It was 6:30 when Marian's alarm went off, waking her up; disoriented at first; she began wondering how she got home, but her memories quickly returned, calming her down.

Last Night…

Landing on the roof of Marian's house with a blue flash, Billy, who was carrying her bridal style, set her down, letting her catch her breath.

"wow, eventually, I'm going to get used to that."

"It's a bit of a rush…. wait, are you saying you want me to carry you around more?" Billy asked.

Marian blushed. "Thanks for making that stop along the way."

"no problem, so this is Metro suburbs… it actually looks peaceful."

"Yeah, my family lives outside of the main part of the city & the gangs don't usually bother with this area,"

"Why? I'd figured this would be one of their favorite targets?" Billy asked.

Marian shrugged. "No one knows for sure. My theory is they avoid homes to make everyone more afraid each night. People are more compliant if they spend their nights afraid their own home could be next."

"That's awful. But on another subject, that video you posted..."

"is something wrong?" Marian asked.

"it's just the title sounds a little cheesy."

"what's wrong with "The Rise Of The Double Dragons"?"

"It's just that, well…is that what the people are going to call us from now on? the Double Dragons?"

"The name will catch on. besides, you two are part dragon & you're twins; the name works for you two, you'll see. And it's more original than say 'The Dragon Duo' or 'The Red and Blue Ninjas'."

"We're not ninjas." Billy protested.

Marian chuckled. "You wear Asian outfits with masks, you use katanas, and you fight unseen in the night. Other than not being Japanese how are you not ninjas?"

Billy sighed. "Guess I can't argue with that. Well I hope you're right about the name, but I better get back. I have to drop those thugs off at the hospital, and then I gotta catch up to Jimmy."

As Billy turned to leave, Marian stopped by, hugging him one more time.

"thank you for coming back."

"Trust me…I'm never leaving again." Assured Billy before leaping away & disappearing in a blue flash.

Morning

As she finished getting ready for school, Marian came downstairs, finding Anna eating at the table with their father while Marc watched the news in the living room. To her surprise, her footage was on TV, causing her to run & sit down next to Marc, turning up the volume to listen better.

We now go to more footage that was anonymously posted on Metrotube.

Marian & Marc continued to watch; Marc was in awe as he watched Billy & Jimmy take down the gangs one by one. Suddenly, the footage switched to a press conference held by Victor Guisman. Both of them hated Victor; he was why the gangs gained so much control over the city. He had convinced everyone to settle on a compromise rather than fighting back, many small businesses began losing money because outside vendors would only work with the Guisman Corps because of his security force. Due to this, they now have to get their supplies through his shipping company, paying extra security & delivery fees. Guaranteeing protection morning & night to those willing to pay.

"So what's the so-called savior going to say now?" Said Marian,

"that guy has done nothing but profit off the gangs for years. Why would he stop now?" Said Marc,

"my fellow citizens, there is still much we don't know about these two threats to our safety."

'threats? who the hell does this guy think he is?' Thought Marian

"But I can assure you, with the help of the Metro City Police, we will find these so-called Double Dragons & bring them to justice for their crimes around the city last night."

The people at the press conference began to applaud Victor while Marian angrily shut off the tv.

"Are you kidding me? That scumbag is making them look like the bad guys."

"Marian, calm down…he is right; all those so-called vigilantes are going to do is cause more harm than good." Said her father.

"I expected you to roll over like that…just like how you rolled over for the gangs!"

"I…I don't have time for this."

"you never do, dad, you never do!"

Picking up Anna, Marian watched as her father took the young girl, leaving the door with her.

"I'm taking your sister to her pre-school before heading off to work…I need one of you to pick her up after school."

"I'll do it…I'll bring her to our after-school meeting," said Marc.

"thank you…Marc."

"yeah, thanks, Marc; nice to know we have a man in the house." Said Marian roasting her father as he left

Later At School

As Marian & Marc walked to their first-period class, the hall was filled with gossip about her video. Marian knew this would be a hot topic as this was a sign that her plan was on its way to working.

"so Marian, tell me what happened last night."

"later, Marc…I'll tell everyone at the salvage yard."

"Okay, fine."

Later After-School

After school, Marc went to pick up Anna, promising to meet Marian at the salvage yard later while she went on ahead. The salvage yard was owned & maintained by the family of her friend Michael Pollard or Mike, better known to her & the rest of their friends as "Chop." The salvage yard is a large, multi-acre property where both discarded items are dumped, such as auto parts & debris leftover from gang riots, which were taken for recycling & disposal. At the center of the yard was an auto repair shop; while it was also owned by his parents' Chop worked there as a part-time mechanic after school. Coming upon the shop, she saw his father fixing the engine on a car.

