{"id":1094,"date":"2015-05-27T00:32:47","date_gmt":"2015-05-27T05:32:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/m9girls.com\/webcomic\/en\/?p=1094"},"modified":"2015-05-29T21:31:46","modified_gmt":"2015-05-30T02:31:46","slug":"the-m9-state-taking-chances","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/m9girls.com\/webcomic\/en\/the-m9-state-taking-chances\/","title":{"rendered":"The M9 State: Taking Chances"},"content":{"rendered":"

Our crossover with Ruby Nation<\/a> is coming to an end soon.<\/p>\n

Pato still has some though choices to make.<\/p>\n

<< Part 3<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 >> Epilogue<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u00a0The M9 State<\/strong><\/p>\n

4. Taking chances.
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"M9RNPatoFinal\"<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is not what we agreed.\u201d<\/p>\n

I have entered the headquarters unceremoniously and face Jiro. He is not the least amused. Everybody on the room tenses at once.<\/p>\n

\u201cGood afternoon to you too, Pato. Feel free to interrupt our meeting.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have not been allowed to see Any and Karla\u201d, I say, ignoring the snark.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is for your own protection. We don\u2019t want Any reading your emotions.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOr me being able to teleport into their quarters.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jiro straightens up and looks squarely into my eyes.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, since you put it so bluntly, yes. Any possesses valuable info about Beagle that we cannot afford to lose. Not that you and Claudia have been very cooperative on that front.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are my friends, Jiro.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou and your friends are responsible of decimating my team.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPlease, Jiro, don\u2019t go there\u201d, intercedes Ruby, with a worried look.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy not?\u201d snaps Jiro, not taking his eyes off me. \u201cThey engineered those creatures. I\u2019m sure they have also engineered some way to eliminate our kind.\u201d<\/p>\n

I swallow and clench my fists. Of course he is right, and I have to live with that. Still\u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cI won\u2019t deny it. Still, I insist on seeing my friends.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI have jeopardized my people enough by letting you and Claudia roam freely around our complex. I won\u2019t jeopardize them further by allowing you to contact the prisoners.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I won\u2019t let you carry a personal vendetta against my friends.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s enough, Pato. I have been patient with you, but you are overstepping your welcoming here.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, you have been charming, indeed\u201d, I retort.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll do what is needed to protect my people, Pato. If you don\u2019t like my rules, perhaps you want to join your friends on the detention blocks.\u201d<\/p>\n

It is my turn to stand tall.<\/p>\n

\u201cBring it on, then.\u201d<\/p>\n

Half a dozen guns are trained on me immediately, but Jiro makes a signal and walks calmly but purposely towards me. He makes to grab my arm. I react fast. I hit him squarely on his chin. Jiro is static for a second, looking at me. But then he reacts. He throws a backslap punch. He hits my face and I back-step and fall to the floor.<\/p>\n

Jiro is fast. He moves towards me with methodic precision. I anticipate him and throw a kick, allowing me to regain my feet. The exchange is fast. He is obviously a trained fighter. I go for his stomach. He reaches my face a second time and I fall again. There is something hot at my nose.<\/p>\n

A large-sized group surrounding us, and I think of a high school brawl. I mop my face as Jiro approaches again.<\/p>\n

\u201cJiro! Stop it!\u201d<\/p>\n

Ruby jumps into the fray, standing between the two of us.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s enough! She\u2019s hurt!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s post-human, a bloody nose is far from \u2018hurt\u2019\u201d, remarks Jiro.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe is\u2026\u201d Ruby looks at me. She looks doubly imposing given her size and me lying on the floor. \u201cYou have not teleported.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOr used her absorbing powers\u201d, says Jiro, looking at the intercoms.<\/p>\n

\u201cSmart, are we?\u201d I smile. Ruby makes to grab me, but I teleport now.<\/p>\n

My high school brawl has paid off. I materialize in the empty hall of the building, and check my own intercom. There is some noise as Clau enters the hall, floating. Along her float a couple of pods, in which our friends lay, in some sort of stasis.<\/p>\n

\u201cPato! Are you OK?\u201d<\/p>\n

Clau lands next to me and I nod affirmatively.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe should\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

I\u2019m interrupted by the heavy sound of steps as the people at the meeting room catch with us. Clau is in alert at once as they train their weapons at us.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou are being extremely stupid, ladies\u201d, says Jiro.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are being loyal, as you are to your friends\u201d, I say.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are not your friends anymore. That\u2019s what Beagle does to people.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll take my chances then.\u201d<\/p>\n

A couple of tense seconds go by. This can become ugly pretty soon.<\/p>\n

\u201cStand down, guys\u201d, says Ruby, calmly.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou are not\u2026\u201d says Jiro.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, we are\u201d, she says firmly.<\/p>\n

Slowly, Clau makes the two pods float closer to us. I observe tensely. The guns are slowly put down.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou won\u2019t last alone out there, you realize that?\u201d says Jiro, gravely. \u201cBeagle is surely hunting for you.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAgain, we\u2019ll take our chances. There will be four of us when we get Any and Karla back. We\u2019ve seen worst odds.\u201d<\/p>\n

Clau smiles and nods enthusiastically and, looking at her, I almost believe my own words. Yes. We have seen worst.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know, Pato, you have new friends now\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

Ruby approaches, and kneels in front of me. We are head to head now.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2026And you can come back to your new friends, once you get your old friends back, understood?\u201d<\/p>\n

I smile.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou take care of these weirdos, sister.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ruby smiles and stands tall. Clau smiles back at her as she takes my hand.<\/p>\n

Ruby is the last we see as we teleport into the unknown.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Continue to Epilogue<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Our crossover with Ruby Nation is coming to an end soon. Pato still has some though choices to make. << Part 3\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 >> Epilogue<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1094","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog","uentry","post-blog","postonpage-1","odd","post-author-raul"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/m9girls.com\/webcomic\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1094","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/m9girls.com\/webcomic\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/m9girls.com\/webcomic\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/m9girls.com\/webcomic\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/m9girls.com\/webcomic\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1094"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/m9girls.com\/webcomic\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1094\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1109,"href":"https:\/\/m9girls.com\/webcomic\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1094\/revisions\/1109"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/m9girls.com\/webcomic\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1094"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/m9girls.com\/webcomic\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1094"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/m9girls.com\/webcomic\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1094"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}