Dockyard Park, Southeastern Bay Area, Metro City, the following night
"It's quiet," Kara remarked as the four got out of her car. The trip to the small park on the southeastern shore of Metro City had been uneventful.
"That's a good thing," Maya replied as she shut the car door. The lot was, unsurprisingly, empty at this time of night. She took a deep breath. "It means we haven't been noticed. Seems like a nice place though, minus the smell."
The scent of diesel, sea salt and sweat wafted through the air from the dockyards just north of the park. The docks themselves were partially hidden behind a tree line, though the moonlight revealed the outlines of several large freighters offshore in the distance.
The park was roughly rectangular in shape, with a bike/walk path running around the perimeter. It was surrounded on all sides by trees which thickened along the western side. A sprawling junkyard lay just beyond the denser part of the tree line. A small maintenance shed sat just off of the parking lot, which seemed like a good place for Maya to stick Kara and Lauren out of harm's way. A few individual trees stood around it to provide further cover. Maya surmised that if a fight occurred at the park, the shed would be far enough away and relatively hidden not to attract attention.
After telling the two to stay inside until called out, Maya and Juri strode out to the middle of the grounds, where a copse of several beech trees stood.
"I could have just kicked the door open," Juri grumbled as they made their way across the grass. The half-moon overhead provided enough light for them see most of their surroundings. A few clouds sparsely hid the stars in the night sky. The tops of the trees swayed ever so slightly due to a light breeze. Maya rolled her eyes.
"Picking the lock made more sense. You do remember that we're trying not to attract attention, right? Smashing a shed door off the hinges isn't exactly stealthy."
Juri glanced sideways and smirked.
"Eh, it would have made me feel better. It's been way too boring so far."
Maya sighed and checked her watch.
"Well, look at it this way. If nothing happens, you get your information right after we're done here. If we wind up having to fight someone, then you'll have some...fun and still get your information. See? It's a win-win. Stay alert. Ran should be here soon."
Juri didn't respond, instead opting to turn and scan the park with her bionic eye for any anomalies. The deep shadows cast by the trees had no impact on its infrared vision. As she checked the parking lot area, she spotted a female walking across it towards them. She warned Maya, who turned in that direction before nodding.
"Yeah, that would be Ran."
The approaching figure broke into a slow jog towards them. As Ran neared, she slowed to a walk and waved in greeting. Juri noted that the new arrival was wearing black leggings and a white tee-shirt which was covered by a blue vest jacket. Her long black hair with purple highlights was tied in a loose ponytail. A pair of sunglasses, which looked very much out of place in the dark, was perched just above her forehead.
"Sorry about all of this," Ran said. "But we can't be too careful."
Maya put her hands on her hips.
"It's good to see you," she said. "I agree. You can't be too careful these days."
Juri turned her back to the other two and let out a low huff, deciding that playing lookout was more interesting than talking to either of them. Despite her best efforts, she was dragged back into the conversation.
"Hey, I know you!" Ran exclaimed. Juri's eyes narrowed for a moment before she turned around. She gave Ran a cool look. The journalist was either unaware of Juri's annoyance or decided to ignore it.
"You're Juri Han!" Ran gushed. "Oh man, I was planning on doing a story about you a while back!"
Juri's expression didn't change as she continued to stare at Ran.
"Oh?" Juri asked, one side of her lip curling upwards. Ran nodded excitedly.
"Yep, something along the lines of 'Shadaloo's Savage Stalker or something like that! You're a really hard person to get in contact with." she explained, beaming a wide smile.
The side of Juri's lip remained curled upwards and now she raised an eyebrow.
'Shadaloo's Savage Stalker? Seriously? Ugh, how lame. I so want to kick her, but I really need that info from Maya,' Juri thought darkly before frowning and clenching her fists.
Maya picked up on Juri's irritation and cleared her throat. Ran pressed on.
"So, you're here to join us?" she asked with a hopeful tone in her voice. "The more fighters we can recruit, the better. Oh wait! Maya, where's your daughter?"
The frown on Juri's face deepened. Maya cut her off before she could answer.
"Lauren's nearby," Maya replied while giving Juri a warning glance. "Juri's here acting as a temporary bodyguard while we meet. She's not coming with us. It'll just be Lauren and I."
Maya suddenly tensed up as she stared past Ran, while a flicker of movement just on the edge of Juri's vision caught her attention. Then they heard Kara shout.
