Disclaimer – I do not own any of Team Ninja's characters or anything else related to Dead or Alive.
Jann drops Bayman's ankle, causing the heavy shank of meat to thump onto the floor. He does his best to match this man's stolid scowl the best he can, but with his more slender eyes, he doesn't quite pull it off. Not to mention he's drenched in sweat and possibly other liquids. He clears his throat and attempts to use his most daunting voice,
"Who the hell are you?" Jann squeaks like a mouse and the man scoffs lowly,
"My name is Leon, but the more pertinent question is 'Why the hell am I'."
"Oooh-kay...Why the hell are you...?" Jann asks and then thinks about grammar, "...here?"
"A woman that misses you very much wants me to retrieve you and bring you home." He answers and Jann laughs derisively,
"I'm so sure. Headmistress Amalda is it? That orphanage aint a normal place." Jann answers and Bayman groans from the ground,
"And there's ghosts!"
"Ghosts or not, you will be returning." Leon answers as Eliot runs into the main lobby of the store scowling and sweating, blood dripping from his right arm.
"What the hell happened to you?" Jann asks through astonishment and Eliot growls and points menacingly at Jann,
"You left me back there alone to fight that damn Unicorn! It was a boy Unicorn and he didn't want me riding him." Eliot fights back tears and Bayman laughs from the ground,
"This kid's not only gay, but he's into horses!"
"Master!!!" Eliot squeals at the top of his lungs and the old man at the entrance of the store rushes in.
"Eliot, my boy, what is it?" He asks and Eliot points at Jann and Bayman, sniveling and wiping snot from his nose,
"These boys are being mean to me, Master!"
"Stand back, Eliot, I shall deal with them!" The old man flexes his muscles, not exhibiting much difference in his already undefined, skinny, wrinkly body, but a vein does begin to protrude from his wrinkled forehead, "And I'm going to start with this big guy that stepped on me on his way in!"
"Stay out of this, old timer," Leon says, turning away from Jann, "I stepped on you because you are an insignificant being of this world, not needed in any way."
"Ouch!" Jann says loudly, "You gonna take that? I always thought you were a Master."
"I am a Master dammit! I am the Great Gen Fu! Step back, boys!" Gen Fu rushes at the much larger Leon and Jann doesn't hesitate to grab a hold of Bayman and bolt towards the entrance. Leon curses as he reaches out, but misses as Gen Fu launches his head into Leon's well muscled stomach.
Leon stumbles backwards and looks down angrily, ready to grab at Gen Fu, but the foolish old man lies on the ground unconscious, birds and stars floating around his head. Leon then turns to give chase to his two targets, but Eliot launches himself forwards, and wraps his skinny arms around Leon's legs, halting him in his tracks.
"Don't you know who I am?!" Leon leans down and picks Eliot up by the scruff of his neck.
"Sorry, sorry, sorry!! I give good sponge baths! I swear! Just ask Master when he wakes up!" Eliot stammers cowardly and Leon drops Eliot back to the ground and walks over to a shelf. He picks up a candy bar and slams it down on the counter in front of the old attendant,
"How much is this?"
"Ehhhhh?" The woman blinks her old, jaundiced eyes twice and then falls forwards onto the counter sans life. Leon doesn't bother to check her pulse, he simply opens the candy bar and enjoys himself a little piece of milk chocolate heaven as he walks out.
Jann and Bayman don't stop running until they are sure that they have lost their assailant. They have taken a number of corners and turns, and aren't exactly sure where they are. As if they did, before, but still. Jann looks around the area at a much poorer district, filled with dirt roads and vendors are spread about selling numerous different items. The one thing that Jann is sure of is that a lot of this food smells delectable.
"Let's eat! How much money do you have?" Bayman asks obliviously and Jann Lee smacks him across the face,
"Yea, we were only just trying to rob a corner store not twenty minutes ago, because we're freakin laden with money!"
"Well you did drag me for the first five of that! I probably have brain damage now!" Bayman demands and Jann spits on the dirt ground,
"Should've left yo ass."
He looks to the closest stand and thinks of how he could sneak up and steal one of those roasting chickens, but a poor girl about his and Bayman's age catches his attention. Her black dress is covered with dirt as is her cute face and long, tangled black hair. She moves pseudo-stealthily, tip-toeing on her plain brown shoes towards a stand of fried kabobs. It appears like the man stares right at her as she swipes one and runs off un-hindered.
"Did you see that?" Jann asks astounded and Bayman nods his head, looking in a totally different direction,
"Yea, that monkey just did like ten flips and didn't drop not one of those pies."
