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Author's Chapter Notes:
Certain misprints in the previous chapter have been corrected.
* * * * *

PARK KIM JUNG'S P.O.V.

I could not believe my eyes.

"So-yeung?" I softly half-whispered.

"Iei, Sofu-san! I am now Junyo-chen of the Heikegani-ryu. And, you will address me as such!"

"What do you here, child?" I asked, ignoring her disrespectful demand.

"You heard me. I need the little muhon-nin alive. So give her to me. At once!"

"But, why? I am already on the same mission, on behalf of the Okada Clan."

"Perhaps. But, my current employers wish to _ransom_ him back to Okada-sama! Which puts us at cross-purposes. So, for the last time, Sofu-san. Stand aside...or I will kill you and take her, anyway."

"Then, that is what you will have to do."

Whereupon, she did withdraw a pair of sais from beneath her cloak; aim their central prongs at me; and press a hidden stud on each sai's handle.* Causing those prongs to fire at me!

If not for my immediate shrinkage, below their trajectory, I would have been skewered through the throat by them. As it was, they did nothing more but lodge themselves within the pink tile wall behind me. Leaving me free to re-enlarge myself to full height, even as I lunged forward and tackled my long-estranged granddaughter around the waist.

The momentum of that lunge took us straight through the wood of the bathroom door with a resounding crash. Yet, even as she landed flat on her back, she was re-positioning both of her legs, and thrusting upwards, so that both of her feet rammed into my chest. Flipping me up and over her!

By the time I had somersaulted back on to my own feet, and spun about, she had divested herself of her hooded cloak. So that she might face me unencumbered...and armed with a brace of ssang-tos. This, in turn, left me no choice but to unsheath my white-handled nagamaki (accordingly strapped across my back). For, only by going through her, would I regain my shrunken captives.

"KIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAI!"

* * * * *

PARADISE ISLAND,
THE BAHAMAS
(1 HOUR EARLIER)

NAOMI WATANABE'S P.O.V.

I had been in Juliet Merlinova's dressing room, peeking out through her fractionally opened door, when I saw the chorus girls returning from dress rehearsal. I saw two of them (addressed, by the others, as "Myrna" and "Rhonda") making baby noises over something Rhonda was carrying in her cupped hands. And, I had no doubts as to who that might be.

Captain Miles Stone, USAF ("retired").

I had told my partner, Eric Bravo, that I would get the little guy back. And, I intended to do just that. But, I would need a disguise! So, I hurriedly began rummaging through Merlinova's wardrobe. Within five minutes, I was wearing an orange mini-dress with balletic tutu and a gold sash; black, open-toed high heels; a pony-tailed blonde wig; and a domino mask. I then exited the dressing room as casually as I could, and headed for the chorus girls' dressing room next door.

Unfortunately, when I tried to gently turn the knob and sneak inside, I found it locked. So, I carefully reached down within the neckline of my disguise...and removed my lock-picking kit. By the time I got inside, I knew I would have to act fast. Because Little Miles had been stripped naked.

And, while one chorus girl was dangling him by his arms, another was tickling his feet!

tbc
Chapter End Notes:
*Sais: "those miniature tridents you see in Japanese ninja flicks."

Ssang-to: a Korean form of longsword. Similar to the Japanese katana, yet able to be wielded with one hand. So that medieval Korean warriors were often able to wield a pair of them, at the same time.

Nagamaki: a katana-hilted version of the standard naginata (or Japanese halberd).
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