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- Private Jet of Helena Douglas -
A splitting headache and an immense feeling of regret greeted Zack as he slowly began to regain consciousness.
"I gotta stop drinking." he thought to himself bitterly as he tried to force his mind to wake up alongside his body.
Wincing, he gingerly rose from the leather seated recliner that acted as his makeshift bed, cursing to whatever god that was listening to his suffering and doing nothing to stop it. He tried desperately to not move too quickly, every ripple of movement more than enough to make him want to vomit, making him curing even more when it became clear to him that whatever god that had ignored his pain and suffering was far more content to chastise him for the overindulgence of booze of the night before.
The fact that he couldn't even get a few hours of sleep in an actual bed didn't exactly help either. Sleeping on a plane was an annoyance, one that not even the insane levels of the luxury of Helena's private pet could fully fix. Especially when forced to spend 15 hours stuck in the air and passing through different time zones as he did. He barely even knew what time it was at this point, only knowing that he could still see blue skies.
But he could have been sleeping on a cloud and it wouldn't have changed his mood. After a night going shot for shot with Brad" Weapons of Mass Intoxication "Wong, getting a semblance of a good night's sleep was nearly impossible.
Zack could feel the vomit rise up in his throat at the thought of another shot of anything, let alone whatever swill Brad had convinced him to drink the night before. Thankfully for both him and his liver, he had the genius idea to drink glasses of water in between polishing off bottle after bottle of alcohol and was luckily spared the level of hangover only a night of drinking with Brad could apply.
Which meant while he felt like someone had stabbed him in the back of his head with a screwdriver and felt the need to sleep for another 12 hours, he didn't feel like he was dying...which was an improvement over the last time he went drink for drink with the kung fu fighter. The night where they both ended up in that Turkish prison for just "Trying to have a good time" as Brad put it, was something he desperately wanted to avoid repeating.
"I'm never drinking whiskey again." he thought, his eyes burning as they adjusted back to the Synetic light of the jet plane, grimacing to himself when he saw Brad lounging on one of the leather couches, watching god knew what on one of the jets many flat-screen TVs. The fact that the Chinese fighter seemed to be enjoying a "morning drink" doing little to put him at ease.
Somehow, Brad had woken up before him, or more likely than not had not even bothered to stop his drinking long enough to sleep. The empty bottles at his feet that weren't there when Zack called it a night, as well as the dumb smile on his face, was enough evidence Zack needed to believe it was the later. But to Brad's credit, he pulled off the functioning drunk act well when he needed to.
"Good morning sunshine." Brad said raising his glass in mock salute, "I was worried I was going to have to drink all by myself."
"Where's..." Zack asked, his voice slurring slightly, as his mind tried desperately to wake itself up, but without a cold shower and a hot cup of coffee, there was little chance of that happening.
"Your girl?" Brad asked watching Zack shuffle towards the onboard kitchen to get a glass of the coffee Elliot had made earlier," Yeah she and Elliot are held up in the master bedroom, something about a movie with a boy wizard going back in time or something. I'm not going to lie, I wasn't paying attention..."
His voice drifted off when he noticed the look on his friend's face.
"Hey Zack, are you..." Brad paused, questioning whether getting his comrades' attention was the most intelligent thing to do when he had a glint in his eyes like that. "Okay?"
No, he was not "Okay"
No, that would be putting it lightly.
In fact, if Zack was completely honest with himself, he would say he was just about ready to lose the trademark cool that had made him the household name he was. And the reason for all this? The reason he was about to scream and shout in anger? The reason why he was in such a foul mood?
The reason was about five feet seven inches tall, weighed about a hundred and thirty pounds and was currently watching the third harry potter movie with his main girl.
Zack thought of the duo with a grimace. He couldn't blame Nickie in the way she was acting. Growing up an only child in a family with not enough money to go around and parents far too busy trying to make ends meet to spend time home, the prospect of having a little brother or a little sister quickly became the only thing she ever wanted.
Even now "Big Sis" Nickie as she called herself had made it her mission to be the best friend and confidant of every little cousin her aunts and uncles could throw at her and the go-to godmother and favorite aunt for most of the growing list of her friends' kids. She even picked up the habit of pulling that act with kids she wasn't even related to if those donations to the "Big Sisters of America" was any indication.
That girl's biological clock was ticking like the god damn doomsday clock.
Which was how Elliot had inadvertency monopolized Nickie's time ever since he and Brad had attached themselves to their little party of two.
Gone where the romantic candlelight dinners for two, gone were the midnight strolls under the moonlight, and certainly gone were the high-stake poker games with his "lucky charm" draped lovingly over his arms while she cheered his name on his way to win big. No. Those days were long gong. Buried and dead.
Now his days were filled with amusement parks and shopping trips to improve young Elliot's rather limited wardrobe. Their nights filled with marathons of movies Nickie "just had to show Elliot" and binge-watching shows that "Elliot would just love." And don't even get him started on the advice on girls he had overheard over the past few days. How to talk to girls, what to wear when talking to girls, how to treat girls on dates, how NOT to treat girls on dates. Seriously, Zack was pretty sure he knew more about how to talk to teenage girls then it was legally allowed for a man his age to know.
Zack ground his teeth in frustration, just about to verbalize his thoughts on the matter when he noticed a steaming pot of coffee brewing silently in the onboard kitchen.
Coffee brewed by the same kid he was just about to spew insult after insult against.
Shit...now he felt bad.
Gulping down the bitter drink, Zack found his mood improving, if only by a little. It's not like he could blame the kid for taking up Nickie's attention now that he thought about it. A young kid like him getting the attention of a girl like Nickie?
