.
Beginning Part One
THE EASTERN DRAGON
AN: Planning the rest of this story has been hard. At first, I really hoped I'd be able to tackle this story more easily than this, but a combination of various problems has made me realize this was not the case.
The story is going to be divided in three parts. While the second and third ones are still to be fully outlined, I've decided to reconsider the length of the first part: I went for a shorter, but more 'to-the-point' version of it. Hopefully, this will help me with the update rate.
Chapter 4
The Unknown Enemy
Why was he there again?
Oh, yeah, he technically worked there. But then, what had made him accept this role in the first place?
The salary? Puah! Some genius thought that was!
Kovic cursed the day he made the decision to join the ranks of the company, then resumed his march to continue the patrol. He had been assigned to a task he considered utterly boring by itself, but having to walk back and forth in the outer perimeter of the base, where there was no one but the occasional pigeon to keep you company? He was sincerely surprised he had not lost his mind yet.
The fact that he was not a fan of the country in the slightest didn't help, either… the climate, primarily. Despite the fact they were at least half a kilometre away from Yanjing's far confines, his throat was still making it way harder to breathe than it should be, as the air wasn't exactly healthy.
He coughed, cursing to himself again, and glanced at the sky. The evening was approaching, but it was not quite dark yet. It'd still be one hour before the next shift change… he may as well try to distract himself by focusing on the job. If it wasn't for the blasted sore throat…
Kovic was so fixated on his recent misfortunes that the noise of leaves rustling took him completely by surprise. He scrambled back, agitating his rifle between his hands before he was able to get a good grip on the handle and aim for the source of noise. "Who's there!?" he immediately shouted.
No answer came. Kovic considered his options… who could be so stupid to try and approach the base from this direction? Behind him there was electrified razor-wire and guard posts every quarter of a kilometre. The Chinese knew this was a militarized area…
He repeated his question, but this time he spoke with a bad Chinese… possibly the only words he had learned since his arrival in the city. And yet, there was still no answer… but the noises resumed.
Kovic mentally wished every bad thing to the guy who had decided to put patrols in the scrub, then started to walk towards the bush area. "I will shoot if you don't answer! Who's there?!" he shouted again in English.
As even his third attempt didn't bring any results, Kovic realized that he just had to inspect the problem himself and hope there was no secret agent waiting for him with a silenced pistol. He continued to walk slowly as he drew out a tactical torch and silently put it on his rifle. When he was right in front of the bush, he turned on the torch, prepared a finger on the trigger and used his other hand to grab a group of twigs inside the bush. With one swift sweep, he tore off most of the bush's higher parts, revealing whatever was hiding below.
Kovic's eyes widened when he discovered that the cause of his latest worry was not an enemy intruder… and it was not human, either. A rat, dazzled by the sudden light, squeaked in protest and ran between the befuddled guard's legs, disappearing before Kovic could even launch an insult at it.
Before he could wrap his mind about what had just happened, Kovic heard footsteps. In his confusion, he immediately turned towards the noise while aiming his rifle.
"Hey, slow down, Kovic! I know we're not exactly friends, but that's a bit uncalled for even for you."
Kovic lowered the weapon, even though a part of him would've liked not to. "Recker. What are you doing here?"
"I've been sent to get you. What were you even doing? Did you start rat-watching or what?"
"Recker, I am not in the mood. State your business and then get out of my sight," Kovic's patience had been particularly low that day.
"Oh, all right. I received orders to retrieve all guardsmen on this side of the perimeter and send them back to the base. You're the last one, actually."
"Back?" Kovic's interest perked up. "What's the catch?"
"None that I know of. There are going to be garrison shifts between all the facilities under the company's control. Don't take my word about it, but I heard that this is all General Gordon's idea. Apparently, he didn't take the loss of one of his 'belongings' well."
Kovic found himself agreeing with the annoying man. "You can say that. I was here when it happened two weeks ago. I was sure we were under attack or something for a moment."
"Good thing I was elsewhere at the time, then," Recker simply said. "Let's go. You can continue your new hobby later, Kovic."
Kovic growled but decided to ignore the last statement of the other guard, since he had brought him good news. With some luck he would get something less boring for him… and more bearable for his throat. Away from Recker, he hoped.