"Watch out!"
{*}
Kara had kept the shed's double-door partially open as she watched the meeting. She stood just inside the doorway, waiting for the all-clear signal. A handbag was slung over her shoulder, carrying the kukri knife that Kara had confiscated from the gang fight several nights ago. She realized that it might not do her much good against a Q if one showed up, but it was better than nothing.
Lauren was perched on the seat of a zero-turn lawn mower stationed further inside the shed. She hunched forward and squinted, busy scrolling away on her smartphone. The device gave off a soft glow throughout the shed.
Kara had seen a woman emerge from the parking lot to her right and momentarily wondered if it was a problem. Then she noticed that Juri and Maya were looking in the same direction. Since both remained relaxed, Kara assumed it was Ran coming out to join the group.
Kara decided to keep watch, feeling relatively safe from any surprises. The windowless structure they hid in meant that the thick trees to the rear were a pretty big blind spot. That also meant that she and Lauren wouldn't be noticed from that direction either.
However, Kara still felt vulnerable with both doors opened even partially. She shut the right-side door completely while keeping the other slightly ajar. Lauren glanced up briefly when the door creaked slightly before returning attention to her phone.
About a minute after Kara had done this, a scraping noise along the right wall caught her attention. It sounded like someone was shuffling along it outside. Kara stepped back and closed the door further but left a small crack. She broke out in a cold sweat as the door emitted another slight creak from being pulled further in.
She turned to get Lauren's attention, but the latter had already noticed. Lauren frantically tapped the phone several times before silently slipping off the seat. The light of the phone gradually faded as it turned off. As the smartphone glow dimmed, Lauren took advantage of the fading light to glide across the concrete floor to Kara. The last thing either of them needed was for Lauren to accidentally trip on something in the darkness. Then she slipped the device in her pocket. With the exception of the thin beam of moonlight piercing through the slit of the door, it was now pitch black inside the shed.
The shuffling sound had stopped, but Kara remained alert. She opened the door a fraction more when the shuffling sound returned again, this time much closer. It almost sounded like whatever was out there was just beyond the front right corner.
Kara peered hard through the hairline crack in the doorway, but still couldn't see anything. Then, she stifled a gasp. Lauren couldn't see with Kara blocking the way but heard the latter's soft intake of breath. She gripped Kara's shoulder and stood on her toes to get a better look.
At first, the portion of a gloved hand could be seen gripping the corner of the shed, followed by the brim of a hat. Kara instinctively pulled back from the crack, as a head emerged and leaned out, the soft glow of yellow eyes checking from side to side.
'Oh shit,' Kara thought.
Kara reached back with her right arm to hold Lauren's hand that was now tightening on her shoulder. The nurse wasn't sure if she was trying to reassure Lauren or herself.
'Probably both,' Kara admitted silently as she kept watch on the Q.
The Q slipped forward until it was in front of the barely ajar door with its back to the two women. If that thing turned around...
Instead, the Q continued to watch the trio in the park as they conversed a short distance away. It shifted position to another tree to the right of the shed and made a short dash to a lone oak tree between the group's line of sight and the previous tree. Kara let out a long breath and realized both her hand and Lauren's were shaking badly. Kara pushed the door back open a fraction. They were no longer in immediate peril, but it didn't look like Juri, Maya or Ran had seen the danger closing in.
The Q was still closer to the shed but was about 30 yards away from the trio's meeting. It was as close as it could get without stepping into the open. Kara opened the door carefully to avoid any creaking and peeked her head out. She could see that the Q continued to observe the unsuspecting trio.
Lauren stood behind Kara, still unable to see much due to the partially closed door. Her hands now fidgeted as she waited for Kara to describe what was happening. Kara remained silent as she continued to observe the Q.
'Damn it, why haven't they spotted it yet?' Kara wondered in disbelief. 'Hell, what was it waiting for?'
As Kara puzzled through this, the Q suddenly crouched, tensing like a coiled spring. She realized that it was about to rush the group. It launched itself past the tree, straight towards the trio. She swung the door open and took a step out.
"Watch out!" Kara yelled as the Q left the cover of the tree. She threw the door open further and stepped outside.
She barely got the warning out before she spotted another figure rushing out of the tree line at the southern end of the park. Her heart froze. The hat, trench coat, mask and eyes were, by now, all too familiar for her. Another Q had joined the ambush.
