Quoting DB Sommer <sommert@connecttime.net>:

Prologue

��And it is hereby the decision of this court that Saginomiya
Machine is 
declared bankrupt and all of its remaining assets seized in order
to be 
sold off and pay its tremendous debts. This will include all of the

Saginomiyas� private holdings, as agreed to by the late Masahiro 
Saginomiya, who put all of his worldly possessions up as
collateral.� 
The judge pounded his gavel with his judgment made.

The judge pounded his gavel to declare his judgement made.

Asuka waved her fist at his back. �Traitor! I�ll make you pay! You,
that 
crooked politician, and Kunou Industries! I�ll make you all pay!�

A bailiff cleared his throat, announcing his presence next to
Asuka. 
Snapped temporarily out of the worst of her blinding rage, she
realized 
that everyone in the room was staring at her, and that the bailiff

appeared ready, almost eager, to throw her out. Composing her self,

Composing herself

That changed everything. The laughter inside died, replaced by
hope. 
�Okay, you are legitimate. Very well, I agree to your terms. It�s
not 
like I have anything else to do.� And fifteen million dollar was 
certainly enough seed money to hatch her plans for righteous
vengeance. 
Perhaps things were going to turn out for the best after all.

She entered the limousine, the dark cloud surrounding her made
brighter 
by blood tinged fantasies of the deaths of all that had wronged

blood-tinged

lost on 
out on a government contract since.

Now Kodachi stood in the place her father used to, next to the five

members of the committee. She would have preferred to conduct the
test 
outdoors, but the energy cannon they had developed was still top
secret, 
and there was no telling what sort of eavesdropping equipment by
rival 
companies might be trained on KI�s exterior. 

Not to mention the spy satellites of certain foreign powers.  

features of the Safecracker is that it has a precise range,
mitigating 
collateral damage. If you�re trying to hit a target that moves out
of 
the path of the beam, you don�t have to worry about it following
through 
and hitting something you don�t want destroyed.�

In fact given that this beam is capable of cutting through anything 
short of adamantium, even if you hit you don't want it to just keep 
going.

construction site situated on Kunou Industries property. It was
great 
timing that she should complete it just as they started to tear
down the 
biolabs that used to house the pineapple genetics laboratory. An 
obsession with pineapples was her father�s preoccupation, not hers,
and 
it was time Kunou Industries stuck with mechanical engineering, and
not 
waste money on building the better tropical fruit.

Thus sparking the origin of the Porcupineapple!

Outwardly the vehicle appeared to be a cross between an octopus and
a 
construction site, which was a fairly accurate comparison. The new

vehicle was intended to be multipurpose. It was like a steam
roller, 
crane, forklift, scoop shovel and wrecking crew all in one. While
it was 
so monstrously gigantic it could only be used on large scale 
construction sites, it was less than half the price of buying all
the 
pieces of equipment individually, and could be operated by half as
many 
people. The advertising branch was a bit leery as test markets had

indicated many construction workers were turned off by the
vehicle�s 
mish-mash appearance, but Kodachi was convinced it would catch on.
The 
fact that its shakedown run would also be used to save money as she

knocked down and rebuilt one of her labs was a bonus and good omen,
as 
far as she was concerned.

Kodachi�s cell phone beeped. The display indicated the number was
from 
the security branch of KI. Concerned, she asked, �What is it?�

The head of security said, �Ma�am, radar just picked up an
unidentified 
object moving at a high velocity toward��

The rest was cut off as a wide beam of ruby energy lanced down from
the 
sky and blew up the prototype construction vehicle.

Wouldn't the pulse beam work better.  

Kodachi watched as a white and red armored figure landed next to
the 
twisted pieces of metal that had once been her creation. �I think I
can 
identify it.� She hung up the phone and dived into the nearest
empty 
office. Luckily she had her attach� case with her, and this
newcomer had 
drawn everyone�s attention. That was all the privacy she needed.
Within 
seconds she would don her streamlined Iron Rose armor, and then
there 
would be hell to pay.

xxxxxxxxxx

Outside the building, Steel Lily stared down at the ruins of the
ugly 
monstrosity that she had blown apart. She watched in amusement as
people 
began running away from her in terror.

