Chapter 3
Work at The Wok

Back in Japan, the small town of Masanori, on the far outskirts of Tokyo, was buzzing with activity. A young man walked to work for his early shift at 6 in the evening. The sun began to light the sky on an orange fire as it disappeared beyond the horizon. "Damn, I'm going to be late again," he thought gruffly, running his hand through his spiky black hair. He hurried his steps to The Wok, the most popular hot spot outside of Tokyo. It was a restaurant by day and bar by night, run by a rich family from China, where he was from.

"Of course, me and this family have that one thing in common," he thought bitterly. Shunned for his love of fighting, Jann-Lee left his family to pursue his dream of becoming a great fighter and maybe even opening his own club. Instead, he works for one now. One he just happens to despise very much.

"You're late," said a burly man from the bar. Jann-Lee didn't get it; Bass wore denim and some sort of Australian vest combo, yet the man was absolutely American. What was left of his thinning long blonde hair dangled from underneath a brown hat, and his beard overran the man's huge jaw. Yes, Jann-Lee hated this place.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Armstrong," Jann-Lee said flatly. "It must've been hard tending to the customers by yourself."

He glanced around the bar room; there was Bass's daughter Tina Armstrong sitting at a booth nibbling on her martini's olive while the always-flamboyant Zack harassed the beautiful woman. Zack had no shame; Jann-Lee noted that he looked like a Great Dane humping her leg. It was amazing how someone so goofy could master Thai kickboxing as Zack had. Other than Jann-Lee, Bass, Tina, and Zack, there was no one else in the bar.

"You're damn right, young man," Bass grunted. "Seeing that you can't even get to work on time, I know you don't do jack when more people get here, which leaves me to do all the work. Get your vest on, you're bartending tonight."

"But, Bass," Jann-Lee protested. "You said last week I'd bounce this weekend."

"No way! You get to work on time, and we can talk about it for real! I don't remember ever telling you, you must be eating some of those crazy herbs and leaves and hallucinating again," replied Bass as he wiped the counter down and threw the towel at Jann-Lee. "So finish cleaning the bar counter, throw out the trash, and give the booze hounds their booze before I put you on clean-up duty!"

Jann-Lee gripped the dripping towel in his fist. He counted to forty to calm his temper down, remembering that fighting would be useless if he ever wanted to be head bouncer at The Wok. Then again, if Bass was mysteriously and suddenly incapacitated or physically harmed to the point of no more bodily functioning, he'd automatically be bumped up from his lowly position…

The sound of the door opening helped Jann-Lee take his focus off suppressing his temper. He saw a young woman walk through, wearing a long khaki coat and sunglasses. Her long auburn hair was tied back, but Jann-Lee could tell she was slightly damp, although it hadn't been raining.

"Can I get you a table, Miss?" he called out.

The girl looked up, startled, but nodded silently. She removed her sunglasses to reveal round brown eyes, a little red, probably from crying. Jann-Lee went to wipe off a table for his first customer of the night.

Kasumi watched the bartender fix her a table. He moved with swift and precise moves, almost like a ninja, but with too much force. She wiped her eyes; she figured she must look hideous from running out of the forest into town and crying the whole way. She thought about Hayabusa and found herself more angry than sad. He hadn't told her anything, giving her baby answers because he probably thought she wasn't serious about finding her brother. Then again, she changed the subject before he could give his opinion about Hayate's whereabouts. Why did Hayabusa have to be such a mystery to her?

She felt an arm around her shoulder. How long had she been crying? Kasumi looked at her brother, whose arms were growing thicker as he matured into a healthy fifteen year-old fighter. His hand gripped her arm that was wrapped in a cloth seeped with blood. At his feet, a long sword glimmered with hints of her blood.

"You'll be okay, it was a minor cut," Hayate said softly. He wrapped the ends of the cloth into a knot and kissed it. "You need to be more careful when you're practicing with real swords, Kasumi. Ask someone more trained to help you next time."

"Here! I got it!" cheered Hayabusa. His hair was growing thickly into a ponytail, and he tied his bangs back with a long black sweatband on his forehead. He wasn't as large as her brother was growing, but his muscles screamed definition with every move he made. Hayabusa ran over with his hands cupped in front of him. He held them in front of Kasumi, who could make out a lopsided flower with a thin, crooked stem through her watery eyes.

"I'm getting a hang of the leaves," Hayabusa said bashfully. "This is to cheer you up, Kasumi."

"How about tomorrow, I'll train you in the mountains myself? Would you like that?" asked Hayate.

"She doesn't need more training," Ayane interrupted, stepping into the room. "She needs a brain."

