Annie.”

Annie replied, “Sure thing. See you later, Chang.”

Annie then walked out of the garage, and into the casino building itself, as she headed for the casino restaurant, by the gaming floor, to get some dinner.

A minute after Annie left, Chang started casually walking back into the interior hallways of the casino building, so he could wonder around, and think, alone.

(_)

At the moment, Aeryn, Violin, Revy, and Rock walked out of the front entrance of the casino.

The four woman came to a stop, as Rock went to the nearby valet, to hand in her stub, to get her car.

As this went one, Violin turned to the other women, as she commented, “You got to admit, that Chang is one classy dude. Even when he is a she.”

Revy turned to Aeryn and Violin. She cracked a grin. She snorted, as she said, “You are preaching to the choir.”

Aeryn said, “Well, he is smooth. But, he reminds me of Scorpius, in that way.”

Revy inquired, “Speaking of Scorpius. I am toying with the idea of inviting her.”

Both Aeryn and Violin turn to her, as they stated, in unison, in a strong tone of voice, “No.”

Aeryn said, “Scorpius is not to be trusted, at all. She would more likely try to frell Lee's brains, than hurt him. Unless she did both at the same time.” She turned to Violin, as she continued, “She has been know to do both, at the same time, before.”

Violin noticed her wife looking at her. And she realized the subtext of Aeryn's comments. Violin stated, “Speaking of which, after we had that poker game at the Rats Nest. I visited her, a few days ago. And when we talked about that game, Scorpy did have a strange grin on her face.”

Aeryn inquired, “You don't think she figured out who Lee was and she didn't tell us?”

Violin conceded, “That is likely. And knowing her. She likely covered for him, and she then frelled him.”

Revy admitted, “I honestly don't want to know.”

Aeryn replied, “Neither do I.”

Violin said, “I agree.”

The three women then watched as the GTO was driven up to the carport in front of them.

The valet parked the car, got out, and she handed Rock the keys.

As soon as Rock had her car keys in her hands she walked back to the three women, as she said, “Okay, girls. Let's get back to the hotel.”

Revy complimented, “Good idea.”

Rock grinned, as she commented, “And by the way. I found Scorpius' new female form to be a bit cute. I could see them frelling each other.” She then turned away, laughing, as the three other women followed behind her, to the car that was parked right in front of them.

As they walked, Aeryn looked over at Revy, as she commented, “Some days, I honestly wonder which of you two is the more deviant one.”

Revy replied, “Me too. Me too.”

The four women then got into the GTO, with Rock driving, as they headed back to the Devil's Hotel to plan and prepare with their group. For their hunt of Lee. And then they planned get some rest, for the hunting would begin tomorrow morning.

(_)

An hour later, Chang finally made it up to the penthouse floor, and to the hallway door, that lead directly to the living room of the apartment he shared with River.

While Chang stood in the hallway, in front of the door to the personal residence that Chang and River shared. Chang pulled out a key and unlocked the door.

As he pocketed the key, he opened the door, which opened directly into the living area of their penthouse apartment.

After he walked inside, he locked and shut the door behind him.

Chang looked around the living room, and he saw River, sitting on the couch, to his left, across from their large, wall mounded, widescreen TV, and entertainment center, to his right.

They were the only two people in the room.

And Chang saw that River was looking back him.

Chang commented, “I can never surprise you? Can I?”

River shrugged, as she replied, “It comes with the territory with being a telepath. Come sit down.”

Chang walked over, between the couch, and coffee table, as he sat down beside River on the couch, to River's right side.

As soon as Chang settled in, he turned to River, at River turned to look at him.

Chang asked, “So, how are you holding up?”

River answered, “Sore, but fine. Given I just had to talk my way through two groups of badasses, that were not happy with my actions, I consider myself lucky.”

Chang agreed, “And you should.”

River inquired, “I can read your mind. But, how do you feel concerning my actions, as Sam?”

Chang admitted, “I am indifferent. I am not surprised you pulled this off. And I am sure you would have told me the truth, soon enough. But, it seems that the maids threw both our time tables out the window.”

River responded, “Yes. They have a gift for doing that. And I was planning on telling you soon. To be honest, probably within the next few days.”

Chang inquired, “I believe you. So, how close was Lee to taking the offer we worked on, before the maids showed up?”