The two guards walked side by side without further words, moving towards the centre of the base. They were none the wiser that someone had been listening to their discussion the entire time… though, it was not a human that had eavesdropped them.
The same rat that had taken aback the first guard jumped out of another bush. It looked at the guards as they got away for a moment before ultimately leaving. As little as it was, the animal knew exactly where to go and how to move around, and he needed little time to pass through the rare undergrowth areas and cross the more common roads, making its way towards the outskirts of Yanjing.
Yanjing was a Chinese city with not too much to envy the most Western cities. If it'd wanted to, the rat would've been able to admire the skyline even from his current position, kilometres away from the city centre and showing that this was indeed an economical powerhouse. The animal, however, was not interested in the slightest, as its destination was actually a pretty ordinary alley in the outskirts. Evading walking citizen and traffic, the rat finally managed to reach its target.
There, the animal was welcomed by a blonde girl with pigtails.
"Dingus! You're here!" Bubbles exclaimed cheerfully once she spotted the rodent trotting towards her. She kneeled and, once the rat was in front of her, she started to squeak with him.
Buttercup was not impressed by the display of communication skills, thinking it simply looked weird… and dumb. Giving a glance to her sister, she didn't saw much in Blossom that showed she agreed with her, but as for the other three bystanders…
Donnie was the only one who had already been told about Bubbles' special power. Yet, this was still the first time he had had the chance to witness to it first-hand. Currently, he was staring at the blonde Powerpuff Girl with wide, incredulous eyes.
Huan and Nuru were in similar states of disbelief. "You get used to it after a while," Buttercup said, "Trust me."
Once they were finished 'conversating', Bubbles smiled and petted the rat a little. The rat looked up, showing its teeth in approval, then promptly turned around and ran away.
"He's, uh… already going?" Donnie asked.
"Yep. He got sight of a food carriage or something like that not far from here. He didn't want to miss it!" Bubbles explained.
"Right, now about more important matters… what did your friend discover, Bubbles?" Blossom demanded, tapping her feet on the ground. They had been waiting for quite some time: Bubbles had barely managed her sisters as well as the others to use Dingus' help, and since they had managed to get in Yanjing without being spotted by any of the citizen Blossom had ultimately decided to grant her a chance. She had not told her rodent friend about it, but she knew that if he had not made it in time the redhead would've decided to leave.
Bubbles took in a long breath, as if preparing for a long explanation. "Well, Dingus managed to eavesdrop two men while moving around the base. I'll tell you, rats have an actually good memory in memorizing sounds, even those of languages they're not used to hear, and Dingus—"
"Bubbles. Get to the point," Blossom cut her off.
Bubbles huffed but kept on speaking without arguing. "So, Blossom, I was right when I said that the place where Dingus saw those soldiers was the same one where Huan was being kept—Dingus said that while listening to them the guards mentioned the incident about her disappearance."
While Blossom, Buttercup and Donnie listened, and Nuru basically looked over in wait for a quick translated recap after Bubbles was done, Huan moved forward. Bubbles immediately knew that she was apprehensive, and it didn't take a genius to understand what she was worried about.
"Did they also say anything about my siblings?" the Chinese puff tentatively asked.
Bubbles sighed. "Yes, they did. Huan… I'm sorry. They're no more there… they've been moved to another base, according to those guards. There's the same guy you mentioned back in Townsville, Gordon. He's a general, and he was the one who decided to do this after you left."
Huan brought her hands to her mouth, possibly silencing a yelp. Then, she turned around.
Before Bubbles could try to go and comfort her, Blossom pressed on with another question. "Anything else, Bubbles? Where they are now? What's the plan of these guys?"
Bubbles shook her head. "The guards only briefly talked about it. I don't know much more than that."
"I think that'll be enough," Buttercup said. "I take that the general guy is the boss, right? If we strike him, we deal with the problem at its root… and bam, the entire company is done for!"
"It's possible but remember that we also have to help Huan and her siblings here, Buttercup. If we just went and attacked, they may react harshly, too harshly…" Donnie noted.
"Yeah, that's true, but they don't know we're coming though. They won't have time to react! We gotta go know while we can, it's the best we can do right now!"
"It's a stupid idea."
Buttercup and Donnie turned towards Blossom. "Excuse me?" Buttercup said, her nerves heating up.
