Dark Titans - Arc 3 – This Ain't A Scene...
Chapter 1
Enjoy if you will, Tolerate if you won't.
With one last nostalgic glance to the receding forms of Ryouga and Kasumi, Cologne entered the airport. With only a minimum of effort, she found her way to the ticket booth and presented her ticket to the young woman that staffed it. She was running very late, but she was certain that she would be able to get boarded . . . even if she had to use some unorthodox methods to do so.
"I'm sorry, but this ticket has been cancelled," replied the young woman.
Yes, for someone of her skill, not to mention her age, getting aboard a plane shouldn't be a problem . . .
Wait a moment.
She turned to face the attendant, the girl's words finally catching up to her. "Excuse me?" she asked icily. The girl shuddered slightly at her demeanor, but handed back her ticket with a shaky hand regardless.
"T-t-this ticket, it was – it was cancelled, just a few hours after it was purchased. Certainly you would have known about that . . . w-w-wouldn't you?" asked the uncertain youth.
The ancient elder pinned the girl with her glare, causing the poor attendant to cringe pitifully. "And who may I ask cancelled this ticket?" she asked harshly. The young woman looked about to faint from terror, when a voice interrupted them.
"I believe that I may be able to answer that."
Cologne turned with refined dignity to face the woman that now stood behind her. She appeared to be in her late twenties, early thirties; slightly tall, and of Asian ancestry, perhaps . . . The young woman wore her raven hair short and swept back. Her face held a cold expression as she looked down at Cologne. The woman's outfit consisted of an artfully crafted ebony suit, but one that, to Colognes' trained eye, possessed a number of small alterations that would allow for a greater freedom of movement.
Hmm, yes, just by looking at the girl, Cologne could tell she was a martial artist, and a skilled one at that. She chuckled quietly to herself; this could be interesting.
"So, pup, I'm certain that you have some good reason for delaying my trip," she uttered in a serious voice.
The woman bristled slightly at the 'pup' reference, but restrained herself. "Indeed, if you would come with me, I would speak with you in private." asked the young woman. Her voice was hard, but obviously the girl seemed to know enough not to actually make any demands in her position. Cologne could sense she was very skilled, but this youth was a hundred years too early to even consider being a threat to her.
"Very well, I look forward to your explanation."
The woman nodded, and began to lead them towards the back of the airport, where the planes were being loaded. As they walked, the woman began to speak again.
"My name is Wu-san Sandra, though my contemporaries call me Lady Shiva," said the woman, finally introducing herself. "And you are Cologne, an elder of the nearly legendary Joketsuzoku village hidden within the mists of China. Frankly, I had not thought the legends true myself, but your recent activities in America have changed that opinion."
Cologne shrugged, unconcerned. The village did nothing to promote its existence, the less people that knew of it, the safer they were, considering their more archaic laws. "Ah, so you cancelled my ticket in hopes that I would teach you a few tricks while I was still here? Or perhaps you wish to challenge me, to "prove that you're the greatest warrior"?" she asked in a mocking voice.
Their walk soon led them out of the airport completely and onto the tarmac of the runways.
Again, Lady Shiva (what a silly name) bristled at her mocking words.
"Hardly, I've trained under masters greater than the likes of you. However, my current employer has taken a great interest in you and your village. He wishes to meet with you personally to discuss some matters of business."
Well, that piqued her curiosity. What businessman could possibly be interested in a tiny village of martial artists located on the far side of the planet? Her curiosity inflamed further, as their impromptu tour of the airport ended, leaving them standing before a very extravagant personal jet.
"And who, may I ask, is this mysterious employer of yours?" she asked, interested to see where this was going.
The woman smiled for the first time that night, though it was a bit of a feral smile. "A concerned industrialist, you may even have heard of him in your short time in America . . ."
"His name is Lex Luthor."
Cologne let out a pleased sigh as she leaned back into the leather of her warmed seat. Even the jaded matriarch had to admit that the level of comfort afforded to her in this private jet was leaps and bounds beyond the first class flight that Nabiki had chartered for them several weeks earlier. She had a cup of some of the finest tea she had tasted in over a decade balancing perfectly on her lap. A devilishly handsome young man lingered in the corner of the cabin, his only purpose appearing to be to fulfill her any and every whim for the duration of the flight. To top it all of, the soothing sounds of Chinese flutes were filtering through the air, flowing forth from the planes hidden speakers.
Unfortunately, as enjoyable as the journey itself was, the reading material left much to be desired. Running down the center of the opulently decorated cabin was a low, intricately carved and lovingly stained coffee table. Strewn across the surface of said table was a wide selection of magazines and newspapers set out for her reading pleasure . . .
