CLUB
~*~
I feel a disturbance in the Force....
~*~
A month had gone by. Yù-Lién had dismissed the incident with the albino twins from her mind, but Yù-Lōng still thought about it from time to time. The more he thought about it, the more he realised that those twins had let him and Yù-Lién escape. It seemed almost as if they had been toying with them, and that irritated him.
Yù-Lōng, however, was not stupid enough to feel that his honour had been insulted. Whatever those two were, they were not human. They were old, they were deadly, and they were not to be trifled with. Despite that, he began trying to think of ways to deal with that ghosting power of theirs. After all, there was a small chance that they might meet again.
He looked up at the clock, noting the time. 7:15, Yù-Lién and January should be back from their shopping trip now. Jan had definitely benefited from his and his sister's friendship, he reflected. She no longer wanted for much; either he or Yù-Lién took care of it. They had plenty of money to burn; assassination paid well. He actually found it amusing to be the girl's anonymous benefactor, it afforded him another kind of power over her.
He momentarily considered exerting total control over her – it would be quite simple, really – but dismissed it. January was probably too strong-willed for that; besides, Yù-Lién would get mad at him. She honestly liked the girl. Yù-Lōng rather liked her as well, Jan was undeniably sweet, though naïve.
They were taking her with them to a "club" they frequented often. Yù-Lién would be with January while Yù-Lōng attended to... business. "Oi, bro!"
Speak of the devil.
He turned as Yù-Lién walked in with Jan, and smiled. No, Jan was nowhere near the beauty his sister was, but she was cute. Especially with that nervous, unsure look on her face. The look was probably due to the outfit Yù-Lién had put her in: tight black leggings coupled with black boots and a flowing, dark red shirt. Yù-Lién herself was wearing one of her many traditional Chinese dresses. This one was black and patterned with white lotus blossoms; it clung to her perfectly and was slit nearly to her hips on both sides, exposing her long, shapely legs.
"My dear sister," Yù-Lōng proclaimed, rising to his feet, "you are surely a goddess of sex." Yù-Lién brandished one of her shukusen at him. "I will use this, brother mine," she informed him. He grinned unrepentantly and turned to January. "And you, my dear," he said, taking her hand in his and kissing it, "look decidedly lovely." He had to grin at her flush. Poor girl had probably never been flirted with. "Well," he said, "I am going to change, and then we shall be off."
He returned in a black Shou shirt – silk, of course – with black Muli Dasi pants. He would wear no pattern on his clothing this night. After tying his hair back, he returned to the girls. "The Sable Chariot awaits," he told them with an elaborate bow.
By now, Jan knew that the Sable Chariot was the name of Yù-Lōng's black Maserati.
He escorted them down, then fought with his sister over who got to drive for a minute. Sulking, Yù-Lién got in the passenger side while her triumphant brother got behind the wheel.
All three were unaware of their distant observers.
~*~
"So... why are they looking after that girl?" Tiger asked. One and Two shrugged. "We don't know," Two replied, glaring at the Chinese boy. "Perhaps they find it amusing?" One suggested. "They probably make more money than they need for assassination."
"But befriending this girl... it's like they have morals."
"At least one of them has to," One said. "No one could turn out twins that were exactly alike. It's been tried." Tiger knew that, he had the result of that experiment in front of him. One and Two were almost, but not quite, the same person. It was very creepy.
Two grinned. "Shall we crash the party?"
"I believe we shall," One replied, smirking. Tiger knew that smirk. It was a smirk that indicated the recipient should run as fast as they could in the other direction and not stop until they reached the opposite coast of the continent. Preferably, they should keep going until there was half a world between them and the smirk.
"I shall accompany you," a new voice put in silkily. Tiger and the Twins turned to see Vlad leaning in a corner. "This girl intrigues me, that she can hold the interest of assassins." Tiger's eyes narrowed. Was Vlad actually going to claim that girl for no other reason than that?
Tiger decided to manoeuvre Vlad out of a claim. The girl intrigued him as well, for another reason that he did not care to divulge. "That is of course your prerogative," he said, making it sound as if he did not care. He'd have to play this carefully, Vlad had not been the leader of the vampire clan since coming to the Merovingian by being stupid. Vlad was nowhere near the brute Cujo was, but he'd held his colony as long as Cujo had held his pack. Vlad was easily as powerful as any of the Partners and definitely ranked as high as they did.
Vlad gave him an arch look, and Tiger contrived to look innocent. "I have to talk with Tobias," he said, turning and walking off.