Hormones were a terrible thing for a guy his age Afterall. That girl was like a hurricane whenever she put her mind to something, and the prospect of being an "older sister" to the British teen was just too good for not to try. The kid was just unlucky enough to find himself in her crosshairs. Besides, Zack thought to himself as he took yet another sip of his beverage, the way that boy was shaking like a leaf with each hug and chaste kiss he received from the older woman, he was sure the kid wouldn't know what to do with a woman even if he was given an instruction manual.
And considering the fact that he heard the name "Ayane" get thrown around whenever conversations regarding girls popped up, he knew that the teenage hormones were being directed at a much more suitable target.
Yep, he had absolutely nothing to worry about.
An opinion shared by his former drinking companion, who in an attempt to find a way to shift Zacks thoughts away from his young traveling companion, began flipping through channels on the plasma tv which dominated the opposing wall on, hoping to find something, anything that could further calm Zack down from whatever dark mood he was experiencing.
"Good evening, I'm Alexa Lavender and this is D.O.A. News Network, the most trusted name in global news, and with the opening ceremony of the sixth official "Dead or Alive" tournament only a few weeks away, the anticipation has hit a fever pitch as speculation..."
"Oh, for love of god turn that off," Zack said from his seat on the couch, almost spitting out his coffee at the mere mention of DOA or anything resembling his job responsibilities." The last thing I need to hear about is work."
Brad, the smug bastard he was, shot him a small smile, almost relishing the situation Zack found himself in. He always had the same look on his face whenever someone else had felt the after-effects of a shared bender. lLke it was somehow possible for someone else to have the alcohol tolerance as the drunken master.
"The man has gin and sake going through his veins instead of blood." Zack thought to himself bitterly, the coffee trying to fight the uphill battle that was his hangover.
"Awe what's wrong Zacky" the Chinese man slurred, a glass of the same amber liquid filled to the brim in his hand," I don't remember you being such a lightweight."
I ain't no damn lightweight." Zack said, before growling to himself from the strain." I just drank too much on an empty stomach is all."
"Oh, I believe you all right." Brad said as he pointed with his free hand to his face." Do you see this face? This is the face of a man who believes you."
Despite being so insufferable, Brad at least had enough decency in his body to follow Zack's request, flipping the channel before stopping after glimpsing a familiar face flashing on the screen.
"OH MY GOD! WHAT A BODYSLAM BY MR STRONG! HE'S GOING TO THE TOP ROPE " the voice of the announcer spoke, his voice barely audible over the thunderous roar of the crowd.
The masked wrestler on-screen mounted the top rope of the ring, his massive frame straining the corner post as he pushed his body up towards the sky, before plummeting onto his unfortunate opponent below, crashing every single ounce of his 345-pound bulk onto the now unconscious wrestler as the crowd of onlookers exploded in cheers.
"...Hey Zack, does Bass not know we all know it's him under that mask?" Brad asked as he stared at the tv screen in front of him.
"He was never the sharpest knife in the drawer," Zack answered, finishing the remaining coffee from his cup before refilling it," We all kind of decided to just let him pretend he got one over on everyone. Tina once said it was just easier to let the old man think he was "smarter than your average bear" instead of dealing with the fallout from when he got mad. The man was like a damn bull in a china shop whenever he got embarrassed or upset."
"But," Brad said trying to find the right words. "Isn't he just going be that much madder when he finds out that none of us were fooled and we let him look like an idiot for so long?"
"..." Zack paused for a moment, not fully knowing how to answer the question. He knew more than most just how dangerous a pissed off Bass Armstrong could be, especially when he thinks he's been made a fool of. But this? Over a year of pretending to be a different person, constructing an over the top and borderline embarrassing persona to remain incognito then finding out his "clever plan" was as obvious to see through as that American flag bandana he uses to cover his bald spot?
He was going to straight-up murder, someone.
And Zack had a weird feeling that he was going to be the unfortunate "someone."
"...We're just going to have to cross that bridge when we get to it." Zack said, his voice cracking slightly at the thought of a pissed off pro wrestler crushing him in his anchor sized arms. "It's never a good idea to antagonize a man the size of a truck."
Brad didn't retort, something that Zack found odd. Brad never missed an opportunity to comment in regards to Zacks less than Stellar relationship with the members of the Armstrong wrestling clan. In fact, the look on Brad's face was one of the most serious looks Zack could ever remember seeing on the man.
Gone was the cloud of drunkenness that hung over Brad like a security blanket and in its place was the thousand-eyed stare of a man who Zack rarely ever saw. It was Brad Wong when he had something to prove to someone.
"Yeah," Brad said looking at the glass in his hands with the same odd look on his face. "Not the type of guy you want to start something with over nothing."
Zack had seen this before, but he didn't think he'd get used to it. Over the past couple of days, he found Brad, and even Elliot when he had managed to get a break from Nickie, get all quiet and serious whenever the mention of the mysterious man who beat them down was brought up. They looked like someone had insulted their respected sensei's and challenged them to an honor dual on top of a mountain to settle some century-old blood feud.
Real "Enter the Dragon" and "Fists of Fury" type of stuff.
At first, the story of some "angry giant" physically dismantling the two of them was crazy talk, just another tall tale Brad was known to drunkenly make up from time to time. Zack had seen Brad take out dudes more than twice his size will nothing more than his bare hands and a drunken lisp. He and the kid both could clear a room filled with tough guys and street fighters out before Brad finished his first drink.
So the story about how one dude, no matter how big he may have been, is enough to take out the both of them? At the same time? Within the span of a couple of minutes? It was too crazy for him to even entertain. Which said allot considering he was pretty sure he got abducted by aliens.
But now?
Seeing both of them have moments where an 80's sports movie usually would play a training montage over? It made him wonder.
