Author's Notes: Well, I created my own challenge, so here's me answering one part of it. One 1,000 words or less "drabble" piece centering around Jam (who I adore), for a friend over at Live Journal. Enjoy!
A Watched Pot
If there was one thing Kuradoberi Jam hated, it was when things didn't work out as expected for her. Actually, there were quite a few things she hated, but that was a major hate at the top of the list.
And for right now, the longer she watched the construction workers mill around her fire gutted restaurant, the more she hated the unexpected.
She had only had her restaurant open for a few months, before that damned robot had rendered it a fiery pit. And it had saddened her as much as it had angered her. She had worked hard to get the place up and running. Well, sure, she had lied about defeating the renegade Gear, Dizzy. But so what? It wasn't as if that guy with the big sword was going to take it! And Jam hated wasted opportunities like she did the unexpected; passionately.
Besides, even with the money, it took pure determination on her part to make sure the restaurant had been built just as she had wanted it. It had been her dream come true. And, in one night her dream had literally been turned to ashes. It was infuriating.
So, there she was again, overseeing the making of her beloved establishment. This time she'd surround it with barbed wire if she had to, but the place was going to remain standing!
It really could've been worse, Jam figured. After all, she'd found the arsonist, and had managed to stop him. She even met up with a cute police officer. Cute men, Jam decided, always made bad situations slightly better.
But the encounter with the arsonist --with the robot man-- had admittedly left her with an uneasy feeling in her stomach. That Slayer man had said people would be watching her because of her Ki. Then, the next thing she knew she was fighting another Ki master, one who was obviously be influenced by someone.
Another thing on Jam's Hate List was manipulation. She'd much rather a face to face confrontation with everything and everyone. Pretenses were a waste of time to her.
So, if these mysterious people had been watching her then, who was to say they weren't still doing so? It was a question that had kept her up at night. There was always the possibility that whoever had initially attacked her planned on doing it again in the hopes of catching her. As she was at the moment, she was a fairly easy target for those robots, if they once again came in droves. She no longer had a handsome officer to play white knight to her fair maiden.
That just wouldn't do. No, not at all. For Kuradoberi Jam really didn't like to play damsel in distress. Nor did she like to wait.
In fact, waiting was another big one on her Hate List.
Well, then. That settled that.
"You there!" Jam declared, pointing at a random worker who was inspecting the burnt foundation.
The man, wiry and greasy haired, started at the loud voice. "M-me?" He said, dumbly.
"Yeah, you." The chef strode over to him, crossing her arms and lifting her chin in her most haughty, authoritative manner. "How long will it take for you to clean this place, and start rebuilding?"
"Well, uh... " the worker scratched his head, obviously a bit too much of an underling to feel comfortable answering to the client. Still, he managed to mumble out, "I guess about three weeks or so."
Jam's mature, demanding demeanor melted in an instant. "Three weeks?!"
she whined. "Aru... "
The construction worker gave her on odd look, and realizing she was
losing her advantage, Jam snapped, "You have one week, tops! When I get
back, you better already be building!"
"Um, you're not going to be overseeing this?" the man asked, startled.
"Of course not, aru," she pouted. "It's boring. Besides, I don't like being a watched pot."
The worker raised a brow. "A... Pot?"
"A watched pot never boils," Jam said, a matter of fact. So, this pot
is going to get out of sight for a while. And then," she punched her right
fist into her left palm, "when I find the people that caused this mess,
I'm going to boil over and burn them all!" There was a true fury in the
woman's brown eyes, as she finally was satisfied with a recent decision.
"Bye bye, aru!" Jam suddenly chirped, sunshine and happiness once again,
oblivious to the worker's clueless expression.
Depression and sulking were yet two more things on her Hate List. So, with her decision made, she felt that either of those two were time wasters. Which, of course, was hated.
As Kuradoberi Jam walked purposely away from her burnt dream, she made two more decisions. The first was to rename her restaurant "Phoenix." It seemed only right. The second was to never allow herself to simply be watched ever again. No, never again would she be nothing more than visual entertainment for her enemies. She would instead seek them out. She would find each and every one of them, and destroy them, until her dream was safe again.
Kuradoberi Jam was, after all, no watched pot. She was instead, the water itself. Able to go with any situation, and powerful enough to crush all comers.
So, let her enemies come. She would meet them all head on, armed with skills and smiles. Because that's simply how a real fighter handled things. At least, that's what Kuradoberi Jam thought.
And really, who else's opinion mattered?