~*~
The first thing January noticed upon entering the club with the twins was that most of its patrons were Asian or of Asian descent. Those that weren't were either in relationships with the regulars or had totally immersed themselves in Eastern culture.
Yù-Lién found one of her friends and split away, leaving Yù-Lōng with January. Yù-Lōng noticed some of the looks Jan was getting and smiled dangerously. Speaking in Mandarin, he said in a friendly tone, "If you were to mess with this one, my sister would be very... upset."
Instantly, the lookers turned their eyes elsewhere. He grinned again and led Jan to one of the tables. "Don't mind them," he told her in English. "They're actually quite friendly." "Don't listen to him," another voice put in. "We're all a bunch of sharks waiting to strike."
Yù-Lōng knew that voice.
"Shen!" he cried, turning to the owner of the voice. Kun Shen grinned at him. "Long time no see, eh, Dragon?" he asked. "Too long. How's the clan?" Shen shrugged. "I dunno; I left about six months after you and Lotus to follow in the path of Zen Ghost."
"I knew those computers would fry your brain!" Yù-Lōng laughed, following easily into the old patterns of friendship. Shen smirked. "Actually, I've found that they've freed my mind, not fried it." He and Yù-Lōng moved towards the bar, leaving an uncomfortable-looking Jan at the table.
Yù-Lién was dancing happily with another friend, a rival bodyguard who went by the name Wings. Noting this, as well as January's forlorn look, Yù-Lōng excused himself from Shen and strode to the younger girl. January blinked as he held out his hand to her. "Let's dance," he said, offering her a grin. She blinked at him, and he laughed, grabbing her hand and pulling her out to the dance floor. "Easy does it," he told her as he began to move with the music. "Just follow my lead."
January may not have been pretty, but she could keep a beat and she learned quickly, he admitted to himself minutes later as the song ended. Shen was there, holding out his hand. "You don't get to keep her to yourself, Dragon," he admonished, sweeping Jan away. Yù-Lōng shook his head as Yù-Lién came to stand by him. "Well, her self-esteem should improve after this," he commented.
"Yes. Makoto wants to see us." Yù-Lōng looked at his sister. "Job?" She nodded, and he followed her to one of their many employers.
It was Wings who saw the strangers walk in, though they were quickly noticed by all others – the tall albino twins stood out much more than their smaller, dark-haired companion, but they were fairly noticeable – especially when one of the twins made straight for Yù-Lōng's piece.
January looked up as the tall, pale man smirked at her, offering her a hand as so many men had since Yù-Lōng's offer to dance. "We would enjoy dancing with you," he purred. This man scared her. "I'm, uh, I'm a little tired right now," she said, hoping he would go away. "Then we will wait until you are rested," he replied easily, sitting beside her.
Shen nodded to Wings and another man named Li, and they approached the albino and January – until the other albino and the thin stranger got in the way. "There is no need for you to get involved," the albino said. Shen looked at him, his companion, and then to Li and Wings. After a moment, he nodded, and the three of them scattered – Wings to fetch the twins, Li to get weapons, and Shen to come around and rescue January.
~*~
"Doragono! Lotusu!" Wings cried as he burst in on their meeting, Japanese accent thicker in his distress. "Those albinos are here!" Yù-Lién shot to her feet. "They tracked us!" Yù-Lōng grabbed her before she could rush to January's defence. "Careful, sister!" he cautioned her. "Don't forget what happened when we encountered them."
He turned to Wings. "Explain. Now."
~*~
January had had to give in and dance with first the albino, then his twin, then their companion. Of the three, it was this shorter man that scared her the most; something about the way he was eyeing her gave her the creeps.
Shen had managed to get past the albinos and wasted no time in cutting in on the creepy man. The man grabbed his shoulder. "Back off, human," he hissed. Shen calmly broke his wrist. "No." He led January away, only to be hauled back by the dark-haired man and whirled around. "I don't think you understood me."
Shen's eyes narrowed, then he whirled, throwing the other man into one of the albinos. "I understood perfectly." Both of the albinos started for him, then Li was there, kodachi in hand. "Get going, Kun," he told the hacker. Shen turned, but the dark-haired one was there.
Shen withdrew a Browning Hi-Power from his jacket and aimed it at him. "Get the hell out of my way." The man grinned. "Try it." There was a startled shout from Li; Shen turned in time to see the man get thrown aside like a rag doll.
Shit.
Two blurs of black, and Yù-Lién and Yù-Lōng were between him and the albinos. "Take Jan and go!" Yù-Lōng ordered, drawing a tai-jian as Yù-Lién snapped her lady fans open.