"Alright," Zack thought to himself, before taking the remote out of his distracted companion's hand and changing the channel right before Bass delivered a powerbomb to his opponent through what he assumed was the announcers' table. "That's unsettling."
"Good evening I'm Fei Benli and this is Hong Kong Today" the attractive Asian woman shuffled through papers, trying to control the range of emotions flashing through her face. Fear, horror, nervousness, all shifted through her face in the span of only a few moments." Our top story this evening continues to be the bombing of the Golden Empress Hotel that occurred just several hours ago."
"That doesn't sound good," Brad said, his tone regaining some of its usual lusters as the news anchor continued to rattle off details of the event that seemed to hold the whole of Hong Kong on edge.
The video changed again to show amateur footage. The shaky camera phone footage cut out a moment after an explosion shattered dozens of windows near the top floor. The frightened shout of the camera's holder doing little to distract from the horror of the situation.
The video shifted to the young reporters' face once again. Her face trying to remain detached and impassive, despite the underlining nervousness clear on her face." Reports indicate the sound of gunshots were heard before the explosion, and that the bodies of several men were found dead in their hotel rooms. Authorities believe these events to be connected."
"...Hey Zack?" Brad asked, his voice sounding far more distant to Zack's ears then it should have.
"Yeah, Brad?" Zack replied, his voice sounding allot hollower then Brad ever remembered it sounding in his many years of acquittance with the self-taught Maui Thai boxer.
"Doesn't that hotel belong to Lei Feng's family?" he asked, already knowing the answer to his question.
"Yeah..." Zacks answered quickly, His tone unwavering despite its hollow sound. "It is"
"The same hotel she, Hitomi, and Kankuro are staying at?" Brad reiterated, almost trying now to get the man beside him to react to the news in front of him.
"Yeah"
"The same hotel we're going to when we land? "Brad said again looking directly at his companion, slightly unnerved now from the hollow voice coming out of his usual bombastic friend.
Zack didn't answer. Only silently placing the still full coffee cup onto the table in front of him before reaching over to Brad and taking his still full glass of whiskey, downing the amber liquid in a single gulp without a word, before placing his head into his hands in despair.
"...Yeah."
-Hong Kong airspace-
"This is command Center to fly bird one. Fly bird one do you copy?"
"This is Fly Bird one, command, we copy."
"Fly Bird One, are you in a position for extraction?"
"Affirmative command, we are ready for pick up. But the package needs to hurry up. Police scanners indicate emergency services are beginning to arrive,"
"The package may be expecting more heat than originally expected, be aware of potential hostiles following close behind the package."
Affirmative on that, command. Guns are locked and loaded for extraction. Commencing operation."
- Golden Empress Rooftop -
The feeling of the warm afternoon sun and the sound of the approaching helicopter was enough to almost put a smile on Christie's face.
Almost.
But as she ducked the incoming strike from the short sword of her pursuer, she came to realize that despite being so physically close to her escape, she was far from being safe and sound.
"Why don't we call it quits Luv," Christie said, the smile on her face as genuine as the hatred in her eyes as she stared at her younger adversary. "My ride is about to arrive and you understand the importance of not keeping the help waiting for too long."
Kasumi glared, whipping a strain of crimson blood from her lip without breaking eye contact with the older woman, the murderous glint in her eyes enough to twist the usual beauty and innocence of her face into a mask Christie half expected to see plastered on a horror movie villain.
"Guess not," Christie said as she ducked low with a sweeping leg, trying to catch the ninja by surprise. An action that proved futile as the younger redhead jumped over her British counterpart, slashing forward with her short blade as she did so.
The stainless steel sliced through the air and would have sliced through the top of Christie's skull if she had not shifted her weight back at the last moment, which while effectively saving her life had the unfortunate consequence of putting her in harm's way of the kunoichi's follow up attack.
She twirled herself around midair, her agility and flexibility putting professional dancers and acrobats to shame, before descending to the ground, feet first onto Christie's face. Kasumi's descending weight crashing onto her jaw wasn't enough, however, as Christie felt the back of her head meet to the concrete floor below, impacting it with enough force to leave cracks into the ground.
Christie's vision blurred, her ears rung, and she felt an uncontrollable urge to empty the contents of her stomach as her body tried to come to terms with the pain it was experiencing. But still, either from years of muscle memory her employment had granted her, or if she was just too stubborn to let herself die, managed to clear her mind quick enough to see Kasumi's blade come down at her. Christie shifted her hips, lifting the lower half of her body off the ground, kicking her left leg upwards, hitting her assailants square in the face with her steel studded boots.
"Hope you swallow a tooth you ginger-haired Slag"
The impact of the blow was enough to send the young ninja back several feet and force her to drop her blade. With the moment of reprieve, Christie rolled onto her stomach, grabbing the short sword as she did so and returned to her, still rather shaky legs.
"Let's see how much you like getting sliced up," Christie said as she swung the blade, swinging more like it was a Billy club or cricket bat then the practiced and more experienced hand of her opponent. Kasumi ducked and weaved around the blade, but wasn't quick enough to dodge the follow-up push kick delivered to her mid-section, sapping whatever air was left in her lungs as she was pushed back towards one of the many commercial-sized air conditioning units that littered the top of the building.
Christie followed close behind, throwing a vicious ax kick at the still dazed kunoichi before her back had hit against the metal casing of the large AC unit. An ax kick that hit nothing but air as Kasumi dropped low to the ground, weaving and dancing through her opponents longer limbs before connecting a crescent kick to the Britons exposed mid-section, connecting perfectly to her liver.
Her poor, poor liver.
"Oh, fuck all kinds of duck." Christie thought to herself as she felt her entire body begin to shut down.
