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She came to him near daybreak. Or what John assumed was daybreak, as the warm hues of the sky above him seemed to break through the blackness of the night sky.
She moved towards him like a phantom, her footsteps masked by the sound of beating wings. The sound was faint, but it was enough for John to awaken from the slumber he had found himself. Or was he still asleep? The haze that filled his vision made it hard to know.
The sound of silk brushing against bare skin filled his ears as John tried to see past the dark haze that surrounded him.
He couldn't move. As if a great weight had been attached to his limbs, holding him down to whatever surface he found himself on. He must still be asleep.
The woman flitted closer, throwing off the silk garb she wore before she slowly rested her knee on the edge of the large bed.
He was on a bed?
John's vision became steadier as the world around him grew from vague shapes and colors to a reality he could recognize. He observed her as she grew closer to him as she carefully climbed further onto the bed, her long dark hair spilling down her back as she wrapped her thighs around him.
The sound of wings swaying in the air continued to fill his ears as the woman leaned forward, brushing his face with hair that smelled like jasmine and green tea.
She reached up, leaning her body over him, letting her thin fingers delicately brush against his eyelids and lips. Then, with a groan of effort, John raised his arms, an action that gave the woman on top of him pause as a light gasp left her lips.
He grasped at her shoulders, his grip lacking its usual strength but more than enough to push the woman away from him. A rush of wind filled his ears as she straightened herself, escaping his grasp with a sound of mocking surprise.
He could feel the sensation of a bird's feather brushing against his hands as he moved to sit up from his prone position. Pressure from both of the figure's hands kept him down as the world around him became more and more illuminated. The figure's dark blue hair, cresting over her shoulders like a torrent of water, was nearly as black as the wings that sprouted from her back.
"Who are you?" John's deep voice spoke. The deep baritone doing little to begrudge the woman on top of him.
Her purple eyes, huge and dark like gemstones, shone as she looked down at him, a small smile gracing her features as she moved her hands across his chest.
"I am your destiny." her voice was quiet but held power and strength that felt almost ancient to John's ears as he watched the woman lean down towards him."My love."
John stirred as he quietly awoke. His body tensed for a brief moment as he came back to the land of the living.
John was no stranger to bad dreams.
Anyone touched by the horrors of war and battle could never claim they could truly rest easy when they closed their eyes. But while John had long since come accustomed to reliving the horrors of warfare, his dreams of late had felt...strange.
He opened his eyes to the faint smell of jasmine lingering in the air. John shook the mental cobwebs out of his head as his body began to stir against the confines of the leather recliner that supported his former sleeping form.
"Good morning sunshine." his A.I. companion spoke in his ear, her voice a beacon to his still hazed mind as he began to awaken fully." I hope your power nap was to your liking?"
"How long was I out?" the giant asked, standing up to his full height as he surveyed the private jet Cortana had talked him into acquiring.
"Four hours, forty-five minutes, and thirteen seconds." The AI said before a hint of worry tinted her voice." Maybe you should lay back down. We won't arrive at our destination for a couple more hours."
John waved her concerns away. While he wouldn't mind a few extra hours of rest, he was almost sure they would do him no good if the uneasy feeling in the back of his head was any indication.
An array of noise shook John out of his thoughts as he turned to the television screen to his left. It was loud enough to make John wonder how tired he must have been to sleep through the noise of whatever was on. John grabbed the remote out of instinct before turning the screen off without bothering to look to see what was on.
"I was watching that," Cortana said through the monitor. For being an artificial intelligence cloned from the brain of possibly the most brilliant woman who had ever lived, Cortana seemed to find enjoyment from the entertainment that the television could offer. He used the word loosely as he thought back on whatever "Trash Television" Cortana had begun to binge-watch whenever she wanted to unwind.
"Nothing quite like being able to shut your mind off and disassociate from the world every so often." His companion once said with the same mischievous look on her face whenever she tried to get him to do something he didn't want to do." So you should try it."
"Sorry." John apologized as he flipped the channel back on its designated spot.
