What does it mean to be good at something? First, let me clarify something, being good does not necessarily mean being talented. Sure, having a lot of talent at something can make you good at something, but that is not a guarantee. There have been plenty of people in history who had lots of talent, but were never good at anything. Why is that? Since talent is the natural ability to perform something, it should be a direct correlation that having talent means you are good at something. That is where you are wrong, my friend. You are forgetting the number one most important thing that makes you good at something.
Hard work.
Just because you have talent, does not mean you are good. You still need to work hard to perfect your craft. This means studying, learning, practicing, and spending countless hours trying to improve. There was once a famous martial artist named Bruce Lee, who summarized this perfectly.
"I fear not the man who has thrown a thousand punches one time. I fear the man who has thrown one punch a thousand times."
Remember friends, hard work will always beat talent, if talent doesn't work hard.
In this case, I hope to god Mei has been working hard, because these Jiang-Shi are about to kick my ass in my own backyard.
"Prepare yourself, Mei!" The first one jumped forward and threw a few punches. Mei expertly dodged them.
"..."
"Ha, your Kung Fu has improved since the last time we fought, Mei" One of the Jiang-Shi complimented her. Then she threw a few kicks.
"But you are still not good enough to defeat us!" Mei threw a few well placed punches, knocking the Jiang-Shi back. They were starting to get angry.
"Grrr! How dare you! Fine, kitty wants to play, well too bad! Playtime's over!" The other Jiang-shi flanked her on one side and started throwing punches along with the first Jiang-Shi.
Mei did her best to fight them off, but unfortunately, she was no match. She blocked as many punches and kicks as she could, but she could only hold them off for so long.
"Hahaha! Poor little Mei. You fight so brave, but you cannot defeat us. Only a Kung Fu master can defeat the Jiang-Shi, and we both know you are no master!" The two alternated talking turns between their insults.
Mei was getting frustrated. Despite her best efforts, they eventually landed two skilled punches on her face. Mei was sent flying and crashed into the bushes.
"Once again, poor little Mei is no match! This is why you will never be a Kung Fu master. You are too weak, too small, and you lack discipline." Both of the Jiang-shi turned to me. "Now then, you're coming with us, Cole Casey! Surrender, and we won't harm you."
I took a fighting stance. As a Marine Corps veteran, there was no way I would back down from a fight.
"You want me? Come and take me!"
The chinese zombie women grinned and licked their lips seductively. "Don't tempt us with a good time. Too bad our master requested you alive, because my sister and I want to fuck you to death!"
Right before they made their move on me, A gunshot rang out in the yard, and a shell casing hit the concrete of the driveway. We all turned and looked to see who fired the shot.
"You touch my Vida, and you die, Caralho!" We saw a large brown skin Arachne standing in the driveway. Her long black hair flowing in the wind, and her brown eyes held a sinister gaze. She was holding a smoking 44 magnum desert eagle as steady as she could.
"Sida! Boy am I glad to see you".
"Get back Vida!" Sida stared down the two Jiang-Shi and fired another shot from her 44. Her arachne strength on display, as her arm barely cocked back from the recoil. Keep in mind, she was holding this gun with one hand. A grown man has to hold that gun with two hands, and even still, you need to squeeze that gun or else the recoil will cause it to knock you in the head.
Once the bullet hit the first Jiang-Shi, she started dissolving.
"Arrgghhhh! What the hell? You bitch! What did you just shoot me with?"
Sida stared her down again. "The power of Christ compels you. Descanse em paz". She fired one more round at the other Jiang-Shi. The second zombie girl started to dissolve too. "The power of Christ compels you. Descanse em paz".
The 2 zombie women screamed in agony as their bodies dissolved into a puddle of slime. Once they were gone, I ran over to Sida and gave her a big hug.
"Oh thank you so much Sida! You saved my life!" The Brazilian arachne blushed and hugged me back. "You know I would never let anyone hurt you, Vida. You mean the world to me. I love you more than anything on this earth. Eu amo Muito Muito!" Sida then grabbed my face and kissed my deeply.