Ayane's newly-dyed hair was cropped short. She had just begun her Mugen-Tenshin training, and after only four days, managed to anger every teacher Kasumi ever worked with since she started. After finally meeting their mother, she cut off her long pony tail as a sign of her disgust of the clan who let her live in shame. It was not any of their faults, except his.

"Here," she said shortly, throwing a short and thin wrapped box in Kasumi's lap.

Curiously, Kasumi carefully peeled away the pink paper. She lifted the top and gasped. It was a katana with a gold and red checkered hilt. Kasumi smiled at her sister, who just stared at it. "Thanks," she said.

"It's a present for you, from mother and Hayate," Ayane replied flatly, still staring at the weapon.

Hayate nodded in agreement. Kasumi smiled at her brother, but returned Ayane's gaze. She smiled wider.

"And," continued Ayane. "And…me…"

Giggling, Kasumi jumped up and threw her arms around Ayane in a tight hug. "Thank you," she whispered in Ayane's ear.

Ayane smiled quickly, but returned to her stern composure. "I have to go," she said. "More teachers to torment." Ayane made her way to the door, but stopped to look at Hayabusa. "Nice pig you made."

"Hey!" he yelled back. "Move!"

Kasumi was ripped from her daydream as a tall blonde woman pushed past her. "How about you don't stand in a doorway, okay? You're a fire hazard," she said venomously as she made her way through the bar to a table and sat down. She glared at Kasumi as she walked to the man after he finally finished cleaning her table. The woman snapped her fingers, and the man went to help her.

"I'll have a martini and some sake, to warm up my voice for tonight," she said.

"Alright, Miss Douglas," replied Jann-Lee before leaving to fix her order and muttering, "Pompous bitch."

Opera singer Helena Douglas snapped her fingers again, and this time, Zack came running up to her table. "Yes Helena?" he cooed, batting his pretty eyes at her.

Helena glared at him in response. She motioned to the chair across the table and said, "Sit. I'm supposed to be relaxing before my concert, but instead I'm here, waiting for my ruthless father and whichever good-for-nothing heathens he associates with these days. They're all late, and I have no time for this."

"Are you even supposed to be here? Your father didn't mention you were involved with this project," said Zack. His green hair-dye was itching his scalp, but it was all in the name of funky fashion. And to get Tina to notice him.

"I need to know what about my father's company and his plans, so I can be sure he doesn't unexpectedly ruin my singing career with some sort of scandal. I've had a hard enough time in this business in America already," Helena said, nodding towards Tina. "People there don't appreciate such fine talent just because they find my father's experiments inhumane."

"He does do medical experiments on humans instead of animals," Zack offered, his eyebrows raised.

"Don't insult my father," she snapped at her table companion. Helena eyed the bartender, who was fixing some sort of smoothie. "Bartender! Where's my order?"

Jann-Lee looked up from his first order for the red-head. He waved back at Helena and threw a few bottles in the air. "Here you go, super hag," he said quietly, from behind the bar, with a big smile on his face. "With a side of arsenic, too."

Placing all three orders on a tray, he delivered Helena's drinks and then Kasumi's. He put a small box of Kleenex on her table as well. "For the young lady," he grinned. She smiled back and silently sipped on her strawberry daiquiri.

"Hey Jet-Li!" Bass called from the doorway. "I told you to take out the trash!"

"It's Jann-Lee," he yelled back, tossing the tray back behind the bar. He gathered up two full plastic bags and went out through the kitchen exit. In a small alley behind The Wok, he witnessed three figures, two large men crowded around a third, much smaller one. Jann-Lee walked closer to the commotion.

"Please, go away!" pleaded a young girl. At her feet, a ripped bag and spilled groceries dirtied the floor. Although dressed in a blue skirt, white button-down shirt, and heels, the girl took a shaky fighting pose against her antagonists.

"Heh heh," laughed the burlier of the two men. "What is a little princess going to do? Throw your tiara at me?"

"When my father hears about this, he will not be very pleased that his own daughter was harassed at his restaurant," she replied, keeping eye contact.

The second, much leaner yet muscular man spoke next. "Well you can tell your father that I have a few issues with the way he has been conducting business with his clients lately. I have not been getting enough supplies shipped to me from China although he promised me at least half of his cargo ship space for what I'm paying him."

"My father does not consort with the despicable likes of you," the girl hissed back. "Now let me go, or else…!" She demonstrated a few of her flowing fighting motions.

Both men chuckled at the threat. The first man threw his arm out and grabbed the girl by her neck, picking her up in the air and slamming her against the brick wall. Her feet dangled a foot from the ground. The second man walked up and put his nose right onto hers.

