Chapter 1 Abstract (Skip this section of the chapter)
Jade Chan is a young woman who is a skilled fighter. As an Agent of Section 13 and with her ties to the world of magic, her life is far from normal. These are her adventures.
Jade Chan is given a chance to prove herself ready to be a full agent of Section 13. She has to complete a mission to stop an evil villain and help a fellow agent with the help of an old friend who has lost his way. Will she be able to succeed in all her endeavors?
The Mask of El Gecko
The sliding doors to the secure room opened so that I could enter. The room had a black couch that offset the white walls. There was a silver flat screen TV on the wall. I saw myself in the reflection of the TV's screen. A few strands of my hair had fallen directly on my face. I pushed the strands to the side where they belonged. I preferred to keep my hair tied up in a ponytail at all times, that way it did not get in the way. As I straighten my hair a thought or to be more accurate a question popped into my head: was I being vain? My reflection was suddenly replaced by the face of a bald white man. I was so surprised to see the reflection of my face change so drastically that I fell back on the couch. I did not want to look like an old bald white man and at that moment I did not care if that made me vain.
"Hello, Jade." The man on the screen said to me as I stared at the screen.
I realised that my reflection had not changed but the TV had simply turned on which made me feel silly. I had known the man on the screen since I was a young girl. I am now 21 years old and am probationary agent of Section 13. "Hello Captain Black. Awe, this time I was actually hoping to see you in person."
"Maybe next time." Black said. "Now, let's get on with why I called you here. I have a mission for you."
I raised an eyebrow and looked around expecting to see someone join us, since I was still a probationary agent of Section 13 that meant that I never went on any missions alone. I always had a partner to supervise me and I doubted that would change anytime soon because one had to be a probationary agent for three years before they fully become an agent and I had two more years to go. "Your sending me on a solo mission? But I'm still a Probie."
"The probation rule is enforced only so that we can scope out if a candidate has the potential to be an agent but I've know you for a long time now. I know what you're capable of. All that's left is for you to prove it." said Captain Black.
He was right! I had what it took to be a top notch agent. I got up and raised my right hand in the air, "I promise you Captain. I won't let you down!" I ran out of the room ready to start the mission until I realised that I was missing one crucial component of the mission. I didn't know what the mission was! I walked back into the room feeling very embarrassed. "Uhm… sorry, I got a little too excited."
Captain Black sighed. "Now your mission: Section 13 has been monitoring the disappearance of the world's top fighters, world champions and masters of various martial arts." As he spoke his image on the screen shrank into a small square in the corner of the screen while the rest of the screen showed the world with various points where the fighters in question went missing. "We sent Agent Charles Brand to investigate…"
"Charles." I involuntarily said out loud. Charles was an agent that I usually got partnered up with during this probationary year. He was a smart, handsome and womanizing man with impeccable taste in suits. I had never seen him without a fine suite on, well except for that night…
"Yes Agent Brand." Captain Black said cutting through my train of thought. A picture of Charles Brand appeared superimposed on the globe. "Agent Brand discovered this man at all the places that the fighters mysteriously disappeared…" as he said this a picture of a man replaced the images of the marked globe and Charles. The man in question had a hard unsmiling face that was only made more sullen looking by his slowly greying hair. Jade guessed that he must have been in his early fifties. "His name is Bjorn August. He is originally from Sweden and is a former Mixed Martial Arts and kickboxing champion. Agent Brand had followed him to Mexico but then we lost all contact with him." Black finished off.
I did not want to admit it but I was worried. Charles was a good agent, one of the best and if he could not complete this mission what were my chances at success? "So you need me stop this August-guy and retrieve Agent Brand; if he's still alive?"
"Yes." He confirmed.
"Well that's good. I've always wanted to go back to Mexico and see an old friend."
/
The taxi dropped me in front of a dodgy looking place. I was looking for an old friend named Paco. The last time I saw him we were still kids, ever since then he had become a lucha wrestler called The Mighty Gecko. I had actually watched a few of his matches when I had the time which was a long time ago. However, when I went to the Lucha Wrestling Federation they told me to come here. The here was club called the Dirty Sponge. I walked in past the big muscle guards who gave me intimidating looks. As soon as I got in the Dirty Gecko I found that it was full, noisy and, as the name suggested, dirty.
I dodged waitresses selling drinks and various drunken men who were staring at me intently. It was not just men who were staring at me; it was everyone who had chanced to see me. I stuck out like a sore thumb in Mexico let alone in a place like this. When I saw a crowd of men around a big cage I began to suspect why Paco would be here. In the cage were two shirtless men savagely fighting. I could not believe that Paco would participate in such things. I went to an old man who was seemingly collecting bets from different individuals.