The beauty of human evolution had provided humans several "Buttons" which act as an impromptu off switch for the human body. The liver shot was one source "off" switch. A blow that, when connected, signaled the entire body to just shut down and stopped functioning the way God intended for it too. A sharp pain grew outward throughout christie's body, freezing up every nerve bundle it came across and leaving only pain and misery in its wake. Like hundreds of spider webs drabbed across her body, burning every inch of her body the silk touched.
An old friend, one of the few people alive that Christie could say that about, had once referred it as the closest she would ever get to understanding what getting kicked in the balls felt like for men. Great, now she felt bad for the dozen or so men who, while still deserving something for annoying her, didn't deserve experiencing this!
She dropped the blade and stumbled backward, desperately trying to manually reteach her lungs how to properly breathe in oxygen as she did so. Kasumi stood up, looking more like the ninja killer now then she ever had since their little dance had started.
"It's time to end this" the younger woman had said as she picked the blade of the ground, stalking her downed opponent as she crawled away in a vain attempt to prolong her life. That was until the crafty hitwoman reached into her jacket pocket for her ace in the hole.
Instead of a gun or a knife like Kasumi expected, or any number of other instruments of death that the hitwoman was more than willing and able to use against her, she instead pulled out a box. A simple black box that seemed to put Kasumi on edge from the very sight of it. The box was small, barely larger than the slim hand that held it. Black as tar with deep red highlighting its digital screen. It looked like a bulky smartphone or some sort of wireless digital clock, but in the hands of the most prolific killer Kasumi had ever met, Kasumi could only think of one thing.
A bomb.
A bomb that looked considerably larger and potentially far stronger than any of the small explosives she had used up to this point.
Kasumi paused in her pursuit, knowing full well what could happen to her if she got any closer then she already was. She thought of her options, not know how much time she had before the injured hitwoman did anything rash, but knowing she was relatively safe as long as she was kept her distance. Christie wasn't the type to gamble with her own life just to spite her opponent. and she certainly wouldn't willingly kill herself for Donovan. So as long as she and Christie were this close to one another, Kasumi figured the bomb would only act as a deterrent, something to keep her on edge and make her question her next move and hopefully nothing more. That was until she noticed Christie's eyes travel towards the edge of the building.
She wouldn't.
"You wouldn't" Kasumi pleaded, but knowing full well that the woman in front of her had little to no regard for the lives of others. The smirk on the British woman's face seemed to confirm this as the timer of the bomb flashed in deep red numbers before the Englishwoman tossed it towards the edge of the building.
"NO!" Kasumi shouted as she rushed towards the explosive, not knowing how powerful the block of explosives was, but knowing it would be strong enough to cause death to anyone unfortunate enough to be near it when the timer ticked down to zero. Anyone like the potential dozens of people staying in any number of the hotel rooms below them.
Time seemed to slow down as she pushed herself to go faster, dropping her newly regained sword to the ground to maintain her balance in her mad dash. She slid low to reach the edge the moment the device exited her view. She was so close. Her arms shot downwards, so fast she was sure it was inviable to the naked eye, reaching out to grab the descending package of explosives. Only to feel her fingers gingerly brush against it, as it fell out of her reach.
"No." she muttered to herself as she watched the black brick plummet lower and lower to the ground and further and further away from her.
She had failed.
"Tough luck princess," Christie said, any sign of the breathless mess of pain and discomfort she was but a moment ago was gone as she had picked up the down blade once more, leisurely walking up to the distressed woman." Well, you know what they say about not winning them all and whatnot."
"Have you no honor?" Kasumi said from her downed position, either to herself for her failure or towards Christie for putting her in the situation. She cursed herself mentally, frustrated for not only falling for Christies trick but also for failing at stopping the explosives from plummeting down to the streets below. "To throw the lives of innocent people away is low even for you."
"No one with the smarts to survive my line of work cares about silly things like honor little girl," Christie said with a smirk, leveling the blade at the ninja's throat as the helicopter Donovan had sent for her came into view across the Hong Kong skyline. "It's how you survive as long as I have."
A deafening boom eclipsed whatever Kasumi was about to say to her in rebuttal as she slumped to her knees, overwhelmed by the feeling of both shame for her failure at saving the lives of those she herself had put in harm's way and recognition of what was about to come.
-Meanwhile-
For a moment Lei Feng assumed that she had imagined it.
That the strange sound of fireworks exploding in the distance was just her mind desperately looking for something, anything really, that could distract her from her current situation. Why else would explosions be firing off in her ear?
She kept holding onto that belief until she heard yet another light boom fill her ears, now loud enough to cause the people around her to react to them as well. The silence of the room was deafening, as all conversation seemed to stop as guests and workers alike stared at one another in a questioning manner. Another boom that seemed louder than the two before followed a rumble from above them, shaking the crystal chandler and causing more than a few guests to stand from their tables.
It was at that exact moment Lei Feng knew something terrible was about to happen.
"GET AWAY FROM THE.."
But it was too late.
A wall of fire erupted from the outside, leaving the wall of windows of the terrace shattered into a million pieces, sending countless shards of broken glass towards the room's occupants like it was a pipe bomb. Many of whom weren't as quick as Lei Feng.
She had ducked low throwing herself under the table she had wasted her afternoon sitting behind, using the now overturned table to shield herself from the eruption of shrapnel coming towards her. She braced her shoulder against the hardwood, allowing no give for the table to push away from her as she waited for the sound of falling glass to settle before returning to stand.
Despite a few nips and cuts to her dress, she had managed to avoid any physical damage. But as the glass settled onto the floor the sounds of explosions and shattering windows were soon replaced by the shouts and pained groans, and the weeps and cries of fear. Blood spattered against the tiles of the floor, as every person that Lei Feng could see was left injured.