As we were making out, Mei started to regain consciousness from being knocked into the bushes. We heard her stirring, so we stopped kissing and went over to her.
"Mei, are you okay? That was a nasty hit you took." She swatted my hand away and brushed the leaves off her fur.
"..."
"The Jiang-shi are gone. All thanks to Sida! She shot them with her gun and they started dissolving."
"..." Mei raised an eyebrow at her. Sida took this opportunity to explain herself. "Ahh, you're probably wondering how that worked? Well, you see I used a special kind of bullet. These are not the kind you can buy in a store. I had them specially made by an old friend."
"Who?" I asked. Suddenly, I saw a short girl with light gray skin wearing a purple hoodie standing by the back door.
"Hello Mr. Casey. It's nice to see you again."
"Greta?! What are you doing here?!"
"Your arachne friend called me. I see she took care of the zombies for you." Greta answered in her usual monotone voice.
"Yes, but she said she used a special bullet. Do you know anything about that?"
Greta paused for a moment. "You should come inside."
X
Inside the house, Sida, Mei, and myself were sitting on the sofa as Greta reached into her little bag. "Mr. Casey, do you know what this is?" Greta pulled out an iron cross.
"It's a cross. Why do you have that? I thought your kind didn't believe in god."
"False. While it is true that my kind were created from demonic energy, that does not mean we are averse to religion. I wish to learn more about this world, so in my quest for knowledge, I must also study that which puts me in danger, or that does not align with my world views."
"You have said that word before. Demonic Energy. What does that mean? Are you people demons?"
Greta shook her head. "No Mr. Casey, but demons are real. In fact, you have already met a very powerful one." My mind immediately thought about Lily. She was the first person I met on this whole crazy adventure. I haven't seen her in a while. I wonder if these chinese demonic zombies are related to her in some way?
"So what does this have to do with those Chinese zombies?"
"Are you familiar with exorcisms, Mr. Casey?" Greta asked me. I nodded my head.
"During an exorcism, a priest is called in to vanish an evil spirit, demon, or other type of supernatural being. That is exactly what took place this morning. Your friend Sida performed an exorcism on those Jiang-Shi, or as you refer to them, Chinese zombies".
"What?! Are you serious? But Sida is not a priest or a nun. How can she perform an exorcism?"
Sida smiled. "Greta melted down a cross and made a few bullets out of them. She also mixed in holy water with the gunpowder. It was my idea."
"But wait, I thought silver bullets were what you used to kill werewolves?"
"Yes Mr. Casey, but in this case, we were short on time and none of us are ordained priests, so this was the best we could do. I am pleased to see it work so effectively."
The room was silent for a moment. Greta walked over to Mei. "You are wounded. Hold still, this may burn a little bit." Her hands started glowing as she used her magic powers to heal Mei.
"Greta, so if exorcisms are how you kill the undead, does that mean you can be killed with an exorcism too/?"
"Technically yes, but please remember that since I am not technically alive, I cannot technically die." She turned towards me and looked at me with an angry expression. "But if you were thinking about trying to exorcize me, please know that I have taken the necessary precautions against such acts, Mr. Casey." She made sure to say that last part slowly.
Once Mei was healed, she looked very sad, and ran off to her room. "Mei wait!" It was no use. I heard her door slam shut a few seconds later. I'll have to have a talk with her later.
"Thanks for all your help Greta. I feel like we should report this to Ms. Jones. If someone is after me, FIRE should know."
Before I reached my phone, Sida stopped me. "No vida. I think we should keep this quiet. Those zombies also attacked me before attacking you. They were organized, and well trained. They knew who you were."
Greta added "Yes, the arachne is right. We are dealing with something very dangerous."
Sida looked at her. "Or someone."
"What are you suggesting?"
Sida looked at Greta and then back at me. "I think we may be mixed up with the Chinese Triads."
"Sida, are you serious?! What makes you think that?"
