To Seek II:
April sucked in a deep breath as they walked up to the house. She could already hear the booming music and they hadn't even made it to the door yet. She was relieved when, despite her Keno-induced lapse in judgement, Irma turned out to be on the same page. Neither had bothered dressing up for the event, just going in their normally preferred attire. They didn't have anyone to impress. Well maybe Irma did, but she wanted him to like her for who she was.
Having never done this before, she wasn't exactly sure what party etiquette was for entering, but she doubted a knock or a doorbell could be heard over the din. Irma didn't have any qualms. She just shoved the door open and entered like she owned the place. April would never quite understand the extremes of confidence or lack thereof that her friend lived in, but at the moment, she appreciated Irma taking charge.
Following her inside, she glanced around. Yup, it was a party. Loud music, check. Tables of snacks and food, easily eaten one handed and without utensils, check. Dancing people whom she wished she could bleach from her memory, check. Excessive drinking, some of which was probably underage, check.
The last one curled her hands into involuntary fists. She didn't feel as strongly about it as Casey did, but knowing him and his family had left its mark on her and she'd probably never be able to view reckless alcohol consumption with a casual attitude. What she didn't see was Keno and from the frown on Irma's face, she surmised that her friend hadn't laid eyes on him either.
"Ladies welcome!" April and Irma collectively flinched as a man they didn't know came up behind them and draped his arms over their shoulders. April's first instinct was to hook his arm and throw him over her shoulder, but she reminded herself that she was supposed to be acting like a normal college student, even if she wasn't and wouldn't ever be. Her secret life as a kunoichi was not for public consumption.
Instead, she shrugged his arm off. Irma plucked up his wrist, avoiding touching it as much as possible as though she were picking up a disgusting piece of litter, and let it drop off of her shoulders. He frowned at them but seemed even more determined.
"Glad you decided to come to my little soiree. I'm Will Sacks by the way." He was clearly expecting a positive reaction to the big reveal of his identity. Irma clearly had no clue who he was and no interest in finding out. April knew exactly who he was but wouldn't give him the satisfaction of letting on.
Not that being the spoiled son of a wealthy scientist and entrepreneur would have impressed her anyway. She expected people to have their own accomplishments. And something always struck her as off when she'd seen Dr. Eric Sack's in TV interviews or read about him in articles. She couldn't put her finger on exactly what it was, but knew better than to ignore her instincts. They'd never been wrong before.
"Nice meeting you. Since this is your party, I'm sure you have plenty of guests who need your attention. We won't take up anymore of your time." His frown turned into a glare as she pulled Irma off towards an empty spot on one of the couches. Will Sacks set off as many alarm bells in her head as his father and she wanted to put some distance between them.
They both squeezed uncomfortably onto the crowded couch and Irma sighed. April gave her an encouraging smile.
"I'm sure he's here somewhere. But seriously, if we haven't run into him in a half hour, we're out of here right?" Irma nodded resolutely before answering.
"I'll get us something to eat and drink and maybe I'll see him while I'm up."
After another fruitless scan of the room, Irma sighed in disappointment. What had she been thinking agreeing to this? An image of Keno appeared in her mind's eye, causing a dreamy unsteadiness to her gait.
Okay, she knew exactly what she'd been thinking, but she wished that she'd been honest with him. If he liked her in return, thinking that this was her thing, it would inevitably be a problem.
Why did cute guys always seem to dismantle her judgement? She could usually play it cool and no one would ever know, but good lord had she screwed this one up. When she finally did catch up with him, she'd have to fess up and hope the divide in their recreational interests wasn't a deal breaker.
At least this party was set up for mixers. If hell froze over and she ever decided to chemically induce herself to act like a fool for the pleasure of waking up hung over, this would not be the place she'd choose to do it in.
Grabbing the two liter of Coke, she poured two plastic cups full. Holding them, she moved on to the buffet. It'd probably be easier to get one plate and share with April. Well it probably would have been easier for both of them to come up and get their own stuff, but she wasn't willing to risk losing their place on the couch, such as it was.
Setting their drinks aside, she grabbed a plate and loaded it up with chips, chicken wings and pizza rolls. Then she retrieved the cups, carefully balancing the three objects, not noticing the way Will Sacks was grinning at her from across the room as she pushed her way through the crowd back to April.