John looked back at the screen, transfixed at the odd scene unfolding in front of him. What looked to be two men in equally Ludacris-looking outfits grappling one another to the approval of a crowd of onlookers played back at him. John narrowed his eyes at the sight. He didn't know what he was watching, but he knew he didn't like it.
"What are you watching?"
"It's called research."
"Research on what?"
"You'll see soon enough," the A.I. said cryptically. Cortana always had a bad habit of speaking purposely vague whenever she knew something she didn't want him to know. She wouldn't outright lie to him, but she would talk in half-truths to get him off whatever trail she was on.
Something he was sure he would hear about ad nausea whenever Cortana chose to divulge her secret to him.
"Where's the girl?" John said, trying to move the conversation away when his brain was awake enough to notice the absence of his other "companion."
Before Cortana could distract John further, a light beeping sound was heard towards the front of the plane. Someone less experienced with the workings of an aircraft might have assumed the worst at that moment. The rhythmic beeping of warning on a plane usually spelled doom for whoever heard it. Still, John would have noticed the signs of turbulence long before the announcement of such a warning.
Besides, he knew the sound of an interior smoke detector when he heard it.
"Go easy on her, big guy." The A.I construct said, her form materializing to pat his much larger forms shoulders briefly. "It's her first time in the kitchen."
John moved forward, only needing two whole steps to make it to the onboard kitchen of the private plane to catch sight of the cause of excessive beeping.
As the smoke alarm buzzed above her head, the girl struggled to clean the mess she had inadvertently made while trying to save the food she had been cooking.
Her hands dripped with butter and egg yolk as she thrust the sizzling frying pan under the faucet and watched the water run in clear and run-out charcoal black.
John could see her wince as she wiped uncooked egg and pancake batter onto what looked to be an apron he must have paid for. Still, for the life of him, he can't actually remember buying it for her. Somehow he knew Cortana was to blame for all this.
"You okay, kid," John said as he surveyed the superficial damage done to the once pristine cooking area. He was sure it could be cleaned up without much trouble, but the fact he could see some batter still sticking on the ceiling was still somewhat impressive.
"I, uh…" The girl said, speaking up to be heard over the incessant screech of the smoke alarm. "I tried to make breakfast for when you woke up. It didn't go exactly as planned?"
"Those how-to videos on the internet were a bit more complicated than they made them out to be." Cortana said over his shoulder, her voice radiating in the cabin of the plane." I tried to help, but she was pretty adamant on doing this herself."
John shook his head slightly as he stepped to the still buzzing smoke alarm, side-stepping the petite teenager as he did so. A simple exhale of air with his powerful lungs was enough to silence the contraption as he turned to the still disheveled-looking girl.
"Go get yourself changed while I clean up here," John said as he pointed to the stained and dirtied clothing the girl wore under her...pink apron? Yeah definitely blaming Cortana for that one.
The girl looked like she wanted to apologize but decided against it as she walked out of the kitchen. Her movements lacked the usual energy in her actions that John was starting to associate her with.
The girl had been in a morose mood as of late, Not that John could blame her. It was hard to pretend everything was normal after spilling all your secrets to someone.
Her fears and insecurities about her creation. Feelings that she could not bury no matter how much she tried. The dread of thinking she was not even a real human being but an object taught for as long as she could remember that she was only alive to be used by her creators.
"I don't have the right to exist," the girl had told him, her voice hollow.
John felt a tinge of regret at the thought.
The way she told him of how the woman she had been cloned from had made it her mission in life to eliminate her off the face of the earth for simply existing was a tough pill to swallow. John had been moments away from outing the girl in his protection to a woman who wanted her dead. If he had let her existence slip to the wrong person...
Johns balled his hand into a fist at the thought, his grip enough to leave finger-shaped dents into the cast iron skillet he was cleaning.
What would he have done if his decisions had caused her death?
Once again, Cortana had been able to stop him from making a mistake due to his rash thinking. But now, John found himself at a standstill. Does he consider the original an enemy? A threat? It was too soon to say, but if she and those she worked alongside with were attempting what his charge implied, then he would have to be on his guard. Which was one of the many reasons why they were on their way to their current destination.
"I'm a little surprised." The A.I. said as she watched her spartan clean up the melted butter and egg yolk off the appliances," I didn't think there would be so much mess made from just trying to make breakfast."
