If you walked down the street at this time of day you'd probably find more than a few bored kids trying to see if you really could fry and egg on the street. And you'd find out that you really could. The calendar said May but it felt like August. Experts were saying this was going to be the hottest summer New York's had in years. And it was in this summer that New York had its greatest adventure for years to come. Unfortunately, the majority of the city went through the summer as if nothing was wrong. No, the good people in their good houses would never learn of the events that passed that summer. But if you didn't have a good house, if you weren't one of those lucky few that could live easy in icy air conditioning all day, if you were the ones who lived under the city in the sewers and back alleys, then you'd know all about those events. And if you were apart of a certain small time gang that launched itself into underworld fame, then you'd know why everything happened.
The date was May 5, 2012. The temperature was 85˚ at noon and rising. When the multicolored haze that surrounded Kurogane faded away, he found himself surrounded by towering metal buildings that seemed to reach the sky. But what he could not see were Syaoran and the others. He remembered the last time they had been separated and scowled. It had taken six long months to find the kids. And he'd been forced to spend those months with that magician, who couldn't even understand the language of the people around them. Kurogane's scowl deepened.
When Fay looked around, he saw short trees and nicely trimmed lawns. Small houses lined a large street and children were running around in every direction. Fay saw a woman walk up to him and she asked him if he was alright. Fay decided he must have looked horribly confused, but at least he could understand what the woman was saying. He'd noticed signs around him with words he couldn't understand, so he assumed Mokona must be nearby. He explained to the woman that he had lost his friends and wanted desperately to find them.
Syaoran had been holding tightly to Sakura who had been holding tightly to Mokona, so the three of them had landed together. But as soon as they had landed, a young man wearing low, baggy jeans and a white sleeveless shirt approached them. The man tried to grab Sakura and intended to get every last cent Syaoran had on him, but the man hadn't counted on Syaoran being a capable fighter. The moment the man touched Sakura, Syaoran was there and ready. A quick, strong kick to the man's chest had him on the ground gasping for breath.
As soon as he hit the ground, a voice called from an alley a few feet down the road. A girl, Syaoran guessed she was around the same age as Kurogane or Fay, walked towards the fallen man. This girl was wearing the same outfit as the man, but she was also wearing a dark blue and black bandana around her head. She was using the bandana to tie back her long, strange colored hair. Syaoran couldn't quite explain thecolor. It wasn't light enough to be blonde or dark enough to be brown, but it also had a red tint that almost made look like bronze or copper.
When the girl saw the man on the ground she kicked him hard causing him to fall just as he was starting to stand. "What the hell do you think you're doin'?" she snapped at him. "These are kids! Kids don't got nothin'!"
"Watch it, Lex!" the man snapped back. But the girl, Lex, ignored him and walked over to Syaoran. "She okay?" Lex asked pointing to Sakura. The kids looked at each other and when Sakura nodded, Syaoran turned to Lex and did the same. "Good. Sorry he bothered you, he's an ass," she told them, "What are kids doin' here anyway? This ain't exactly a playground."
"We're sorry, Miss Lex, we didn't mean to intrude. We just-" Syaoran started, but Lex interrupted him.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, don't go 'Miss'-ing me. I'm Alexandria, but I hate that so call me Lex, just Lex."
"Oh, alright," Syaoran stuttered, "Well, I'm Syaoran, and this is Sakura. We just-"
"You have odd names," Lex interrupted again. A faint spark of annoyance crept its way onto Syaoran, "You're not from here, are ya?"
"No, we're not. We only just came here and we're trying to find our friends," he said quickly not wanting to get interrupted a third time.
"I can help. I'm good at finding people, and he owes you," she said pointing to the man behind her. "Oh, and he's Keric." When she said his name, Keric began to say she shouldn't be so lenient. "Shut the hell up," she told him.
"So, these friends of yours, they ever got arrested?" Lex asked. When Syaoran shook his head she responded, "Damn. That makes things way harder. Keric!" she snapped at the now standing man, "Tell Manny I'll be late again. Oh, and don't forget to feed Ben-je again, he already hates you." Syaoran wasn't sure who Ben-je could be, but when Lex mentioned him Keric's face went white. Sakura noticed too.
When Keric ran off, Sakura asked about it. "She speaks!" was Lex's first response, "Sorry, ignore that. Last month Ben-je almost killed him," she laughed. Sakura was still curious, but she thought it would be best if she didn't know the story.
"A'right! Now let's find those friends of yours. First things first, I need names and faces." Syaoran nodded and explained, "We don't have pictures, but our friends usually stand out. We're looking for two men. They're both tall. Kurogane has tan skin, dark hair, and red eyes. Fay is pale with blonde hair and blue eyes."
"Red eyes? You serious? Well he'll be easy to find. And more weird names," Lex chuckled, "Alright I'll get on it. Meanwhile, you guys got a place to stay?" Mokona, who had been hiding from Keric, now crawled out of Syaoran's shirt and said, "Nope! We're homeless again. Wait, that's bad. Syaoran, we're homeless again!"
When Lex saw Mokona, her brown eyes grew wide, "What the hell is that thing?" she cried.
"Monoka's not a thing! Mokona is Mokona!" she said. Sakura laughed and Syaoran smiled.
"Uh…right. Where did you say you were from?" Lex asked still looking at Mokona in disbelief and slight fear.
"We didn't," Syaoran began. He told her about their last night in Clow Country, and about Sakura missing her feathers. He said they'd already gotten many of them back, but many more were still missing.
Lex looked at him for several minutes in silence. Then she slowly said, "Uh…right, well that sounds absolutely insane. And yet I believe you. I'm just gonna go with my gut and say that's 'cause a Mokona. At any rate, two guys will be easier to find than a feather, so we'll start with them. Oh, and you might not want to mention that little story. Anyone else'll think your high."