"Oh no," she moaned as the pair of Q's converged on the trio in the middle of the park.
{*}
Maya saw the first Q as it emerged from behind the tree and was about to warn the others when Kara cried out. The alerted trio now noticed the second coming in from the south end of the park.
"Shit, it's an ambush!" Juri announced as the three women scrambled to form a defense. "I'll take the one further out. You two deal with the one coming from near the shed!"
"Don't be an idiot!" Maya snarled as she charged up her battle outfit. The grey catsuit crackled with energy underneath her t-shirt. "You can't take that thing on by yourself."
"Oh, kiss my ass," Juri shot back. "If I wait for you to charge up that stupid suit-"
"This isn't the time to argue," Ran interrupted.
"Whatever, time to play!" Juri said, grinning maniacally as she activated her eye. Finally, there would be some excitement!
She met the Q head on, shooting towards it like an arrow. A quick punch to the ribs, followed by a spin kick to the chest, knocked it back a couple of steps.
Juri then launched into a series of attacks, taking advantage of her temporary speed increase. She kicked it in the head with a pivoting back kick, delivered an extended kick to the chest and then drove her elbow into the same area. She jumped up and connected with another spin kick to the head mask. She dropped to one knee and punched it in the groin, then planted her hand and twirled, kicking upwards for another hit to the head. The only sounds from the Q through all of this were a couple of grunts.
The timer for the bionic eye was almost finished, so she finished with a snap kick. Her leg swung straight up for a hit to the chin. The Q's head snapped upwards and it staggered back several more feet from the furious assault.
However, Juri was completely at a loss as to why she hadn't laid the Q on the ground with that barrage of strikes. Although she knew it had to be injured, the damage didn't seem to be as bad as she had hoped. The Q shook its head as if to clear it.
"Alright, so you can take some shots," Juri remarked as she tried to figure out what to use next. "But you can still feel pain. That means you can suffer too."
The Q's yellow eyes flashed in response and it advanced towards her. A broad grin formed on Juri's face as she let out a cackling laugh.
"Well, you're a glutton for punishment. You might actually be a challenge. Kinda getting me a little worked up just thinking about it!"
Juri leaped into the air towards the Q, who suddenly halted. She spun and split her legs. A chopping kick swung down and smashed into the Q's shoulder. A thick trail of white and black mist followed the kick's movement before a golden crackling energy erupted as it connected.
The attack drove the Q into a crouch. However, before Juri could complete her move, it grabbed her left ankle as she followed through. It then turned, stood up and swung Juri overhand through the air like a club. She cried out in alarm and tried to pull her head in against her shoulders as the Q dashed her against the ground.
Juri's reaction likely prevented paralysis since much of the impact was absorbed by her back just behind the right shoulder rather than her head. Her whole body bounced twice on the grass before she came to rest on her back.
Pain shot through Juri's right side and she let out a loud groan. She lay dazed for a moment, staring at the starry sky before the sole of a large foot filled her view.
Juri recovered and instinctively rolled to her right, shrieking in agony before the foot slammed down into the ground where her head had been. Chunks of dirt and grass shot upwards.
'Shit, I should have rolled to the left,' she thought, grimacing as her shoulder throbbed.
A second later, the Q swung his arm down. This time, she rolled to her left, again narrowly avoiding having her head smashed to a pulp as the gloved fist slammed into the dirt, leaving a minor impression in the ground.
'Damn you, get up! You are not losing to this thing!' she thought, willing her body to respond.
Juri scrambled to her feet unsteadily, trying to ignore the throbbing pain in her shoulder.
She shook her head in an attempt to focus, wincing as her shoulder shifted slightly from the movement.
The Q left her no time to recover. Juri's only option at the moment was to try and avoid the blows as the relentless attack continued.
{*}
Maya snarled in frustration as Juri launched herself at the approaching Q. She couldn't afford to dwell on the annoyance though. The second one was closing fast. Fortunately, her battle suit was now fully charged up. She curtly motioned for Ran to get behind her. The latter did so begrudgingly.
"Hey, I can help fight," Ran protested. "You should have seen my high school!"
Maya had no time to respond, but instead touched something on her right-hand glove. A momentary glow enveloped around it before she dropped to one knee and drove her fist into the ground as the Q reached her. A seismic wave erupted in the ground in front of Maya as the Q went flying backwards several feet. A thin depression line formed along the wave's path and the copse of trees behind her shuddered in response.