"Hey, Mr. Pollard." Called Marian

"Oh, hello, Marian."

"How are things at the chop shop?"

"Please don't call it that; it's bad enough that Mike won't stop calling it that."

"Sorry, it just sounds catchy."

"Okay, if you're looking for Mike, he's downstairs in his workshop, setting up for your group meeting."

"Okay, thank you."

"by the way, when you see him make sure you tell him not to blow out the electricity like last time."

"I will."

Marian found the entrance to the cellar door to the back of the shop; opening it, she headed downstairs to find Chop. In his late teens, Chop was a young Caucasian man; he had short blond hair & always dressed like a mechanic when he was home; the most noticeable was his prosthetic right arm. Chop lost his arm in a gang riot years ago, causing his parents to get him his prosthetic arm. However, he is a mechanical genius & began using parts from the salvage yard to upgrade his arm, turning it into a fully functional robotic arm.

"hey Chop, you down here?"

"oh, hey Marian, I was just examining these bombs you dropped off last night."

"found anything we can use?"

"All I can say is these are much more advanced than the bombs we slapped together."

"Anyway, to disable them?" Marian asked.

"not right now, but these things are fitted with some strong shielding. I don't even think an EMP pulse could disable them."

"Damn that Willy. He's getting more prepared."

"no worries, when Marc & Kami get here, I'm sure the four of us can figure something out." Chop assured her.

"by the way, your dad told me to tell you not to blow the power again."

"man, this is a pain in the ass; we built a secret base down here out of junk, yet we can't even power it."

Chop's workshop was also the secret base for the power corps. The team managed to build it secretly under the auto garage to help with their war, even a supercomputer & war table from laptop & DVD parts, but they couldn't find a proper way to power everything.

"I thought you & Marc built a generator to power everything?"

"We did, but the battery we made burned out. At most it lasted for 5 minutes."

"damn, I was banking on that to work & we can't use solar energy; it's barely ever bright enough in the city."

"Don't worry; once we find a way to stabilize the battery, we'll finally be able to step up our fight with the Shadow Warriors."

Suddenly they both heard the cellar door open & multiple footsteps coming their way; leading the way was Marc; behind him were their friends, Neil McReady AKA "Blaster," Kami, Kona & Vortex.

"Good, everybody is here…wait, where's Anna?"

"she's upstairs with Mr. Pollard."

"Good, now that everyone is here, I can tell you about the Double Dragons."

Later…

After explaining things to everyone, the whole group was left divided. Chop, Blaster & Kona were skeptical, while Kami, Marc & Vortex were open to the idea of working with the Double Dragons.

"Are you sure we can trust them?" asked Kona.

"I know them, Kona, they're on our side & they want to save the city. Besides, they're the ones who saved you, me & Blaster the other night from Lash,"

"just this whole magic stuff is a little farfetched." Said Blaster,

"hey, we all saw the video; there were no special effects; that ass-kicking those Shadow Warriors got was real." Said Marc,

"yeah, but the red one…is he single?" Asked Kami shyly

Everyone groaned as they looked at Kami, giving her a stern "really" expression. Kami was the youngest member of the group at only 17; while the others were in their senior year of high school, she was in her junior year. Kami Byte is a pretty raven-haired girl with a thick curvy figure who could become an idol if she wanted to. She was the group's resident programmer & hacker; though she was gifted, her full potential was limited due to her shyness & hiding behind her slim-frame eyeglasses.

"Kami, now's not the time to start going all Fifi La Fume over some guy." Said Chop.

"Well, he seems charming." Kami defended.

"guys…look, I want us to be unanimous in teaming up…so what will it take?" Marian asked.

"Okay, I've got one; if your so-called magical friends can supply us with something that can power up this place, I'd be willing to believe them. Frankly at this point, the only thing that can power this place is magic." Said Chop

"Okay, deal."

Walking over to the far-left corner, Chop opened the floor, revealing the generator's top built to power their base. Reaching in, Chop pulled out a large pack the size of a car battery.

"Okay, Marian, here is the generator's current battery. I tried everything to charge it up to get it powerful enough to run the base; let's see if they can do anything,"

"I'll ask them."

"wait, Marian, can I come with you?" Asked Kami

"Really?"

"If I go with you, I can confirm everything too. Then we'll have more confirmation."

'Wow…she's right, but I know she also wants to meet Jimmy.' Thought Marian. "Okay, let's go."