"The fridge was stocked." John said with a shrug of her shoulders." So we get what we pay for at least."
It was Cortana's idea to charter the private plane out of Hong Kong they were on. Once again, The AI had managed to save their group trouble with her quick thinking. The custom-made jet not only allowed him the ample legroom rarely given to him from regular flights but the added privacy that they needed to avoid any unwanted eavesdroppers on their conversations. Without a regular flight crew and Cortana taking care of the autopilot, John felt comfortable not fearing someone listening to their conversations.
The fact that the "state of the art" jet was brimming with as much luxury that his limitless bank account could afford was just an added bonus. According to Cortana, anyway, at least.
John went over to the fridge before taking out the second tray of eggs, the ones currently not splattered across the kitchen ceiling. He liked eggs. It was one of the few things he remembered before Spartan training. A little salt, some pepper, and cheese, cooked over a low heat with constant spatula movement, made the fluffiest eggs.
He remembered that was how his mother used to make them, or at least that's how he remembered it.
The left-over pancake batter was just enough to make pancakes for the two of them. Together with the eggs and the pieces of bacon that were not completely burned, it meant a filling breakfast for the two if John took a smaller ration for himself.
This was something John was surprisingly good at, cooking. While he was never formally taught, he learned quickly, at least when it came to simple things. Spartan training never touched on the subject of the culinary arts. While he stuck to eating dehydrated food packs while out in the field, he seemed to take to cooking like a fish to water.
He was sure Kelly, his sister in arms, would have had something to say about his skill in the kitchen. But, on the other hand, he was surprised Cortana had yet to remark on the subject either.
When the kitchen was cleaned and the food was plated, the girl had returned, freshly showered and sporting one of the blue sundresses they had picked up in Hong Kong. Her eyes still looked dejected, but they warmed slightly when they met his, as well as the plates of food in his hands.
He quickly learned that food seemed to be the quickest way to improve the girl's mood. Definitely going to have to add that to the list.
"Let's eat." John said, his deep voice allowing no disagreement as he placed each plate on the table." You're gonna need your strength for today."
The girl said nothing, but the slight smile on her face showed John that whatever disappointment she felt at failing breakfast was at least no longer weighing her down. John was quickly learning a lot about his charge these past few days. None more than the fact that the girl before him was highly emotional for someone who barely was allowed to show emotion during her life as a weapon.
Either she felt comfortable enough around him to show feelings she had been forced to keep hidden for so long, which was likely. Or Victor Donovan honestly didn't know what he was doing when making "emotionless" weapons. John didn't know what option was more concerning.
John watched the girl silently chew on her pancakes, the desire to remain silent beating out his willingness to speak for the time being. He could almost feel Cortanas eye beat down on him as she waited for him to say what she thought needed to be said.
"So." John said as he took a sip of his coffee, catching the attention of the teenaged girl in front of him." I know this is gonna be hard. But I just want to say that it takes a lot of courage to do what you're going to do."
The girl nodded her head silently as she answered. John watched as a blush crept over the teenaged clone's face, her eyes darting away from his own and back down to her food. Of course, it took a lot out of her emotionally to tell him and Cortana her story or what she managed to remember. But even from his limited interactions with people, John knew traumatic childhoods were something many were unwilling to speak on.
The girl in front of him knew that fact more so than others.
She was only one of many clones of this Kasumi woman. The exact number was utterly unknown to her, but she knew that she was considered different from the rest for some strange reason. So different, in fact, she was allowed the "privilege" of remaining out of the Cyro stasis units her "sisters" were kept and stored in before being shipped off to the highest bidder.
All of Which John assumed as much. A man like Victor Donovan didn't seem like the type who stopped at just one bioweapon when he could afford a hundred. But it was the details that got to him and made John feel his pulse increase.
With an unlimited source for experimentation, the clones had become test subjects to whatever sick little thought that crossed Donovan's mind. To the point where many clones had only "lived" a single day before they were deemed failures and "recycled."
"How long we could survive without organs." the girl had said with a hollow sound to her voice."How long we could live without food or water. Anything he could think of, he would put us through."