"You listen to me, you insolent brat," he said. "Tell your father that Doctor Victor Donovan does not take deceit nor threats very well. If he wishes to keep his business, his family, and his life, then he will send two ships by the end of the week filled with my lab supplies smuggled directly from France. And if he doesn't, my friend Leon and I will personally take each of those three things away slowly…and painfully…"

Leon chuckled and raised his other hand to strike the girl in the cheek when Jann-Lee called out. "Hey meat-brain, isn't bullying younger kids a little childish for an over-grown ape like you?"

Donovan and Leon glared back at the uninvited guest. "We're just here to teach this little girl a lesson," Donovan hissed back. He opened his coat jacket to reveal a black hand gun. "This doesn't concern you, so just go away before Leon and I need to school you too."

Jann-Lee laughed at the man. "How about I make this easy for you two: you walk away from her peacefully or face the wrath of a dragon," he said, taking a fighting stance. His adrenaline pumped through his veins; an actual fight where he'd emerge the hero! A great opportunity appeared to test his skills, and Jann-Lee was not about to give it up.

The girl stared at her rescuer with wide eyes. Her two attackers had weapons and dodged her Tai Chi moves. How could a common man beat such vicious people? The larger man, who held her tightly, threw her aside so Donovan could hold her. He chuckled with the hint of a thick Russian accent.

"You'll be sorry you messed with us, kid," he laughed. Leon kicked a thick boot at Jann-Lee's now bouncing legs, but hit only air as his target dashed to the side. Seeing him against the alley wall, Leon lunged his massive body at Jann-Lee, who ducked and swept Leon off his feet with a swift kick.

"Dammit Leon, quit fooling around and hurt this guy so we can leave!" Donovan hissed. He tightened his grip around the girl's neck, but she kept trying to fight her way out of the deadly grip.

After his rendezvous with the brick wall, Leon turned around, clearly dizzy from Jann-Lee's lightning fast moves. He shook the stars out of his head and rushed forward with consecutive upper-cuts, Leon's fists cutting the air with loud "swooshes". He grunted as each new punch emitted more and more force. But he was no match for it.

With a loud battle cry, Jann-Lee leapt into the air and flew across the alley, landing his extended foot into Leon's face. Leon flew backwards and hit the alley wall once again, this time, the brick cracking under the weight of the huge man. He didn't get up.

"Oh shit!" exclaimed Donovan, taken back by the slaughter of his best body guard. The girl took the opportunity to grab his arm and try to hurl him over her body, but after the first arm pull, he pushed forward on the girl's back, throwing her to the ground. "Why you little bitch…!"

Donovan reached into his holster to grab his gun, but Jann-Lee rushed over, and with a burst of strength, let his fist meet with Donovan's face. He stumbled back, very dazed, as a trail of blood dripped from his nose. He stumbled out of the alley, glaring back at Jann-Lee and muttering curses. After he was out of view, Jann-Lee suddenly heard the loud crash of something hitting trash cans out in the street.

Jann-Lee rubbed his fists with contentment. They weren't sore or bruised at all. His work uniform had a few dirt stains on the pant leg from where he swept the first bozo, but the rest of him was undaunted by the encounter.

"That was amazing," a small voice said, breaking the new silence in the alleyway. "But I didn't need you."

Jann-Lee turned to see the girl who was standing up with a stiff posture. Her dress was wrinkled and dirty from the fray, her hair slightly disshelved as well. "I tried to fight them on by own, before you came here, but…" she started to explain.

"Ha! You fight them by yourself?!" laughed Jann-Lee. He shook his head and turned back to the trash bags he put down next to the garbage can. Maybe he should put his new Russian friend there too.

"I could have, but they surprised me!" the girl called back.

"This place isn't for young girls to come walking here alone," Jann-Lee scolded, not bothering to look at the girl. The fight wasn't about saving her, but assuring his skill as a fighter. "You aren't always going to be saved by someone, so just be careful next time."

"I'm here because of my father," she explained, walking towards her rescuer. "He owns this restaurant and apparently owes these men something. He owes you too, now that you saved me! I'm Lei-Fang, what's your name? I can tell my father, and he'll…"

Jann-Lee glanced back at the girl. He saw the resemblance of The Wok's owner and his daughter. Her father only came to the restaurant once a month, usually to tell the workers what they were doing wrong. Jann-Lee didn't want his gratitude, but before he replied, he thought he saw a blur of purple move from behind Lei-Fang. He looked back at Lei-Fang.

"Your father's idea of thanking me is probably to let me work more hours for his wonderful establishment," he said coolly, emphasizing the 'wonderful' in his statement. "Just thank me by promising that you won't be walking around without someone…older…or something."

With that, he left Lei-Fang alone in the alley with a reviving Leon. She looked at him and kicked his limp body over before leaving the alley.