"Focus, you chunk!" Jann snaps and Bayman brings his head back around and Jann points at the little girl, chewing down on her freshly swiped kabob, "Follow me."
Jann and Bayman rush towards the girl, dodging vendors and customers as they move through the crowd. Jann reaches her first and startles the girl, almost causing her to drop her pilfered treat.
"Hey, girl, how'd you do that?" Jann asks curiously and the girl looks up with two large brown eyes, almost cartoon large.
"Whatcha mean?" She asks, taking a bite of a fried pineapple and Jann's stomach rumbles.
"How did you sneak passed that guy? It looked like he saw you!" Jann clarifies and the girl shrugs her shoulders,
"Well you just gotta pretend that you're invisible. I sometimes also pretend that I can fly." Jann scowls as he looks over his shoulder at the vendor,
"Listen, I don't care about flying! What's the technique?"
"I just toldja! Pretend that no one can see you." She answers in an obvious manner and Jann sighs.
"I think you should try it." Bayman suggests and Jann looks at Bayman, then at the girl, and then at the vendor,
"I'm not gonna get my hands cut off if I get caught will I? Like in Arabia?" The girl shrugs her shoulders as she continues eating, drizzling grease down her chin,
"I dunno, never got caught." Jann stares at her intensely, and then turns around. If this girl can do it, then he should be able to without any problems.
He wipes his sweaty hands on his pants and then starts forwards slowly. He crouches low and moves on stealthy feet, not even hearing himself move. He slows his breathing and takes short, quiet steps. The vendor barters with a customer, drawing his complete attention. Jann allows himself to smile, looking at those sizzling kabobs, filled with meat and fruit. He'll probably even eat the skewer when he's done. Bayman can eat dirt for all he cares, because he's going to be feasting on--
"Hey, street urchin, hit the rocks!" The vendor yells and Jann falls over, not even close to his goal. His eyes go wide, being stared at disdainfully by both the vendor and customer.
"How the hell did you see me?"
"You think you're the first person to try and rip me off?" The man asks and pulls his shirt up, revealing a long piece of metal and Jann clears his throat and smiles,
"My mistake." He turns around and runs fast back to where Bayman and the girl wait.
Bayman chews on a chunk of meat and the girl tosses the metal skewer on the ground.
"Woah, woah, wait! You gave him some?" Jann asks furiously and Bayman swallows and shrugs,
"I figured you'd have your own so..."
"DAMMIT! Listen, you're technique didn't work! I was still a good foot away!" Jann plunks down, steam rising off the top of his head.
"Sorry. You just probably didn't believe." She answers and Jann thinks to pick up the skewer and impale her through the neck, but thinks better of it.
"How big is this market? Are there other places we could try?" Jann asks and the girl nods her head,
"Yea, it stretches for about three miles. We can score big I bet! Oh, my name is Zhi! What about you guys?"
"Oh, I'm Bayman and this is Jann." Bayman smiles and thrusts out his hand, but Zhi ignores him and reaches towards Jann longingly,
"Nice to meet you, Jann." Jann looks at Zhi's dirty hand and then pushes it away and stands up,
"Show me where s'more vendors are. And I want half blind old people. I'm hungry as a hostage up in here."
"Okay! Do you wanna hold hands?" Zhi asks hopefully and Jann glares at her,
"No! Just lead."
"You can hold my hand if you want!" Bayman suggests and Zhi shakes her head,
"No, that's okay."
The boys follow Zhi as she rushes through the crowd, diving and rolling, crawling and spinning as she goes. Jann doesn't begin to wonder why she's so dirty now.
"So are you on your own?" Bayman asks and Zhi springs up from an army crawl as she makes it underneath a man's legs,
"Yep! I'm an orphan. My parents abandoned me like, six years ago." She answers, although not too sadly.
"Wow, me and Jann are orphans too!" Bayman answers with a smirk, and Jann smacks him in the gut,
"Don't be puttin my business out in the street."
"How old are you, Jann?" Zhi asks, leaning towards Jann, leaving Bayman by himself again and Jann surveys the area,
"I'm thirteen."
"Woah, me too!" Zhi says excitedly, grabbing a hold of Jann's arm and he pulls away,
"Don't lie." He says reproachfully and Zhi frowns,
"Okay...okay...I'm twelve, but I'll be thirteen soon!" She admits and Bayman smiles,
"So really, me and you are closer in age, than you and--"
"So Jann, do you have a girlfriend?" Zhi overpowers Bayman and Jann groans,
"Listen, I'll talk to you while I eat, but not until, cool?" He asks impatiently and Zhi nods her head and quickly rushes off again, doing a quick cartwheel. She misses her landing and accidentally kicks a man in the back of the head.