"It's stupid," Blossom repeated without much in the way of going around the subject. "We can't risk it, like Donnie said, and more importantly, we can't go after them blindly. We still don't know what these guys are capable of. They mentioned Doctor Porter, that's what Huan told us, you want to go against whatever that mad scientist 'has lent' them?"
Buttercup frowned. "That's different! That guy took us by surprise, now it's us that can do the surprise attack."
Blossom narrowed her eyes. "I'm not going to let you mess up the plan, Buttercup. That's final."
"What!? Why would I—" but Blossom was already looking elsewhere, deep in thought and ignoring her.
Before Buttercup could retort, Donnie approached her. "Wait,"he whispered.
"Wait? She just straight told me off for no reason at all!" Buttercup whispered back, gesticulating at her sister.
Bubbles, who had quietly explained the situation to Nuru, walked up to Buttercup. "Buttercup, seriously. Something's wrong with Blossom."
"Wrong?" the green puff glanced at Blossom. She saw her scratching the back of her head, playing with a tuft of hair, passing a hand over her eyes. "You mean what she talked about with the Professor? I guess… but wouldn't she already be over it at this point?"
"As of now, I don't think so… we should talk to her about it."
Blossom turned back towards them. "I… don't believe there's a good enough way to approach the situation right now. We don't know where either your siblings are, Huan, nor do we know where we can find General Gordon, and both would be true even if they were in the same military compound. So, we need more info…"
"I can give you that."
It was not one of the puffs that spoke. Their reaction was instant: all of them instantly jumped and hovered in the air. While Huan hastily looked around in fear, the other five puffs were already ready for battle, fists ready, and once they located the figure who addressed them they charged up various energy attacks.
"Wait, hold on! I am not an enemy!" the figure said, stepping back a little. The puffs studied him: he was a man no older than thirty, dressed in a military uniform complete with a pistol in its holster.
"It's going to take more than that to gain our trust!" Bubbles firmly affirmed.
"I mean it. I come here because I want to help you," the man continued talking. "I know why you're here and I can give you the information you seek. We can be partners."
The puffs stayed silent for some seconds, before Blossom finally said, "Well, partner, let's begin our partnership by putting that pistol down and pushing it towards us, would you?"
The man seemed to not appreciate the answer, given that he did not smile. Nevertheless, he complied with the redhead's order, slowly pulling the pistol out, putting it down and then giving it a push with his foot towards the puffs.
Only at that point Blossom, Bubbles, Buttercup and Donnie let the energy attacks die down in their hands. Nuru needed more reassurance by Bubbles before he let the bright-orange bolts in his hand vanish.
Buttercup landed near the pistol and immediately crushed it under her foot. "Now, you can talk. What do you want?"
The man tightened one of his fists at the sight but did not shout. "I… come here as an ally, as I said."
"Really?" Blossom eyed the man's uniform. "You are American, and you wear a military uniform with an emblem that does not leave space to interpretation. You are under the command of General Gordon, aren't you?"
"I was," the man specified. "When I joined the ranks of Gordon's company, I thought things would be different for me… but I realized that I was wrong and that the job was more trouble that it was worth. So, I deserted and hid while looking for a way to leave the country… then, I hear of you, and I see the chance I was waiting for."
"Wait, slow down. You knew we were here?" Blossom questioned.
"News in a city as big as Yanjing can travel very fast, especially if you know the right people. Without the company keeping track of every one of my moves, it was easy to get to know quite a few people around here. You can guess the rest."
"How's that even possible?" Donnie crossed his arms. "We've not just flown into the city. There were six of us making sure that no one saw us."
"As much hard as you tried to hide yourself, it was the six of you against the millions of inhabitants of Yanjing. You could probably hide from the Chinese authorities or even Gordon, but from every pair of eyes in the entire city? That would be hard even for you."
Buttercup was still scowling. "Why would you even want to meet us? If you're looking for a way out of China from us, I have bad news for you."
"No, I wouldn't have expected it. In fact, there's just one thing that preventing me from leaving, and that is Gordon himself and his company. Their relationship with China's government is what gives him so much power around Yanjing, and any kind of damage to that would be helpful to get the heck out of here."
Buttercup scoffed. "If you believe we're just going to trust your words without further proof, you might reconsider your—"
"What kind of information do you have?"