"What should we do?" asked Marc

"no worries, I got word that a Shadow Warrior recruitment tournament is going to start tonight," Said Vortex.

"fine then, Vortex & I will look into it while you two talk to them." Said Blaster

"What should the rest of us do?" asked Kona

"you guys stay here till Kami & I get back. Keep everyone upstairs thinking we're all still down here while we're gone." Instructed Marian

"fine, we've got this but just make sure no one sees you leave," said Chop

With that, everyone who had a mission left, sneaking upstairs, managed to get out without being seen. While Vortex & Blaster went to get information on the next fight tournament, Marian & Kami made their way to the shopping center.

"We better hurry…it's a 30 minute walk to there." Marian warned.

"Right behind you…Marian." Kami replied, sounding somewhat excited.

Later

The two girls headed to the shopping center as fast as possible, making it to the restaurant. Marian activated the scanner before the staircase opened, leading Kami into the dojo.

"wow, this place is huge; your mom helped build it."

"yeah, but no time for sightseeing, HEY BILLY, JIMMY, YOU GUYS DOWN HERE?" called Marian.

Landing from above in front of them, scaring them in the process, Billy wearing only sweat pants, was catching his breath.

"damn, I only went up to 25%, and I feel winded; oh hey, Marian."

"You nearly gave me a heart attack; what were you doing up there?"

"Sorry, I was training to go beyond my 20% limit; uh, who's your friend."

"I'm Kami Byte."

"she's a member of the power corps."

"Marian, I hope you're not going to make a habit of bringing people down here."

"Relax, the team wanted a second opinion, plus I need your help with something."

"Okay, sure, what do you need?"

"This is the battery for our base. I was hoping you might have a way to fix it up and make sure it holds the charge."

"I might need Jimmy's help with this one."

"Okay, where is he anyway?"

"he's in the garden."

"you have a Garden?" asked Kami

"They have a huge garden over there." Said, Marian

"How is that possible?"

"magic." Said Marian and Billy,

"Okay, follow me." Said Billy.

Leading them to the split platform into two sections, they stopped off at the part that looked like a magic/potion shop.

"Billy, what is all of this?" asked Marian

"This is where we craft relics that we use."

"Relics? You mean like your bands?"

"yeah,"

"What exactly are relics?"

"Oh right, we never explained that to you; some magics are too strong to sustain physically. Wielders of magic learned how to imbue objects with it, allowing them to take the strain we cannot."

"So, you make items to help here." Asked Kami.

"pretty much." Said Billy.

"so, what can you do about this?"

"I think Jimmy and I should be able to do something; we might be able to convert it into a class B or C.."

"There are classes." Asked Marian

"Yeah, three to be exact, A-Classes need no maintenance, B-Classes need regular maintenance, and C-Classes are disposable." Explained Billy.

"I see; you mind explaining more."

"Sure."

While Billy began to detail relics, Kami lost interest in listening as she looked at the garden entrance.

"It should be fine. I can get this, Jimmy, while these two talk." She thought, walking off

Inside the garden, Jimmy sat under the tree in a meditative state, breathing softly; as he meditated, leaves slowly fell from the tree above him. Each time a leaf from the tree fell, he would catch it before it hit the ground, careful not to break the stems.

"focus Jimmy, find strength from within gentleness." He thought.

As Jimmy waited for the next leaf to fall, he took a deep breath as he sensed another leaf about to fall. As the leaf fell, Jimmy waited for it to reach him; once it was close enough, he reached out to grab it.

"got it; wait, this isn't a leaf." He thought as he opened his eyes

Jimmy saw he had a handful of something, it was soft, bouncy, and big, but Jimmy couldn't process what he was grabbing.

"What is this?" he said as he squeezed it again

"um, excuse me," squeaked a female voice

Jimmy's eyes met with the face of a raven-haired girl who was blushing hard, and her glasses were steamed.

"Huh, who are you?"

"Could you let go of my breast or maybe be a little more gentle?" Said the blushing girl.

Looking down again, Jimmy realized, to his horror and embarrassment, that what he had in his hand was a handful of the raven-haired girl's right breast. Jimmy removed his hand before jumping to his feet in a panicked state, backing away.

"I'M SORRY, I'm SO SO SO SORRY, I DIDN'T MEAN TO GRAB YOU," he pleaded as his back was pressed against the tree.

Panicking too, Kami stepped back; she was about to start apologizing too but lost her footing, causing her to fall backward. Seeing this, Jimmy rushed in to save her but was pulled down along with her. On top of each other, their awkward encounter became more uncomfortable as they kissed each other. Both didn't know what to do next as they stayed there, their lips locked; Kami though embarrassed, found herself enjoying it as she began to kiss back."