Even her age addled mind was able to quickly connect the common theme plastered across the face of each and every publication:
"Lex Luthor, Philanthropist of the Year"
"Mr. Luthor donates millions to feed the starving in Africa."
"Lexcorp breakthrough could save millions of lives."
"Lex Luthor begins construction of much anticipated Lexor City"
Cologne's eyes narrowed dangerously as she dropped the half read magazine in her hand back to the table . . . not because of the Lex-centric nature of the publications, but in disgust at the fashion article that she had just read.
She would forever curse the French for creating the Beret! Why, or why hadn't she put a stop to it while she had still had the chance? The wizened matriarch sighed regretfully, before relegating the thought back to the list of her life's many regrets . . .
A moment later, she perked right back up. While it was obvious that reading was unlikely to be very rewarding, she did have another source of entertainment handy. Though it was more of Happi's past time than her own, baiting brash, arrogant youths was always enjoyable. Cologne's eyes slid across the cabin to where her impromptu guide was sitting, arms crossed tightly over her chest.
The crossed arms were a strong signal that this Lady Shiva was not in the mood to talk, though the fact that the girl had sat as far away as possible without depressurizing the plane was also a pretty good hint as well. Cologne suppressed an evil chuckle; that just made her want to nettle the young warrior all the more.
Apparently the youth could feel the gaze upon her, because she quickly looked up and shot an angry glare Cologne's way. It was a good glare, the Joketsuzoku had to admit, and had probably ended many a conversation in its time. Unfortunately, Cologne was not so easily cowed.
"So, Child, what style of martial arts is it that you practice?"
Rather predictable, true, but really, she had no other interest in the girl at all. Maybe the child would even be good for a laugh, studying martial arts flower arranging or some such foolishness.
"None of your business, Old Woman," came the curt reply.
'Oh hoh!' Cologne's eyes veritably twinkled with amusement as her level of interest jumped several notches. Nearly every young warrior that she knew always declared the martial arts they practiced proudly, the more silly the art, the prouder they boasted. For this child to hide her fighting style, it led her to some interesting conclusions . . .
"True enough, true enough, but please, humor an old woman. It is a long flight and a little conversation will help the time pass more quickly."
Lady Shiva's icy features actually cooled further, which was an impressive feat, even by Cologne's standards.
"My current assignment is to escort you to Metropolis, not to amuse you."
An odd expression settled on the young woman's face for a moment; half scowl, half . . . something else. Ah hah! That was it! Really, she should have recognized it earlier after having spent so much time around Hibiki Ryouga. The look on Lady Shiva's face was a rather unique mixture of resentment and jealousy.
Now the pieces were beginning to fall into place. She had thought the youth simply impudent, but it went beyond that. The younger warrior was obviously skilled, and by the way she carried herself, knew it. And yet here she was, playing tour guide for an aging old lady.
Judging by the fact that this woman was selling her skills to the highest bidder, she obviously believed herself to be highly talented. The fact that she had been hired by such a powerful mogul lent much credence to that claim. For her to be sent to bring Cologne to her employer, it was likely a double blow to her pride. Both being given such a mundane task, as well as being told that the person that she was going to retrieve was even more skilled than herself.
"Fair enough, I suppose. If you are so ashamed of your style that you dare not name it, I completely understand . . ." she trailed off, her voice flowing sarcasm more quickly than a mountain stream.
Reverse psychology was such a mundane tactic, so she figured she'd add the heavy emphasis to make her teasing intent all the more obvious.
As expected, Lady Shiva's eyes rolled in annoyance at the insultingly blatant taunt. "It would be a waste of time telling you, Old Woman. The style I was taught is an ancient and secret style known only by my master, the O-Sensei."
Ah, there was that hint of pride beginning to show through-
Wait a moment . . .
"O-Sensei . . ." she mused to herself.
A look of smug satisfaction formed on her companion's face and her tightly crossed arms lowered a fraction of an inch. Now that the child felt she had the upper hand in the conversation, she was becoming more open.
It was just the kind of expression that Cologne couldn't resist wiping off a person's face.
"O-Sensei, is it? Are you referring to the founder of Aikido, Morihei Ueshiba, or . . . darn it all, what was that other fellow's name? They were both born around the same time and both joined the Japanese army for a time; I have such a hard time remembering which one is which. Still, I know there was another person wandering around that started going by that title as well, curses, it's just on the tip of my tongue . . . bah, oh well."
The young warrior met her gaze with a skeptical look. "You expect me to believe that you've met O-sensei?" her tone was as skeptical as her expression.
