Chapter 6

There was a moment of stunned silence as everyone looked towards the direction of the voice. Coat swishing against his heels, Kurudou Akabane swept in from the shadow.

"You?" cried Ban disbelievingly. "What the-"

Himiko gasped. "But weren't you…" Her voice trailed off.

Dr Jackal's thin lips curved into a sardonic smile. "Indeed. It is such a pleasure to see the whole gang over here. So, you have been thinking and thinking about exactly who this enigmatic Puppet Master is, eh? Well, now you'll know. It is," his smile widened, "me."

"You!" cried Ban.

"Me, my dear Ban," replied Akabane in his cold voice. "I have been rather jaded of late, no spark in my life... The bloodlust unsatiated in me, I considered this new course of action. I had acquired several allies in my travels abroad, whom you see now, defeated," he ended tersely.

"Puppet Master was simply a name I fancied. The crimes were very effective, weren't they? I wonder what the reaction of the Japanese police was like…especially when I made away with that priceless crystal from Misaki Kurashima - work of an artist…" he smirked, in a pleasant reverie.

"That's what we're supposed to retrieve!" cried Kazuki.

"I see? Hevn is in for a disappointment, it seems."

"You can't win against all of us," said Ginji, hotly.

Dr Jackal smiled even wider. "So now, it's time for some fun, don't you think?"

Up on a tree near the garden wall, Shido was trembling slightly. He had had just about enough. The potent Maryuudo blood that surged through his veins was taking over. His eyes turned a deep shade of red. His nails lengthened and sharpened into cruel claws. His teeth pointed now, he gave a terrible roar.

Back on the garden, everyone looked shocked.

"Oh my god," whispered Himiko.

Shido leapt from the tree straight into the field of action. Akabane's eyes widened in horror for a moment as he lunged at him savagely.

Indeed, he was little more than a beast now. His blood pounded in his ears as he his fuddled brain registered little more than the man before him, who had pissed the hell out of him, and the girl upstairs who was going through who-knows-what dreadful ordeal.

Madoka.

The thought of her sweet face goaded him on further, and he lunged his claws forward, searing Akabane's coat.

Dr Jackal, momentarily stumped, unleashed his razor-sharp knives at him.

But Shido was god-like.

He sped towards Akabane, and the very velocity of his approach deflected the knives sideways, and Jubei and Ginji quickly moved away to avoid them.

Then, taking Akabane by the neck, he grinded him against the ground. With a roar of triumph, he whisked away and began climbing up the pipe to where he knew Madoka's room was.

Wrenching her eyes away from the scene, Kazuki cried suddenly, "Look, we've accounted for only six of them- but there were seven. One of them must be upstairs!"

"Then let's go and help!" said Ginji.

"Ginji and I'll go up the pipe, Jubei, Kazuki, Himiko- you go through the main entrance, to block out both exits," said Ban.

They sped towards the house.

"Keep still, honey, and you'll be fine."

Madoka couldn't feel worse. She was sitting on her bed at gunpoint, the gun held by a hooded man. Her mother, in a faint, was of no consequence to him.

"Who are you?" said Madoka.

"You'll know very soon, if you haven't realized who I am yet," said the man snidely.

And then it hit her. "Sako!" she cried.

"Caught on, huh?" he replied.

"I always knew you were the wrong way," said Madoka viciously, through gritted teeth.

"Now, now, missy," said Sako, not moving his gun an inch, "All this doesn't suit your pretty face. Be silent, and all will be well with you."

They both heard a roar downstairs.

"That's Shido!" cried Madoka, her face aglow, "I know!"

And sure enough, moments later, Shido head appeared through the window.

"One move, and the girl's dead," said Sako at once.

Shido was at a loss. He just jumped over the sill and stood against the wall warily.

Moments later, Ban's spikes appeared over the sill, and his whole body, and Ginji, followed.

"You can't help now…" said Shido, "But tell me, Sako, what are you doing this for?"

"I wasn't aware you knew my name," said Sako, "Oh, well, what do people do this kind of thing for, tell me?"
"That means you're a homicidal maniac like Jackal?" said Ban incredulously. "Wow, two of a kind." He was just biding his time, inwardly hoping and hoping the others reached fast.