April looked up in time to see someone bump into Irma, just before she made it back to the couch. Faster than her friend's eyes could follow, she caught the falling cups before they spilled, one in each hand and ended up balancing the plate precariously on her right knee while not even tottering as she stood one-footed.
Irma landed with a heavy thud and groaned before glaring at the oblivious person who hit her and then at April. Oops. Maybe she should have caught Irma instead.
It wasn't her fault that she was accustomed to hanging around people who didn't need to be caught. Of course those same people wouldn't have allowed themselves to be bumped in the first place, let alone completely knocked over by it. Irma dragged herself to her feet and grabbed the plate and one of the cups from April before seating herself with as much dignity as she could manage.
"How did you even do that?" If she answered ninja training and psychic reflexes, Irma might punch her for her honesty.
"I don't know. Lucky I guess."
"Luckier if you caught me instead. We could have always gotten more food and drinks." April shrugged and snagged a chicken wing off the plate, noting that it was quite spicy as she bit into it. Irma took a bite of hers and her eyes went wide.
"What did they cook these in? Ghost peppers?" Tossing the chicken wing back onto the plate, she proceeded to pound her entire beverage in a single go. April just smiled. Apparently years of sampling Mikey's cooking had caused her to build up a tolerance to 'intense' flavors. It wasn't that Mikey was a bad cook. Far from it. But sometimes his imagination didn't translate well into reality.
She was about to take a drink, when her mental alarms lit up like a Christmas tree. Glancing around the room, she finally caught Will Sack's, pretending to chat with a group of people, but really staring at her. Well, she refused to let him know that she was unsettled, even if her sixth sense was screaming at her. So she turned back to Irma and took a long, deep sip of her soda pop.
Irma was blinking around the room like she'd never seen it before. Was Keno here? April tried to follow her gaze as she took another sip, but the line of Irma's vision was a bit erratic. No Keno. What was she looking at?
And why did her drink have a salty aftertaste? Weird. Did they buy one of those generic brands that, despite using the same formula, never seemed to match the original flavors? With a sigh, she kept drinking and checking her watch, willing the time limit that she'd set for Keno to pass more quickly.
Every instinct was warning her of danger. She wanted to leave but she couldn't just ditch her friend. She wasn't truly alarmed until Irma started giggling drowsily.
"Irma?" Had another less competent Kraang switched out Irma during the party? This was not the Irma she knew.
"Aaappprrrill. Thish party ish great." Uh oh. Irma sounded…drunk? But they were only drinking Coke or off brand equivalent. The drinks! She stared down at the cup in her hand like it was a deadly serpent, distantly aware of how slowly she was processing the realization. When the slow motion thought finally completed, she dropped the plastic cup as though it had burned her.
Suddenly a guy she didn't know had a grasp of her arm. How had he been able to get so close without her noticing?
"You look tired. Maybe you should go upstairs and lay down for a while." Even if her psychic warning wasn't electrifying her brain, there was no way she'd let a total stranger lead her off. And yet, he'd already pulled her to her feet by the time her mind caught up enough to respond.
"Hell no." His eyes widened before narrowing in calculation. Fuzzy perception or not, she did manage to note three other men, in addition to Will Sacks who were zeroing in on her, not quite fitting in with the rest of the party guests. April yanked her arm out of the man's grasp and staggered back unsteadily. As he reached for her again, the others closed in. Their mistake.
Despite being drugged and outnumbered, she was still a part alien psychic with years of training under a grandmaster of ninjutsu, one of two prodigies produced by the Hamato clan in the last generation. These guys were just ordinary jerks who'd probably never even been a real fight. They were screwed.
Granted her usually graceful movements now more closely resembled drunk-fu, but it was still enough as she caught his wrist when he tried to grab her, twisting his arm behind his back and snapping the delicate bones in the joint to his screams of pain. Releasing him, he dropped and cradled his broken arm to his chest, sobbing.
The next guy tried catching her in a bear hug. Her hands latched onto his wrists as he reached around her. Then she rammed her heel through his shoe, into the tender flesh just above the toes. His arms loosened as he yelped in pain, just in time for her to slam her hip into his pelvis, tug down on his arms and flip him over her shoulder. He curled up in a ball on the ground whimpering.