A bark of laughter escaped Cologne's withered lips. "Please, Child, the circles that we masters of the martial arts travel through are not so large as you seem to think. And when you live for as long as those of our ilk tend to, it leads to many opportunities to run into our contemporaries.
"In fact, I did meet your master. It was some sixty or seventy years ago, now. I remember him kindly, not so much for his prowess, as for his story."
At this, Lady Shiva actually leaned forward, glaring heatedly. "And now you impugn O-Sensei's ability? Perhaps if the two of you had actually battled, your defeat would have led you to believe otherwise."
Cologne rolled her eyes at the girl's outburst. Not that she could blame her; students were often loyal to their teachers. Even if they weren't, it still stung the ego to hear someone claim that the person who taught you all you know is weak. Still-
"Bah! Don't be a fool, Girl! Of course we fought. Admittedly, neither of us were nearly the ancient masters that we are now, but that just gave us all the more reason to challenge one another," she explained imperiously.
Even though her companion wished to hide it, an unmistakable hint of curiosity crept onto Lady Shiva's face. The girl leaned forward another inch, her arms slowly lowering to her sides and her legs uncrossing. Cologne smiled; she did so love reading body language. The aged matriarch leaned back into her own seat, getting more comfortable as she let the memories wash over her.
"I meant no disrespect with my earlier remark, Child. I did defeat your master; for someone that started training so late in life, he was actually quite skilled."
"What do you mean by that?" Lady Shiva asked, half in annoyance, half genuine curiosity.
"Well, you have to understand, in the Joketsuzoku village, we begin training almost as soon as we can walk . . . hmm, how best to put it?"
Suddenly, she perked up, thinking of an excellent example.
"Tell me, have you seen that new movie, '300'?"
A small, private smile formed on the young woman's lips as she gazed into the distance, ". . . mmm, three hundred men, eighteen hundred abs . . ."
Cologne chuckled, she'd take that as a 'yes'.
"Well, our society is not so different from that. We endure great hardship to be forged into the greatest warriors on the planet. And even among our people, I was hailed as a prodigy and a genius.
"No, the outcome of our battle was never in doubt. Your master, although my senior by a decade or two, had actually started training years after myself. Nor was he privy to the ancient and esoteric arts that were made available to me. However, I do remember his story; we actually spoke at great length once our battle concluded."
Again, Lady Shiva betrayed another trace of her well-concealed curiosity to Cologne's trained eye. It was rare to hear about one's master's past, it was common for such people to be quite secretive. And, of course, hearing about your master's past defeats would be almost unheard of, enlightened master or not, no one liked to talk about getting beat up.
Cologne hid another chuckle before continuing her tale, "Unlike myself, your master was not born into the life of a martial artist, though he was still a warrior. Back, before the turn of the last century, he had been a soldier in the Japanese army, as I mentioned. One of his many missions took him to China, only adding to the endless bloodshed. Needless to say, at that point I was not so sympathetic to his story.
"However, what he told me next changed my perception of him completely. In one of the battles he fought, he somehow managed to find himself bereft of his weapons and fighting for his life against a Chinese martial artist. In a decidedly honorable manner, your master decided to finish the battle on those terms. Unfortunately, one of his subordinates was not so confident in his abilities. Fearing for his life, the soldier shot the martial artist dead, ending the duel rather abruptly.
"Your master was so outraged by the action that he denounced the Japanese army for the soldier's shameful behavior. Then, in a noble decision, decided to take up the Art himself to atone for the warrior's death."
Slowly, with a look of mild amazement on her face, Lady Shiva leaned back. "It's amazing . . . You really did meet O-Sensei. Everything that you've spoken of is true; he told me that much himself. I must know, what was the battle like? How did you defeat him?"
Cologne's wrinkled lips stretched out painfully as her smile widened further. It was always nice to have an interested audience, even one that was willing to sell their skills for something as petty as money. Even as she began to recount the battle as well as her memory would allow (though perhaps with a few minor embellishments), she reflected on the young woman's last question.
She could explain the entire duel in finite detail, but she doubted that she would truly be able to get across just how she defeated O-Sensei. It was painfully simple to her, yet infinitely complex to try to explain.
The aged Matriarch focused her eyes until the world faded from view, leaving only the ebbs and flows of chi that saturated the world and everything in it. This girl, though twice his age, reminded her keenly of the young Robin. Like him, her aura was focused to a razor's edge, but it had obviously never been utilized.
That was the most basic answer she could give, yet the one that her current companion would find all but impossible to understand. O-Sensei, for all his training and talent, did not believe in the concept of Chi. Well, not so much that he didn't believe in Chi itself, so much as the idea of utilizing his life force in battle had been laughable to him. So, no matter how good he could be by conventional standards, he had never, nor would ever, stand a chance against a true martial artist such as herself or her son-in-law.