"Think about it, Vida. They knew who Mei was. Mei just fucking got here like last week. Don't you think it's a little suspicious that we take in a Chinese girl, and now we get attacked by Chinese zombie assassins?"
Hmmm… now that I think about it, Sida has a point. It was a little strange that those girls knew who Mei was. Unfortunately, the only person that knows the truth about what happened is….Mei.
"Ok, you may have a point. I'll go talk to Mei later and see what she knows. For now, let's keep this incident between the three of us. I don't want the other girls to get involved just yet. You know how protective they can be."
Greta started packing up her things. "Very well Mr. Casey. I will take my leave now. Please contact me if you run into any more trouble." Greta shook my hand, then shook Sida's hand, then left the house.
"Vida, are you going to be okay here by yourself?"
"Yeah I should be fine. Besides, I think it's time I had a little talk with Mei."
"Good idea…. Except you forgot the part where she doesn't talk at all."
"Ahh shit you're right. Maybe there is some way I can get her to open up?" Just then I heard a cell phone ring. Sida reached into her pocket and started talking to someone named Sydney.
"Hey, when did you get a cell phone? Wait a minute… a cell phone! Thats it!"
X
Later
Much to the dismay of Sida, I ended up calling Ms. Jones. However, I did not report the incident from this morning. Instead, I put in for a request. A few hours later, a package arrived at the door. That night at dinner, I made a special show for the girls.
"Girls, can I have your attention please? I've been thinking…"
"Well now, that's a first" Ellie giggled as she made a smart ass comment.
"Ha-Ha very funny. Anyway, I figured since you girls are out and about most of the day, we should all have a way for us to keep in touch. So, I called FIRE and I got you all brand new cell phones!" I reached into a box and pulled out 6 brand new smart phones.
"WOAHHH" All of the girls looked in awe at the new technology.
"These smart phones are the latest in technology from FIRE. They have been specially modified to allow for species with paws, claws, or larger hands. Here, try them out for yourself!"
I handed each of my girls a phone. They were like kids on christmas morning. Liz was the only one still eating dinner, as the rest of them were so caught up in their new phones.
"Look, it even has a camera!" Priya started taking selfies.
"Now I can finally play mobile games!" Olga cheered.
"Uhhh… Mate I can't really push any of the buttons." Ellie blushed embarrassingly as she felt left out of the fun.
"No worries Ellie. I thought of that, so I got you something that might help you." I handed her a pair of wireless ear buds.
"Wow! These look sharp. Of course, I wanted Kendra Scott diamond ear rings, but I guess these will do for now." She smiled and winked at me.
"With these, you can use voice commands to do things on your phone. Here, try it out. Just say "Hey Siri, send a text message to Cole".
"Siri, who the fuck is Siri?" She looked at me a little jealously.
"Oh, that's the default name of the AI built in the phone."
"Can I change it? The name I mean."
"Uhhh… yeah I think so. Here I'll help you". I took her phone and opened the settings. "What would you like the AI to be named?"
Elllie gave me a blank stare. "Cunt".
"Ummm Ellie, are you serious?"
"Fuckin' Oath! That way all I have to do is say "Oi Cunt, send text to Cole, and she'll be right."
And so, I renamed Siri on her phone to Cunt. Much to my chagrin, there was even an option to change the robot voice to an australian accent.
"Now this is fuckin' piss up mate! Let me give it a try. Ahem, Oi Cunt, call Priya." Suddenly Priya's phone started ringing. "Hello?"
"Get fucked ya scaly cunt!" Priya hung up and swatted Ellie with her lamia tail.
"Hahahahaha! Oh fuck, this is going to be a bloody ripper! I'm gonna do all sorts of shenanigans with this little cunt." Ellie gave an evil laugh, then went up to her room.
Now it's time to reveal the true reason behind this.
"Here Mei, I got you a cell phone too. Look, you can send text messages to all of the girls, and me. It even has a built in AI that can translate things from english to chinese in real time."
Mei slowly took the phone, then sent me a text.