Activating her loudspeaker, she shouted, �If you thought something
like 
that would be marketable, I�m doing you a favor in reducing it to 
scrap.� She looked around and, realizing she was in the heart of
her 
only remaining enemy�s stronghold, decided to have some fun. She
started 
to field test her weapons on every vehicle and smaller target
around. 
Equipment, parts, cars, and even dumpsters were destroyed with her

various weapons. While she didn�t deliberately target any human
beings, 
she didn�t go out of her way to make certain everyone was in the
clear 
when she opened fire either.

After gleefully blowing apart every vehicle in sight, an amusing
idea 
occurred to Steel Lilly. She reactivated her loudspeaker and said,

"Lily".  

�Lowly worker ants of Kunou Industries, hear me now. I demand you
hand 
your employer, Kodachi Kunou, over to me. If you fail to provide me
with 
the person I wish to kill, I will satisfy myself by killing all of
you 
instead. You have five minutes to comply.�

�Five seconds is all it will take to finish you off!�

Steel Lilly turned in the direction of the voice and got hit with

Lily 

and so on.  You need a global search and replace.  

twin 
repulsor rays for her trouble. Gyroscopes in her armor tried
keeping her 
upright, but the force was too great and she was hurled to the
ground. 
She looked up to see that accursed bodyguard of Kodachi�s, the
infernal 
copycat, Iron Rose, flying around.

It was almost reflex as much as anything as Steel Lilly brought up
her 
Blaze Cannon. The beam of energy hit Iron Rose squarely in the body
and 
sent her hurling to the ground, her armor smoldering from the
intensity 
of the blast.

Asuka rose to her feet. �I am Steel Lilly, you worthless piece of
KI 
crap. Today is the day I prove to the world the greatness of my
genius, 
and the inferiority of that overrated moron, Kodachi Kunou, by
peeling 
that armor off you like a banana.�

Iron Rose returned to her feet. �So says someone dressed in a knock
off 

knock-off

of my old armor.�

�It is not a knock off!� Steel Lilly raged as she fired her Blaze
Cannon 
once again. Iron Rose flew up, avoiding the blast, but Steel Lilly
had 
been expecting that. She put full power into her jets and shot up
at top 
speed, a human missile. The speed was so great Iron Rose could do 
nothing as her for slammed into her with an airborne tackle that
carried 
them both through the air. A cry of pain escaped Iron Rose�s lips
as 
they collided with the very labs that had been slated for
destruction.

They landed in the third floor before skidding to a halt. Steel
Lilly 
released her hold, a bit disoriented by the experience, and started
to 
rise when a savage fist met her head, knocking her backward.
Another 
blow landed in her stomach, where the armor was thicker, though
some 
damage warnings flashed across her readout display.

Underestimating how much damage the second blow had done, Iron Rose

moved too slow as her opponent grabbed her by the helmet with an 
oversized hand. The smirk under Steel Lilly visor could be felt as

Steel Lily's visor

she 
said, �Let�s see how you like electricity.�

�Visitor for you, Miss Saginomiya.�

Asuka turned a contemptuous eye at the prison guard. She mentally
marked 
the woman as being one of the first to fall when she managed to
break 
out of here. 

I'd suggest making the guard a bit ruder to earn her place on Asuka's 
hitlist.  Like leaving out the "Miss".  

The guard sat Asuka down in the little cubical with the transparent

glass across from her. To her right was a phone that could be used
to 
communicate with the visitor. Upon identifying who the person on
the 
other side of the glass was, it took everything Asuka had to not
try to 
leap through it, and that was only because she didn�t want to
injure 
herself by bouncing off the shatterproof material.

�What do you want, you overrated car mechanic?� Asuka spat into the

over-rated

phone at Kodachi, wishing her words could kill.

Kodachi shook her head. �Actually, when he first shook down Kunou 
Industries for money, my father refused to pay him. After losing
out on 
the contract, my father investigated the situation. He discovered
all of 
the secret accounts and where Orihara�s money came from. Many 
interesting places, as it turned out. Very many interesting places,

including one from Saginomiya Machine. That�s why you won the
contract. 
After that one loss, my father simply out bribed yours. That was

out-bribed

The hyphen is your friend.  Do not spurn your friend.  

Machine 
had for her pride. But it hadn�t happened, so what difference did
it 
really make?

It was with a clean conscious she left Asuka and the prison behind,

conscience



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