"Ah, I see now," Ran said understandingly as Maya got back up. The journalist continued to hang back, knowing that she'd only get in the way. Nevertheless, she readied herself to move in when the opportunity arose.
Maya still hadn't said a word as she pressed her advantage. Jet boosters in her heel tips launched her towards the shaken Q. As she shot downwards from the air, she twisted her body and spin kicked the Q in the face. Streaming flame shot out of her boot as she whipped her leg around, setting the Q on fire.
Maya kicked the Q while it was still on the ground, determined to press her attack so it couldn't recover. It deflected some of the blows with one arm while the other was busy patting itself down to remove the remaining embers on its trench coat.
It was disappointing for Maya to see that her flame attack didn't cause the damage she hoped for, but it did pin the Q down. Suddenly, she heard a cry to her right and instinctively turned her head in that direction.
She saw the other Q lift Juri by the ankle and dash her on the ground. The display of power unnerved Maya and she muttered a curse. Neither she nor Ran were close enough to help out. Juri was going to have to manage on her own.
The momentary distraction gave the Q facing Maya a chance to recover. A moment was all that was needed as the Q pushed itself up and counterattacked.
Beams of bluish and white light crisscrossed the Q before it surged forward, fists flying. Several left cross punches hammered into Maya's head and chest, driving her backwards before she fell on her back.
Ran rushed in before the Q could finish Maya off. The Q blocked a roundhouse kick but didn't detect the harisen that Ran pulled from her vest jacket pocket. The journalist swung the oversized, closed 'paper' fan hard against the Q's head, slapping it hard.
A loud thwack could be heard as it connected with the side of its head, which twisted sideways for a moment. The Q drew its head back a fraction. Ran could have sworn that it was perplexed, though the headpiece hid any signs of emotion.
A sly smile lined her face as she winked at it, while backing off a couple of steps.
The Q leaped into the air towards Ran, attempting to kick her. Ran blocked it, but the Q leaned in when it landed and threw both arms out. The dual jab hit her in the chest, knocking her backwards against one of the trees. Ran rubbed her chest, grimacing.
"Damn, that hurt!" she moaned as she avoided another punch from the Q. Its fist slammed into the tree that she had been leaning against only a moment before. Splinters of wood flew everywhere. The thick tree rocked violently from the impact but didn't fall.
"That double punch was a lot stronger than it should have been," Ran added worriedly. "Maya, I hope you're not too badly hurt, because I'm definitely going to need help with this thing."
Maya's ears were ringing from the pair of hits to her head as she picked herself from the ground. A salty, copper taste met her tongue as she licked her lips. She touched her nose with one hand before pulling it away. It was matted with blood, likely from her nose since she could feel it running.
Her body swayed a bit when she finally stood up. A quick glance to her right showed Juri narrowly avoiding getting her skull crushed by the other Q's attack while prone on the ground. Juri finally scrambled up and was facing her opponent once again.
'That's good,' Maya thought. 'If she were taken out of the equation, our chances of surviving this would be almost nil. And if we go, then Lauren...'
She couldn't, wouldn't finish that thought. This Q had to be taken out quickly!
'Sorry, Juri, you might wind up being a sacrificial lamb.' she continued silently. 'Just distract the other as long as possible.'
While Maya considered what to do next, the first Q was trying to pummel Ran into the ground. The journalist was under a determined attack, dodging and blocking some punches and kicks, but a couple did get through. Ran managed to get a solid roundhouse kick into its ribs, causing it to pause briefly.
Maya took advantage of the opening to make a desperate attack. She wasn't happy about using this ability, since it would likely overcharge her battle suit and render it inoperable for a time. It was also going to hurt quite a bit, given her current condition, but this move was meant for emergencies such as this.
She clenched both her gloved fists and pressed them together, knuckles in. A small seismic wave emitted from her right hand, while electrical energy crackled on the left. The flame throwers triggered on in her boots, causing them to glow momentarily.
The Q turned its head slightly in Maya's direction but couldn't react in time as she shot towards him. Her right fist smashed into its chest, followed by a left-hand punch to its stomach. The Q spasmed as an electrical surge tore through it. Maya spun quickly and finished with a double backwards flip kick. Her legs connected successively against the Q's head and chest. The flamethrowers in the bottom of her boots sprayed the Q with a gout of fire, momentarily consuming it.