*BZZT* Thank you Cole. That was really nice of you.
You're welcome Mei
*BZZT* I'm sorry about what happened this morning.
You mean with the chinese zombie girls?
*BZZT* Yes. It was all my fault. I was not strong enough to defeat them.
I never knew you could do kung fu. That was awesome! You had all kinds of cool moves just like the movies
*BZZT* Thanks :)
"Haha I see you learned how to do text emojis Mei. Thats impressive. Ms. Jones was right. You are a lot smarter than you let on."
*BZZT* There are a lot of things about me that you don't know
Oh yeah? Like your involvement with Cihinese Triads?
*BZZT* I never meant to get you involved. I came to this country to get away from all of that. To start over, and live a new life. But it seems I can't run away from my past so easily.
Mei, what happened this morning? Why did they attack you? Why are they trying to capture me?
"..."
I guess she doesn't feel like talking right now. Oh well, I need to clean up the kitchen and wash the dishes anyway.
X
Meanwhile, elsewhere in the city
A few cars barely ever drove by this street, but this neighborhood was home to one of the oldest churches in the city. 100 years ago, this area of town was a vibrant cultural area, but now its just another ghetto. The sun had set a few hours ago, so the only light in this area came only from the street lights and the liquor store. Most people knew better than to be out in this area at night, but one man was much braver.
A black sedan pulled up outside of the old church, and once it parked, a tall man got out of the car. He scanned the surroundings from under his fedora hat. His dark skin blended well with his dark robes and coat. Once the coast was clear, he walked inside the old church.
Despite the exterior looking very worn, the interior was very well preserved. There were all sorts of mural paintings and stained glass. He sat down at one of the pews and began to pray silently. Almost as if he was waiting for something. Or someone.
After a short period of time, a woman appeared inside the church. She was dressed in a nun's habit, but it was very tight on her. The robes hugged her large breasts and wide hips way too seductively.
"Good evening sir. What brings you here this night?" She cooed in a romantic voice. The dark skin man did not make eye contact. Instead, he started to recite a verse from the bible.
"Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession."
The woman dressed as a nun started to freak out. "Wait a minute, you're not tonight's client. Who the hell are you?"
The man stood up from his pew and towered over the woman. He stared her down with a gaze delivering divine judgment.
"Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel." He reached into his coat and drew a long silver sword.
"Oh shit, you're a priest!" The nun screamed. She quickly transformed from her disguise into a sexy succubus. Her pale skin turned dark red. Wings sprouted from her back. A long tail grew from her firm booty. Finally two long horns emerged from the top of her head.
"Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth. Serve the lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling." Before the succubus could attack, the priest raised his sword and cut her down. Instead of bleeding, her body simply dissolved into sand.
All was quiet in the church, until the priest took out his cell phone. "This church has been cleared. Only one hostile."
"Good work. Now that we have a base of operations in this city, I need you to do some reconnaissance. Go around town and find as many of those demons as you can, but do not engage unless you are provoked. My team and I will be there in the next few days." A mysterious voice on the phone instructed the priest.
"Understood sir." The priest ended the call. He began inspecting the church when he noticed someone darting away from the shadows. He slowly walked over to where he heard the noise and smelled something strange.
"Hmm… smells like…chicken chow mein?"
X
That night I was sleeping soundly in my bed when all of the sudden my phone started buzzing like crazy. At first I tried to ignore it, but when it just kept going, I finally forced my eyes open and looked at it.
30 new messages from Mei.
What the fuck? It's 2:00am. Why is Mei blowing up my phone?
I opened all the messages, and finally got the answers I was looking for.
*BZZT*
"When I was born, I was the youngest of 5 brothers".
"My father was a great warrior, and he was very strict."
"Ever since I could walk, my father forced me to train Kung Fu."
"I hated practicing Kung fu."
"Back then, all I wanted to do was draw. But father would never allow me to."
"So I spent every day of my youth training kung fu with my brothers."
"They were much bigger and stronger than me".
