They waited for about a minute, which seemed an hour, since they knew their friends were giving their lives for them. Finally, Sabathan got up and flung a rope with a grappling-hook through the window. "It's up to you now." He said to Lotus.

She nodded and took off her disguise, then climbed up the rope and forced herself through the small window. She waited for the others, then walked through the small corridor that led to the dressing-room. She could still hear gunfire coming from the front of the palace. At long as there was gunfire to be heard, they'd be relatively safe.

She kicked open the door to the dressing-room and looked straight into the eyes of one of the topless servants she had seen before. "You!" were the servant's last words.

Lotus pulled the trigger and a stream of bullets silently left the gun and entered the body of the slut servant. Blood sprayed on her face, while the whore's organs were oozing from her body, slowly turning the floor red and making it slippery. Lotus nodded to her friends; they nodded back to her. She opened the door to the throne-room a little and peered through the small opening she had created. She could see the exit to the throne room; two female soldiers were guarding it. She couldn't see the throne however, or Brianna for that matter. She said to Black. "You and I will take out the two guards."

She pointed at Liz and Kim. "You secure the Empress."

The women nodded. Lotus kicked in the door and started firing at the guards together with Black. Liz and Kim rushed up to the throne. The two guards never had a chance; one of them was crawling on the floor, covering her face with her hands. The other was sliding down against the wall, leaving a trace of blood on it while half her brain hung from her scattered skull. Lotus ordered Black to quickly finish off the wounded guard, who was screaming in agony and could attract even more guards. She turned around and saw the throne was empty. She quickly looked around the room. Three servants were huddled off to one side. "Where are they?" She yelled in a panic. "Where the fuck are they?!"

"I…I don't know." stammered Liz.

"Cover those two sluts." Lotus said to Kim.

She walked up to the third one and pulled her up from the floor by her neck. "Where the fuck are they?" she yelled at the servant, who was trembling with fear.

"I….I.." was all the girl could say.

Lotus forced her down to the ground. "Look!" She yelled at the other two servants and pulled the trigger.

The bullets were aimed at the head and after a second or so the skull scattered around the room and brains were gushing from it. Lotus walked over to the servants. "Where are they?" She yelled at them.

"In….in the dungeons below the palace." One stammered.

"Fuck!" shouted Kim. "Fuck, fuck, fuck. That wasn't in the goddamn plan, we should be returning to….."

"Shut up!" Lotus interrupted her. "How the fuck do I get to the dungeon?" she shouted at the servant.

"There's……there's a door in the dressing room, behind it is a staircase which leads to them." The girl answered, starting to cry.

"Thank you." Lotus said. "Kim, put these whores out of their misery."

"But….." Kim said.

"Do it!" Lotus interrupted, walking back to the dressing room.

By this time most of the gunfire had died out, which indicated to Lotus that the other two squads had fled or had simply been killed. As she reached the door she heard Kim fire her gun. She walked into the dressing room and found the door to be locked. The others soon joined her in the dressing room.

Suddenly Lotus heard the door to the throne-room being kicked in. Without another hesitation, she fired at the lock. The door swung open; she walked down the small staircase and the others followed her. They found themselves in a large damp room; there was no sign of either Sharon or Brianna. There were two large metal chests facing the stairs. "Kim, Black." she said. "Guard the stairs, use those chests for cover. Liz, you search the left, I'll search the right."

The others did as they were told. Lotus slowly walked towards the right end of the room, concentrating on movements or sounds Sharon and Brianna might make. She could spot neither and she had almost reached the end of the room.

"I found her!" Liz suddenly shouted.

Lotus immediately ran to the other side of the 400 foot wide room. When she reached Liz, she saw Sharon lying on the floor. Sharon had only her panties on and was softly begging for her life. Liz was looking at her with amazement, she knew the stories Lotus had told, but she'd always thought they'd been blown out of proportion a bit.

Suddenly Sharon recognized Lotus. "You!"she exclaimed.

"Where's Brianna?" Lotus shouted.

For some strange reason, Sharon started laughing. "Drop your weapon." Someone suddenly called out.

She turned around and saw Brianna pointing a handgun at Liz. "Brianna, what are you doing!?" she asked.

"L…Lotus, what….what, why are you….here?" Brianna responded, clearly confused but still pointing the gun at Liz.

Gunfire suddenly sounded, soldiers had come running down the stairs, but Kim and Black, who were well protected by the chests had no problem taking them out one by one. The enemy soon realized they had no chance of entering the dungeon and retreated from their attack. Lotus ignored the battle and now focused on Brianna again. "Do something!" Liz cried out.