"Excuse me," I said to get his attention. "I'm looking for one of the fighters; his name is Paco, The Mighty Gecko."
"The Mighty Gecko?" The man said laughing. "I haven't heard anyone call him that in a long time. Nowadays people just call him 'the town drunk'." He said pointing at the bar.
I went to the bar and saw the back of a man slouched over on a bar stool. I approached him and tapped him on the shoulder. "Paco?"
Paco swivelled around to face me and he smiled, out of courtesy I smiled back, although I could see by his slightly closed eyes that he was drunk. "Hello gorgeous."
"Paco, do you remember me?" I don't know why I asked because in his state he would find it difficult to remember his own name.
"Hmm." He said reaching out for a beer and then taking a sip. "Where have I met a beautiful Japanese woman before?"
"I'm Chinese. I'm Jade Chan, remember?" I said trying to jog his memory.
"Ah, Yade Chan! Now I remember. Wow, you've grown to be…"
"Hey, amigo! You took my beer." A man said in Spanish. The man was bigger than Paco as he was fat and he had a friend who was both tall and fat making him look formidable.
Paco swivelled 90 degrees to look at the man in the next bar stool. "This isn't yours, friend. If it was I would not be able to do this…" Paco said before he took a big gulp of the bottles contents.
The man and his friend got up and looked ready for a fight but Paco remained sitting and smiled dumbly at the men. The man who had felt offended threw the first punch but before it could reach Paco, I shot my arm out and pushed his punch of target, making him miss Paco's face by inches. I held on to his forearm so that the man could try again.
"I am sorry for what my friend did." I said in my shaky Spanish. "I will buy you and your friend a drink." I said letting go of the man's forearm and taking out money.
"Hey Yade, I don't…" Paco lurched and regained his composure. "I don't need you to fight my…" His bodily functions finally got the better of him and he threw up on the flooR.
My boots and jeans were not spared from the disgusting assault as some of Paco's lunch and formerly consumed drink landed on them. "Ugh, Paco!"
"That is It, Paco!" The barman said. "Whenever you come you make trouble or a mess. I'm tired of it, get out!"
The barman called in some bouncers to unceremoniously throw Paco out of the Dirty Sponge. I did not mind following him outside as I did not like the place. I looked at Paco who was still lying on the dusty ground. I sighed, how did he become like this?
"Let's get you out of here." I said under my breath.
/
This was ridiculous! Paco had slept for 12 hours. It was bad enough that I had to drag him to his apartment but now I have to wait for him to get up. I looked around his small apartment and saw a green mask with a red line running down from the mouth area. I picked it up in my hands an inspected it. This must have been his wrestling mask. I then saw two dirty pans in the sink and began to smile evilly. I had always wanted to do what I was thinking of ever since I've seen it in movies. I took the dirty pans and banged them together over Paco's head. He woke up with a start and grabbed one of the pans and threw it behind his head.
"Rise and shine!" I said.
Paco rubbed away the last signs of sleep from his eyes. "Yade? I thought you were a dream." He said smiling.
"Well, I'm not." Jade said.
Paco reached under his bed and produced a quarter empty bottle of vodka.
"Come on Paco. You've just woken up." I complained.
"Exactly why I need this more." He said taking a sip.
"What happened to you? How did you go from Mighty Gecko to… this?" I scolded him which felt strange because usually I'm the one who's being scolded.
"I lost my championship."
"Is that all?"
"Among other things, yes." He said taking before trying to take another swig.
I placed my hand on the bottle and forced it down away from his mouth. I was failing to get through to him. Maybe he needed to be reminded of his dead mentor, maybe he could rouse him out of whatever he was going through. "What would El Toro say if he saw you like this?"
"I guess it's a good thing that his not here to see me like this." He said. "What do you want Yade? I know you didn't drop by to say hello; I don't have friends who do that."
Jade sighed. "I need your help. I'm looking for this man…" I said taking out my iPad and showed him a picture of Bjorn August. "Do you know him?"
Paco squinted at the screen while scratching his hairy armpits and then smelling his fingers before making a face of disgust. "He looks familiar but not because I've actually seen him around or anything. I probably saw him on TV or something. He's a bit old to be your boyfriend though, isn't he?"
"He's not…" I began but stopped; I could not give him the satisfaction of getting to me. "What about him…" I said showing him a picture of Charles.
"Nope."
I sat thinking while Paco got up to fix himself something to eat. I had no leads and no way of tracking my targets down. Another fighter would probably go missing soon. Of course, August was probably here to kidnap the greatest fighter in Mexico. Even with that information I would still need a guide to help me find the best fighter and traverse through Mexico because I did not even know how to speak the language well. And I knew the perfect candidate. Maybe I could even straighten out Paco's act during the adventure.