"What the hell?" The man spins around with fire in his eyes, but at seeing Zhi, the fire dissipates.
"I'm sorry!" Zhi cries out and the man smiles and pats her on the head,
"That's okay, just be more careful." He turns around and walks off and Jann and Bayman both stare at each other.
"She does have that adorable face." Bayman suggests and Jann shakes his head,
"Nah, son, I don't care how adorable a chick is. She kicks me in the back of the head, I'll be liftin her ten feet."
"Hey guys! There's a stand!" Zhi jumps up and down pointing and Jann growls and rushes towards her, tackling her to the ground less than gently.
"Are you trying to draw attention to us!" Jann yells and Zhi looks up at him blushing. Jann exhales and stands up off of her and hauls her up by the arm, "Listen, sorry."
"I don't mind..." Zhi answers with a smile and Bayman looks on angrily. Jann looks to the stand she was pointing at and licks his lips at seeing the variety of Chinese sweet buns. His deft nose can pick out pork and custard fillings among them.
"Okay, let's try this again." Jann rubs his hands together and stares at the back of the fleshly abundant man. He could easily just kick the man in the back of the head with a flying kick, but he doubts the Chinese Super Cops will let him off too easily. He shakes off his jitters and rushes forwards on silent feet, moving with the wind. The smells beckon him forth. He reaches forwards desperately, but the man turns.
"Why..." Jann says as he stops, his hand resting just above one of the buns. If only he had a mouth on his hand...what a world that would be.
"You want one of these buns for free, kid?" The man asks in a solemn voice and Jann pulls his empty hand away and looks down, trying his best to look pitiful and abashed.
"Yessir." He hates himself for acting so diffident and timid, but his stomach can't take much more punishment.
"Okay." The man answers and Jann lifts his head up, his eyes lit up like stars.
The man smiles widely and picks up the largest bun and holds it out to Jann, and as Jann steps forwards to accept it, the man throws it to the ground. Jann's eyes have no choice but to follow the demise of the sweet treat as it collides with the ground. His eyes begin to fill with tears as the man stomps onto the bun, exploding filling across the dirt, laughing maniacally.
"Haha! Foolish street rat! You thought I was actually going to give you something for free?! You even reached out! And I totally threw it on the ground!" He holds his rumbling middle as he continues to laugh and Jann looks up, blinded with tears, not only from hunger, but also from fury.
"I swear I'm going to--"
"Oh hush it up! Go rejoin Jasmine and Abu over there and be out of my sight!" The man waves Jann away and he turns around and drags his feet back to Bayman and Zhi.
"Gee, Jann, I'm sorry it didn't work." Zhi consoles and Jann sits down on the ground, holding back tears. It's not that she's ashamed to cry in front of a girl, its that his stomach is currently absorbing all the liquids of his body for sustenance.
"There you are, Leifang!" A boy's voice calls from the crowd towards their direction and Jann and the others turn to face him.
Four boys rush towards the three of them, mostly the same age as Jann and Bayman and all uniformed in a black and white karate Gi.
"Daddy's little girl trying to run off on her own again?" The oldest boy asks and Zhi looks at Jann and Bayman,
"Do you know these guys?" Jann and Bayman look from the group of boys and then back to Zhi,
"You mean you don't know them?"
"Shit, of course Leifang knows us! She's in our Tai'Chi Quan School!" The boy demands and Zhi scratches her head through confusion,
"Who's this Leifang you speak of? My name's Zhi and this is Jann and Bay--"
"Oh, so it's Zhi now, huh? Surprised you didn't pick a Korean name this time!" The boy starts forwards, but Bayman steps forwards, puffing his chest out,
"Listen, Zhi doesn't know you, so return to whence you've come!" Bayman demands and the boys all laugh at him. One of the younger one's takes out a bag of and begins tossing back little chocolate covered peanuts and Jann looks up,
"Hey...you mind if I snag one of those?" Jann asks as politely as he can muster and the boy laughs,
"You see this, guys, this gay-bait wants to taste my nuts!" All the boys burst out in laughter and Jann stands up slowly and cracks his knuckles. He won't be ridiculed twice in one day.
"Any last words?" Jann asks in a low voice, but the boy's ignore him and continue laughing, "Allow me to introduce you to Jeet Kune Do." Jann bursts forwards and the first boy only has time to gasp before he has a fist in the center of his chest. He falls backwards and Jann spins with a high roundhouse to another one, and sends the boy tumbling across the ground. The other two quickly situate themselves into their stances, but Jann is much too fast, and much too angry to give them time. The first falls with crushed nuts and the one holding the actual nuts gets lifted into the air by a high leaping kick, and then Jann finishes him off with another roundhouse.