"He was always so proud of them, and always so critical of me".
"No matter how hard I tried, I could never live up to his expectations".
"When I got older, my kung fu was strong enough to defeat all of my brothers easily."
"Too bad my father was never impressed."
"My mother would always praise me, but my father never once acknowledged my skill".
"One day, I asked my father why he was always so hard on me, and not my brothers."
"He said because I was a girl, and girls are weak, and weakness was not allowed in his house".
"I was so angry"
"...but I was also sad"
"I told him I was not weak, because I regularly defeated my brothers in kung fu."
"He said that was not good enough. I was still a girl, so I was still weak."
"Finally I asked him what it would take for him to accept me. To be proud of me the same way he was proud of my brothers."
"He said nothing."
"I was so angry that I ran away from home that same night."
"Father never came looking for me".
"After wandering the countryside, I decided that I would train to become a kung fu master. Then I could return home and finally prove to my father that I was stronger than him."
"Except chinese kung fu schools would not accept monster girls like me."
"Then I met some men who worked for Miss Chung."
"They told me they would help me get into the top kung fu school in China, but in exchange, I would have to work for Miss Chung in Hong Kong until my debt was repaid."
"While I was in school, I quickly proved myself to be the top pupil. Unfortunately this gained the attention of the Chinese government."
"One day some soldiers came to the temple and told me I was going to America on a secret mission."
"I assumed Miss Chung would find out I left, and be very angry. But the Chinese government were the only people on earth I feared more than her"
"I am sorry Cole. I did not expect her agents to find me this quickly."
"You are the first friend I have ever had in my life. I never wanted any of this to happen."
"Please forgive me."
I think some eye crust got in my eyes, because I felt a few tears fall down my cheeks.
That poor girl. Maybe it was because I was delirious, but I got out of bed and went upstairs. I stood outside of Mei's door and gently knocked.
"..."
"Hey, umm… I read your texts. And I just wanted to say thanks for telling me all of that. For what it's worth, I don't blame you for what happened the other day."
I slowly walked away from her door, before stopping to say "And… I'm happy that you're here".
The house was still quiet, so I went back to bed before any of the other girls knew I was up.
X
The next day
I was in the kitchen alone, cooking dinner like I always do this late in the day. The girls were all at their day jobs, except for Olga, but she spends most of her time in her room playing video games so she doesn't count.
Sometimes I forget that Mei is here, because she is so small, and she doesn't make any noise at all. Even walking around the house. So when I turned around and saw her in the kitchen, I jumped in fright.
"M-mei?! Ahh don't scare me like that."
"..."
"What's that in your hand?"
*BZZT*
"I made this for you"
Mei walked up to me and handed me a beautiful painting of her and I standing together, holding hands.
"Wow! This is… amazing". I spent a few seconds admiring the painting. The strokes and color blending was outstanding. While I was admiring the painting Mei came up to me and gently grabbed my hand with her giant snow leopard paw.
My god, this thing was so soft. Her fur was even softer than Liz. It was like three times as thick too. I could only imagine how warm it would be on a cold day.
"You're a good girl, Mei." I reached down and gave her some gentle head pats.
"..."
Her eyes closed very slowly at me, then I saw them well up with tears.
"Hey, since you're here, I want to tell you something important".
"..."
"The secret ingredient for my chow mein". That got her attention. Her eyes opened up wide and her ears twitched a little.
"Now, before I tell you this, you have to promise me that you will never tell this to anyone. Not Priya, Sida, Olga, Ellie, and ESPECIALLY not Liz. Do you swear?"
"..." Olga nodded her head.
"Okay. Are you ready? The secret ingredient to my world famous chow mein is…. Nothing!"
"..." Mei reached into her pocket and grabbed her phone.
*BZZT*
"What the fuck?! Are you fucking serious?!"
"Yup! I swear on my mother's life. There is no secret ingredient! Nothing at all.
*BZZT*
"So, you're saying that amazingly delicious dinner you cook is just plain old chow mein?"