John released a breath he didn't know he held as he put the coffee mug back on the table. He had just cleaned the kitchen and didn't need to worry about spilled coffee from the cup he would shatter in his grip.
The girl looked worriedly at him, her eyes straining as she tried to read his expressionless face. Even after everything she had suffered through, the fact that she was still so sensitive to the feelings of others gave John pause.
"This bacon is good." John said as he swallowed a piece of the crispy piece of pork whole." You did well for your first time in the kitchen."
"Really?" she said quietly, looking at him in slight disbelief as he took yet another piece of bacon into his mouth.
"Really." John said simply with a nod of his head, brokering no room for disagreement." Next time I'll be there to help, so you don't overwhelm yourself. Maybe then you can be on kitchen duty permanently."
The girl smiled as she looked away from him bashfully. She tried to hide it, but John knew that she enjoyed hearing the praise, even if she didn't know why. For some odd reason, he could almost feel Cortana nod her head in the back of his psyche.
"You're sure we're heading in the right direction?"John said, trying to use the momentum gained from praising the teenager to move the conversation forward. He paused to wait for the A.I. construct to fill the two of them into her plans, but it seems Cortana was still keeping her plans close to her chest. "Wouldn't do us any good just jumping on a plane and jet seating across the globe over nothing."
"That's big talk coming from a man who uses that much syrup on his pancakes," Cortana said, getting a laugh out of the teenaged girl. The two watched as John emptied a good portion of the once full bottle of maple syrup onto his breakfast with amused looks on their faces. Was this too much syrup? He should file that away for next time.
"But if the information our favorite redhead gave us is accurate." The A.I. continued, earning another smile from the girl." Then this is the best person to go to find the details we need."
John nodded. Only a handful of people in the world knew the sordid details regarding Donovan's science experiments. And only two or three who held the expertise needed to be of use for them going forward regarding the how and why of the specific process used to create the girl and front of him.
Victor Donovan's chief scientist from his DOA days, a woman who had followed her former employer when he went into business for himself. A woman who they were on their way to see right now.
"So, what's the plan?" John said as he cut into his helping of eggs, looking towards the hologram of his AI companion. This wasn't the first time Cortana took her time relaying information towards one of her master plans, but John could feel the hairs on the back of his neck stand up for some reason.
"Well, you know the research I was looking into, right?" the A.I. said as she directed his vision towards the flat-screen TV. "Well, I sort of found where this Lisa Hamilton had been hiding out."
A woman walked down the stage. Her command of the roaring crowd was palpable as she swayed her body to the rhythm of the music. Her bejeweled costume shinning and glistening like diamonds in the sunlight. She jumped over the ropes, twirling in midair as she landed with practiced and delicate ease that reminded John of a tropical bird.
The crowd on the screen roared back again, enthralled as the woman gestured for her challenger to start the contest. The camera captured the mischievous energy her dark eyes held.
"That's!..." the girl shouted, her confusion morphing into recognition as she stared hard at the butterfly-themed combatant.
John watched the scene unfold and couldn't stop himself from groaning. This world...was a bit too much for him to handle at the moment.
"You're kidding," John said, his voice as stoic and deep as it usually was, but holding a level of desperation he rarely had if ever spoke with. So this was the woman who knew the most about the cloning process that created his charge? This was the scientist who had worked alongside Victor Donovan? This had to be a joke.
"Nope!" The AI said cheerily as she continued watching her two favorite humans stare at the television screen. Something was telling John that his AI companion was simply enjoying the spectacle he was finding himself in a little too much. "I'm afraid not."
The blade hung in the air as the blonde-haired warrior took yet another unsteady breath.
She staggered towards the fire. Almost falling to one knee as she did so. Her fingers were slick with blood as she struggled to hold a grip on her weapon as the heat washed over her.
The fire was close. Close enough that She could feel the inferno stealing the oxygen from her mouth. The Lich King was in the middle of it, seeking to kill them all and end the world she cared for. With a gasp and a cry, she stepped into the fire.
Pain.
Noise.
Heat.