She also knew that, like Robin, Lady Shiva would never understand unless it was explained to her exhaustively. How could you possibly explain a technique of such power and grace as the Hiryua Shoten Ha to a person that believed something as basic as hitting some of the bodies more lethal pressure points was an 'Ultimate Technique'?
Sadder yet, she knew that none of them, not Lady Shiva, not Robin, not even the boy's mysterious mentor would ever stumble across this key to the secrets of true power on their own. After all, how could they? People like these, they didn't love the art, didn't live for the art, sacrifice everything for the art! For Lady Shiva and her ilk, the art was simply a means to an end, just a tool to be used. For the young woman, it was likely just her means to wealth and power. For Robin and his mentor, it was just another tool in the fight against injustice. Certainly each and every one of them trained tirelessly, but they only did it so that they might defeat others, not to improve themselves, to push themselves to the absolute limits of human endurance . . . and then smash those frail boundaries to splinters.
Well, at least Robin was beginning to see the error of his ways. Between her training, his sparring with Ryouga and his nightly sessions with Happosai, she had no doubt that the boy would surpass all of his martial peers in a matter of months.
'Oh well', even as her train of thought rolled gently into the station, she began wrapping up her retelling of the epic battle between O-Sensei and herself.
It was somewhat heartening to see the look of fierce concentration on Lady Shiva's face as she listened. The girl was analyzing every maneuver she described, likely breaking down the entire battle even as it was being narrated, noting every mistake made by either warrior and imagining what she could have done differently.
"Indeed, it was quite a battle, and after hearing his motivation for taking up the Art, I must admit that I found myself fancying him a bit. Why, if I hadn't been such a stickler for the law back in those days, I'd likely have been tempted to teach him a few of our village's techniques to help him on his quest."
Lady Shiva nodded along amiably . . . before shaking her head as the last bit of that first sentence suddenly registered.
"Wait a moment! You fancied him?" she asked somewhat incredulously.
The look on her face was quite amusing, it seemed the Lady could only picture O-Sensei as the ancient master that had taught her.
Cologne's smile turned wicked as she decided to really drive home the mental image. "Oh my, yes! If only he had been a little stronger, I would have bedded him in an instant. He was quite handsome for a Japanese back then, you know?"
The expression of mingled shock and a slight green tinge went beyond amusing to truly comical. It was always so much fun to mentally traumatize young people that took themselves too seriously. It took her companion several long minutes to recover enough to speak.
"O-Sensei was married for your information." Lady Shiva sounded positively scandalized at the notion. This, of course, only amused Cologne further.
Winking conspiratorially, the Ancient master leaned forward, "Never underestimate a determined Joketsuzoku, my dear. After all, I was quite the looker myself in those days and . . . let's just say that martial arts weren't the only skills that I had mastered . . ."
That did it! Having driven the final nail into the coffin, Cologne had only to sit back and watch. The look on her companion's face was truly priceless, she could practically see Lady Shiva struggling to demolish the mental pictures forming in her mind even as the formed unbidden. Yes, even a hardened warrior could only take so much of this form of punishment before finally cracking. She had to admit though, her son-in-law would have probably made a mad dash for the lavatory several minutes ago.
"Heh, heh ,heh, ahhhh, you children are always good for a laugh. Tell me, how is O-Sensei doing these days? I hadn't thought on him for quite some time, maybe I should drop in for a visit one of these days," she asked, now in quite a good mood.
Lady Shiva's face immediately regained its former cold demeanor.
"He is dead."
. . . There was only one thing that Cologne could think to say to that.
". . . oh."
The man sat at his massive Oak desk, oblivious to the vast space surrounding him, which composed his office. No, all of his attention was focused directly on the large pair of heavy double doors that stood some thirty-two feet and four inches in front of him. The gears in his head were whirring madly, had been for nearly a week now. If he had been anyone other than himself, he would have almost sworn that he was giddy with anticipation.
After all, it promised to be an eventful meeting.
A soft tone sounded from the face of desk, it was quickly followed by a voice emanating from the smooth, polished wood.
"Mr. Luthor, Lady Shiva and your Guest have arrived."
Lex Luthor smiled, running a palm over his bald scalp before reaching down and pressing a seemingly featureless part of the desk's surface.
"Please, Patricia, show them in."
A moment later, the large doors opened and the familiar form of Miss Wu-San entered. He forced himself to school his features as he finally caught sight of the figure that strode after her with surprising spryness.
His informant had told him that she had been quite short and extremely old, but that hardly did the woman justice! He had heard the term 'shriveled with age' bandied about before, but this was the first time that he had ever imagined using it on a living, breathing human being.