"Paco, I'll need a guide if I'm going to find these people." I said. "I'll pay you."
Paco smiled at her, "okay."
"But I have a condition, no drinking allowed during the trip."
Paco thought about this for a moment. From the look of his apartment, he really did need the money so I doubted that he would say no.
He smiled and took another sip of vodka, "fine."
/
They had moved into another city in their pursuit for a great fighter in Mexico. Paco had led them to some dodgy places in their pursuit for information. In one of these places he was having a conversation with a little boy. The boy seemed very excited by what he was saying and Paco brushed his hair when they were done talking. I was only able to catch bits and pieces of the conversation because of my still bad Spanish.
Paco and I then walked around the city. He had not said a word as he was leading me to a destination only he knew. I struggled to keep up with him in the crowded city. He was slowly getting on my nerves as I began to realise that he was trying to control this situation but this was my mission and I was in charge. I caught up and grabbed him by the shoulder and brought him to a stop in the middle of the busy street. People bumped into us and some swore and Paco wasted no time in swearing back. In time the flow of walking people went around us.
"Where are we going?" I asked.
"To a great fighter. The boy I was talking to described a fighter who beat up the best cage fighters he had ever seen with one hand. The boy says that the fighter in question likes watching lucha wrestling." He said before continuing to walk.
"Wait. I say if we pursue this fighter or not!" I said stopping him again. "And anyways what kind of people believes the story a boy."
"We were once that boy's age. Remember when we would role with the J-Team and the 'grownups' ignored us when we were trying to help? I doubt he was lying, he was too excited."
I thought about it for a second. I guess it would not hurt to check this lead out. "Fine tell me where we're going then stay right behind me! I'm leading this."
"Yes ma'am." He said saluting.
I stopped a taxi and ordered the driver to take us to where we needed to go. We stopped in front of a big building. On the sides of the entrance were giant posters showing luchadoras. When Paco stepped out of the taxi he looked at the building. I could see that he had a great longing in his eyes.
"You okay?" I asked him.
"Let's just get done with this so I can get paid." He said leading us to the building entrance.
There were four big, muscled men guarding the entrance. As soon as they saw Paco and I approaching they tensed up. I could tell when people were getting ready for action, either to fight or run. It seems that for most of my life that is what I had been doing.
Paco opened up his arms in a friendly gesture and said something like, "Rockos, Petro, Sam and Tony, it's good to see you, my friends."
One of the men spat at Paco's pants. "I get the feeling that you and these guys aren't on good terms." I said concerned.
"What!" He said feigning surprise. "These are my friends. That's how we greet each other."
They continued to exchange words but it did not take a fluent speaker in Spanish to tell that the four big men did not like Paco. He seemed to be trying to charm his way in but they were not having it. While they were talking one of the men threw a punch aimed at him. I had seen the punch coming from a mile away, it was so obvious I thought Paco would have no problem blocking or dodging it but instead he just took it. I saw his face shake from the blow before he fell to his knees. Why did he let them hit him? He was a fighter so he could have handled such an obvious attack. At seeing him being hit my blood began to boil, not only at the men but at Paco's weakness. It confused me.
I began to move forward with a plan to tear these guys apart but Paco raised his hand to stop me. "Don't, I'll handle this." He said.
I stepped back. I expected… hoped that he would teach these guys a lesson, violently. However, I was disappointed when he let another guy punch him in the stomach. He moaned as he fell to his knees again. He still raised his hands and told me not to get involved. I clenched my fists; I felt like I would explode with anger or kill these guys. Paco got up and spoke a few more words but this time he pointed at me. The big guys spoke amongst themselves before finally relenting and letting us in.
We walked through a long empty hallway that led to the building. "What was that!" I asked.
"Nothing, I handled it."
"That is not handling it! I this close to beating those guys up!"
He stopped and turned to face me. "I don't need your help Yade Chan!"
"You could have fooled me! I don't know what is wrong with you but I'm still here trying to help but you don't want any because you're caught up in this 'I'm-pathetic' act of yours."
He resumed walking through the hall. "And that is your problem. You think I'm your pet project that you have to fix but I don't need fixing!"
"Trust me you do need fixing!" I said joining him.
We were both angry when we entered the main staduim. The place was packed. We were in the audience stands and in the middle of the giant hall was a ring where two men fought it out lucha-style. It was exciting and unlike the Dirty Sponge it had a better ambience. I noticed that Paco had a look of wonder and longing on his face as he looked on. That look reminded me of when we were younger and those memories helped to quell my anger.
"You miss this don't you?" I said.
The look disappeared instantly. "Your great fighter usually sits in one of the reserved seats." He said pointing at a pod situated above the normal seats.