At this point, the party had essentially halted as everyone not involved just gaped or filmed the incident on their cell phones. A part of her was worried that those videos would be a problem later, but it was muted by whatever she'd drunk and wasn't sufficient to capture her attention. The remaining guys, after witnessing the fate of their compatriots switched from capture to take down mode.
The next one to get to her swung a full punch at her face, but it was clumsy and inefficient, telegraphing the motion well in advance of the strike. She leaned aside, wobbling unsteadily as the punch sailed harmlessly by her head, then hooked her hand over his wrist and yanked him forward in the direction of his own momentum, pulling him off balance and into her knee aimed at his gut.
She felt the force of her blow slam into his solar plexus, momentarily arresting his breathing as his diaphragm rebelled. His eyes widened and he managed a brief strangled sound before dropping unconscious.
The last guy charged in at her, going for a flat out tackle. She clumsily sidestepped him and shot her leg out as he passed. The blade of her foot connected with the side of his knee, producing a sickening crunch. He dropped with a deafening scream, cradling his injured leg in his arms.
Weren't there five? Will Sacks hadn't been among her assailants. Willing her foggy mind to focus, she struggled to take in her surroundings with bleary eyes. The couch was empty. Oh no. Where was Irma?
Keno cursed again as he hurried towards the address of the party. Stupid Purple Dragons messing with his head and making him late. He hoped Irma didn't think he'd stood her up. But reacting to Purple Dragons with suspicion was almost instinctive.
While growing up, in his neighborhood, they'd been a constant source of terror for people, even those paying them protection. No one ever knew when boredom would bring a random act of violence their way.
He'd spent the better part of his youth actively avoiding being recruited by them and thus had his share of brutal street fights. If he hadn't been so good he might be dead. Then again, if he hadn't been so good, they might not have been interested in him. His stomach twisted at the memories.
But things seemed different since he'd come back after the invasion. Busy as he'd been, he didn't notice at first. But random sightings over the years had eventually accumulated into an overwhelming sense of confusion. He'd seen Purple Dragons helping and actually protecting people, asking nothing in return.
Local businesses and neighbors didn't quake in terror at their mention. Instead they spoke of them with a bizarre sort of faith and relief. Keno slowly wondered if he'd stepped into a Twilight Zone-esque alternate reality.
Tonight he'd been on his way to the party when he'd caught a Purple Dragon chasing down a fleeing man, something that seemed familiar and natural to him, so he followed to give the Dragon a familiar and natural beat down.
It turned out that the fleeing man was a mugger and that the Dragon was just giving him a solid pounding before returning a snatched purse to a startled elderly woman. Somehow reality was trying to screw with him. And one way or another, he was definitely going to figure out what was going on. Because he didn't know what kind of elaborate ruse they were pulling but the Dragons were not the good guys. He'd absolutely find out what they were up to.
But not tonight. Tonight he had to get to this party before he completely blew his chances with Irma. She had a kind of sassy, cynical adorableness that was hard to find. The Purple Dragons could wait.
He almost burst through the door at top speed, before realizing that might not be the most normal looking entrance to a party. Stopping, he took a deep breath and entered, like he hadn't been racing here as though his ass was on fire. Just a normal guy going to a normal party. Until he saw what was going on inside.
You'd think that seeing Irma's friend April laying the smack down on a group of guys twice her size would be the focal point of his attention, but when he caught some jerk in the background with the arm of an unconscious Irma draped over his shoulder as he essentially dragged her towards the stairs to the second floor, everything else ceased to matter.
He plowed through the crowd of people, barely managing to position himself between the stairs and the guy. Whoever this loser was, he didn't even have the sense to act ashamed. Instead he seemed to think Keno was in the wrong.
"Out of my way and mind your own business."
"She is my business." The guy sneered and actually tossed Irma aside. Without thinking, Keno dove and caught her before she hit the floor. Sensing what was coming, he shielded her with his body and tensed his muscles to absorb the blow of her assailant's kick.
Grunting slightly from the impact, he shrugged it off and then hooked his foot around the guy's ankle, dragging it forward while his other leg shot out, plowing enough force into the man's upper shin to topple him.
Before the guy could get up, Keno was on him, landing three rapid, powerful punches to his head, rendering him unconscious and looking a bit like a Picasso painting. Then he returned to Irma, scooping her up and not caring that she probably couldn't hear him right now.
"It's ok. I've got you. You're safe. Everything's going to be ok."