"ahem, wow, bro, you wasted no time." Joked Billy

Billy and Marian standing at the entrance while Marian was blushing hard; Billy looked amused. Both looked over to their embarrassment. The two got to their feet, avoiding eye contact with each other while Billy continued to laugh.

"I can't wait to tell sensei about this,"

"Damn it, Billy, if you tell anyone, SO HELP ME, SO HELP ME!" threatened Jimmy.

"Okay, now is not the time for this look; this is my friend Kami Byte; we're here because we need help; can we get this show on the road." Said, Marian

"Fine." Scoffed Jimmy

Everyone started to leave with Kami strolling in the back, looking over his shoulder at her; Jimmy quietly cursed himself for what happened.

"Great, I finally get to meet a cute girl, and I make an ass out of myself, smooth Jimmy, real smooth."

Kami couldn't help but blush, even though it all happened fast in her memory was all in slow motion.

"he touched and kissed me, I should feel embarrassed, but it felt good; it was just like the main character met her true love in my favorite game." Kami thought.

After catching Jimmy up, he already knew how to fix the battery problem as he took it apart.

"here's why this thing couldn't hold a charge; its core is broken." He said, pulling out a broken glass sphere.

"core?"

"This is the piece that stores energy; if your base uses a lot of energy, as you said, this core wasn't sturdy enough to handle the job. 1. it couldn't contain enough energy. and 2. it couldn't handle regulating the power it held to everything, which is why it cracked, causing it to lose power faster." Said Jimmy.

"you thinking what I'm thinking?" asked Billy

"an elemental lacrima should do the trick."

"lacrima?" asked both ladies.

"C-class relics absorb energy and convert it into the element it's meant to contain, like lightning."

Looking around, Jimmy found a lightning lacrima; it was about the same size as the broken core, but a noticeable difference was the symbol for lightning etched into it. Holding it in his hand, Jimmy's hand glowed red before it was absorbed into the lacrima. Tossing it to Billy, he did the same thing causing their energies to mix, turning the energy purple. True to its design, the power turned electrical inside; tossing it back to Jimmy, he placed it into the battery where the core was.

"Okay, that should fix it; plus, the lacrima is made of a stronger substance, so it shouldn't crack under pressure."

"thank you, guys; this should really up our fight with the shadow warriors." Said, Marian

"wait, we should go with you." Said Jimmy.

"Why?" asked Marian.

"I'm still unsure how your equipment will handle all that power; we should be there in case something goes wrong."

"what could go wrong? Asked Marian.

"Well, there is a chance that all your equipment might be unable to handle all that power and be overloaded, causing everything to explode." Said Billy.

"Great,"

Moments later, after the twins changed, they accompanied the women back to the salvage yard. Meanwhile, Billy and Marian continued talking while Jimmy and Kami remained silent.

"so Billy, I've meant to ask?"

"what's up?"

"where was Sensei?"

"Oh right, he left to finalize having the upstairs remodeled."

"remodeled?"

"he's having half of the upstairs turned into a walk-in pantry and the other half into a large refrigerator/freezer to store supplies."

"what about you two? Where will you sleep?"

"We were sleeping in the dojo, but Jimmy and I decided to live outside the dojo; there are multiple complexes in the city. I'm sure we can find a place."

"what about Sensei?"

"Well, he's keeping the bathroom, but he said he wanted to stay/guard the dojo; besides, Sensei likes his solitude. And after years of driving him crazy, he's open to peace and quiet."

Later,

After making it to the salvage yard, everyone snuck back downstairs to be greeted only by the power corps. Chop, Blaster and Kona gave looks of distrust that annoyed Jimmy, while Marc and Vortex were welcoming.

"hi, you two must be Billy and Jimmy; nice to meet. I'm Marc, Marian's cousin."

"Nice to meet you." Said Billy.

"hey," said Jimmy

"Hey, what's with the red one," whispered Chop,

"he sounds like a condescending jerk." Whispered Blaster

"I agree, my friend," whispered Kona.

"I can hear all three of you." Said Jimmy.

Blaster was an African-American teen trained in firearms when he was young; he always kept a Blaster on him for protection against the shadow warrior. Kona was the biggest among everyone due to hailing from Hawaii; However, he looked fierce outside; he was a very gentle soul. His appearance nearly got him forced to join a gang, but he was saved by Blaster, and they both joined the power corps.

"by the way, your battery didn't work because you used a crappy core." He said, tossing the broken core to chop.

