Chapter 1: White Girl

Although no one could have known, the troubles begin on Sunday night, when the white girl moved into the small apartment complex by Tong Ren St. and King St. in the Eastern edge of Brockton Bay Chinatown (otherwise known as "Asian Bad Boyz Territory").

The white girl was a lithe and lanky creature, with a mouth too wide and eyes too wide, and the more Annie Kim looked at her, the more it became obvious that she was underage. Annie wasn't racist- she had a healthy dose of ethnic nationalism, but that was curbed a bit thanks to Lung's "Pan-Asian" platform. Personally she was a bit skeptical of the ABB gangleader's message, afterall, didn't grandpa use to talk about how the Japanese tried to justify their conquest of Asia with that whole "South-East Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere"? She kept her doubts to herself of course, it's no good voicing such dangerous things to Lung. He has no problems hurting women. Everybody knew about The Farm- bad and disobedient girls ended up there. Or if you're not Asian.

She watched the foreigner approach, dragging two large suitcases behind her. She wore jeans and her white wife beater hugged her thin frames, her bra showing through the thin fabric.

Annie could almost imagine her as a skinny Asian gangbanger with tattoos- almost. But she was too white and her hair obviously too feminine for that image to stick. She plastered on a fake smile for the foreigner and tried to greet her. There was no point being rude- even white people, Empire sympathizers the whole lot of them are- deserved hospitality. Wang-Obasan was very clear about that- but she was Taiwanese, so who knows what weird things she believed in?

"Sup, white girl. You a new tenant?"

White girl fixed her blank eyes on her- there was something dark and creepy about them. Something painful too. Annie had seen a few times in some of the boys and the ABB gang members (which was most of the boys to be fair).

She'd seen a good deal of eyes like that on some of the nightwalkers and Merchant scums too. She decided that the white girl was definitely hooked on something. She's probably a former merchant victim or hoe or something.

The white girl nodded and muttered a short reply.

"Yeah. Name's Taylor."

Annie nodded respectfully and watched the girl rang up the elevator. There was an awkward silence as she waited for the white girl to wait for her elevator. Now wasn't that a tongue twister?

At fucking last, the elevator doors opened with a ding and the white girl- Taylor, she had to remember was her name- dragged both of her giant suitcases in, passing by a hulk of a man stepping out. His tanned skin and bulging muscles meant that he was obviously a gangmember.

The man glanced at the white girl but dismissed her with a snort. The ABB wasn't specifically racist against white people per say, it's just that Asians come first. That was the creed. As long as white girl- Taylor- kept her head down and pay her rent, it was all good. Step out of line and bad things was going to happen to that skinny ass. Annie was honestly too jaded to care, besides, her mind was occupied by the familiar man.

Annie quickly made sure her hair was tidied and she greeted the man with a big smile.

"Hey Kenta! Looking good."

He glanced over with a disinterested gaze and nodded, "Annie."

Then he stalked off to Heaven knows where. Probably to smoke a joint. Annie sighed dreamingly, forgetting all about white girl.

She would only recall the first white girl when the second white girl, some half-blood snotty bitch by the name of Grace moved in later that week.


Tuesday afternoon, Wang-Obasan complained loudly to Annie that her Cat, Mr. Mimi, was missing.

"Aiya! Aiya!"

Annie looked up to see a distraught looking Wang-Obasan waddling down the hallway, looking East and West in a panic.

"Wang-Obasan, what's the matter?"

Junpei, a nearby ABB gangbanger who was smoking with his upper half leaning out on the balcony that formed the outer walls of the hall turned around in concern.

"Mr. Mimi is missing!"

Annie gasped. Mr. Mimi was all that was left of Wang-Obasan's late husband. She hurried over and patted the anxious older lady on the back.

"I'll help you look for him."

She looked up and stared at Junpei.

"What?"

"You should help too!"

"It's just a cat."

Annie glared at him.

Junpei snorted and ignored the Korean girl and the Taiwanese granny. Whatever. He was a warrior of the ABB- finding missing cats wasn't part of his responsibilities.

"Junpei."

He jumped at the voice and glanced over at the hulking form of Kenta.

Kenta tilt his head towards Wang-Obasan and Annie Kim and growled.

"Help Obasan find her cat. Be a man."

Junpei wanted to argue, but self-preservation instincts kicked in. The bastard was way out of Junpei's weight-class and higher on the pecking order, so he had no choice but to comply.

"Yes…Kenta."

They searched all day, into the evening. Junpei even roped some of the gangbangers lower on the foodchain to help out.

They found a bunch of other cats, and some strays- but there was no hair or tail of the venerable Mr. Mimi.


Wang-Obasan prayed at her home shrine to the idols of the righteous Guan Sheng Di Jun (ceramic sculpt of a bearded man in green robes wielding a mighty halberd), Scion the Living Buddha (A porcelain effigy of the World's First Superhero), and the Supreme Virtuous Martyr Prince of Tinkers (A painted wood statue of Hero, rayguns raised).

Nothing came of it.

Obviously her home shrine was too small and Lord Guan was too busy dealing with cosmic concerns (or maybe how to beat the Empire's heathen gods so as to ensure victory for the Asians) to deal with a mortal's pet cat. Scion was busy rescuing other cats and Hero was probably off inspiring Tinkers to invent things. Having rationalized the lack of divine action on the part of the gods, Wang-Obasan walked down the street to the local Joss House and offered up some incense sticks to Tudigong, the elderly and smiling genius loci of Chinatown. He looked just like the Tudigong in Mado township in Tainan Taiwan where she had lived during the first half of her life.

She prayed in Taiwanese Hokkien, "Oh Tudigong, god of the city and of Chinatown, please return Mimi to me, he's all that's left of my late husband. Please, please."

Afterwards, she paid a donation of twenty dollars and twenty-five cents in the alms box, and drew several lots. Her face paled at the prophetic words of Tudigong:

"Evil energies abound. Great Misfortune. Hold fast to righteousness."


Annie was shocked to hear that Junpei was missing. Kenta came around to ask her about it- but all she knew was that they had split up to look for Mimi. She didn't see him after that and assumed he must have gone home.

"Maybe he's sleeping in?"

Kenta shook his head, "I checked his room-"

Annie didn't quite want to know how Kenta was able to access to Junpei's room.

"- and it was untouched. The bed didn't look like it was slept in. His takeout wasn't touched either."

Kenta turned to Kai Lee, his subordinate and another high ranking member of the ABB and asked, "Did Junpei owe someone money or something? Why'd he skipped out of town?"

"Not that I know, Kenta."

"Curious indeed. Well, check to see if you can find his body- people go missing all the time, but this is right in the heart of our territory. That's concerning."

"Hai, Kenta."

Annie decided she should maybe offer some incense to the gods and pray for Junpei's safe return.