Shen nodded, raising his gun and shooting the dark-haired man three times in the chest, knocking him out of the way. January screamed, but Shen had her wrist in an unbreakable grip and was already running. As he exited the building, his cell phone went off.
He holstered the Browning and answered, "Now is really not the time, AK!" "Shut up and listen, Kahr," his operator snapped. "That man you shot in public? He's a program."
"What!?"
"Yes, that does mean he's not dead."
"SHIT!"
"Exactly. And he's on his feet, he's pissed off, and he's coming your way. Oh, and he's a vampire, too. You want an exit?"
"Fuck, yes!" He paused. "Where can I drop the kid?" AK thought for a moment. "Drop her off at the hard-line. I'll send in Colt and Roland with appropriate weaponry."
"Understood."
"You might want to duck."
Shen, a.k.a. Kahr, didn't pause, just wrapped an arm around January's shoulder and threw them both to the ground as the dark-haired man leapt at them. He was on his feet in a flash, hauling January upright and running in a different direction.
"Location of the hard-line would help!" Shen/Kahr snapped into his cell phone.
"Go left!"
With helpful instructions from AK, they almost made it.
Almost. Shen could hear the phone ringing when the vampire blindsided him, tackling him away from the girl. He promptly kicked the vampire off, using his momentum to flip himself to his feet and blessing AK for all the fighting styles he'd crammed his brain with as well as Colt for kicking his ass so much in training.
He lashed out a round kick at the vampire, who caught it; Kahr barrel-rolled and freed his leg, kicking the program in the face. "Run!" he shouted to the girl, who hesitated. The vampire punched him in the gut, sending him into the wall hard enough to dent it. Kahr fell to his knees, coughing blood, and looked at the girl. "Now, damn it!"
She fled, and Kahr rose to his feet, preparing for battle.
He got in a few lucky shots, but the young rebel was no match for the incensed vampire. The fight ended with a badly beaten Kahr lying on the floor, groaning. The vampire hauled him to his feet by the shoulder of his leather jacket, looking at him with deadly eyes. "You will pay for your interference."
Kahr opened his mouth to ask "Cash, credit, or check?" but screamed instead as the vampire's fangs sank into his neck. The pain was incredible, and he could feel himself weakening as the program guzzled his blood.
Another odd feeling kicked in, a feeling he remembered. As he lost consciousness, he realised that it felt like he was being unplugged again....
~*~
Vlad dropped the body of the young rebel to the ground, wiping his mouth clean of incriminating crimson. Not a bad taste to his blood, but Vlad much preferred the blood of women. So much sweeter than that of men. Unfortunately, the rebel had not lived to remember this lesson, but perhaps his shipmates would learn.
You did not interfere with a vampire's choice of prey.
~*~
"How is he?" AK asked.
"He'll survive," Mauser said, resting a hand on Kahr's hair. "He somehow downloaded himself into his body when that vampire was drinking from him. I'd give anything to know how."
"Is he a self-substantiate?" Roland asked. "No," Colt replied. "He was unplugged by the Brahma." "Goddamn it," Roland muttered. "Hey, take a look at this," Tommy, the ship's new medical officer, said, pointing to Kahr's neck. There was two bruises where the vampire had been feasting, a matched set of slashes. The crew of the Mjolner exchanged looks. "Get me Zion," Roland ordered AK.
~*~
A note about the Mjolner and its crew: Mjolner translates to Hammer, which is why it is verbally referred to as the Hammer. The actual name of the ship is the Mjolner. As for the crew, with the possible exceptions of Roland and Maggie, all the crew are named for types of guns – Colt .45, AK-47, and Mauser C96, for example. The two OCs are no exception and are named for the Kahr PM9093A and the Thompson, also called a Tommy Gun.
UPDATE: Roland, named for the Roland , with 'Maggie' a possible reference to a Magnum.
If you already know this, I apologise for reiterating that. By the by, does anyone know what language mjolner is in? I think it's one of the Nordic ones, but I could be wrong.
Coming next time: Yù-Lién and Yù-Lōng versus the Twins! Will the Chinese assassins escape, or will they lose miserably to the British assassins? Will Kahr be all right? Did Asmodeus ever get out of the Matrix? Not to mention Fred!
Stay tuned!
[/ TV ANNOUNCER]
~*~
Megami: Writer's block is a good excuse. And I'm not telling, because neither 'Modeus nor the Mero are telling me. It's very rude of them. Vampire humour kicks. ^_^
Bikini: Arigatou. I love complication. It's so much fun. And if anyone is confused, let me know, and I'll try to clear things up.
To All Archangel Fans: You are going to love me.