NOTE: the LilTigre sends out her humblest apologies for spamming the list
earlier... she has been punished (by being dunked into a pool of Instant
Nannichuan ;) Special thanx to Key for his gentle, albeit firm,
chastisement.....

All disclaimers in part 1.

Hidden Fires part 2

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

	The hideous Aragami-mantis reared up on its hind legs and let out
a supersonic roar as the bazooka fire slammed into its abdomen. "All
RIGHT!" Sawaguchi Koume cheered, shaking her now-empty gun at the monster.
	"Koume! Stop shooting at it for a second!" Matsudaira Azusa, the
TAC's leading scientist, picked up a printout from the laptop computer and
scanned it hurriedly. "we can't risk destroying the Aragami in its current
state!"
	"Why not? What's wrong, Matsu?" Takeuchi Ryouko's voice asked over
the intercom.
	Yaegashi Yoskiki spoke up from his position by the computer. "The
Aragami's bodily fluids are made up of an extremely alkaline substance. If
those fluids were to leak out onto the surrounding area, all life in this
area would be wiped out!"
	"to destroy it," Matsudaira continued, "we're going to have to
neutralize the alkaline substances in its body."
	Koume and Takeuchi raced back to where the main group was
standing. "So what do we do about it then?" Koume demanded.
	A jeep suddenly swerved towards the group, Kunikida
Daitetsu at the wheel. It squealed to a stop in front of them; Fujimiya
Momiji suddenly popped out of the back of the jeep.
"Here's the supplies you wanted, Mrs. Matsudaira!" She handed the older
woman a large bottle filled with a clear substance and a specialized
hypodermic needle that was almost half her height.
	"Thank you, Momiji," the scientist replied, pulling on a pair of
chemical gloves. "Takeuchi, you distract the Aragami while I load this
into the rocket launcher!"
	As the sharpshooter ran back out, her guns blazing, Matsudaira
filled the hypo full of the liquid and hurriedly shut the lid, loading it
into the huge gun. "Koume, you need to aim for a place containing a large
amount of bodily fluids. Be quick; I don't know how long it will be before
the acid eats through the hypodermic needle!"
	"No problem, Matsu!" Koume ran back out into the battlefield,
aiming at the monster. She pulled the trigger; the rocket/hypo soared
through the air and lodged itself into the monster's eye. Almost
immediately, poisonous fumes began rising from the Aragami's body; it
shuddered and roared one last time as its body began to dissolve. Huge
chunks of smouldering plant-flesh began to fall from the monster as it was
being digested from the inside out. The monster swayed unsteadily, then
began to fall directly towards the jeep where kunikida and Momiji were
waiting-
	A strong pair of arms grasped the both of them around the waist
and yanked them out of the car just before the Aragami smashed the jeep
flat. The person carrying them suddenly stumbled, flinging them from his
grasp. "Owww..." Momiji moaned as Yaegashi helped her up from where she
had landed. "What happened- Kusanagi! Oh no!"
	Momiji ran towards the prostrate figure laying on the ground and
crouched beside him. Her Aragami-created protector raised his head
slightly and stared at her; green blood oozed from the corner of his
mouth, and his body was feverishly hot. "Are... are you ok, Momiji?" he
gasped weakly.
	"Kusanagi, what's wrong? What happened to you?!?" She struggled to
help him up, then pulled back as he screamed in agony. Her hands came back
stained with his blood. His eyes slowly closed as his breathing became
even more shallow.
	"No...." Momiji was pushed aside as the team gathered him up into
the truck, Matsu barking orders at them as she pulled out her extensive
first-aid kit. "Kusanagi......"

=^_^= Jess, the LilTigre