River stated, “Lee was very close. He considered it to be very fair. He main plan was to keep his head down for a few days, to allow you to iron out the details, before he accepted your offer.”

Chang stated, “Good. And what about your original plan? How did that fit in with my plan?

River said, “You had the better plan. Once I learn about it, I made my plan to be a plan B. With you plan being, plan A.”

Chang said, “That is nice. You always were one to change plans, and move in a different direction, if you thought it was best.”

River inquired “Yes. I do. I know that I cannot go on this hunt for Lee. For obvious reasons. But, is there anything in your plans that I can be a part of, in finding, and helping, Lee?”

Chang answered, “Sadly. Not that moment. Revy, Rock, and the others will think I am up to something. Which I am. If you follow after Lee, you will risk wrecking my plans, and getting Lee killed, or worse. So, I ask you for appearance sake, and Lee's personal sake, that you stay around the casino tomorrow.”

River said, “I understand. And I will stay around here tomorrow.”

Chang commented, “Thank you. Also, Annie does not want to go after Lee.”

River stated, “While I can understand Arcee liking Lee. It is surprising that Lee was able to make such a good impression with Annie.”

Chang pointed out, “Yes. And Lee has to be genuine in his actions, concerning Annie, to achieve such a rapport with her. Or, she would have sensed he was lying.”

River replied, “True. And I guess that honestly has saved him from her wrath.”

Chang stated, “Absolutely. Anyway, Annie will be using the excuse of watching you tomorrow, so she does not have to go hunting after Lee. As such, you will have company for tomorrow. And I know that you two are good friends. So, there should not be any problems with this.”

River kindly responded, “Thank you. I have always been comfortable around Annie. Also, we both know if Annie goes, the others will immediately rely on her force abilities to find Lee, quickly. And Lee knows that even with his precognition, he cannot counter Annie's level of power and skill. He is not that good. And if Annie refuses to help in that way, it will cause questions to be asked, concerning her. And how much she knew about Lee, before tonight.”

Chang replied, “Those were my thoughts exactly.”

River grinned, as she said, “And I wasn't even reading your mind, just now.” She dropped her grin, as she inquired, in a sober tone of voice, “So, what happens if Lee is captured?”

Chang answered, “I figured that if we get him, he will get beaten up, but otherwise unharmed. And he will be bought here. We will figure out what to do him, afterward. That gives us both time to come up with a plan. If Revy's group gets him, we still have a shot of getting him. But, if the maids get him, there is nothing really I can do.”

River sadly said, “I understand. And given the situation, that is a good plan. Let us just hope that Lee can avoid the maids.”

Chang mentioned, “While the maids are next to unstoppable in a battle, they are very, very direct. On the other hand, Lee excels at being indirect. As long as they don't corner him, I think that Lee can stay one step ahead of them.”

River responded, “I agree. Actually, after Lee learned the maids were in town, and my real identity, he tried to turn himself over to Revy and the others, by singing a song. It is just he did not count on them being too dense to understand what he was doing.”

Chang inquired, “I can understand him wanting to turn himself over to someone, besides the maids. But, why didn't he just come to me?”

River answered, “Lee believed that with the maids already in town, you would not protect him, because you would not cross the maids.”

Chang stated, “I admit that I told the two of the maids that I would not cross them. When I met with them earlier today.”

River commented, “I heard that Eda sent them your way.”

Chang said, “Yes. Though, I won't hold that against Eda. She was just likely buying time for Lee.”

River replied, “That she was.”

Chang asked, “So, she cares about him?”

River stated, “Yes. But, only as a friend.”

Chang said, “Good. Anyway, while I would not cross the maids, directly, I would have called in Garcia, and have him mediate the situation.”

River complimented, “Given they would listen to him. That would be a wise idea.”

Chang said, “I know. When Lee is captured, by any of our groups. I will call in Garcia.”

River offered, “Good. I will help with that.”

Chang stated, “You're help is more than welcome.” He then inquired, with curiosity in his tone of voice, “So, what was with this whole, Sam act?”

River answered, “At first, I just wanted to learn about the writer, and who he really was, before I captured him.”

Chang guessed, “But then, you got to know him, and you found out he was not that bad a guy.”