It was a world unlike any she'd known before, a world where breathing was all but impossible, where nothing could be heard but the constant roar of the surrounding inferno.
Where all light was cut out, her eyes were forced shut by the heat of the fire around her.
This was a far cry from the orphanage and the children that were everything to her.
She forced her left foot forward and then her right. Each step made her feel she was stepping on a field of broken glass. Her sword scraped against the floor, its weight too much for her tired body to hold any longer. She felt her wounds bristle and burn. She felt the heat scorch her very core.
She felt like she was dying.
But it was just a little further. The top of the tower wasn't big enough for the inhuman Lich to hide from her after all. There was a shadow among the orange, red and blue.
As she closed, she heard a voice – a voice that was far quieter than the inferno around her but which reached her ears nonetheless. "Impossible," it said. "Impossible! How can you-? You should be dead!"
The heroine opened her mouth, but the words were stolen. The last lungful of air burned out of her entirely. Her strength weakened, but she still managed to drag her weapon in front of her. Then, to bring her tired muscles up, to aim the gleaming edge of her blade towards her hated enemy.
The Lich's dark eyes widened.
"Why don't you die already! You're nothing. You're nothing more than a country girl wielding a sword that doesn't belong to her!" the demon screamed, its voice sounding like broken glass to the heroine's ears." You're nothing more than an insignificant worm."
Yes…
She was all of those things – but she was also so much more.
She was just some girl from the country, One who was in way over her head and just wanted to go back home to her kids and return to living her simple life running her orphanage.
But first, she had to finish what she had started.
"I am just a girl!" the blonde warrior shouted, her eyes ablaze with fury and determination." But girls get it done!"
"CUT!"
The prop weapon hung limply in the air as Tina Armstrong, possibly one of the most famous women in the world, let out a frustrated growl. This day was never going to end.
She was really starting to regret signing the contract to star in this particular movie. It was really starting to get on her nerves.
What had to have been the fifth time this hour, sirens rang out above her, bringing an abrupt end to the wave of activity around her. The blaze of red and orange died out, bright fluorescent lights taking their place. The smoke that had bellowed beneath her stopped, revealing a swamp of wires that crisscrossed throughout the sound stage. The hydraulic lift holding up the suspended form of the Lich King roared back to life, bringing her long-suffering co-star back to the ground.
Tina should have finished this particular project a whole week ago, but like a rattlesnake on a drum, she was stuck with no hope of escape.
Ever since she was small, she loved to win, to be on top. It was her one actual flaw in life. But, if she did something, anything, she strove to be the best at it. It was why she was where she was today, the drive to be great and to do great things.
And here she was standing around a soundstage when she should be training for the upcoming tournament. All because a couple of big shots got their heads so far up their own backsides that they could see behind them.
"If I hear them words "rewrite" one more time, I'm gonna put someone through a wall." The Texan bombshell said, her voice sounding exhausted from the repeated reshoots of the day.
"Sorry Tina." the director of the film, a small and round man in his late thirties, said as he moved about the army of stagehands and production assistants." You know how they are."
She did.
Unfortunately, this had to have been the fourth time this week an argument between the far too hands one producer and the head writer had stopped production in its tracks. She could see why her daddy always said never to get frisky with a coworker. The aftermath would be enough to drive even a nun to drink.
The director smiled apologetically as he corralled the crew, looking like an over-fed sheepdog as he did so. Despite appearances, the man was a sweetheart who was a constant professional. The fact that he was stuck directing a film he didn't want to direct alongside her made the ordeal just a bit easier for Tina to handle, but not much.
The buxom blonde needed a drink and needed it to be as strong as a kick to the head by an angry mule. Thankfully for her sanity, it looked as if she was getting a brief moment to herself if the stall on the set meant anything to go by. Which meant she was able to sneak away to her private trailer for a moment of well-earned relaxation. As well as that bottle of bourbon she had hidden away.
She walked silently to the metal monstrosity, ignoring one of the many producers she meet halfway. She was too tired and not drunk enough to deal with one of the many hired suits the production company kept on the payroll. As she rounded the corner, she eyed the two-story mobile building that had been her saving grace during her time on set. It was the size of a house and had more frills and gizmos than someone like her could shake a stick at, but more importantly, it was all hers. Her own little fortress of solitude that no one dared to enter. Except for the figure lounging on top of her personalized leather couch.
