Now that there is no living ruler of Japones, Bloodberry muses aloud, they'll have to pick a 16th Emperor of Japones, and if they have any sense they'll pick Otaru. This prospect excites Cherry - she'll get to be the first lady! She can see it now - a laughing, leering Otaru, wearing a black robe and scary makeup, forcing Cherry to undress and ravishing her before his court - no! Otaru should definitely NOT be Emperor! At the same time, half a world away, the Saberdolls have been cast out of the court of Faust again, permanently this time - that is, unless they can bring him the otome kairo of Lime, Cherry and Bloodberry. Nobody expects them to return successfully, or even alive. Meanwhile, the minds of the previous Emperor and Chamberlain in the bodies of Tamasaburo and Baiko soothe the Japones parliament, and reconstruction work on the castle continues. Bloodberry is hauling stuff around, Cherry is mixing the concrete (albeit somewhat inattentively) and Lime - well, Lime is trying to help, but she winds up just running around, dragging Hanagata behind her. Suddenly, Lime's knees begin to spark. She stops, sending Hanagata flying into the concrete, and Gen-nai opines that she's probably got frayed knee-cables. In fact, all three Marionettes could use some repair, and Otaru resolves to fix them up at once. Otaru takes the Marionettes back to the charred remains of the Japones History Museum and roots around until he finds the secret door to the room where he found Lime and where Ieyasu showed him the Multicolored Monkey-Meter. Otaru brushes aside the question of whether he's qualified to do Marionette repair - he didn't do all those odd jobs for nothing! After dodging Hanagata's attempt to serve as his nurse and Bloodberry's, Lime's and Hanagata's entreaties to examine their chests, Otaru gets down to business. At last, after much hardship, Tiegel, Luche and Panter reach Japones. They haven't been repaired since the battle with JaponesGar, and are forced to take energy cells from defeated Orange Blossoms to continue. Finally, after narrowly escaping from Baiko, they track down Otaru and his gang at the museum, and decide to wait until sunset to attack. Meanwhile, an embarassed Otaru is trying to shrug off the profuse thanks and affection of the newly-repaired Marionettes. Bloodberry points out that the Marionettes are darn lucky to have the otome kairo - otherwise, they wouldn't be able to appreciate Otaru's affection and give him their own in return. Unfortunately, the moment is broken when Lime, who went back upstairs, emerges from the lab to find the Saberdolls waiting. Though raggedy and sparking like a metal cat in a microwave, the Saberdolls attack. Unfortunately, in their weakened states they're no match for the Marionettes, who haven't the heart to put them out of their miseries. As Lime puts it, the situation makes their hearts hurt. This angers Tiegel, who demands how Lime dares talk about hearts. Lime replies that the Marionettes are happy to have hearts - that way they can know happiness and appreciate Otaru's love and all the fun stuff they do with him. This angers Tiegel even more, and strengthens her resolve - she has her own love, for Faust, and realizes that she can't return to him if she fails here. She attacks Lime, trying to impale her on the jagged end of a metal pipe, but Lime dodges and Tiegel is impaled instead. Tiegel continues to rebuke Lime, saying that kindness is not necessarily the same thing as love. Pulling herself off the pipe, Tiegel is transported back to when Faust was a child, not yet a ruler, and falls. Otaru is shocked at the destructive potential within the otome kairo, but Lime is in no mood to think. In a quiet, tremulous voice, she tells the shocked assemblage that she doesn't understand hearts, then screams and takes off at a blind run. Otaru finally catches up to Lime lying facedown on a hillock, with the local swordmaster watching in the distance. Otaru embraces Lime, but she doesn't respond - her eyes are blank, and the cavity for her otome kairo is empty.
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