The Q toppled to the ground, while Maya landed wobbly on her feet facing away from it. As she suspected, her suit was done for a bit while it reset. Was it worth it?
Maya turned and muttered a curse. Ran gasped loudly.
"You gotta be kidding me!" Ran cried with astonishment. "That thing's still ticking?"
{*}
Juri snarled in frustration. This battle wasn't going quite the way she anticipated. It was expected to be a challenge, certainly. However, Juri never thought she'd be fighting for her life against this thing.
'Yeah, wait till I get this new eye installed,' Juri thought darkly. 'Then we'll see how well you assholes can fight me.'
Juri bit down on a groan when she tried to test her right arm by rolling it. As she expected, it was fractured from the stab of pain that shot out. Still, Juri reasoned that if she could feel the pain, it meant she wasn't finished. Juri wasn't too concerned with the pain. She always could handle it. It had been part of her life for some time now.
Juri growled in frustration as she barely dodged another attack.
"I can't wait to hear the bitching from Kara about this injury when this is over."
From her vantage point, she could see Maya recovering while Ran was trying to handle the other Q. She sneered at Maya as she dodged another swing and kick from Q facing her.
"Well, double-oh dumbass, looks like you're doing about as well as me right now. Dammit, I need to knock this piece of shit off balance."
As the Q closed in yet again, Juri made a decision and realized it would hurt a bit, given her injured shoulder. However, her eye was close to recharging and she needed to buy precious time for it to finish recycling.
She stepped in and squatted momentarily. Then she leaned forward, throwing her arms out for balance, wincing as her injured shoulder protested against the movement. Juri pushed off with her left leg and continued to twist as she became airborne. Her right leg snapped upwards, a heavy black and white mist following its movement and kicked the Q hard in its chin. As the first kick connected, her legs split and her arms tucked in. The left leg now followed the right leg. It too, smashed into its chin.
Juri suppressed another groan as she threw her arms upwards for balance as she came back down. She landed with her left leg with her back to the Q before stepping down with the right. Juri winced as she completed the action, a bit disappointed.
"Damn shoulder. Shit, normally I'd be able to perform that kick several more times in succession."
The entire attack move took only a split second and the windmill style kick knocked the Q several steps backwards. It shook its head rapidly and it let out a long grunt as Juri turned around to face him. A savage grin spread on her face as she checked out her handiwork, the pain in her shoulder momentarily fading from the endorphins shooting through her. Although it was weaker than she liked, the aborted attack still hurt the Q.
"Yeah, you weren't expecting that, were you?"
Several flashes just beyond the Q caught Juri's attention. Maya apparently dug deep into her suit's bag of tricks and landed several hard hits on the other Q as electricity and flames washed over it.
"Looks like your pal isn't doing so hot either."
It was just a couple of moments before Juri's eye recharged.
She ran out of time. A crisscross of blue and white energy surged through the Q as it shot towards her.
"No damn way!" she exclaimed, her eyes widening as the Q's right arm wound back and swung, its fist smashing into Juri's stomach. She let out an 'oof' as her body sagged into the punch. The Q continued by raising both arms high above its head, clenched both hands together and swung downwards.
A quick knee to the groin saved Juri from having the overhead hammer fist blow land straight on her head. It didn't do any noticeable damage to the Q, but it did throw the punch off slightly. Unfortunately, it landed on her back just below her already badly injured right shoulder. A painful wail escaped from Juri's lips as she staggered backwards in an attempt to extricate herself. Her stomach tightened as the aching spread outwards. She fought down the urge to vomit.
Juri expected the Q to start hammering away again. However, it was no longer paying attention to her. It was staring past her at the sky. Juri wasn't about to complain since she needed time to recover.
Then she cocked her head slightly to the right as she stood there, trembling. Juri swore that she heard the soft chuffing of helicopter blades in the distance and closing fast. She thought she heard a whoop nearby. Was it Ran who was cheering?
"Shit, what...now?" she muttered between gasping breaths. The wave of nausea that threatened to overtake her receded somewhat, but didn't go away fully.
She kept her flagging attention on the Q, who continued to watch the sky behind her. Then it glanced down at her, watched her for several moments and turned. The Q raced away from her as the helicopter blades grew ever louder.
A trio dropped to the ground in front of her, unsheathing their swords. Two were barefooted females with three long winding coal black hair curls in grey, skintight outfits. Black masks covered their mouths and noses. Each now held a ninjato sword in the ready position.
