Chapter 10

Naples, Italy was beautiful in the late spring and it was the perfect time for Dabria to go, get Isis to her new Avatar and then take a small break and relax until the next Avatar.

This time, it was much harder to find the guy she was supposed to. She had his name and an idea of what he looked like but not much else.

She found a nice place to stay, going to a more rural part of the city so there was a little bit more privacy. She was renting out a nice little room in an old lady's house, staying however long she wanted until she got the job done.

Dabria didn't mind being alone. She liked it, letting her work as she wished as people naturally died around the world and she could take them to the afterlife in her sleep.

For most of her life as an Avatar, she was alone.

She couldn't very well date and tell people about the god of the dead following her around and giving her powers. Some people already stayed away from her because of her grey eyes, almost lifeless in their colouring as she tended to stare into one's soul without meaning to.

There wasn't much she couldn't handle, taking her time in trying to find the man. It took several weeks, turning into a month and a half since leaving Steven, Marc and Jake at the hotel.

She was walking through a crowded marketplace, buying this and that as she also paid for some food for the old lady's house as a courtesy. There wasn't a need, the woman always said, but Dabria refused to listen to her ramble on the prices of fruit and the expensive cheese and bread.

Her Ankh warmed on her chest, burning as a hand slipped into her pocket but she grabbed it without much trouble, feeling the transfer of Isis to him. Her eyes glowed gold as she smiled, letting him shiver as he took on the goddess Isis without realising.

"Sorry. Sorry!" He said, standing back as he pulled his hand away. "I didn't mean to."

"Yes, you did, Egan," She said.

He was shocked, "How do you know my name?"

Dabria nodded to the side, "She told me."

He screamed as the large form of Isis appeared in all her beauty. The white robe was thin and sheer in places as gold pieces of jewellery kept it on her dark body. Gold eyeliner accented her eyes as her ears were slightly pointed.

"Why must they all scream?" She said, sighing.

Egan fell to the floor, trying to scoot away but people just walked around, looking at him like he was crazy.

"Most people don't find themselves Avatars, Isis," Dabria said, walking over to Egan and grabbing him by the arm. She pulled him along with her as she walked. "Walk with me and I'll explain, okay?"

"How? What—" He started as she linked her arm with his. "What was that?"

"That strange woman you're seeing is a goddess. She's Isis, your god," She said, continuing on as no one else was listening to them.

"My god? I'm not religious, I'm not even Catholic!" He snapped.

She shook her head, "It doesn't matter. A god is a god and you now have Isis. You are her Avatar, her human vessel. She will request things of you, to do this and that. It shouldn't be too much since she is a fair god."

"And… and what about you? You're like me now then? An—an Avatar?"

"I've been an Avatar for many years. It's easier than you think. You aren't a servant, you are an extension of them," She said. "I'm Dabria, Avatar of Anubis."

"Egan, Egan Romano," He huffed out as he tripped over something but righted himself quickly. "How does this all work? Isis keeps chattering in my ear. Can anyone else hear her?"

"Not unless she wills it," Dabria could hear the whispers of Isis in Egan's ear, telling him his new duty. She promised a lot and he would get it all as long as he did as requested. She would never demand him to do something she knew he would be completely against.

It wasn't Dabria's job to get the new Avatars used to their duties. All she needed to do was get them the gods and transfer them over, finishing each part of her mission when she found and touched them once.

With two out of five people done, she had a choice between going to America now or going to Japan. She decided on the latter.

)(-)(

Moon Knight was in America, on the border between the US and Mexico as they traced the paper trail of one of the Avatars.

The name was Dylan Becerra, a young American-Mexican boy with skills in falconeering and the desire to become a vet. He was in training but he lived in a small town barely north of the American border. He trained with the local vet in his town, getting skills as he worked with falcons at his dad's shop.

It was surprisingly easy to find out stuff about a person in a small town. Jake was able to get intel about the boy without it seeming to be weird, talking to his clients as they sat in the backseat as they drove away from the nearby city to the town.

Jake wanted to find this boy and quickly, getting Horus to him so they could get back to Dabria.

All three of them kept a tab on her as she worked her way through the list, getting through a small list. She found Isis' Avatar, going to Japan to find the second to last.

Khonshu had said that Tefnut's Avatar would be the easiest to find and yet none of the alters had any clue how to find her.

)(-)(

"Are we in the right place?" Steven said curiously, staying in the front of their mind but letting Marc take charge as they walked into the underground place.