Sako was facing Ban, Ginji and Shido.

"Well," he said, in response to Ban, "I suppose you could say so." He gave a terrible smile.

"Locked!" said Himiko. "Excellent."

"The windows," said Kazuki. "We could try to pry them open."

The windows were huge and heavily curtained.

"Here goes!" cried Himiko, and all three of them heaved. Emitting a cloud of dust, the window creaked open.

"We must hurry," said Kazuki, and they leapt over into the sitting room, and began the process of wending their way through the labyrinthine hallways and rooms.

"There's a light in there," whispered Himiko, pointing at the door, which was ajar, at the end of the passage, as she climbed up to the second storey.

They crept up stealthily, and as they did, they heard Ban's voice floating up to them.

"…a homicidal maniac like Jackal? Wow, two of a kind."

"Well, I suppose you could say so," they heard a soft, wheezy voice say.

They had reached up to the door.

Ban, Ginji and Shido all saw them.

Then, all in a moment, fine, delicate threads appeared from nowhere and bound Sako, Himiko's knock-out perfume slumped him against the wall, and Jubei's needles pinned his arms neatly to the wall.

Himiko, Kazuki and Jubei entered the room.

"That was neat," said Ban approvingly, looking at Sako.

Shido rushed up to Madoka.

"Are you all right?" he cried, his voice unsteady with anxiety.

She moaned and pressed herself against him. Shido pulled her close to him and held her in his arms.

There was a clip-clop as Hevn hurried up the stairs and into the room, followed by a VERY worried-looking Mr. Otawa.

"Please sit here, and rest yourself," she directed to him.

"Oh my god," she whispered as she exchanged glances with the others. She rushed up to Mrs. Otawa and began to attend to her.

Shido held a quivering Madoka, her flowing hair draped over his arms.

He suddenly realized his eyes were moist.

"Goodbye, mother!" called Madoka, as Mrs. Otawa waved back to her, climbing up the flight of steps to the airplane. She couldn't see her mother, but she understood.

Shido, dressed in a white collared shirt and black trousers, looked undeniably attractive. He had his arm around Madoka.

"Bye bye, daddy!" she cried, turning to him. He smiled back and waved.

Mr. and Mrs. Otawa couldn't be happier.

As their airplane flew them back to the US, both of them recalled the conversation they had had with their daughter.

"Shido is a wonderful man," Mrs. Otawa had declared that evening in the living room. "A man, in every respect of the term."

"True, very true," her husband had agreed.

Truth was, both had been enamored of him ever since the episode in their garden.

"So, Madoka, what do you want? It turned out Sako was …the wrong way, didn't it?"

"I knew, mother," she had said softly, "Always."

"Your mother and I have decided to go by your judgment in what you are to do," Mr. Otawa had said.

Madoka had bitten her lip. "I made up my mind long ago. I do not to wish to marry for at least two years now. I'd like to pursue my musical education."

Mrs. Otawa had raised her eyebrows. "Really?" she had said. "That's fine by us, for we leave it all to you."

That evening, Madoka and Shido walked in the garden, Shido's arm about Madoka's waist.

"Do you remember the time I told you I loved you?" Shido said, his voice low and husky.

"Of course I do," whispered Madoka, her voice low as well. "There's no way I could forget that!"

"And how I told you, that if I kissed you, I'd never be able to let go?"

Madoka bushed in reply.

"Well now," he told her, stopping in his walk, and facing her, "I say the same thing again. The only difference being…

"I don't have to let go anymore."

The stars above were the only witness as Shido drew her close to him and pressed her lips against his. As he stroked her hair and she entwined her arms about his, deepening the kiss.

I want to hold you and say:

We can't throw this all away

Tell me you won't go, you won't go.

Do you have to hear me say?

I can't stop loving you

There's no matter what I say or do

You know my heart is true…

Oh no, I can't stop loving you.

The End

A/N: Please review and tell me how it was...I have a bad feeling I screwed it towards the end- anway, a couple of reviews a day keeps the doctor away, so go ahead!