I looked around the place and saw that there were two other similar pods in the stadium. "We'll split up and investigate all the reserved seats. You go left I'll go right and if we both find nothing we'll meet at the third pod. If you do find the fighter, warn him, tell him he's in danger, then lead him to me so I can protect him."
Paco nodded before he left and I did the same. My first pod had nothing, just a bunch of old men in suits. As I made my way to the third pod I brought some nachos that were drowned in dipping sauce. I ate my snack as I made it to the third pod. I got high enough in the arena to see the occupants of the pod and was so surprised by who I saw that I dropped my nachos. It was August! He must have been the great fighter the boy Paco was talking to was talking about. I did not know whether I should apprehend him now or wait. No, I had this opportunity and I had to take it. When I made a move to get him everyone excitedly got up and blocked my sight. It seemed that someone had won the match that was going on. I tried to get a look at him and saw that he was leaving. I tried following him through the commotion. Someone tapped me in the back and I grabbed his arm and twisted it because I was in alert mode. It turned out to be Paco.
"I'm sorry." I apologised letting him go.
"Yeah? It seems like you've wanted to do that for a long time. Have you found the guy."
"Yes. It's not a random fighter but it's the bad guy I was looking for. He was in this pod before I lost sight of him."
"I know where the exit leads to. Come on follow me!" He said grabbing my hand.
"How do you know where we're going?" I asked as we ran through the crowd.
"I've wrestled in this place before. Remember? Former Luchadora here."
"Oh yeah!" I said resisting the urge to slap my forehead.
By the time they got out, August was already leaving in a car.
"I guess we were too slow." Paco said.
"Maybe not." I said spotting another car parking. I ran to the driver who was getting out and ordered him to give me his car keys. When he refused I took out a gun and threatened him into giving me his them which he did out of fear. Paco and I got in and chased after August.
"What was that?" Paco said looking back at the man who we had taken the car from.
"I did what I had to do for the mission. Now focus, I need you to keep an eye on the guy we're following so that we don't lose him. We followed the car to an old architect type building. I was surprised that such buildings existed in Mexico. We got in through the back so that we could better spy on my target. That was an error as we had to climb a few steps to get to where he was.
We eventually spotted him talking to two men. One had a bright red mask with a yellow cross in the middle and the other was an older man with grey hair and no mask. August had six men in black karate-like suits with purple belts. He on the other hand had on a red karate-like suit with a black belt that ended with two gold pieces on either side.
"Why is he talking to the lucha Champion?" Paco whispered to me.
I realised that the man in the mask was one of the wrestlers who were fighting in the arena we just came from. "Don't know." I said. I noticed from the corner of my eye Paco looking at me intently. I tried to ignore him and focus on what was going on in front of me but I could not. "What?" I asked in an aggressive whisper.
"You have something on you're…" He pointed on my cheek.
I wiped my left cheek and looked at my hand and saw nothing. I shrugged. He reached out with his thumb and I flinched but then let him wipe off the nacho sauce off my face. He showed it to me as proof before licking it off his finger. I thought that was weird but decided to ignore it, for now.
Suddenly there was a big commotion. I looked and saw that the masked Lucha was down and out, leaving the elder man to fight August's six henchmen. The old man was actually holding his own but I knew it would not last. I jumped out and ran for them. They were eventually able to overwhelm the man and pin him down. I withdrew my gun and ordered them to stand down. What August did next was so quick I did not have a chance to react. He stomped on the floor, raising one tile off the ground and kicked the tile to my direction. I saw the tile break but a shard shot through the air and got into my gun barrel. When I pulled the trigger the bullet, now because the gun was jammed by the piece of tile, bounced in the gun blowing it apart in my hands.
Now without a gun I took a fighting stance and approached them with Paco at my side. August did not seem fazed. "Let the man go, Bjorn August and you and your crownies get on the ground. Your under arrest." I said trying to sound as intimidating as possible. August was obviously not afraid as he remained calm and smiled at me and Paco as we approached him.
"You know my name. I'm honoured." He said.
I began splitting from Paco and went left while he went right in a pincer movement.
"I wonder who you are. Of course I know your friend, The Mighty Gecko; former Lucha Champion and lost his title last year, was it? Of course that was not the worst thing that happened to your career, if that's what you'd even call it. The following year after your title loss you were discovered to be part of a match fixing syndicate; you intentionally lost matches and won a few that you were planned to win. You and six other Luchas were banned from the Luchadora Federation for a year, a year that ended last year. But being banned for the reason you were can make it hard to make a comeback."
"You've been stalking me?" I heard Paco say. I could hear him straining to keep his anger in check; I did not even know he had been banned.
"I like Lucha wrestling, more technical and fun than American wrestling, which is just a soapie for men."
"I can show you how technical it is. Come at me!" Paco said not even trying to hide his anger anymore.