She saw a waiter, a young man Lei Feng knew had started working to help pay for his college tuition, with a shard of glass the size of his hand sticking out of his bloody black pants being helped up by one of the bartenders and place gingerly from the floor. Another, a young woman who seemed to have suffered alongside Lei Feng during the event was bleeding from her head, half her ear looking like it would fall off with the slightest pressure.
A daze fell over most of the room, people too in shock to fully understand what had happened to them let alone try and help either themselves or other people. Then the rumbling happened again. This time louder and far more violently. So violent in fact the crystal chandelier shook and rattled from the ceiling, groaning with each violent shake. Right above the dazed form a young woman trying desperately to stand with what must have been a sprained ankle from her fall to the floor.
"GET OUT OF THE WAY." Lei Feng screamed as she ran towards the woman, as yet another shake, the strongest and longest so far, ripped the chandler off its foundation. Time seemed to slow down as the realization appeared on the bystander's face before she was pushed out of harm's way by the Chinese heiress throwing herself at her the moment before the light fixture collided with the ground.
Great." Lei Feng thought to herself as she stood up from the ground with a now broken heel. "I knew I shouldn't have worn these shoes."
She really loved those heels to and the girl currently grabbing onto her for dear life and crying didn't make her feel any better about the whole situation. The panicking of the rooms other occupants didn't help either. For better or worse, Lei Feng saving the life of the young woman had shocked the people out of whatever haze they were in, which in hindsight was good. But now they seemed fully aware of the life or death situation they were in and they reacted the way most people reacted when placed in similar situations.
Which was bad.
"WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE!" a man shouted as he crawled on all fours towards the middle of the room, too frightened to even stand up let alone run. A woman who Lei Feng noticed was another attendee of the speed dating event was knocked down to the floor by the same man who had just a few minutes before the explosion had just spoken of the future they were going to have together.
"Not anymore," Lei Feng thought to herself as she helped the crying woman up from the floor.
Another deafening boom only increased the panic in the room, as men and women pushed past one another to get into the limited space of the elevator. One man trying, and failing, to pry the door open when pushing the buttons proved useless.
"The Elevator doesn't work you, idiot." A brash voice spoke over the chaos. A brash voice who Lei Feng knew very well. "Elevators never work in fires. I thought rich people were supposed to be smart."
"Jann Lee! "the Chinese fighter said in joy, completely caught off guard by the arrival of the Jeet Kun Do master. She glided over to him, her excitement at seeing the man quickly turned into concern as she came closer and closer to him. His mid-section was littered with deep bruises of varying shades of black and blue and the way his arm cradled his side made her believe he had more than a few broken ribs as well. One of his legs was swollen and stiff, forcing him to walk slower than his usual long stride and with a noticeable limp that made him stumble slightly more than once.
He looked like he had been gored through a wall by a Rhino.
"What are you doing here!?" Jann Lee shouted looking at her accusingly as he moved, despite the visible damage done to his body his voice still held the strength and energy that she had long since associated with him. "You better not be following me or else..."
"Or else what?" she countered, smirking as Jann Lee stood uncomfortably on his leg as he glared daggers at her. "You're going to bleed on me?"
Jann Lee grunted in response, or at least she thought the sound that he made was a grunt, honestly, she couldn't be too sure whatever left Jann Lee's mouth were words or general sounds whenever he looked as annoyed as he did now. Which certainly didn't bode well for their interaction if he was already this annoyed. The screams and shouts of the people surrounding them probably didn't help his mood either.
"WILL YOU WIMPS SHUT UP FOR ONE GODDAMN SECOND! I AM TRYING TO HAVE A CONVERSATION HERE!" Jann Lee shouted, his visible anger doing nothing to calm the chaos around him.
Correction, Lei Feng noted, the shouts and screams of the people surrounding them certainly was not helping his mood. Incidentally, his mood wasn't helping the situation either. Turns out yelling at people to stop yelling only seems to increase the number of people yelling, Lei Feng thought, who knew?
Another boom erupted, sending everyone into a fresh round of hysterics until Lei Feng noticed something was different about this one. This one didn't seem to come from above them as much as it came from behind them, and it was far less of an explosion and more of a deep thud echoing across the floor of the high-top restaurant. It was followed by an identical sound only a moment later. Footsteps from something heavy.
"Calm down." a thundering voice filled the room, overshadowing every other voice in came into contact with despite the relatively relaxed tone of the speakers' voice. A voice that demanded the authority and attention of every person in the room.
Lei Feng turned, seeing one of the biggest human beings she had ever seen in her life, step through the same broken door frame Jann Lee had entered from moments prior. His tall and massive form casting shadows over the small fires that littered the room, making the room feel darker despite being mid-day.
The effect of his presence was instantaneous.
The screaming and shouting stopped, with the only sound in the room coming from the ragged breaths of its occupants and the sound of breaking glass under footsteps as he walked closer, seemingly unaware of the chaos and tension surrounding the room.
"The elevators are unsafe." The man said, his voice rattling the room as much as the explosions from before, "There is an emergency staircase that will bring you down to safety."
"B-but..." a man said, gripping the limp form of his injured coworker hard against his chest. "We're nearly 70 floors up! You can't expect us to get down in time."
"You'll be fine." the giant man said, his voice losing a bit of the edge it once spoke with, not enough to make him sound any less powerful but just enough for the people to notice. "The explosives used aren't strong enough to harm the structural integrity of the building. If you take your time and if you move orderly, you'll all get out of here safely."
That gave Lei Feng pause as she turned away to see the still rattled and panicked faces of the people around her. He was right, Afterall, these explosions, as frightening to experience as they were, couldn't hope to bring the skyscraper down. That knowledge didn't seem to help calm them however if their hesitant movements were any indication.