Now, normally this would have been enough For Tina to start bashing skulls. In fact, going by the day she had already had, she was likely to ruin at least one surface of her perfect trailer with blood stains if she could help it. No one enters her tailor as they owned it but her. No one sits on her couch without her say so, And no one and she meant no one drinks her bourbon without her consent. But as the figure turned and allowed Tina to get a good look at who her visitor was, Tina could almost feel her anger dissipate from her body.
"I see someone is enjoying the movie star life." the figure said, her English practiced and as perfect as the silk dress she wore on her lith, petit, yet powerful figure. A smile crossed Tina's face as she stepped closer to the figure.
"Pai Chan!" The Texan shouted, her mood turning on a dime as she sized the Chinese movie sensation up. "Well, I'll be a monkey's uncle! So what are you doing here?!"
"What can I say," the Chinese actress and retired martial arts fighter said, her million-dollar smile enough to light the dark sound stage up." I heard my favorite pro wrestler was in town dressed up like a cosplayer, and I needed to see it for myself!"
She had first met the movie star on the set of " House of the Crimson Blade," the very first movie Tina had ever acted in. It was a bit part. Little more than a cameo where she played the bodyguard of the film's main villain. There was nothing much to the roll itself, only a few spoken lines of dialogue besides grunts and shouts. But it opened a lot of doors for her fledgling career.
None more so than the quick and easy friendship she formed with the Queen of Hong Kong cinema.
The Mízōngquán fighter turned actress took Tina under her wing, based on the surprising similarities they shared. "Young and beautiful fighters in this industry have to stick together," She had told her American counterpart one night. As the more experienced and established actress, Pai also gave Tina the best advice she could have gotten regarding her future movie career. Always play to her strengths, never undervalue her talent and worth, and never, EVER, listen to men who told her she wasn't worth what she was asking. The advice had paid diffidence after her first starring roles in the blockbusters "Jonna Wick" and "Space Wars" had helped make her a household name.
They stuck close after that, always making the extra effort to meet up for drinks or a spar whenever they were in the same time zone during the rare moments of peace from their schedules.
"Hey now."The Texan powerhouse said, slapping a hand to the back of her friend. "Don't go spreading rumors about that. I have a reputation to uphold."
"It is not a rumor. I know you enough to know you're a nerd."
"Guilty as charged."The blonde laughed as she continued to remove pieces of her costume. She initially signed onto the movie because, in her humble opinion, "The golden huntress" had to have been one of the most underrated graphic novels of all time. Not comic book, she reminded herself, but a graphic novel. A story that already had a tasteful and well-established, but more importantly, satisfying ending. One that she thought she did justice to when she wrapped up shooting the first film.
But that movie made over a billion dollars in the box office, and the producers knew a cash cow when they saw it.
It wouldn't be the first time a movie studio smelled money and stretched a single story into a planned trilogy when it should have been a standalone flick. She's not bitter in the slightest, thank you very much. She was just relieved she wasn't the only one involved in the planned sequel that was as apprehensive about how thrown together this flick was.
"I can't believe they convinced you to wear that."Pai chan laughed as she took a long look at Tina's outfit. "You look like a teenaged boy's wet dream."
Tina just laughed it off, not even pausing as she carefully unlinked the metal scales off her shoulders. The thought of ripping the uncomfortable costume off her had crossed her mind every minute she wore the thing. Still, the costume team had put a lot of effort into crafting this outfit.
Like her momma always said, never spit on a painting made with blood, tears, and sweat.
"Are dare make light of the golden huntress?!" Tina said, mock indignation flashing across her features before her Texan drawl morphed into the faux British voice she wore when reading her lines."Men have lost their lives for less my lady!"
She was actually pretty proud of the fact that she managed to hide her Texan accent. Sure her grasp on British accents amounted to characters from the Harry Potter movies, but like everything in her life, Tina took pride in each and every step she took towards bettering herself in her many endeavors.