"Exactly. There is nothing special about it whatsoever."
*BZZT*
"Then why does it taste so good?"
"At it's core, my chow mein is no different than any other chow mein. But, it's because you BELIEVE that it's special, which is why it tastes so good. Do you understand now, Mei?"
"..."
I took out my phone and sent her a picture I took of her one morning while she was practicing her kung fu.
"There is no secret ingredient".
Mei stared at her phone for a long time. I went back to cooking until I heard the door bell ring.
"I wonder who that is. The girls never ring the doorbell." I walked from the kitchen to the front door and opened up to find a tall dark skin man dressed as a catholic priest.
"Good day my child. Do you have a minute to talk about our lord and savior, Jesus Christ?"
"Uhh no thanks." I was about to slam the door on him, when he stopped me.
"It is not wise to turn your back on the lord. Especially during these evil times. The minions of satan walk among us, and it is now more than ever that men like us need god in our lives."
"Look buddy, I know what you're getting at, but I promise you, I can handle my own."
The priest gave me a warm smile then handed me a business card. "I see. Well then, should you ever find yourself in need of god's divine light, you can give me a call anytime mister..."
"Casey. Cole Casey".
"Ah yes Mister Cole Casey. I've heard about you. You're the man with all of those demonic monsters from that trial. I watched it all on TV."
The business card read: Father Dante. Archdiocese of [Redacted]. Holy Catholic Church, Section 13. There was also a phone number, but I didn't recognize the area code.
"So, you're a priest eh? Well, thanks for coming by, but I have dinner on the stove, so I don't really have time to talk. If you will excuse me~"
"~of course, but a quick word before I go". He leaned down and whispered into my ear. "Do not trust these monster girls, mister Casey. They are not of this world. Their existence is the work of satan, and if you are not careful, they will consume you. Mind, Body and soul. It's not too late to come back to the light. If you repent for your sins, god will welcome you into the kingdom of heaven".
"Good day to you, mister Casey." He tipped his hat and walked away down the street. I closed the door and went back into the kitchen.
X
Meanwhile, unknown to Cole
Father Dante was leaving the Casey house when he stopped in the middle of the driveway. There was something shiny laying on the ground. He walked over to pick it up. After examining it closely, he grew very suspicious.
"This is a bullet shell casing ...It's made of blessed silver. Melted down from a crucifix."
He reached into his pocket for his cell phone and made a call.
"This is Dante. Cole Casey is here, and I found evidence of a level 4 exorcism on his property. I have reason to believe he and his girls are aware of our plan, and are testing a counter-measure."
"This is bad. Report back to the church. We will discuss this new development at once." The mysterious voice replied back on the phone.
X
Later that night, in the Chinatown district
The streets were thumping with the bass of the local nightclubs alive and well. While the average person might think these are just your average everyday dance club, those in the know will tell you that these clubs are all fronts for the Triads local operations in [Redacted]. One such operation was under the control of Miss Chung, who despite being in Hong Kong, was still running the show through the magic of modern technology.
"My lady, I regret to report that my two sisters have been defeated by Cole Casey, and the snow leopard." The last remaining Jiang-Shi said while on a video call with the powerful Wight.
"Failure will not be tolerated. I should thank Mister Casey for killing those two, because I would have killed them anyway. If you want to redeem your sister's honor, capture Cole Casey alive. Tonight. Am I understood?"
"Yes my lady. But what of the girls?"
"Wipe them out. All of them."
"It will be done my lady."
The video call ended, and the Jiang-Shi rallied all of the thugs in the night club. Over a dozen chinese men in black suits all loaded their guns and headed outside into various cars and motorcycles. While they were driving off, someone in the club sent a text on her phone.
"They are coming."
X
Back at the Casey house, I was sitting down at dinner with the girls when Sida came running into the house.
"VIDA! GET OUT OF HERE NOW!"
"Huh? Sida what are you talking about?" My Brazilian Arachne then yelled out to all of the girls "Mulheres, CODE RED!"