River responded, “Yes. That story has already been told a hundred different ways.”

Chang shrugged, as he said, “At least. And I have to ask. You haven't fallen for him? Have you?”

River answered, “I don't think so. And I still care about you, Chang.”

Chang replied, “Good. Though, that would not be the end of the world. You could always share.”

River giggled. She grinned towards Chang, as she complimented, “That is what like about you, Chang. Your pragmatism.”

Chang returned River's grin, as he replied, “Thank you.”

River mentioned, “Also, Ranma has some magic smoke that will make you remember your time in the time loop. Given, we just spent much of that time having fun with each other, it would be worth remembering.”

Chang smiled, as he said, “I will have to ask Ranma for that smoke, then. I will probably to it, tomorrow, when we meet, to plan our hunt for Lee. So, what do you want to do tonight?”

River stated, “I would love to sleep with you, but I am a little sore, right now. Revy kneed me in the groin as a man, and I made the mistake of turning back into a woman. Now, I am sore in both my abdomen, and groin. Though, I am almost over the soreness. But, I am in no mood for sex, in either form.”

Chang calmly questioned, “Okay. Have you had dinner, yet?”

River answered, “Not yet.”

Chang stated, “Then, when we are finished talking, we will order in for you, and I will get you a heating pad.”

River happily replied, “Thanks. That would be nice.”

Chang responded, “No problem. By the way, I know about Melvin, and I have no interest in telling the others. Still, I cannot find any information on the Rats Nest bartender. Who the hell is she?”

River answered, “Think of what bar, the Rats Nest bar reminds you of, and you will have your answer.”

Chang thought about River comment for a few seconds. He then started laughing as he figure out who the bartender was. As he calmed down, he said, “That figures. And Bao is actually a hotter chick than my female side.”

River said, “I know. I am slightly jealous of her figure, myself. The thing is, about Boa's new bar. If Revy, or those with her, ever figured out the bartender is Bao, they would never leave this town.”

Chang stated, “Oh yes. You're right. They would stay. If for any other reason, than Bao is only one of the few bartenders, in the multiverse, that can handle their level of insanity, on a continual basis. So, let's keep this a secret between us.”

River replied, “Agreed. Though, the maids blew up her bar.”

Chang inquired, “Did Bao have that place insured?”

River answered, “From what I read of her mind, yes.”

Chang shrugged, as he responded, “Then, she will have that place rebuilt in no time. She has a lot of experience with rebuilding bars.”

River cautioned, “I guess she would. Though, be aware she completely owns that bar, and she has no interest in taking crap from anyone. She also knows the police chief on a first name basis.”

Chang stated, “Yes. Pedro seems to prefer to be polite and deal with things in a civil manner. So, did they?”

River grinned mischievous, as she answered, “Yes.”

Chang returned River mischievous grin, with his own, as he questioned, “Does he know?”

River responded, “Not yet. But, Pedro is sharp. He will figure it out, eventually.”

Chang said, “Considering, I learned that he thinks my female form is hot, I am not going to make an issue out of it. And once he figures out you are, Sam, I am sure he will warm up to you.”

River replied, “Probably. I have done nothing, but be nice to him. And I did keep his secrets.”

Chang agreed, “True.”

River commented, “Anyway, I need to call Pedro at his home. As Sam, to make sure he got Lee's warning. Revy and the others already know Pedro was in on Lee's con. But, I could not tell from their minds if Pedro just left the police station, or the city itself.”

Chang stated, “If it is about the maids, he already got the warning. He, and half his police force, left town, on short notice, earlier this evening. Right before dark.”

River said, “Good. That man knows when it is time to leave. And it seems those under him, that know what is going on, also realize when it is time to leave.”

Chang agreed, “Yes. Pedro's genre savviness is one of the traits I admire about him. He knows how to push a situation just enough to get what he wants. But, he also knows when it is time run. And so do most of his officers” He then pulled out his cellphone, as he inquired, “So, what do you want to have for dinner?”

River said, “I would like a chicken caeser salad, with a glass of lemonade. Lee seemed to like the salad the cooks here prepared for him. And I trust his judgment on such matters.”

Chang stated, “Okay. Coming right up.” He then dialed the extension number for the casino restaurant, so River could dine in, in their home, for the evening.

To be continued.