"You're getting good at that!" Pai said, walking alongside the taller American." After that, I might start to get a little worried that my apprentice is gunning for my spot."
Tina shook her head. Sure, Tina was far from humble, but even she knew when she was clearly beaten. She could spend decades honing her acting skills and not come even close to touching Pai in that department. That girl was a once-in-a-lifetime talent.
"Oh please, girl," Tina said as she moved to take off yet another piece of her elaborate costume." Give me a bigger head, and I ain't getting this thing off me."
"I'm not kidding!" the Chinese actress said, her tone making Tina pause for a moment."We should really do another movie together. I think it would be fun!"
Tina raised her hands defensively. Pai was giving her THAT look. The look that crossed her features whenever her mind was forming a new creative outlet.
The last time Tina had seen that look, Pai had taken it upon herself to write a multiple award-winning opera throughout a long weekend. So Tina wouldn't be shocked if the shorter woman before her already had a plot synopsis in her head for their collaborative feature film that didn't exist yet. Pai must have noticed as she managed to reel her excitement in for the moment.
"Okay, okay, I'm sorry."Pai chan said as she dropped the discussion, for now at least." I know you have your fingers in a lot of cakes as it is."
" Pies. the term is I got ma fingers in alotta pies."
"You know what I mean." Pai chan said as she took a seat on the leather couch that dominated Tina's trailer. "I hear from a reliable source that you are expected in New York City tomorrow night."
Tina growled as she joined her friend on the couch. She had almost forgotten all about her anticipated return to the DWA ring. A part of her wanted to cancel, the last thing she needed on her plate right now was her daddie hovering over her shoulder about every lil thing. But she knew her fans were dying to give her a proper send-off before the DOA tournament officially started, and if there was anything that could change an Armstrongs' mind it was the roar of the crowd. And besides, she did promise Mila and Lisa one last girl's night out before the tournament.
"There are only 24 hours in a day!" Pai chan said, a look of wonder crossing her features as she stared at her friend." I don't know how you manage so much at once."
Tina couldn't help but grin at that. She was a dedicated woman, one who never did anything in half measures. That was as true in the gym, in the ring, or at home.
"Speaking of only having 24 hours in a day. Why don't cha come with me!" The Texan powerhouse said as she slapped her arm against her friend's back. It was a bit harder than was necessary for an average person, but only a fraction of what someone like an Armstrong was capable of generating." The girls and I were gonna have ourselves a girl's night out before the tournament starts, and my momma always said the more, the merrier."
Tina smiled when she noticed the more petite woman not give an inch from her friendly love tap. In fact, the "goddess" of the Hong Kong film industry only smiled as she looked at the taller blonde. The challenge of her American counterpart silently excepted.
"It has been a long time since I was able to cut loose with some like-minded individuals." Pai chan said, her bright eyes conveying the desire for a spar as well as a chance to work the stress of her busy work life with friends." I think that sounds like a beautiful idea."
Tina smiled like she was back on Christmas morning when she was a little girl, about to rip open a present to find the exact Power Princess action figure she had waited all year to get her hands on.
And as she opened the bottle of bourbon and poured herself and her guest a rather generous amount, she couldn't help herself from thinking that her day had instantly gotten better. This was gonna be a fun weekend.
Hey, look! A new chapter a few days after Halo infinite and the Halo TV show teaser dropped. It truly is a holiday miracle. I was gonna post this chapter on Friday but thought to myself "Nothing in life matters, we'll all be dust in the end anyway." so I posted it today, aren't you all lucky.
Before anyone asks Pai Chan is from Virtua fighter, allot of Virtua fighter characters have been in DoA games so I figured she would be a good add-on.
Look me up on Twitter if you have questions regarding future updates. I don't tweet too much but I'm far quicker responding to a DM there than I would on this site. I'm only ever on here when I post a chapter or update a story. At most twice a month so if I ever took a while responding to a question here, that's the reason.
Please leave a review, favorite, or whatever else this site allows you to do, if you're new check out some of my other stories. There are hundreds of quality stories on this site filled with complex characters, stories filled with pathos all by writers with a lot of talent and vision, and instead of reading any of those stories you choose to read this by me. That means a lot to me.