"Please, Brianna," Lotus said. "lower the gun."

No," Brianna replied. "I…I love her and I can't let you kill her."

"You don't love her," Lotus answered. "you love me."

"I did, you're right, I did, but then you left me, remember, you left me!" Brianna was starting to cry, but still not lowering her gun.

"What….what do you mean?" Lotus stammered, confused by Brianna's remark, which was the exact opposite of her version of the story.

"You don't remember?" Brianna cried out. "You don't remember that I wanted you. I wanted to kiss you, make love to you. But no, you denied me. You!"

"But….but...."

"And then what did you do?" Brianna interrupted. "You could have joined me, but no--you had to escape, escape from a life of joy and pleasure!"

Suddenly there was an explosion, Lotus heard guns being fired and screams for help from Black and Kim. Liz couldn't take it any more and turned to fire her gun. "Noooo!" screamed Brianna, firing her gun.

Liz' lifeless body fell to the ground. Lotus immediately aimed her gun at Sharon, and fired. She watched her bullets enter the body of her most hated enemy and pulverize organs, smash bones and send parts of her flesh flying through the damp room. "What have you done?!" screamed Brianna. "You bitch, you fucking bitch!"

"It's all for your own…."

She heard Brianna fire her gun; immediately, she felt an excruciating pain in her upper-body and all went black before her eyes.

Lotus awakened. She was lying in a comfortable bed. She felt some pain in her right shoulder, but nothing she couldn't bear. She tried to look around the room, but her vision was still a bit foggy. "Quickly, tell him she's awakened from her coma." she heard someone say.

She heard a door being opened and closed. After a few minutes, her vision had almost returned. She could see the room quite clearly now. It was a beautiful room with paintings on the wall and gorgeous furniture. All of this was of absolutely no interest to her. She wanted to know what had happened, where she was and why she wasn't dead. She saw a woman in white clothing nervously pacing up and down the length of the room.

Suddenly, the door opened and a large figure entered the room. It was Arkham. Lotus slowly started to try and rise from the bed. "Be careful, don't put any strain on your shoulder." Arkham said to her gently.

"Where….where am I?"

"You're in the palace, of course." Arkham replied.

"And the Empress?"

"She's dead. You killed her, remember?"

"Yes, I remember. I thought it might all have been just a bad dream, that's certainly what it feels like."

"Can I get you anything?" he asked.

"I could kill someone for a cigarette." she replied.

Arkham took a pack of them from his pocket, together with a lighter, and handed them to her. She lit one and felt the smoke soothe her lungs. "Where are the others?" she asked, vaguely remembering what had happened.

"Do…don't you know?" he stammered. "They're….they're dead."

"All of them?" she asked, feeling tears rush towards her eyes. "They….they can't be! No…"

Arkham shook his head. "I'm…I'm sorry.."

"And…..and Brianna? She isn't dead, is she?"

"Who…who do you mean?" he asked, a tear of compassion rolling down one of his cheeks.

"Brown hair, wearing a servant's costume?"

"We….we only found one servant by the empress' body, she'd shot herself with the same gun as…."

"No!" Lotus cried. "No, not her, not her too!"

She felt all of her will to live flow from her body. Her crying became so loud, so emotional and so intense that Arkham feared for her life and ordered the nurse to give a sedative. The nurse quickly did as she was asked. The sedative worked quickly; it not only calmed Lotus down, it also took away the pain from her shoulder. She slowly got up and looked Arkham straight in the eyes. "We've….we've won." he stammered. "I….I am the new ruler, together with the other leaders. Y…you too…."

With one quick motion Lotus took his gun from his holster and pointed it at him. "Say she is alive!" she screamed, as tears flowed from her eyes.

The nurse ducked down to the floor and covered her head with her arms. Arkham was startled by her actions, yet remained calm. "Put down the gun, and calm down." he said sternly.

Lotus shook her head. How dare he talk to her like that? She had lost all her friends and the person she loved, the person she had come to rescue. Now, Brianna was dead; dead, because of her. Without Lotus she'd still be alive, but Brianna was dead. Dead. Without Brianna, she had no reason to live, without her she saw no reason to continue her life, a life which had been nothing but disaster after disaster, disappointment after disappointment…..

"Tell me she is still alive." Lotus said, pointing the gun at her own head.

"C-calm down." said Arkham, who was now starting to get nervous.

"Is she alive?"

"Well….you can…"

"Is she alive, goddamn it?!" Lotus screamed at him.

"....No."

All went black before her eyes for the final time….