Still, considering the life he had led, it would take more than something as minor as this to throw him off his game.
With dignified grace, he stood up behind his desk and straightened out his ebony, three-piece suit before walking around the furniture to stand before his guest. Without so much as a nod from him, Lady Shiva moved off to stand by one of the far walls. As soon as he stood before his guest, he bowed politely, staring into her large, owlish eyes. Then, still bowed slightly, he offered her his hand.
"Greetings, Elder Khu Lon of the Joketsuzoku. Please let me welcome you to Metropolis."
The ancient woman's eyebrow cocked in amusement at his words. An expression that could quite possibly have been a smile formed on the woman's impossibly wrinkled lips.
"My, my, you actually got it right. I must say I'm impressed, not many people bother with the proper pronunciation."
He just smiled wider, sweeping out his arm grandly.
"But of course, Honored Elder. What kind of host would I be if I couldn't even pronounce my guests' names correctly? And frankly, I'm surprised that a person of your status and abilities would tolerate such disrespect," he stated in good humor.
Cologne smirked amiably, "Well, time does seem to have a way of putting life into perspective. Besides, if I struck down every whelp that showed me so much as an ounce of disrespect, the past few weeks would have forced me to cull nearly an entire generation of promising heroes and martial artists."
They both shared a good chuckle over that. Lex was quite pleased with how things were progressing. He had feared that there would have been a fierce clash of personalities between the two of them, resulting in an arduous uphill battle to achieve his goals.
Gesturing politely behind him, he indicated the plush leather chair that sat facing his desk. "Would you like to sit before we continue?"
His guest nodded, before slowly walking towards the chair. As she passed him, she replied, "Yes, that sounds just lovely. These old bones of mine aren't so strong as they used to be."
He smirked as he watched her gingerly leap up into the chair, laying her gnarled staff across her lap. She was obviously hiding the true extent of her abilities, and he didn't expect anything less from the wily old woman. Lex knew that she was far more . . . active than she was letting on, but that information wasn't useful, since he had no idea just how much power she was actually hiding.
Without further ado, he made his way back to his own seat and sat down facing the ancient woman. Resting his elbows comfortably on his desk, he clasped his hands together before him and graced her with a winning smile.
"Now, I'm certain that you have a few choice questions concerning why exactly you happen to be here right now, and I assure you that we'll address your concerns in good time. First, though, let us get properly acquainted."
He tapped a finger to his chest. "As you've undoubtedly determined, I am Lex Luthor, CEO of Lexcorp. It's a pleasure to meet you."
Cologne nodded politely, apparently amused by his overt display of manners. She then replied in kind, "And, as your informants have already informed you, I am Khu Lon, matriarch of the Joketsuzoku village."
Hmm, his estimation of the woman rose several notches. Not only was she effortlessly piecing the situation together, it appeared that luck was on his side; not only was she an elder, but the actual matriarch herself.
Perfect . . .
"Excellent, excellent, now that we're properly acquainted, we can begin our discussion in earnest," he stated happily. "Now, I must admit that my information in regards to you and your village is actually quite limited, almost surprisingly so, considering my resources. In fact, most of the intelligence I've gathered was garnered from the exceptionally skilled martial artists that I've brought into my employ, such as Lady Shiva. And even then, they all spoke of your people as if you were only a legend."
It was a risky gambit, laying all of his cards on the table like this, and it went against the grain something fierce, but still . . .
Again, his guest nodded in response. "Hmm, indeed, that is probably for the best right now. No need for either of us to reveal all of our secrets at such an early stage in our relationship, now is there?"
Lex felt a chuckle bubbling up from the back of his throat, and decided to just let it out. This Khu Lon was no fool, that was for certain. Of course, considering she was at least one hundred years old, he'd be greatly disappointed if she had been otherwise.
The matriarch then continued speaking, a slightly smug tone hiding at the core of her words. "I must admit that my knowledge of yourself is also quite limited. Considering that all I know of you is what I read on the plane on the way here, I'm sure you can understand . . .
"However, even with the small amount of information granted me, I still believe that I have pieced together a fairly accurate assessment of the type of man you are, Mr. Lex Luthor," Cologne stated quite confidently.
Hmm, interesting. One of his eyebrows rose in interest as he took in the knowing look that had appeared on his guest's wrinkled face. "Hmmm, indeed? And what kind of man, may I ask, do you believe me to be?"
"You, Mr. Lex Luthor -" Suddenly Cologne's eyes narrowed dangerously and she leveled a withering gaze in his direction, "Are a dangerous man. You are a man that knows, indisputably, what it is that he desires and is willing to do anything and everything in your power to gain what you desire. You are a man to whom morality and honor are cast aside in the face of your driving ambition; truly, you are the most dangerous type of male on this great green earth."
