Daisy hauled Mariko upright and dragged her toward Shingen — where the wealthy and powerful had clustered. The Yamaguchi-gumi would presumably show some restraint around officials.
She'd miscalculated.
Several ninja-clad figures suddenly appeared on the temple eaves above. They drew their bows in perfect unison. Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh — three arrows flew straight at her.
These archers were professionals. The three shots were coordinated so precisely that no matter which direction she dodged, she'd catch one.
Shooting arrows out of the air demanded exceptional marksmanship and vision. Her vision was more than adequate. Her marksmanship — less so.
Daisy didn't try to dodge. She shoved Mariko behind her, grabbed a corpse from the ground — one of the men Wolverine had turned into a colander — and lifted it in front of her as a shield.
Hoisting a full-grown man one-handed required a certain level of strength. Mariko's mouth fell open slightly.
All three arrows buried themselves in the body. Daisy kept moving, pulling Mariko with her.
Then Mariko's footsteps faltered. Daisy followed her gaze.
Up on the eaves, there wasn't only enemy ninja — there was also a young man. When their eyes found him, he was already soaked in his own blood, hacked half to pieces, barely recognizable as human. He had no close-range weapon on him — only a bow. Several ninja had hacked him down at close quarters, and now he tumbled off the roof edge and fell into the ornamental pond below.
Mariko bolted toward the pond without a second thought for her own safety.
Daisy glanced back. Things were looking grim. Shingen had waded into the fight himself — his swordsmanship was genuinely impressive, his katana moving in fluid, lethal arcs — but the ninja and gangsters surrounding him kept coming, and he was barely holding the line.
"Logan, please — protect Mariko!" Yukio had spotted Mariko's dash toward the water and was already shouting.
Wolverine saw her at the same moment. Given the choice between protecting a severe middle-aged man and an attractive young woman, it wasn't a difficult call.
He gutted the men surrounding Yukio with one sweep, then positioned himself beside Mariko, who had hauled the young man from the water and was sobbing uncontrollably over his body.
Daisy spared the scene a brief glance. She didn't know the young man's name, but she remembered he was Mariko's childhood sweetheart — separated from her as adults by the gulf in their circumstances. Wiry and unremarkable-looking, he'd been quietly watching Mariko from the shadows for years.
He was one of Madame Viper's operatives. By the original timeline, he wasn't supposed to die here. A skilled swordsman by trade — and he'd shown up with nothing but a bow and arrow, dying without ever getting to use the skill that defined him.
The temple grounds had devolved into absolute chaos. Several factions clashed in every direction. Even the old lord's memorial tablet had been cut in two.
The last faction to emerge wore red — silent ninja who killed without discrimination. Officials, gangsters — it didn't matter to them.
The gangsters had a specific objective: seizing key Yashida family members, Shingen and Mariko at the center of their focus.
The resistance was a patchwork mess — bodyguards hustling officials toward the exits, Yashida family guards fighting their own battles, and wildcards like Daisy and Wolverine who'd stumbled into the middle of it all.
The plot was in freefall. Daisy couldn't guarantee Shingen would survive the day, and she couldn't afford to let him die. She fought her way through the crowd toward him.
Her Glock ran dry. No time to reload. She picked a katana off the ground and, relying on sheer physical capability, cut a path through the bodies toward Shingen.
The man was a legitimate swordsman. The long blade in his hand — forged from Adamantium — moved with the precision of a master. In another era, he'd have been a legendary duelist. His body count at the moment was second only to Wolverine's and Daisy's.
With two killing machines breaking trail, Mariko and Yukio sheltered in the middle, and Daisy covering the rear, the five of them fought toward the gate.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh. Bowstrings sang.
At least thirty ninja waited at the entrance, pouring arrows at them from every angle. The shots were angled perfectly, the marksmanship flawless.
Shingen's Adamantium blade spun like a windmill — and he still caught an arrow. Wolverine tried to bull straight through on sheer toughness, but the arrows were poisoned. The toxin was eating into his healing factor, slowing his recovery to a fraction of normal.
Daisy fired shot after shot and barely made a dent. She could dodge bullets; so could trained ninja, who read trajectories instinctively. Guns were becoming a low-return investment at this level of opponent.
"Fall back! Everyone fall back!"
Wolverine wanted to keep going. She grabbed him by the arm and yanked him back.
They retreated to the inner courtyard. Enemies in front, enemies behind. It was starting to look like the end.
Daisy swore under her breath. Under five pairs of wide, alarmed eyes, she opened a shimmering blue portal. "Everyone in! Now!"
They weren't idiots — if anything, this group was sharp. Mariko was already moving before the words finished leaving Daisy's mouth.
And then — a voice drifted to Daisy's ear from somewhere distant, growing closer, each syllable precise and perfectly enunciated in Mandarin: "Little girl. You've led me on quite the chase."
She was all bark — a face like crumpled bark, hunched over a walking cane, looking like the next strong breeze might take her out. Madame Gao stepped through the gate. As she entered, her eyes snagged on the glowing blue portal. They narrowed.
She reacted instantly. A sharp shout — and a lance of pale gold energy slammed into Daisy's dimensional string.
The vibration shattered. Energy backlash flooded through her. The recoil didn't just pull Daisy through — it yanked Mariko and Wolverine, both standing right beside her, along for the ride.
She hit the ground before she had any chance to scan her surroundings. Something drove into her skull like a railroad spike, grinding and grinding and grinding. Daisy went to one knee.
And threw up a mouthful of blood.