"You're right." She admitted, looking up at the large man." These people need to get out of harm's way before whoever is behind this decides to use stronger bombs."
Jann Lee shifted, scratching the side of his nose as he looked away from her. Looking more like a child who had found his Christmas presents early than any other person Lei Feng had ever seen. Which said allot considering she knows both Hitomi and Kokoro on a personal level, and those two had the childlike innocence act down to an art form.
"Yeah... I may have some ...information on who might be the cause of all this." Jann Lee said, his voice trailing off when he noticed Lei Feng stared at him, her gaze bearing down on him more and more as time went on.
"Oh do tell," Lei said crossing her arms under her ample breasts, no longer caring if she was making a show out of herself at the moment. "What kind of trouble did you manage to bring to MY FAMILIES hotel."
The young man paused for a moment, either trying to find the right words to say or trying to psych himself up to the task before him. It seemed to the later as he responded to the question with a single word.
"It's Christie."
Lei Feng paused. Her breath catching in her throat as if the world itself seemed to stop spinning around her. What the hell was Christie doing here? And why the hell was she trying to blow up her family's hotel? And why was it Jann Lee's fault that this was happening?
"WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?!" Lei Feng shouted grabbing hold on Jann Lee by the scuff of his neck, sounding more like a mother scolding a child who had been caught playing with fireworks then she wanted to, but it seemed to become her default when dealing with Jann Lees shenanigans."WHY ARE YOU TRYING TO FIGHT CHRISTIE HERE OF ALL PLACES!?"
"Well Kasumi and me..."
"Why are you with Kasumi!?"
"Enough. "the huge man said getting between the arguing martial artists before Lei Feng decided to throttle the still injured Jann Lee." We have more important things to worry about than whatever issues you two seem to have with each other."
"Now hold on for one second." Lei Feng said, letting go of the still injured Jann Lee for a moment and stepping closer to the man who had seemingly taken control of the room by sheer willpower and presence alone." Who do you think you are telling me what to do?"
The man turned to look at her, the steel and weight radiating from his eyes made her, and most of the people still in the shattered glass filled restaurant flinch. For a moment Lei Feng thought of stepping down from the argument, but only for a moment.
"Who I am isn't important," the man said, his thundering voice easily gaining the complete attention of everyone in the room, "What is important is that every person in this room is in danger and they need to get out of here before you two have a screaming match with each other."
Lei Feng paused and tried to collect herself. Again, she found herself agreeing with the man before her. Deciding to start another heated argument with Jann Lee of all people wasn't going to stop whoever was setting off explosions above them and it certainly wouldn't get these people somewhere safe. She couldn't let Jann Lee drag her down to his own immature level, especially when people were still in danger.
"Okay, you're right." Lei Feng started, nodding to herself as she mentally rattled off each and every possible exit strategy she could think to get to the hotels first floor as quickly as possible. "One of us should accompany these people though. Just in case."
The giant man nodded, a single incline of his head that gave Lei Feng the satisfaction of knowing he was in complete agreement with her. Jann Lee smirked, looking at Lei Feng with the same smug look on his face whenever he felt he had caught her in a mistake.
"So good of you to volunteer for the job of babysitting." He said as he stepped closer to the huge man, gesturing to the stranger with a level of familiarity that seemed to be one-sided if the impervious expression on the huge man's face was any indication. " While we take care of Christie."
Lei Feng, to her considerable surprise, didn't think she could be more annoyed at Jann Lee than she already was when he admitted to purposely starting a conflict with the most dangerous assassin in the world, effectively starting a cheesy action movie at her father's hotel, putting countless innocent people at risk. But it turns out she was learning so many new things about herself today, as she glared at the smug face of the Jeet Kune Do specialist with an intensity she didn't think was possible before today.
But instead of verbally assaulting the idiot man child in front of her, she instead spoke to the strange man next to him, who Lei Feng was right seemed to have far more common sense in his head then his younger counterpart.
"You can't take Jann Lee with you," Lei Feng said, her tone more annoyed at her old companions' impulsiveness than the feeling of being left out. Jann Lee looked at her with the same blazing eyes he wore whenever he felt he was being disrespected, especially in the rare instances where he couldn't solve his problems with his fists. The large man, however, looked at her silently, waiting for her to finish her thought before interjecting.
A man after her own heart.
" He can't even stand up straight," She said pointing to the already dark welts around Jann Lees exposed torso and his cut up and bruised face. "All he'll do is slow you down."
The man said nothing but looked towards Jann Lee with a critical eye.
"Hey." Jann Lee huffed as he shifted his weight back onto his swollen lead leg, trying to show that the pain could not and would not dissuade him. "What's that supposed to mean?!"
"Jann Lee, look at yourself." The heiress said as she turned towards her childhood crush. Lighting tapping his leg with her foot causing him to almost buckle onto the floor "You're barely standing! You're in no shape to go running into another fight like a fool."
"Who are you calling a Fool!?" the young man said in a heated tone, his eyes blazing with the renewed energy of a man incensed from insults.
"The child who's trying to argue with me through broken ribs! That's who." Lei Feng said nonchalantly, trying to remain above an emotional outburst, but failing to the well-trained eye of some of the rooms spectators.
"HOLD IT!" the huge man shouted, the power and authority radiating from the man more than enough to stop the two arguing fighters, as well as the frightened bystanders, dead in their tracks. Like a drill instructor controlling his trainees, he seemed to take command of the room as he walked closer to the two martial artists.
"There's no time for this type of attitude," he said, not even bothering to control the baritone of his voice as he talked, giving the illusion that his voice may have played a role in shacking the room several moments before. "You say you know how to get to the roof quickly?"
Lei Feng shook herself out of the stupor the huge man's reprimand at placed her in when she realized he was speaking to her. She smiled to herself, turning away from the still somewhat subdued face of Jann Lee as it slowly shifted to one of indignation.