"oh really well then, smart guy, then I guessed you fixed it."

"See for yourself."

Taking the battery from Marian, Chop reinstalled it into the generator; as Chop was about to activate it, Marian whispered to Marc.

"if something goes wrong, we all get out as fast as we can?"

"what could go wrong."

"everything gets overloaded and explodes."

"WHAT!?"

Turning on the generator, a surge of purple energy filled the room, passing through everything connected. Everyone feared the worst, but soon everything calmed down as the generator stabilized and everything turned on, causing everyone to breathe a sigh of relief.

"It worked; nice going magic, guys." Said Vortex.

"you're welcome; this core should last a while, but it's still a battery, so we'll have to bring more cores."

"fine by us."

Kami was impressed as she looked over at Jimmy blushing hard; suddenly, she saw that the computer was working. Sitting down at it, she began working on it for the first time in a long time.

"It's amazing the computer; there's unlimited data storage,"

"What?" said the power corps.

"It's true I can store a lot of data plus, the programs I was working on are also ready to be completed; this will open new windows."

"That's our Kami, she might not be a fighter, but give her a supercomputer, and she's the fiercest warrior." Joked Marc.

Activating a computer program, it projected a 3D model of Metro city on the now working war table.

"well, chop, Blaster, Kona, what do you have to say now?" asked Marian

"we'll eat crow later." Said, Chop

"We still need to deal with that fight tournament." Said Blaster

"tournament?" asked the twins

"there's a fighting tournament tonight." Said Marian

"well, where is it being held?" asked Billy

"here's the deal, the tournament is being held on a bulk carrier." Said, Blaster

"what? Those things are too big for the docks." Said Marian,

"the carrier is stationed out of the city; only fighters are allowed on it, so smaller boats will take them to it." Said, Vortex

"But why host it out there?" said Marian

"This may have something to do with his usual destroyed arena."

"That was us; it was a hectic night for them." Said the twins.

"Okay, that makes sense now, but these things are televised; what about the spectators?" Asked Marian.

"There's a warehouse at the docks that was turned into a viewing arena, you can also bet on the matches too, and there's a bigger, much bigger problem," said Blaster

"what is it?" asked Marian

"Abobo will be on the ship." Informed Blaster,

"who's he?" asked Jimmy

"he's one of the top-ranked shadow warriors, he runs these fight clubs, but usually, his underlings run the show." Said Vortex

"This is probably because of how Jimmy and I shut down the last one, so what's the plan?" asked Billy.

"This might be too dangerous for us; Abobo is a brute plus those other fighters; if one of us tries to infiltrate that tournament and gets caught, they're as good as dead. There's no telling how dangerous it is where the audience will be."

"I can deal with the tournament." Said, Jimmy

Everyone looked at Jimmy with concern except for Billy, who had a smirk on his face.

"always looking for a fight, huh, bro," teased Billy

"Look, I can sneak in as a fighter and shut the tournament down from within."

"what about the rest of us? We just sit back and do nothing?" Asked Kona

"Well, no," said Marc

Opening up a compartment on the computer side, Marc reveals it to have multiple tiny USBs and one normal one.

"what are these?" asked Chop

"This is part of a second program I was working on. basically, Marc and I planned to create a program that would allow us to hack into any camera feed." Said Kami.

"you have." Said Marian.

"I only have a little to go, but once it's done, all I need is someone to get into the warehouse, find the broadcasting system, and plug the large one into it. An invisible back door will open, and the computer will have access. Then, the rest of us can use the smaller ones to watch and record from all angles.

"Great, who will do that part?" asked Chop.

"that's something I can handle." Said Billy.

"you," asked everyone

"I can sneak in and find the system."

"Security will be tight. I doubt they won't notice someone sneaking around," Said Kona.

"Not if he's a paying customer." Explained Billy

"What?"

"simple, I go in like a guest while everyone is distracted. I sneak in and jack in, then once I'm done, I'll slip away and go help, Jimmy."

"you're going to need backup, so I'm coming too," said Marian.

"you don't have to."

"you'll look less suspicious with a date, so I'm coming to cover you when you make your move."

"Okay, fine, but once we're out, you go home, deal." Asked Billy

"deal."

"the rest of us will be nearby, watching from a safe distance but ready to jump in if things go south and are ready to make our getaway." Said Chop.

"How are we gonna do that? We have no wheel," said Blaster.

"who say we don't," replied Chop.

"It looks like we got a plan, so I think we should take Anna home and then get ready to make our move. said, Marc

"agreed." Said, everyone

End of CH 5