"Yeah, this is the place," Marc looked around the huge, dark room, lit in only dark red as people danced on poles on platforms. The room was long with the end holding a big glass platform for people to fight on.

Another man greeted him, sticking out a hand in the American style to shake his, "Specter. Good to see you're alive after all these years."

"Good to see you too, Leon," He said, shaking his old friend's hand. "Who's fighting tonight?"

"Well," Leon smiled, crossing his tattooed arms. They were full of Yakuza tattoos from shoulder to the wrist as his arms were bare. "We've got a couple newcomers. Even got a couple women fighting too. Bossman was surprised when he heard you were coming into town."

Marc shrugged, "I've got business here so I thought to drop in."

"Yeah? Business with who?"

"A man named Dakuyo,"

Leon looked at him like he had two heads, "Shit, man. What do you want with him?"

"Private business,"

He patted his friend on the back, "Good luck getting an audience with him. He's tougher to talk to than anyone else I know."

"You know him?" Marc asked.

"I know of him," Leon shrugged. "Everyone does. He's got contacts all over the world. If you've heard of him, he's heard of you. Look, one of the fights started. Do you want to take a look at the roster? Bet on anyone?"

Marc made a face but Steven's little voice telling him to check something made him agree. He scanned the tablet he was given, seeing each name and their opponent on the screen. He scanned them twice over before his eyes landed on one.

Jackal.

"Could that be?" Steven asked.

Jake nodded, "Has to be."

"Maybe," Marc mumbled. Before he asked Leon, "Who's Jackal?"

"Newcomer," He said, picking up a drink from one of the moving waitresses in n skimpy outfits. "She's never fought here before but since Dakuyo has heard about her from somewhere, she was allowed to fight. She's done about five fights so far, never breaking a sweat. Right badass with such a nice ass to boot."

Marc's hand twitched, making him clench it so he didn't deck Leon across the face for how he spoke of her.

Leon shrugged his arm over Marc's shoulders, guiding him towards a set of seats set higher than the ground where people watched the fight. They could still see but they weren't crowded by other people around them.

He watched the fights, waiting until the Jackal was introduced after her opponent.

She was gorgeous.

Hair put into two dutch braids, she had thin eyeliner on and wore the tightest pair of black shorts and sports bra he had ever seen on a person. Her hands were covered in black wrapping tape, keeping her knuckles protected. She had on boots too.

She didn't wear the watch she usually did, but she kept on the Ankh necklace with the ring on it, tucking it into her sports bra to protect it some.

Her opponent was double her weight and had a couple inches on her. Since she defeated all of the other women and the weaker males, she was put against the tougher ones, working her way through them like she was swatting flies off a wall.

To watch her fight was to watch a predator stalk its prey. They circled each other first, keeping their eyes on each other.

The eyes were a better indication of what was going to happen next than the body, after all, the eyes were the window to the soul and that was true, letting her dodge the first punch he threw by stepping back and bending down a little.

Her opponent had much more power in his arms and legs than she did.

A single minute into the fight, it was obvious she had much more patience than he did.

He went for her again, this time going for her left shoulder but she moved her left side back just enough to feel the impact of his hit. As he rebalanced himself on his feet, drawing his hand back, she set a kick to his waist and then a sharp jab to his shoulder before she had to duck a punch from him.

The crowd was cheering them on, betting and booing as each fought. Marc and Steven just watched them fight silently, alert to each punch and kick.

His lack of patience made it so that she had to act quickly to dodge every punch and kick he sent next. A solid kick landed on her hip, making her hiss. She returned it with a swift uppercut to his jaw since he was close enough when she stepped forward.

She bounced on the balls of her feet, keeping herself moving a little and keeping her adrenaline up.

Steven was cheering on in the reflections of the room, making her glance over in surprise at hearing him. It was her mistake in taking her eyes off her opponent.

He dived for her midsection, grabbing her and bringing her to the ground with ease. She jabbed her knees up as he did so, getting him in the chin with one before she was on her back.

He straddled her hips, his hands drawing back to hit her but she brought her knees into his back and jabbed both fists into his stomach simultaneously. He jolted and paused to hunch over in pain for a second before he recovered. It was barely enough time for her to sit up a little and get him to sit on her thighs instead of her hips.