"I know this hotel like the back of my hand." She said with as much strength she could muster in her voice. "You tell me where we need to go and I can get us there."
The huge man shifted his eyes to Jann lee, his stare enough to wipe the indignation off his face and to placate the young man of whatever less than savory thoughts he must have had at the idea of being left out of the days' climax.
"I need you to get these people out of here." the large man said, cutting off the barrage of complaints and questions from the younger man before he even said a word. "You can help these people more than you can help me now."
"If you think for one second, I'm going to babysit a bunch of..." Jann Lee paused for a moment, several emotions flashing over his face before settling in acceptance as he looked around the room at the men and women he was to help escape. "Fine I'll do it, but I want you to know I'm going to complain about it the whole time I'm doing it."
Lei Feng stood still, a bit more shocked by the fact that Jann Lee would willingly not join in a fight after only a few words said by the stranger then she would admit aloud. Especially after the heated argument she and he were revving up to have only moments before. Lei Feng's thoughts were dashed however when she noticed the man's intense stare was directed at her.
"If you come with me, you're to say behind me at all times."
"Now you listen here." Lei Feng said, looking up at the face of the mountain of a man, "This is my family's hotel, and these people are my responsibility."
If someone was putting the lives of those entrusted to the Feng family in danger, then it was up to her as the only member of the Feng family present to put a stop to them. She wasn't going to let this stranger look down at her and treat her like she was a child. She was done being treated like a piece of decoration by men for one day.
"And if there's someone here endangering my family's reputation, then I'm going to stop them," she said as she poked the huge man into his chest. "Not you."
The man didn't say anything, and for a brief moment looked at her with a blank expression on his face, something that Lei Feng could help but find unnerving. Despite the confidence, she held in her abilities, there was something about the man before her that made her blood run wild., and it wasn't just the rugged features of his face either.
She wasn't the only one to feel that she was sure. The room's occupants looked between the two of them in silence, the sight of a young beauty in a sapphire blue and gold Qipao dress speaking up to the giant of a man must have been a shock to many of the more traditional guests. But it was the fact that Jann Lee, the same Jann Lee who would start a street fight with ninjas at the drop of a hat, was looking towards her with a look of shock on his face that made her worry.
Just who was this man to make Jann "I'm going to fight that guy" Lee think twice about talking back to him?!
Despite her internal thoughts, she remained outwardly calm, looking up at the man with an almost challenging look in her eye, silently judging his character by his next words in some sort of unspoken test. Words she would later admit to herself he passed with flying colors.
"We don't know how many targets are out there How many of them are armed, or if we're heading into a trap." He said, listing off the reasons her actions were foolish like she hadn't thought of all this herself. "I may not be able to protect you up there."
"I'm not some wallflower who needs a man to protect her." Lei Feng said, standing taller than she did moments prior despite removing her heels. She stared at the man in front of her, feeling like a rock climber about to tackle a mountain.
"Never said you were." the man said, his deep baritone voice booming over her. He looked silently at for a moment, as if he was in the middle of a conversation that Lei Feng wasn't aware of, but responded to her before she could ask.
"Okay." He said simply, turning to walk towards the staircase leading to the roof, before turning to see that Lei Feng was not following him" Are you coming or not."
Lei fen felt herself smile, mentally checking herself off in the win column as she walked past a still stunned Jann Lee and joined the towering man waiting for her.
"I'll lead."
- Golden Empress Rooftop -
It was times like this, moments away from victory when Christie truly felt alive.
"Oh, relax princess," Christie said, her tone light and calm despite the continued need to catch her breath. "You have nothing to worry about."
The kunoichi stared up at her from her knees, eyes filled with defiance despite facing what she assumed was her death. That was one thing Christie had to hand it to all the shinobi she had encountered throughout her Association with Donovan, they had balls, even the young woman before her, all of five feet and smelling of strawberry-scented shampoo, had more balls than any of the mercenaries and soldiers of fortune she had the unfortunate pleasure of meeting throughout her professional life.
"Says the murderous psycho holding a sword to my throat," Kasumi said as she raised her arms up over her head as she stood up. Her voice never wavering despite the sharpened steel so close to her neck.
Christie smiled again when she saw it.
Guts.
Moxy.
A certain level of audacity to stand defiant at whatever the world seems to throw at you. It was a feature that Christie found important. A feature that most of the sheep of the world seemed to lack as they found themselves going about their day to day lives.
Christie could call the shinobi a lot of things. Allot of colorful, descriptive, and admittedly immature things. But being cowardly was not one of them.
"Big words coming from the girl whose sword I'm holding," Christie said, tilting her head in a mock show of innocence. "I never thought you'd be the type of girl to bring a sword to a fistfight. What would Ryu think about such a "dishonorable" action."
"The women strapped with explosives and grenades is complaining about me using weapons."
Christie paused, twisted her lip upwards in realization.
"Touche"
"If you going to kill me then get it over with. " Kasumi said, her voice as strong as iron as she stared right into Christie's eyes. "I'm not going to give you the satisfaction of begging."
"Kasumi, Kasumi, Kasumi..." Christie laughed, her voice a sing-song quality someone would only use when speaking with the smallest of children. "When are you going to ever learn? I'm a professional, and as a professional I have rules."
"You're the pet assassin of a mad scientist, you throw explosives at innocent bystanders to get what she wants and kills for money," Kasumi said, her tone even and monotone as she stared at Christie. "What rules could you possibly have."
Cheeky tart
"That's rich coming from you princess." Christie said as she moved the blade across the young women's cheek, "the girl trained since she could walk to kill for her clan is mocking me about killing for profit."