"What? Me? Fight you? You're beneath me but your friend here, maybe she can entertain me." He gave the men who were not holding down the old man a signal to attack Paco. Three men rushed to fight him. August turned his attention on me as I attacked him. I quickly found out he was a skilled fighter as he easily blocked and dodged my strikes without giving any quarter in fact he was putting pressure on me, forcing me back. "Who are you?"
I jumped back to regroup. "I am Jade Chan, Agent of Section 13."
He made a face. "Another one. I should really deal with this 'Section 13', permanently."
So he had had an encounter with Charles Brand.
I leeped forward in a fury of attacks. "Where is Charles Brand and the other missing fighters!" I screamed as I fought.
He was dealing with my attacks and it seemed he was not even struggling. "Now that would be telling." He said as he stopped using his legs to block my kicks and was soon only using one hand to fight me.
I could not believe this guy's skill. He was fighting me with one hand and still was more than holding his own against me. I realised that he was faster than me so I had to rely on strength. I began putting more weight and power in my blows which made me slower but he was still able to block my attacks. I had left a lot of openings that he was not taking advantage of. I realised that he was just showing off his superior ability. I began to wind up knowing that I would be vulnerable to serious blows but I gambled that he would not strike just to prove that he could deal with my attacks. My gamble paid off as I was able to attack with my elbow while pushing it with my other hand and leaning in with my body for a more powerful attack. He blocked my attack with one hand but I had a few more power based attacks. I did them all in quick succession and he blocked them all. When I repeated my elbow one he blocked but this time he countered with a thrusting kick to the ribs which sent me into a pillar. When my back collided with the pillar, I bounced off it and landed on the floor.
He still had his foot in the position he had used to hit me. He slowly lowered it and placed it on the ground before walking to the old man. I looked over at Paco who was struggling to fight his two henchmen. He had already taken out one of them.
"I must admit. You are a good fighter but nothing exceptional. Not unlike this man…" He said pointing to the old man who was pinned down. He took off his black belt and allowed one end of it, which was covered with gold metal, to touch the face of the old man while he held the other end also with gold metal. He said, "Soi" then I saw a light that started at the metal touching the old man travel up the black belt to the other metal in August's hand. He then put the belt back on. "This is what I do with exceptional fighters. I take their fighting ability which makes mine stronger." He said re-tying the belt around his waist. He nodded and the men holding the old man down let him go. The old man tried to attack him but his technique was sloppy not like when I had first seen him fight. August easily took him out.
So that was why he was such a powerful fighter; he had the skills of the greatest fighters on Earth in him. Paco had taken care of the second henchman and was fighting the third but I could see that his lazing around and excessive drinking was getting to him as he quickly became fatigued. To make matters worse for him the now free three henchmen rushed to help their comrade against him. I needed to beat this guy and quickly. Both speed and skill failed, now I had to resort to tricks. I took out something from my pocket that I did not want August to see and I began approaching him.
He looked amused when he saw me approach. "Come now Jade. I am sure by now you have realised you cannot win."
"Why don't you try blocking my next attack with one hand again." I challenged him.
This time I did not wind up. I just did my elbow technique and as I challenged him he blocked with one hand. But unlike all those other times, even though he did block my attack, my blow was enough to send him flying hard back into a pillar some distance away. The pillar was smashed and dust flew about. His henchmen which had pinned Paco down looked at their boss and me in surprised, Paco too. Obviously they had never seen their employee take a hit. When the dust cleared August got up with his clothes ruffled and looking very angry. A big chunk of the pillar had cracked off from his landing.
"Impossible! No one can do that to me. Not now!" He said outraged.
I turned my back on him. "That's what an arrogant weakling would say."
He got angry enough that he charged at me. I'll admit he was fast and because I had turned my back on him he almost got me but I stomped my foot hard on the floor sending out a small earth tremor that off balanced him then I delivered a kick and once again sent him flying into the same pillar. This time the pillar completely broke apart on top of him. In great anger he pushed the debris off of him.
"How!" He screamed looking at me with mad eyes.
I winked at him. "Secret technique. Now, if you and your men give up, I won't hurt you… too badly."
His men looked at him for direction. He punched the ground hard which made a small hole in it. "I want that technique!" One of his men kicked Paco unconscious then they all rushed me.
I took a fighting stance thinking that maybe I shouldn't have taunted him. The first henchman to reach me threw a round house kick which I was able to catch with one hand and threw him in a wide arc over my head with the same hand. This move left an opening and August used two fingers to strike me three times in three different places which hurt me badly. I swung wildly and missed him but caught one of his men, sending him flying. He took the opportunity to strike my arm with his two fingers. Along with the pain my arm went numb. I dodged one of his men strikes and kicked him into another, taking two out at the same time. During this August hit me in a few more places which made me fall to my knees and he and his remaining henchman kicked me in the face. I fell down as August used his technique to paralyse more of my body. I could now not defend myself and was forced to watch as he took off his belt and used it to take my fighting ability.