The three travelers didn't understand the precaution, but they knew it would be best to heed her words. "Okay, Lexi! Mokona can hide real well!" the little fur ball exclaimed.
"Um….right. And don't call me Lexi," the copper-haired girl responded. "Now c'mon, let's go find those friends!" She clapped her hands a few times and walked away at a brisk pace.
The day began with the sun beating down on Syaoran and Sakura. It didn't take long for either of them to realize why Lex was wearing a white tank-top, similar to Keric's, and shirt, cut-off jean shorts. If they hadn't grown up in the desert, the heat would have been nearly disabling. But compared to summer afternoons in Clow Country, a New York summer was nothing.
Still, when the sun began to set, everyone (except for Mokona who was hiding in Syaoran's shirt) was exhausted. "Alright!" Lex announced, "We're not gonna find 'em in the dark. You guys got no place to stay, right?" Syaoran nodded, so Lex continued, "Kay then, you'll stay with me."
But Syaoran immediately refused, "No, we couldn't! You've already done far too much for us!" At he response, Lex immediately burst out laughing.
"Sorry, kid, you just sound so sincere! 'Round here, that don't happen. 'Sides, you got nowhere and I got plenty a room. You wouldn't take up much space…And you can meet Ben-je!" The girl's cheerful laughter turned cynical as she mentioned this name once again. "She kinda scares me…" Mokona whispered. Lex didn't hear, but Syaoran and Sakura did. Both kids assured her nothing bad would happen, though neither of them really believed it.
Lex lead the travelers to an old warehouse on the northern edge of Manhattan. Half the roof had fallen in, and most of the windows were destroyed, but this place was home for dozens of her friends. Platforms had been built into the walls providing numerous levels for the denizens to make into bedrooms or storage rooms. When Lex walked in, all conversation stopped. Dozens of eyes stares down at her, then smiles broke out among the lot.
A crowd formed around Lex and voices rose asking who she had with her and if they wanted to join. "Calm down, calm down! I'm just helpin' them out for a bit! Everybody, shove off!" Lex yelled at the crowd. At her words, the crowd separated and most people fell back along the wall and up in the platforms. Two young men and a small child stayed behind. One of the men was Keric.
"Bought time you got back," he snapped. Lex gave him a dirty look, then called out, "Ben-je!" A Rottweiler that would stand taller than Kurogane on its hind legs came charging out from the crowd. The enormous dog lunged for Keric and pinned him to the ground. "Good boy," Lex praised. The two boys standing by Keric had burst out laughing. Lex snapped the dogs name and he crawled to her side. He sat obediently and wagged his tail. She ran her hands through his fur and scratched his head in affection. Keric scowled.
"A'right, back to business," Lex said much louder than was necessary, "Manny, Ashley, these kids here are from Europe. Syaoran and Sakura," she pointed to each person as she said there names to provide a brief introduction. "They got nothin' so we're givin' 'em somethin', got it?" The kid nodded furiously, but the older man looked suspicious.
He was about to say something, but then a voice from behind him called out, "Princess!" at the same time another deeper voice said calmly, "Hey kid." Two men approached from within the crowd of onlookers. Although Lex hadn't seen them speak, she knew immediately who the voices belonged too. The first voice obviously belonged to the scrawny blonde guy, and the second voice definitely belonged to the taller, muscular black-haired man.
When Lex saw this tall, handsome man, who she assumed must be Kurogane, see immediately felt her heart pulse. He's gorgeous, she thought. He was wearing a tight black sleeveless shirt that accented his toned arms and abs. And she couldn't help but think he looked amazing in his dark green cargo pants. And he was tall. He towered over Keric, and Lex knew he was about 6'1".
But then she mentally slapped herself and shook her head. She looked again and told herself he wasn't all that special. She told herself she wasn't going to start fawning over him like an annoying pre-teen girl at a Justin Bieber concert. Then Lex shivered. She despised Justin Bieber, the very thought of him made her spine crawl.
To distract herself from both people, she focused of the other man, how she assumed was Fay. He was one of the scrawniest guys she'd ever seen. He looked like the wind could blow him away, and mixed with his blonde hair and blue eyes, he almost appeared angelic in his white t-shirt and faded blue jeans. And his face certainly didn't diminish from the angel appearance.
"Kurogane, Fay, how long have you two been here?" Syaoran asked. Fay smiled and explained how he'd bumped into Kurogane, thought he called him "Kurgy", when he was playing with some children in a park. Kurogane had been searching that very park for his friends. He'd figured Mokona would want to play with the kids, but he didn't bring that up due to Syaoran's warning glance.
"Anyway," the tall dark man finished, "then I saw this guy," pointing to Fay, "He was playing with that kid," pointing to Ashley, "and then we were lead here." Lex asked Ashley, and the child confirmed the story. He said he'd had a lot of fun playing with Fay, and Lex smiled.
"You guys ain't half bad," she praised. "Hey, you guys fight?" The three boys nodded, but Sakura shook her head. "That great! Don't worry Sakura, Ash can't fight either."
"Lex, watch what your doing," the other man, Manny, said. She turned to him and stuck her tongue out. "I know exactly what I'm doing." She snapped. And she did. Syaoran floored Keric. If those other two guys were anywhere near as good as the kid, then having them on her side would be a massive advantage.
"You four, while you're here, you might as well make yourselves useful. Welcome to the second strongest gang in Manhattan!"
"Can you really do that?" Syaoran asked. Lex turned to him and smiled her you-bet-your-ass-I-can smile.
"Didn't I tell you? Down here, I'm the boss."