The other had short black hair in a bob with bangs, though she wore the same outfit as the others. A long strand of hair ran down between the woman's eyes. The hairstyle and katana blade that she wielded made her instantly recognizable to Juri. They had fought a while back, though at the time, the samurai was a brainwashed Doll in Shadaloo's service.
"Well Satsuki, long time...no see," Juri said with labored breaths. The gut punch by the Q had knocked the wind out of her, but she was starting to recover.
Satsuki ignored her, focusing on protecting her charge. Juri looked around and noticed that the other Q near Maya was starting to glow. She heard the CIA agent shout about something ready to explode.
Juri suspected what was about to happen and backed away, her protectors following suit. It was unlikely that an explosion from distance would affect them much, but Juri wanted to be sure.
As she backstepped, a thought crossed her mind. She scanned the park quickly with her feng shui engine.
"Where's the other Q?" Juri wondered out loud as something flashed to her left. Then she fell to the ground as a shock wave hit her.
{*}
The Q slowly pushed itself off from one knee, staggering slightly. The yellow eyes flashed again and it limped towards them, trench coat and fedora still smoking from Maya's assault.
While the CIA agent could see that it was hurting badly, the question was how much? She gave the quickest of glances over to the other fight and noticed that Juri had executed a windmill kick on the other Q. At least she wasn't out of the fight yet.
Maya's ears perked at a distant thrumming sound behind and above her which grew louder. This time, she refused to get distracted since the Q, although hurting, was still dangerous. Ran had no such reservation. She gave a whoop of delight.
"Haha, looks like the cavalry has arrived!"
Ran's celebratory shout was confirmed seconds later when a woman landed gracefully from the hovering helicopter in front of Maya.
The newcomer was a young woman wearing a long-sleeved fancy red jacket with frills around the neck and wrists. The red skirt and boots, as well as black tights completed her outfit. Her blonde hair was composed of several sausage curl ringlets in braids and forelocks. Maya knew who she was. It was Karin Kanzuki, head of the Kanzuki Zaibatsu economic consortium and the wealthiest individual on the planet. She also happened to be one of the top street fighters in the world.
'So, I was right after all,' Maya thought. It was Karin who she'd be working for in the future. Assuming they survived the night, that is. The odds of that happening now shot up considerably with the timely arrival of reinforcements.
The Q first paused and stepped back before letting out an audible grunt.
Karin very casually took up a battle stance, facing sideways to the Q. One palm faced forward from a cocked arm. The other arm crossed diagonally under the palm.
"Well, it seems that I've arrived just in time," Karin confidently addressed the Q, the hint of a smile forming on her lips. "I've heard so much about your kind lately. You will present an interesting challenge."
Unsurprisingly, the Q didn't verbally respond to her combat invitation. Instead, it hunched down slightly, clutched its 'face' in its hands and rose back up, leaning backwards. Blue and white energy flashed outwards from it. Deep, heavy, labored breaths could be heard from behind the mask. Maya swore. She had seen this exact thing happen the other night when she and Menat were about to defeat a Q.
"Dammit!" Maya snarled. "Karin! That thing is about to explode. Get away from it!"
A pulsating orange glow enveloped the Q and it started to advance purposefully towards an astonished Karin. The trio turned and sprinted as fast as they could away from it. Ran and Maya ignored their injuries as adrenaline shot through them. Karin, unencumbered with any wounds, had no problem keeping up with them.
The Q took several more stumbling steps before uttering a long growl and then exploded. The flash briefly illuminated the entire park before a fireball shot out several dozen yards in all directions.
The shockwave knocked everyone to the ground. The fireball itself was relatively contained and there didn't appear to be any debris hurled through the air.
After several moments, everyone started to pick themselves off the ground, checking for injuries. The group seemed fine other than a few odd bruises. Karin nodded at Maya as she checked her outfit, picking off bits of dirt.
"Thank you for the warning," she said. "I didn't realize that it could do that. I'll keep that in mind the next time I face one of them."
"No problem," Maya responded, taking a deep breath. "I had the same thing happen to me the other night. You have to be careful with them. They're very tough fighters."
Karin was about to respond when the group heard panicked screams on the other side of the park. Maya gasped in horror.
"Oh my god, Lauren?!" she cried, as her eyes swept across the park frantically. Where was the other Q?
"Lauren?!"