Divinity
Chapter 1: Miss Wu
At first glance, it looked like a better quality trinket from a feng-shui gift shop, but knowing Miss Wu, it would be far, far better than that.
-o-o-o-o-o-
It was a pleasant early fall day in Hong Kong. A heavy-set American in a dark grey suit sat in the shade of a maple tree, looking up into the green leaves, the first fire of autumnal color beginning to appear on them.
"Mr. Mayhem?" asked a small voice.
Miles Mayhem looked up to see a petite Asian woman in a black dress standing before him. She appeared doll-like; with pale skin, perfectly bobbed hair, scarlet lips, and yellow eyeshadow. A briefcase hung from one hand, and a purse of embroidered gold satin from the other.
"Ahh. Miss Wu. Right on time."
"Come."
They left the park and walked across the street to an antiques shop. She withdrew keys from her pocket and unlocked the doors, stepped inside, and switched off the security system. "We'll go to my office."
They entered the dimly-lit store, passing along a narrow corridor formed by antique furniture of all origins and ages, barely wide enough for Mayhem's broad figure. At the back of the shop they ascended a narrow staircase, coming eventually to a large office on the second floor.
"I have something very interesting for you, Mr. Mayhem," she said in her soft, high-pitched voice. She could appear so delicate and harmless, which only served her purpose all the more. No one ever suspected her dealings with the likes of him, and others like him. She wore her own physical frailty as a disguise.
He took the chair in front of the desk, eager to see what she had turned up for him this time. Her sense of what he liked and what he wanted was uncanny. She went to a cabinet and opened it up to disclose a safe inside. Opening that, she withdrew a Chinese lacquered box and placed it before him. "A man brought this to me two weeks ago, a British expatriate."
Mayhem opened the box, revealing what appeared to be a large crystal, brilliant and uniquely orange in color. One of the larger faces bore several rows of engraved heiroglyphs. At first glance, it looked like a better quality trinket from a feng-shui gift shop, but knowing Miss Wu, it would be far, far better than that.
"He said that it had been in his family for as long as he could remember, but now that he was getting old and his money was running out, he was selling off some of the family possessions. I bought a number of things from him, along with this crystal. He thought the characters were Vietnamese or Laotian."
"They aren't, are they?"
She smiled at him, her perfect red Cupid's bow lips curling up. "Malakan...an extinct civilization in the northern Amazon River basin."
Mayhem picked up the crystal and held it to the light. "Really?" This was getting interesting.
"I had Dr. Fong at the university translate them for me." She folded her slender fingers together and leaned with her elbows upon the desk. "And once I read the translation, I knew right away, Mr. Mayhem, that you would be my buyer."
-o-o-o-o-o-
Divinity continues in Chapter 2: The Creeping Terror
-o-o-o-o-o-
M.A.S.K. and all related concepts, characters, worlds, and events are property of DIC Enterprises, Inc and Kenner Toys. Original characters and story elements are property of E. Potter, writing under the pen name of Miratete.