He said, "Soi" and my fighting ability was removed from me.
Paco got up and charged at him but August made quick work of him and he threw both of us in a small downstairs section of the building and kicked a round stone with art work on it on top of the entrance to trap us inside. We had been defeated.
/
Paco banged on the stone trying to get us out. He was angry so I thought it would be wise to let him get it out of his system. He eventually got tired and sat beside me. We were quiet for a while. The place we were trapped in was dark. We were quiet for a while then I suddenly broke the silence.
"Paco, why didn't you tell me you were banned from wrestling?" I asked in the dimly lit place. The only thing we could see clearly was our eyes and the silhouettes of our bodies.
"Because it's not my proudest moment and it's something people won't forgive me for." He said.
"Why did you do it?"
"I guess I got greedy. And I doubted my ability to regain my title. People just expected too much from me and I crumbled and I did things that I would never do again."
"We all make mistakes but that doesn't mean we should give up on our dreams." I said. "You're a great Lucha just like El Toro. The only person who doubts it seems to be you."
"Thank you." He said and I could tell he was sincere.
"Now, let's get out of here." I said getting up starting to feel some feeling return to my body but the pain was still there.
"How?" He asked.
I threw something at him that he was only barely able to catch because of the lack of light. "This is my mask." He said. "I don't see how it can help us."
"Feel its forehead area." I said.
He felt the forehead of the mask and gasped. "Is… is this a…"
"Talisman, yes. The one worn by your mentor."
"The Bull Talisman. This is how you gave August a tough time!"
"Yes. I was no match for him so I cheated. Now stop rubbing it in my face and get us out of here."
"What? You want me to use it?"
"Well, there's no ways I'd be caught dead in that mask and if you haven't been keeping up, August stole my fighting ability. So even with the talisman I couldn't beat him which logically leaves you as the best person to have it now."
The circular stone that had blocked them suddenly blew into a million pieces. Paco walked out and offered his hand to me. I made a face and, ignoring his hand, walked past him. Just because I was hurt did not mean I needed help in walking. He looked good in his green mask with a red line running in the middle of the chin area of the mask.
"So now what do we do?" he asked, his voice firmer and sounding different. I did not know if it was because he was speaking through the mask or if it was because he had regained his confidence but I liked it.
"We need to find this guy and since he's using magic, we need to use magic too. Lucky for us I know a Chi Wizard." I said picking up my phone and calling someone.
The phone rang a few times before it was picked up. "Hello?" The man who picked up said.
"Tohru, hello."
"Jade! Good to hear from you."
"Yeah, I'm sorry big guy, this isn't a social call. I need your help."
"Anything… within my power of course."
"I need you to tell me what this is. " I said sending him an impromptu drawing of the belt August wore and the symbols on the two metals at its end.
"Ah! The Soi and Ios medallions. Was someone able to get both of them? It was smart to place them on a belt it allowed for better conduction of…"
"Tohru, what do they do?"
"Oh, sorry. These two medallions are only useful together. The Soi medallion takes the fighting ability of someone and the Ois medallion stores it but in order for an ability to be taken or returned they must be used together."
"Wait, so the fighting abilities taken by the medallions can be returned? So I can get my fighting ability back."
"Yes, fighting abilities can be returned by using the stones backwards. One more thing, whoever uses the medallions to take fighting ability can only use the fighting abilities by wearing the belt."
"Can you track the belt's location?"
"Not the belt's but I can track down your fighting ability."
I raised my eyebrow. "So you can track only mine."
"Yes, I can track you or any part of you anywhere, Jade."
I knew Tohru did not mean for that statement to sound as creepy as it did but that did not help me not feel the willies. "Okay, track it… or me down."
/
It was awful. That is the only way I can describe where Tohru tracked me, or to be more accurate a part of me. Paco and I found ourselves climbing a rocky mountain and on the other side was a settlement situated on rough and black rocks. There was a house with light escaping from the windows and some distance away was a bigger settlement, although calling it a settlement was an overstatement. It was more like a fence surrounding people. There were a few of August's henchmen patrolling. For this reason I decided to climb down alone to the settlement.
I was able to get through the henchmen to the fence without being seen because of the black suit I was wearing. It was almost totally black except for the white lines running along my frame and met up at my chest and continued as a single line up to my neck. I whispered out to the people in the settlement and one of them approached me. His face was covered in dirt and wore he dirty overalls and I was not sure if his messy hair was brown with black dirt or black with brown dirt. He looked familiar but I could not figure out where I knew him from.