Buttercup coughed her own words. "Blossom? What are you—"
"Hush! Let him talk."
Buttercup would have really liked to assault her sister in a brawl, but common sense for once had the better on her. That, and Bubbles putting a hand on her shoulder.
The man appreciated the opportunity. "Thank you. You may call me Rackham if you like. I happened to be assigned to one of the major bases in the company's web of facilities… the same one where the General's headquarters are located. The same one where her siblings," he pointed at Huan, who had been silent the entire time, "have been locked up."
Huan couldn't help it as she hovered in the air towards the man. "You saw them?!"
"I did not. They're held in an extremely high security part of the facility, one built specifically for the occasion. The 'belongings', as I heard Gordon calls them, are very much important for the General… but even so, getting to them is not hard once you know your way around the place… which I know. And you have superpowers… which you have."
"So, you can offer to tell us where to go and how to approach it, that's it?" Donnie said.
"Essentially, yes." The man nodded.
"Blossom, I know we don't really know much right now, but you can't just trust this man out of nowhere. Right?"
Blossom looked at Buttercup for a moment. She opened her mouth to speak, but Rackham beat her on it.
"You can't, but why wouldn't you? As soon as my ex-fellows find me, I am dead. I am also dead if Chinese policemen decide to take me in and I am recognized as one of Porter's men. I even came here while wearing a uniform that could do more harm than anything at this point just to show I speak the truth."
"Let's say you do speak the truth, then," Blossom said. "Why shouldn't we just get what we want then knock you out?"
"Because Damian Gordon knows you're coming."
The Powerpuff Girls were taken aback by the statement. "That's… impossible!" Donnie blurted out.
"It's possible… he doesn't know you six are here, technically. Yet, he knows you'll come… or better, you, will come," he said, turning towards Huan. The girl cowered under the man's gaze.
"The General knows that the escapee will return to rescue her siblings, and he's preparing for it. Moving his three remaining 'belongings' to headquarters was part of his plan, and he won't stop at that. Sure, I can tell you where HQ is and then you could just tie me up and leave me somewhere… but then, you'd go blind against him and whatever he has in store for you."
Rackham extended his arms. "So, that's my offer. Help me gain a chance at leaving China in one piece by striking Gordon, and I'll help you deal with him and save your friends."
The puffs looked at the man as he waited for an answer. Their ideas about him were quite diverse: surprisingly, the one who looked warier of trusting him was Nuru, even with Bubbles' explanations about his will.
"Nuru says he doesn't like him at all. He 'reeks of trouble', I quote," she said.
"I can't argue with you," Buttercup said while looking at the black skinned puff, who simply nodded even if he didn't know what she was talking about. "I've seen worse in Townsville, but I just don't feel this guy. He just… showed up, just as we needed someone like him. It's too perfect."
"Yeah… but I'm not sure if we can pass on such a chance anyway, though," Donnie said.
"There is always another way, if you look hard enough," Bubbles said. "You don't always have to beat the monster up with brute force or with a cunning plan. You might even be able to talk it out and have him leave."
Donnie nodded, not finding anything to counter her logic. "Blossom, what about you?"
Blossom was still looking at Rackham while Donnie, Bubbles and Buttercup talked. She didn't turn around even when her name was called: Bubbles could practically see the cogs rotating in her head, her forehead furrowed. "Blossom?"
Only after a few seconds did they notice that, ahead of Blossom, Huan was looking at Rackham as well. The man wore a neutral face and seemed unperturbed as Huan continued to stare at him for a few seconds, then looked back towards the other puffs, her eyes teary.
"Blossom… guys… please."
Bubbles would have liked to go and explain to Huan that following Rackham wasn't guaranteed to get her sister and brothers back. That there could be complications and incidents, that Rackham may not have told them everything he knew or thought of doing.
But she had no chance to say anything, as Blossom let out a long sigh.
"Very well. We will listen to you Rackham, and you may guide us to the facility. But after all of this is done, don't expect us to leave a good word for you."
Rackham nodded in satisfaction. "We better get going now. Every passing second General Gordon becomes more and more dangerous… and there's no way to tell what he has prepared to protect his 'belongings'. Whatever his final goal is, we have to act now… before it's too late."