Watching the ninja bristle at the accusation was worth almost all the bullshit Christie had suffered throughout the day. How someone so young and naive to the world at large had the nerve to look down on her for her profession. What rock was she living under?
"My clan has a code!" Kasumi said, far more heat in her voice than before and with a fire in her eyes that made Christie think she would do something rash. "They kill for a greater purpose, and only as a last resort."
The honest emotion in Kasumi's voice would have been amusing for Christie to hear if she didn't find it so pathetic. Just another group of people pretending to remain good and honorable by justifying all the terrible things they end up doing. Lying to themselves in order to sleep at night after cleaning the blood from their hands. She honestly was going to throw up if she had the nerve to start talking about "the greater good."
"After all you've seen and experienced in your life, and you still have the same nativity you had when I first met you." Christie said, enjoying watching Kasumi squirm in front of her with each word she spoke." You really are nothing more than a child."
"But thankfully for you, I'm on a job," Christie said, looking around Kasumi's body to see the helicopter come closer and closer. " A job that doesn't involve killing you."
For a moment neither of them spoke a word, eyeing one another trying to gauge the reaction of the other. Christie's smirk widening into a full-blown smile the more she stared at the blistering gaze of Kasumi. The only thing keeping the peace between the two of them being the sharpened metal in Christie's hands.
"This is the part where you drop down to your knees and thank me Luv," Christie said with an annoyed tone in her voice, disappointed at the lack of response more than anything else. Seriously was it so much to ask for a little gratitude? It wasn't everyday Christie showed mercy to someone who had tried, and admittedly gotten rather close, to kill her.
Goes to show you just how selfish some people could be.
"You won't get away with this."
"Are you still talking about those dirtbags in the suits?" Christie said, shaking her head at the ninjas' one-track mind. The girl's immature and frankly idiotic view on people and the world at large was getting on her last nerve. "They had more blood on their hands then I could ever dream of having. If you knew half the stuff they've done, Half the things that they built a fortune by doing, you would be thanking me."
The world wouldn't miss men like that. Psychopaths in all but name, indiscreetly ruining the lives of the faceless masses in order to increase their bank accounts.
"The moral high ground doesn't suit you" Kasumi countered, taking a step towards Christie despite the steel to her neck." considering who you work for."
"Touche again." Christie thought as she remembered on whose orders she was here for.
The approaching helicopter seemed to break them out of their conversation, their attention shifting towards the world around them for the first time, but their eyes never leaving one another's. She took a step backward, raising the blade in her hands until it was at eye level with the shorter girl in front of her.
"Well," Christie said as she stretched her shoulder, relishing to popping sound her neck made as she did so." As much as I would love this little girl talk, I have a very important business meeting to attend to..."
BANG.
A sound that Christie knew far too well entered her ear, a deafening bang that roared above the blades of the chopper, rattling the rooftop and breaking Christie out of whatever witty one-liner she was planning on delivering to her second favorite teenage female ninja. For a moment Christie didn't notice the blade she held shatter like glass from the impact of the bullet, to distracted at the confused look on Kasumi's face.
Christie turned her body, far more curious about who was behind her then she was worried about suffering a counter-attack from the equally shocked Kasumi in front of her. For a moment she assumed that idiot Jann Lee had found them but decided against it. The fool would never use the element of surprise to his advantage. He wasn't smart enough for that.
Was in Kasumi's older brother, Hayate? Or worse yet Ryu?
Had one of them come as a backup for their fellow shinobi? No, despite whatever newfound relationship she had with her clan, Kasumi was still viewed as something of a pariah to her village. To the point of still being refused to be allowed back into her clan village for one reason or another. Besides, despite being more then able to use a firearm as competently as they could, they certainly weren't the ninjas forte, nor were they something they would willingly choose if they could help it.
What she saw however was the one thing she didn't expect to see
"Is that Lei Feng?!" Christie said to herself as she noticed the Chinese heiress stand there on the opposite end of the roof. Out of all the people Crinite assumed she would find when she turned around, she had to admit the Chinese fighter was rather low on the list of possibilities.
At least she assumed it was Lei Feng. Honestly, she was rather far away from where they stood to see some of the more specific details of her appearance, but Christie could see enough to know a familiar face when she saw it.
The dress that looked like it cost as much as Christie's first apartment? Check. The braided hair that went down to her back? Check. Honestly what self-respecting fighter kept her hair that long? The telltale stance of a rich girl who didn't have to work a day in her life? double Check. The look of complete and utter shock that mirrored the one on Kasumi's plastered on her face...
Wait a minute...
Christie turned her head towards the direction Lei Feng was staring and came face to chest with a man who she was positive wasn't there a moment ago. The barrel of a gun pointed between her eyes as she stared up at the passive and emotionless face of a giant of a man.
"Don't move."
Do you know what I hate? Self insert characters.
Do you know what I hate more? self-insert characters who replace main characters in fanfiction.
Do you know what I hate more than that? Authors who write self-insert characters who replace main characters in fanfictions who do absolutely nothing different from their canon counterparts.
Do you know what I hate even more than that? people who take shipping far too seriously for their self insert characters who replace main characters in fanfictions who do absolutely nothing different from their canon counterparts.
What does this have to do with my story? nothing. I just felt like venting about common tropes of fanfiction I don't like. Its not "massive X-over harem stories for naruto and harry potter" levels of annoying but it's kind of close.
Please like, leave a review, and follow if you like what you read. Thanks for reading and I hope you have a lovely day and to the people who need this, I hope you know you make people's lives better just by being there. Fuck anyone who makes you think differently. Also if I see another goblin slayer fanfic about some self insert character instead of goblin slayer I'm going to end up making a goblin slayer fanfic out of sheer spite.
And be sure to take your vitamins before bed.