He punched her across the face, sharp and quick to stun her. He sent another to her face as he balanced on his knees to do so. He was stupid to balance on his knees, getting better aim and access to her face but it left him vulnerable

She grabbed him by the front of each shoulder of his t-shirt, balling it up firmly in her fists before using one knee against his back and the other foot to push her lower body off the ground. She pulled and pushed him above her, making him fall onto the area above her head and letting her stand up before he could react.

She planted her foot into his stomach once, twice, thrice, making sure to get him good.

Blood dripped down her face, most from her nose, some from her split cheekbone but otherwise she was fine. She would have bruises but at least they were earned.

She stepped out of the way when he got up, not letting him get within a foot of her just in case he decided to sweep her feet from under her.

It took him a good few seconds to get up.

She got into stance as he charged at her, too much like a bull seeing red. She sidestepped him but his arm went out and caught one of her hands. He pulled hard and she felt her shoulder pop painfully.

It was the first sign of a possible dislocation.

He pulled her closer, probably already having enough of the fight as he reached for her shoulder.

No.

He reached for her throat with one hand, punching her in the face with the other before using the other on her throat too.

He was choking her.

Marc felt something in him tighten, anger in his belly as Steven swore and waved vulgarly at him.

She tried to fight his grip. He was stronger but she wasn't using her powers.

There wasn't much she could do that would be allowed but since he was already going against the rules, so she was.

Driving her fingers into his jugular notch, she curled them inwards so they hit just behind the sternum. It could hurt a lot, also disrupting his breathing enough that his grip loosened just enough.

Her knee hit his balls almost instantly, making him let go completely before he collapsed onto his knees and she drove his head into her knee for good measure. When he was on the ground, she kicked him in the stomach again.

Her bottom lip was split, bleeding.

She spat at him as the crowd cheered her on.

"That's the fight over, ladies and gentlemen!" The referee shouted, coming into the cage. "Jackal has won her fight once again tonight!"

The referee grabbed her hand, pulling it upwards in triumph as everyone shouted and hollered as they either won or lost their bets.

She shouted in triumph too, looking more like a lioness that had just killed her prey with how her eyes faintly glowed gold.

"Where's she going now?" Marc asked as she left the stage.

"She's probably off to see Dakuyo. He likes to meet the winners of each night, especially if they beat his best fighter," Leon said.

Marc scoffed, "That was his best fighter?"

"Yep. She handed him his ass. Choking isn't allowed. We want to watch fights, not people die." Leon gestured upwards to a small balcony, Dabria suddenly appeared with a middle-aged man, shaking his hand as her eyes glowed gold and transferred over Osiris to him.

"Thanks," Marc said.

"How the hell are we gonna get up there?" Steven asked as Marc left the small platform and got onto the ground again.

Marc hid in the drunk and high crowd, shifting to be Moon Knight as he launched himself at a wall, using it as a launchpad to the balcony. It didn't take much for him to get up there but the guards were frantic as he landed.

"Not very subtle," Dabria laughed, turning to Dakuyo. "This is another Avatar. He is Khonshu's."

Dakuyo bowed a little, making Marc do the same in respect before he stuck a hand out. He had a slight accent as he spoke, mostly from Japanese being his mother tongue, "I am Dakuyo."

"Marc,"

"Well," Dabria began. "I best get going. Marc, I've already explained to Dakuyo what's happening so you don't have to worry."

"Good. I took care of one of the Americans," He said, watching her eyebrows rising in surprise.

"Yeah?" She asked. "Which one?"

"Dylan, Horus' Avatar,"

"Okay, good. I've got one left then," She muttered to herself.

"No, I'm going to help you." He turned to Dakuyo. "Excuse us."

"Of course, Mr Specter," He nodded, sitting down as Marc pulled Dabria over to the side.

She pulled her arm out of his grip, shrinking on a shirt that a guard passed to her. "What's wrong?"

"Why did you just leave last time?" He asked. "We came back and you weren't there."

"That was the point," She hissed under her breath. "I don't need your help or your pity."

He looked confused, "Pity? You don't have our pity, Dabria. You have our sympathy. Being an Avatar against someone's will isn't something I want to force onto anyone. These people have choices that they can discuss with their gods. You don't."

"I fucking know I don't have any choices, Marc. You don't need to remind me."

"Come on," He said, running a hand through his hair. "You must be hungry. Let's get something to eat and talk."

"Fine," She huffed, turning on her heels. "But I get to choose the place."

He sighed in relief, laughing a little, "Fine."

"And you're paying."

"Alright." He smiled. "Anything else?"

She glared at him.