He lands in a seated position and catches the peanuts in his left hand with a content smile on his face. He dives into the bag, not caring about all the wide eyes staring at him, but another voice draws him away.
"Mistress Leifang?" Once again, the three turn to see the new arrival. Not a group of boys this time, but a tall, muscular man wearing an identical Gi to the boys. Bayman and Jann both look at Zhi and she quickly looks away from their curious eyes and yells,
"Who the hell is this Leifang?" Zhi yells angrily, stomping her feet on the ground, "I don't know why people keep mistaking me with her! When I find her I'm going to--"
"Stop lying." Jann says gravely and Zhi stops stomping and tears begin to well in her eyes, "You're not really a street urchin like us are you?"
"Wait, woah, we're street urchins?" Bayman asks confused, but everyone ignores him as the man walks forwards.
"I'm sorry, Jann! I didn't mean to lie! I just...I just...all these servants and maids are always bugging me about how I want my hair and daddy's always making me train and, well being rich is just--"
"Stop the f'ckin train a second!" Jann jumps up, dropping the nuts on the ground and turns on Leifang, "Not only are you not poor, but you're rich?! Biatch, this aint no game! My stomach has turned on my internal organs! I think I've lost half my liver and about ten feet of small intestines! Holy shit!!" Jann turns on the muscular man with an armor piercing scowl, "Get this chick out of my sight before I do something unforgivable!"
"A little too late for that..." Bayman whispers in the background, but no one hears him. Leifang wipes her tears on her dirt encrusted sleeve and frowns,
"Can I at least offer you all some food?"
"Oh, you rich biatch, you better do better than that! We're trying to get to Japan. You got a personal jet or a yacht or some shit?" Jann asks and Leifang shakes her head sadly,
"No, but I can give you guys 10 or 15 easy for plane fare and lodging."
Bayman shakes his head and steps closer,
"10 bucks? Listen, Zhi...I mean Leifang, you gotta at least give us like four hundred or somthin." Everyone stares at Bayman again, and Jann smacks himself in the face.
"I meant 10,000, but okay. If that's all you want. Master Zu, could you pay them?" Leifang looks to her teacher and the man nods and steps forwards, proffering a small bundle of currency. Jann doesn't hesitate to snatch it away.
"Thanks, I guess. C'mon, Bayman." Jann Lee turns around and grabs Bayman by the arm and walks away quickly, forcing himself not to look back. He doesn't want to be tempted to slap the hell out of Leifang, and not only that, but he's not entirely sure if he could stop himself from eating those soiled peanuts.
"Mistress Leifang, you truly must stop doing this. All of our School's hopes are resting on your shoulders." Master Zu says respectfully and Leifang nods her head sorrowfully,
"I'm sorry, Master, but I found a keeper this time! Did you see how Jann moves out there. I'm gonna grow up and totally beat him one day!"
"I'm sure you will, Mistress Leifang." Zu says as he takes her hand and begins to turn, but Leifang pulls away,
"Nuh-uh, you ruined my fun yet again! I want piggy back!" Zu turns back around hesitantly,
"But you've been rolling in the dirt all day." He answers and her petulant scowl changes his mind and he sighs, "Yes, Mistress."
Jann and Bayman step up to the gate inside the Beijing airport with legit tickets this time, but a security official rushes forwards before the attendant can check their passes. Bayman clinches his jaw, hoping that word didn't spread that fast.
"Excuse me, Sir?" The security official pats Jann on the shoulder, looking at a picture in his hand and comparing the two.
"Yes?" Jann asks, wiping his mouth free from the 100 dollars worth of greasy hamburgers that he feasted on moments earlier. Them kids from White Castle just don't know.
"Is your name Yi Chang? We've been trying to track a psychopath that terrorized a flight from Basel a few hours ago. You match the picture." The official holds out a hand drawn sketch of Jann, his jagged teeth are curled into a maliciously demonic grin and his hair is spiked like fire with two horns protruding from his forehead.
"Um, no, my name is Jann Lee. Check my ticket." Jann points and the official looks at the ticket and rubs his chin wonderingly,
"And if thats not enough..." Jann unsnaps his pants and brings them down slightly, showing the waistband of his drawz which displays his name spelled out.
"Oh, well that's proof of ID all right. We shall continue searching. Have a good flight." The man backs away and Jann leads the way into the tunnel, zipping up his pants.
"That's wierd..." He says and Bayman looks down at his own band,
"Mine say 'The Baymanator'."