The mega-billionaire was taken aback by the old woman's harsh words for a moment.
"That's a very harsh claim, Honored Elder. Whatever led you to that conclusion, I was fairly certain that the magazines I provided were all positive ones."
"Heh heh heh, well, that in and of itself was actually a clue," explained the ancient crone.
The harsh glare was gone now, replaced by an excited twinkling in her eyes. It looked very much like the look those television detectives got when they were about to unravel a great mystery at the end of the show.
"The very fact that you are a successful businessman is a fairly clear indicator that morals aren't very high on your list of priorities, but that's nothing really noteworthy. Being the leader of my people, I understand well the number of morally dubious decisions that one can be forced to make to ensure the survival of your interests.
"However, the magazines were a subtle hint. Let's face it, anyone as rich as you, doing so much good for the world, is obviously hiding something." A wizened smile appeared on her wizened face. "As for the rest, it was actually the young Lady Shiva, whom told me everything that I needed to know to determine the kind of man you are."
That caught the attention of his hired hand at the back of the room. The raven haired woman suddenly pushed off from the wall, an indignant expression on her face. "What? I told her nothing of you, Mr. Luthor. We spoke of nothing but martial arts."
Again, Cologne nodded, though this time more to herself than to anyone else. "Indeed, don't get upset at the young girl, Mr. Luthor, she didn't divulge any of your dark secrets during our conversation. Of course, as with most people, it's the things which aren't said which are most informative.
"There were three main things which brought me to my conclusion. First, was your approach. Really? Canceling my ticket and sending a skilled warrior to escort me back to your fair city? The fact that you did this in such a secretive manner obviously speaks to your willingness to do what needs to be done to gain your objectives. Also, doing things in that way also limited my choices, whereas if you had simply contacted me openly about a meeting, there was a chance that I would have declined out of hand."
Lex nodded, perhaps he was getting a little too used to strong arming people. It was hard not to, though, when you were one of the wealthiest men on the planet and had the resources to do so quite easily. He then gestured for her to continue.
"Next, was Lady Shiva herself. Though she never divulged the fact, it was child's play to determine that she was an assassin," stated the matriarch calmly.
Again, Lady Shiva started, but quickly moved back against the wall at a glance from him.
"I could give you a list of reasons for this: her reluctance to name her style, the fact that she is willing to sell her skills for something as petty as money, but really, it was nothing so deductive on my part."
With that, Cologne flipped her staff up, before snatching it from the air and pointing the narrow tip of the implement directly at Lady Shiva's impassive face. All without taking her own eyes off of Lex himself. Somewhat impressive, really.
"It was her eyes. I knew the moment I saw her, that she was no mere employee or bodyguard. Your little lapdog there had the eyes of a killer and nothing she could ever hope to do could hide that fact.
"Of course, that ties back to my opinion of you. After all, you knew that she was an assassin, likely one of the most notorious in your pale world of mediocre martial artists, and yet you still hired her on. In fact, it's likely more apt to say that is exactly why she is now in your employ, correct?" she asked leadingly.
A shallow incline of his head was all the answer she needed to continue. He wasn't even bothering to hide his growing smirk. Formidable indeed.
"Of course, neither of those things are of any real consequence. As I've said, I am aware of the types of decisions that people of power are forced to make and I would be a hypocrite if I said I've never resorted to questionable means to ensure the safety of my people. However, the most glaring reason for my rather "harsh" words is also the most obvious."
This time, the look she graced him with caused a nervous lump to form in his throat. Him! The most powerful man in Metropolis, the man that could stare down the likes of Superman without blinking. Somehow, this ancient, shriveled up old woman made him nervous. Amazing!
Again, he simply waited for Cologne to continue her explanation. She was only too happy to oblige.
"The battle against the Headmaster was not a fact made available to the public. Most of the battle occurred beneath the earth. And those few battles that occurred on the surface only involved the children, and were resolved with relative swiftness. Even the finale, which, though spectacular, was also quite brief, ending long before any police or news crews arrived.
"Considering there was no report announced, news-wise or police-wise, let alone a report that actually made mention of myself, it leads to an obvious conclusion. That conclusion is that your informants were actually spies, either among the H.I.V.E. academy's students or staff. That, in turn, means that you are actively observing the goings on of notorious criminals such as the Headmaster, yet you are not inclined to do anything to stop them, despite your tremendous resources. I would not even be surprised to learn that your company actually supplied some of the Academy's needs through covert means."
Finally, Cologne leaned back into her seat and crossed her staff across her legs. A wide, satisfied smile spread across her withered features.
