Update 3-31 - 'Moredo' should have been 'Morado'. I fail at Spanish. Fixed in this chapter and previous.
Hei paused in the doorway only long enough to take in the scene. Yin had identified and scouted the room from the car: two armed guards flanking the door, an official, a prisoner, and a man who might be a contractor, who hadn't looked up to see her before she'd found a more hidden location. She'd heard Morado bring in Jiao-tu, but hadn't been able to see much from her new vantage point, though she'd guessed at just one additional man. It looked like she'd been accurate.
Hei had left Misaki downstairs, handcuffing an unconscious MSS official, but he couldn't afford to wait for backup. Jiao-tu was his priority, and there were five people between him and her. Moving with the speed on which he'd depended in South America, he dashed into the room and slammed the hilt of his knife backhanded into the temple of the guard to his right. As the guard collapsed against the wall, the other guard moved forward and swung his right fist at Hei's face. Hei dodged; the guard recovered quickly and jabbed at Hei's ribcage with his left, but Hei had anticipated him. He caught the guard's arm between his biceps and his ribs, then flexed and jerked hard, cracking the guard's elbow, while he slammed his knee into the man's diaphragm. A jolt of electricity to his head as the man doubled over finished the job.
While Hei was engaged with the second guard, the Indian contractor had been drawing on his power. The ball he was holding glowed with synchrotron radiation and flew from his hand straight at Hei's head. Hei reacted on instinct and brought up his knife to protect his face; the ball rebounded off the blade, snapping it, and hit the wall beside the contractor, where it lodged in the drywall and smoked with an acrid steam.
The contractor had ducked the ball but was already charging forward. Hei moved forward to meet him, jabbing at him with his left fist, followed by a right hook. The contractor dodged both swings easily; but Hei let the momentum from his right carry him forward and down, and brought his leg up behind him, knee bent, to catch the man's neck with a sharp blow from his heel. The contractor collapsed, and before he had a chance to get up, Hei bent and electrocuted him.
He drew his other knife and turned to the rest of the room, tensed and ready. There was a table with a laptop computer resting on it between him and the others. The Chinese man had his gun out and was aiming at him; but the shot that rang out came from behind Hei. Misaki had caught up. The man dropped his weapon, crying out in pain and clutching his arm as blood ran down to drip from his hand. He backed up against the rear wall, eyes wide, and didn't try to retrieve his gun. Misaki must have her weapon trained on him.
And next to him was Morado. He stood calmly behind Jiao-tu, with one hand gripping her arm. His other hand was around her throat. Jiao-tu's face was white with fear.
"Oi, Hei - e aí?" the contractor said, smiling in that careless way he'd always had. Hei tightened his grip on his knife, and focused on Morado. He was afraid of what he would see in Jiao-tu's eyes.
"Is your Portuguese rusty?" Morado continued when Hei didn't answer. "It has been a while, eh? I'm sure you won't mind English then - it is so much better than my Chinese, and I don't want us to have a misunderstanding. I know you're here for the little angel, or you would have already thrown your knife. So, let's bargain, meu amigo."
"Let her go, Morado" Hei said, his voice tight. He heard Misaki come up beside him so that she had a better angle on the man against the wall, but she was still far enough that Hei had room to maneuver. Moredo was holding Jiao-tu too close for her to risk a shot at him.
"Tch, 'Morado' - 'Roxo', they should have named me. Did they think I was Colombian?" The contractor shook his head; Hei had heard this complaint before. "The only way I'm letting her go is if you let me go. But first, your friend there lowers her gun. My friend Zhang is harmless now, but it is making me nervous."
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Misaki glance at him. She brought her gun down, but still held it ready. Hei had no intention of letting Morado leave the room alive. He narrowed his eyes. "Your former employers know you're here."
"And they sent you to kill me? Come now, Hei, what's more important to you: obeying your orders, or saving this girl who looks so much like Bai?" Jiao-tu whimpered a little as Morado's hand tightened on her throat. "You have the girl's phone, yes? Here is my offer: the girl for the phone. My current employers will continue to look for her if they think she still has it. Letting me go with the phone so that I can tell them to leave her be is the rational choice."
"You want me to be rational?" Hei said in a low voice. If he could catch Morado off guard, make him shift away from Jiao-tu, he might be able to hit him before the contractor had a chance to use his power …
"Hei," Misaki said, "it makes sense. Wasn't that your plan all along? To hand over the phone?" She spoke in Japanese, but she clearly was following the English exchange well enough.