"Hello?" I said.
"Aah finally! The cavalry has arrived and it is led by a beautiful dragon." The man said in an English accent.
I instantly knew who the man was from his charm and accent. "It's good to see that you're still alive Agent Brand."
"Agent Brand? The last time I checked we were on a first name bases, Jade. You know since that time…"
"What's the situation? What's going on?" I interrupted him.
"Bjorn August has us digging for platinum here. Really smart, using his prisoners to make himself richer." He said pointing to a cave at the side of the mountain.
"Can these men fight?"
He looked around. "We have professional boxers, world fighting champions, monks, ninjas and an assortment of other fighters with one problem: they can't fight. August took all our fighting abilities." He said. "But I don't know why you ask. I'm sure you came with an army of Section 13 agents." I guess he noticed my face because he suddenly doubted his own statement. "You did bring back up, correct?"
"I have a Lucha wrestler." I said knowing how pathetic that sounded.
"You were never the best at planning ahead." He said shaking his head. "If you can get our abilities back then me and my fellow miners can take them all on."
"Consider it done." I said going away to find August.
I met up with Paco and we both headed for the only humane settlement at the site. We found August practicing his skill on a few dummies. He'd hit one of the dummies so hard that it broke off its post. However this only made him angry as he stomped his feet. Unbeknownst to us one of the henchmen snuck up behind Paco and me and pushed us out of our hiding place. We tumbled into plain sight.
August looked at us partly surprised. "Jade Chan and The Former Mighty Gecko. It's good that you are here. I seem to have taken your fighting ability but I'm still not capable of the feats of strength that you had shown."
Paco and I got up and I smiled at him. "You won't be capable of it because to get as good as I got you need practice. Something you would not know about considering that all you do is steal."
I saw his mood change from calm to angry. "Take care of the Gecko!" He told his henchmen. "You're going to tell me your secret Jade Chan!"
He came at me and I began to panic. There was no way I could take him on. Suddenly Paco was buried under a mountain of henchmen, leaving me to face August. He shot out his leg in a sweeping high kick and in my attempt to back step away I tripped and fell backwards on my back thus luckily dodging his attack. Suddenly the mountain of bodies on Paco all went flying in all directions. Paco rushed out and grabbed August by the waist and suplexed him into a boulder. He chased after him as he began to strike out with bull talisman powered punches. When he missed August, anything he hit broke apart under the sheer force of his strength.
"You… your using whatever Jade was using." He said before he dodged Paco's punch and grabbed Paco's arm and brought him to his knees. "Tell me! What is the secret!"
"Are you deaf? Yade said it was hard work." Paco said before punching the ground with all his might causing a minor Earthquake that brought everyone to their knees and raising a fog of dust and debris.
When the dust began to clear I saw them still going at it. At first I had hope that Paco would win but then I realised he would not. August was dodging too many attacks and hitting Paco. Don't get me wrong Paco was holding his own but it would not last. I guess Paco also realised that he would lose and began to change his strategy. When I noticed what he was doing I was impressed and jealous that I did not come up with it. After a few minutes August's henchmen began crowding us getting ready to attack me. Paco was kicked and he flew by me and landed some distance away.
I ran to him and knelt beside him. He was bruised, bloodied and out of breath. "I am sorry Yade. I could not beat him, even with this," he said pointing to the talisman on his mask's forehead.
I got up and faced August. He had an amused look on his face, a look I had grown to hate. He was before me and everywhere else were his henchmen.
"Come now Jade. What can you do against me?" He said opening his arms
"This!" I said, sprinting at him. He prepared himself for a fight but I was not planning to fight him. I swerved past him and grabbed one of the tendrils of his belt and with a simple tug, I was able to pull the belt free from his waist.
I ran up the rocky mountain and he followed close behind ordering his men to stop me. But they were too slow. The only one who had a chance at stopping me was him so it became a cat and mouse game with me being the mouse. I took out my phone and called Tohru.
When he answered I spoke in a panic. "Tohru, I need your help. I have the belt: how do I return the fighting abilities?"
"Make the fighters touch the Ois medallion and say 'Ois' that should return their ablilty."
"One by one?"
"Yes."
"That'll take too long!"
"Well, in order for a fighting ability to be taken or returned from or to the subject, the distance between them and the medallion should be zero but I could increase that with a spell then all you'd have to do is say the key word."
"Do it!"
I held my phone next to the belt as Tohru began to chant, "Yu Mo Gui Gwai Fie Di Jow!" repeatedly. The belt began to glow green. I got to the summit of the mountain I was running up and was momentarily out of the sight of August. I took the opportunity to hide. I chose to hide behind a small out crop of rocks. I heard August also summit.