"And that, Mr. Luthor, is why I believe that you are a dangerous man."
Lex's smile only widened and he leaned back into his own, personally crafted, chair. "Very good, Elder Khu Lon, very good indeed. Everything which you've stated is absolutely correct. Even your postulations are on the mark. And, all that being true, then you shouldn't be surprised by this."
At which point, he pulled the pistol from his jacket, aimed dead center of the Old Woman's forehead . . .
And fired.
Ranma suddenly shot up in his desk. It took him a moment to reorient himself, since it was English class and he'd been sleeping quite soundly . . . Still . . .
For some reason that he couldn't understand, the strangest feeling had washed over him, strongly enough to actually rouse him from his slumber. It had felt, in his inexperienced opinion, as if someone, somewhere, had just done the most stupid thing in the entire history of the world . . .
Meh, whatever, he was sure that whatever it was wouldn't come back to bite him in the butt later.
Satisfied, he gently lowered his head back to his desk.
Cologne chuckled in amusement at the scene unfolding around her. Behind her, Lady Shiva had nearly leapt half the length of the spacious room in a single bound when the gun had gone off. What exactly the youth intended to do, the old woman had no idea. Before her, even as he gingerly rubbed his aching wrist, Mr. Luthor was smiling like it was his birthday. With casual ease, Cologne lowered the tip of her staff to the floor before her, and snaked the end of it through the trigger guard of the pistol lying at the base of her chair. A quick flip lifted the gun into the air, where she deftly snatched it from the air for her inspection.
She clucked her tongue disapprovingly at what she saw. "Tsk, really, Mr. Luthor? A Ruger Mark Two? I'd have thought you'd be more of a traditionalist. I had thought that you'd had an actual Luger in your jacket when I first came in. Heh, I must be slipping."
The tall, bald man shook his injured wrist one last time before lowering it back to his side. The excited grin never left the man's face. "Traditions are fine and all, but I also believe in progress, Honored Elder. One must keep up with the times, if not forge on into the future itself."
Hmm, a male with views so progressive they would make Perfume's ideals seem positively conservative. She nearly chuckled to herself; she simply had to bring this man back to the village some time, if only to drive the other Elders mad with frustration.
"Indeed, indeed. I have seen the price that must be paid for clinging to tightly to the past. So then, have I passed your test? Are you ready to finally tell me just what it is that you've brought me here for?" she asked, with a small amount of steel in her voice.
Her host laughed then, a good-natured laugh, which, in the deep baritone of the man's voice, was actually quite pleasant. He casually waved off her curiosity . . .until he winced in pain and pulled his, likely sprained, wrist back to his chest.
"Too soon, Elder Khu Lon, too soon. We've only just met. I admit that I'm burning with anticipation to tell you everything, however you have every reason not to trust me, and you have yet to give me any reason to trust you. If this partnership is to work, we first need to forge a bond of mutual trust and respect between us."
Hmm, that made some sense to the aged Matriarch. A man with as much power as this man appeared to possess obviously possessed grand ambitions to match; much grander ambitions then that fool, the Headmaster. Even with everything she had gleaned from the man so far, she herself had no real idea what those ambitions could be yet, only unsupported suspicions. However, to his credit, he had been totally honest with her up to this point, even admitting to her harshest accusations . . .
"Very well, Mr. Luthor. You have piqued my curiosity. What exactly is it that you had in mind for this . . . partnership?"
Lex finally returned to his seat, steepling his fingers before him even as he leaned back.
"Well, for starters," he started, "I would like you to be my guest for a time. I'd like you to be audience to all of the inner workings of my company, so that you might gain a better insight into what it is that we do, and how we go about it. And, of course, while you're here, you would be treated to all the finest that Lexcorp could possibly offer."
Cologne considered this carefully, a slow grin blooming on her lips. "So, you intend to win my trust by lavishing me with anything and everything that I could possibly desire?"
He returned her crooked grin and nodded.
"Anywhere you wish to travel, no matter how far, any food you desire, no matter how exotic, every whim you may have, shall be indulged. Anything you could possibly want will be provided for you, just name it," he stated imperiously.
To her credit, she mulled over her dilemma for an entire second before reaching her decision. Matching gazes with the statuesque male's cool eyes, her grin blossomed into a full-blown smile.
"Well, now that you mention it, there are one or two things I can think of . . ."
With one final sweep of the broom, the last of the dust was cast from the sidewalk and onto the road.
Mousse sighed lazily and leaned heavily on the wooden cleaning implement. He took a moment to lift his glasses up to his forehead, letting the world melt away into a gentle mass of colorful blurs. It wasn't like there was anything he cared to see on the street, and he could see well enough without them now.