"That's right," the Chinese man said, still clutching his injured arm and looking anxiously from Hei to Misaki. "My superiors know all about the file on her phone; give it to us, and we'll let you all go."
"Oh, English for you too now?" Morado smiled at the other man, then turned back to Hei. "Of course my friend Zhang is right; he or I could deliver this message equally well. So, as a sign of good faith…"
Morado pushed Jiao-tu away from him and grabbed Zhang's arm. Before Zhang realized what was happening, Morado had released his power. Hei heard a gasp from Misaki that was quickly drowned out by Zhang's choking scream. But it was over in seconds. Zhang's body dropped to the floor, blood bubbling from his eyes, nose, and the pores of his face. The boiling blood hissed and steamed when it made contact with the air.
Jiao-tu was crouched on the floor, crying. Misaki cautiously made her way over to her, weapon lowered but still ready. Morado made no move to stop her.
"Still the same," Morado said, glancing towards Misaki and smiling cheerfully. "Always with two women. You have a new sister; is this your new lover? If I hadn't seen you use your power, I wouldn't believe you really are a contractor. Certainly it is irrational to leave aside your orders to protect this girl."
Hei ignored his comments. "I need to know: do you know where my sister is?" Misaki had reached Jiao-tu; she pulled his cousin to her feet and led her back towards Hei, away from the contractor.
Morado's expression turned bemused. "Don't you? How would I know, if you do not?"
He was probably telling the truth, Hei thought. He hadn't been there when the Gate and Bai disappeared; he'd been running away from it. "What about Amber? Are you working with her?"
At the mention of Amber's name, the color drained from Morado's face. "Amber? You don't mean…she's not in the city, is she? Merda! I left the war to get away from her!"
It was a believable reaction, and Morado had never bothered much with feigning emotions. Still, he might be lying; Morado and Amber had always gotten along, why would he have run because of her? And he hadn't used up all of his power yet, Hei was almost sure. He shifted his grip on his knife.
Morado tensed; Misaki caught the movement as well. "We need to let him go, or the MSS will still be after Xu. Hei!"
"Hei Tianshi," Jiao-tu mumbled. It physically hurt to hear her use that name. Hei looked at his cousin; she was shaking despite Misaki's arm around her shoulders and her face was wet with tears. Right now, Jiao-tu was more important than Bai.
"Fine," he said, and sheathed the knife. He held out his hand towards Misaki, but kept his eyes on Morado. "Phone?"
Misaki let go of Jiao-tu long enough to fish the purple phone from her pocket. She handed it to Hei. Morado stepped forward cautiously to take it, but when he was still a few feet away, Hei activated his power and fried the phone. A little wisp of smoke rose up from it.
"Má sorte," he said, and tossed the phone to Morado.
"Ah. Indeed. Filha da puta," the contractor said with a shrug. He tucked the still-smoking phone into his jacket pocket. "And without the key, the boy is no longer useful. Well, China must surely have someone who can unencrypt these files. He is your problem now." Morado jerked his head toward the young man who was sitting huddled in the corner; he didn't appear to have moved an inch since Hei had entered the room. Yin's specter was floating in the water bottle he was clutching white-knuckled.
"You know that if anything happens to her, it's you I'll be coming for," Hei warned.
Morado's smile tightened a little. "As I said: still the same. Don't worry, Anjo Negro, I know what is in my best interest."
"Behind you." Hei spun at Yin's warning to see that one of the guards had awakened and was bringing up his handgun from his prone position on the floor. The man's aim was shaky, and Hei immediately saw that the shot was going to go wide. Towards Misaki and Jiao-tu. Hei threw himself in front of them just as the guard fired. The bullet ricocheted off of Hei's coat to hit the wall, barely missing Morado. Hei drew his knife and threw it without hesitation; the knife impaled the man's chest before he could get off another shot, jerking him back.
"That is a neat trick, meu amigo," The contractor observed, looking at the bullet hole.
"I'm not your friend."
Morado smiled. "Nor am I yours. Até mais, certamente espero que não. Tchau!" He waved his hand airily, then swept the laptop off the table and carried it out of the room, whistling jauntily.
Sorry about the earlier formatting mistake - fixed now!
Portuguese translations:
e aí... what's up/how's it going
meu amigo... my friend
roxo... purple
Merda!... sh*t
Má sorte... bad luck
Filha da puta... son of a b*tch
Anjo Negro... Black Angel
Até mais, certamente espero que não. Tchau!... See you later, I certainly hope not! Bye!
Chinese:
Hei Tianshi... Black Angel
Spanish:
Morado... purple