"So you're going to hide from me? You better hope I don't find you!" He said looking behind rocks and other outcrops.
Soon I heard Tohru stop his chanting and I guessed it was now up to me. I leaned in close to the belt and whispered, "Ois." For a moment nothing happened, then a ball of green energy shot out of the belt into the night sky. Maybe August didn't see that. There's a chance that he still did not know where I am, right? To my horror another green ball shot out then two then three then five then too many to count. There was no way that August did not know where I was now. I got out of my hiding spot with the belt firing off green balls of energy into the night sky like fireworks.
When August saw me he looked worried. "What have you done!"
"Nothing." I said before resuming my retreat and him, his chase. All the time the green balls persisted.
"Did it work?" I heard Tohru ask through the phone.
"I think so," I answered placing the phone next to my ear. "But I haven't received my fighting ability."
"It works on a first in first out bases."
"Awe man! I was the last to lose my ability."
"Then you'll be the last to get it back." He bluntly stated.
/
Charles Brand looked up at the sky and saw green balls approaching the settlement. He thought about how romantic this would be. It like was watching shooting stars up close. The green balls descended on them and hit the captives. As soon as the green balls of energy collided with the men they briefly glowed green. He wondered how it felt like but he did not need to wonder for long as a green ball fell on him and he felt his fighting ability return.
He raised up his shovel and shouted, "people, we fight for our freedom!"
The men shouted their support before scaling the fence to engage in war with August's henchmen.
/
I heard the shouts as the prisoners escaped. August commanded his men off the mountain to help contain the prisoners. For some reason I glowed green and then I felt my fighting ability return and August saw it too. I smiled at him and threw the belt halfway between me and him and took a fighting stance.
"How many times do I have to beat you before you realise you can't win against me."
I won't lie; I wanted revenge for my previous defeat. Uncle Jackie did always say that revenge was beneath me but that doesn't mean I believed him. "Yes but this time there's no magic tricks, no henchmen, just you and me for the belt. I think it's appropriate."
He took his fighting stance then we both ran for the belt. He predictably reached out for it but I made the splits to cover the belt with my leg then as I brought myself by bringing my back leg in, I threw a few punches which he blocked. He raised his knee up and caught me in the chin. I stumbled back but simultaneously kicked the belt some distance behind me. I regained my balance and ignoring the pain in my chin continued fighting. He caught my arm and attempted to twist it in order to break it but I avoided that by summersaulting but I painfully landed on my butt. He still had a hold of my arm and was kicking me savagely at my spine. I was able to get my arm free and did the helicopter break dancing move to get him away from me. He stepped back out of the range of my helicopter and now that his path to the belt was clear he ran for it. I got up and chased. I knew I would not get to it before him so I just had to stop him from getting it. When he bent over to pick it up I leapt into the air and used both feet to kick him in each exposed butt cheek, sending him over his desired prize. I landed on my back but using my hands and swinging my legs I leapt to my. He was also up and I jumped into the air and twisted to deliver a jumping spinning kick. He raised his arms to block but I did not complete the move, instead I let myself fall to the ground and on my knees and head butted his exposed abdomen. He stumbled back from the blow. I kept chasing him giving him no break. I threw a double kick and he blocked one but was hit by the other, I faked left punched right and threw a few more kicks. I was wearing him down as I got around his defences. I eventually swept his legs out from under him and when I attempted to kick him in the face he caught my leg. He was desperate but he had already lost.
"You know," I began. "You say that Paco is beneath you but you both are the same. You lost your titles and you did questionable things after but you know what is the difference between him and you? You're not my friend." I jumped up to free my leg and brought both feet down into his face thereby knocking him out.
/
We had won. The captured fighters were able to take out August's men and with Paco's super strength help the victory became almost effortless. I went to Paco after I debriefed Brand.
"Hey can I have the Talisman back now." I asked putting my hand out.
He looked at me and did not answer. His muscles had gotten bigger and he was not as skinny as before. That was a side effect of using the talisman for long. I could not see his face through the mask but I sensed he did not want to give it back.
"Remember Paco, the Talisman does not make you strong. El Toro knew that."
He nodded and with great effort took off his mask and gave it to Jade.
"You don't have to give me your mask." I said.
He smiled. "I want you to have it Yade. It will be something you can remember me by. Maybe when you come next time we can do more than hunt villains."
From not wanting me around to inviting me back. I could not help but feel proud of the progress we made. "Yeah, you can wrestle and I'll be in the audience to support you."
He shook his head as if I did not get what he was trying to say but then he suddenly hugged me. "That is not what I meant but the next time you come I will be the best Lucha."
I hugged him back knowing that this was not the last time we see each other and hopefully we'll be better people next time.
The end….