Normally, he would have been overjoyed to have so little work to do around the restaurant, but now the tedium was just killing him. They'd only been back from the States for about a week and business had been slow the whole time. Without their main cook, they'd been forced to cut out delivery orders completely, and since the shriveled up monkey still wasn't back, they hadn't exactly been keeping . . . 'regular hours'.
To be honest, he had been enjoying the lazy days, but now he realized he just didn't have anything to fill his time with anymore. Saotome was keeping his distance, which was nice, and Mousse wasn't as fickle as Ryouga to attack the pigtailed boy for no reason at all. Ukyou was away for the foreseeable future, too, so he didn't even have her to go to and whine about the injustices of life.
His train of thought caused him to chuckle to himself. Oddly enough, Shampoo had been talking to him more, but mostly to complain about how bored she was, or to complain that she'd missed out on her chance to fight any real villains back at the academy because of him.
In a way, he was feeling a bit jealous of the Hibiki boy. He was out in the world, living with exciting people, fighting exciting villains, not at all like what Mousse was up to. Feh, for all the excitement that Mousse had seen lately, he might as well be cooped up in a cave looking at a funny looking rock . . .
Hmm, that wasn't really it, though. He was really more jealous that Ryouga had gotten to spend so much more time at the academy than him. Ryouga had been there for months, Mousse had only gotten to spend, maybe, a week in the actual classes, what with his special training and all.
He smirked to himself as he nodded to an attractive lady (construction worker), as she passed by. Now that was what he really missed, the private training that the Headmaster had put him through. True, the man whose care he had been put under hadn't had much to teach him as far as combat was concerned; however, there was a lot more to the assassin's craft than one would initially think. Sure, it wasn't the most honorable profession, but his teacher had been most knowledgeable, and the lessons had been intense.
Man, if he'd only had another week of that, he was sure that he'd have been able to figure out how to adapt his hidden weapon technique to fool even the most sophisticated scanners in existence.
Oh well, lost opportunities, he supposed-
"Mousse! Get your lazy butt in here!"
Shampoo, obviously, and speaking Mandarin with much aplomb. That was another thing that they'd let slip since Cologne had been away. His lady love hadn't bothered speaking Japanese, unless Ranma was around, since they'd stepped on the plane back to Tokyo. He could hardly blame her. She still had some trouble with the language, and no one liked to look like a fool for something they couldn't help.
Well, what was he waiting around for? Her wish was his command after all.
A moment later, he was inside the restaurant, broom mysteriously absent now. Sitting lazily on the counter (and he'd just polished there!) was the lavender haired beauty. In her hand was a large, white envelope.
As soon as she saw him, she stuck her tongue out at him teasingly and returned her attention back to the envelope.
"You're always so slow, Mousse. Can't you ever stop thinking, even for a minute?"
The hidden weapons master rolled his eyes, before remembering that he could barely see without his glasses on. With a quick nod of his head, his trusty spectacles slid down before his eyes.
"What is it, my dearest Shampoo? Did you need something?" he asked, adding just a touch of sarcasm to retaliate for her teasing.
"We got a letter in the mail, it's addressed to the both of us. It looks like it's from the United States," she replied, sounding interested for the first time since that Martial Arts Flower Arranging person had blown through town two days ago.
Hmm, interesting, there was a pretty short list of people it could be from then. Even shorter if it was addressed to both of them. That most likely cut out Ukyou and Ryouga to be certain.
Without further hesitation, Shampoo tore into the envelope. The fragile, white paper didn't stand a chance against the curious Amazon, giving way before her inquisitive fury. What was revealed when she'd finished mutilating the envelope was-
"Airplane tickets?" she asked, confused.
"Airplane tickets?" he asked, also confused. "Hmm, you don't suppose that Nabiki decided to add some actual martial artists to her crew, since the Titans got Ryouga, do you?"
Now that'd be pretty fun . . . not that he really wanted to actually fight the Hibiki boy face to face, but hey, that was what Mammoth was for. He wouldn't mind another go at Raven, though, now that was a formidable opponent-
"Biih," Shampoo gave him another raspberry, "Don't be stupid, Mousse. As if Nabiki would want someone as weak as you on her team."
Again, the nearly blind martial artist rolled his eyes in affectionate annoyance.
"Fine, then who are they from?"
The love of his life took a minute to examine the tickets . . .
"Hmmm, it says that they're from Great Grandmother!"
Shampoo's eyes widened in surprise at the destination.
"She wants both of us to come to Metropolis!"
"Metropolis!" Mousse replied in shock . . .
"Where on earth is Metropolis?"