All of the girls suddenly stopped eating dinner and scrambled around the house. They turned off all the lights and locked all of the doors.
While they were doing that, several cars pulled up to the driveway and started shooting at our house.
The gunshots were loud and fast. Clearly they were using semi-automatic weapons. There must have been a lot of them outside. Olga started screaming. One of the men kicked the door down and several more ran inside.
The girls fled upstairs or down to Liz room in the basement, except for Mei. She stood there in her Kung Fu fighting stance.
"Mei, get down!" I yelled at her. She turned back and looked at me with her snow leopard predator eyes.
"Run" She said in perfect english. It was dark, but I could see Mei jump almost 6 feet in the air, then pounce on the thugs.
Since she was much shorter than them, Mei was able to dodge all of their bullets and expertly take out several thugs with her kung fu punches. Once they realized where she was, they aimed their guns lower and started shooting at the floor. Mei quickly jumped to the side, and ran along the wall totally parallel to the ground for several steps. It was like something out of the matrix.
Turning around, she used her extra long tail to whip one of the thugs, then jump another 6 feet into the air on to the ceiling fan. When the remaining thugs tried shooting the fan, she spun around by gripping her tail to the fan blades and leaping down to kick both thugs below her.
After a successful landing, Mei was now alone with the last remaining thug. He hesitated for a few seconds, but right when he aimed his pistol at Mei, she leaped forward all the way across the room and knocked him on his ass.
When it was all over, all 10 of the thugs lay unconscious on the ground, and my little snow leopard was standing above them in her kung fu stance. Her breathing very heavy.
"Holy Shit…." Suddenly I felt someone gently place a knife under my chin.
"That's enough, Snow Leopard".
I recognized that accent. It was another Jiang-shi. She must have snuck up behind me.
"Stand down Mei, or else your little boyfriend dies." Mei stood there, staring at me with her predator eyes, before she finally kneeled.
The Jiang-shi slowly escorted me out of the house. Once I was in the yard, she knocked me out with a swift punch to the back of the neck.
X
I don't know how much time has passed, but when I woke up, I was in a dimly lit room in with no windows and only one door. My hands were tied behind a chair. There was laptop in front of me that was playing a zoom meeting. On screen was a beautiful Wight wearing a tight red dress.
"Well well well. Good morning sunshine. I'm glad you are finally awake."
"Huh? What the hell? Who are you? Where am I?"
The wight on the laptop screen giggle a little bit. "Darling, you are quite safe. Don't worry, I won't let anything happen to you. But, I suppose introductions are in order. My name is Miss Chung. And you my dear, are my new bride."
"WHAT?!"
"That's correct darling. When I saw your cute face on TV during the trial, I knew right then and there that I had to have you. My plan was to send Mei to america to track you down and repay the favor that she owed me. But, the CCP got in the way. Thankfully I have men on the inside who told me where Mei ended up. What a coincidence that they sent her to you of all people! It's as if we were destined to be together. OHHH HOHOHOHO!" The wight laughed to herself.
"You can't do this! I won't abandon my girls."
She took a drag from her cigar on the video feed. "I'm afraid you have no say in the matter. Once my associate finishes preparing your transportation out of the country, you will be sent to Hong Kong. Where you will spend the rest of your life as my bride."
She leaned in and looked at me menacingly. "And don't count on your girls to rescue you. Outside that room, I have a whole army of heavily armed men guarding you. Even if they somehow find you, they will be shot down like rabid dogs. It's over mister Casey. You will be mine! OHHH HOHOHOHO!"
X
Meanwhile, back at the Casey house
All of the girls stood around the living room in silence once the thugs left. Nobody had anything to say. Cole was kidnapped, and there were bullet holes all over the walls. Most of the living room furniture had been destroyed. The TV was shattered. It was a hopeless feeling of defeat.
"What the FUCK just happened?" Priya shouted at the group. She normally never cursed much, but despite not having a rattle snake tail, she was shaking with rage.
"Those bastards took Coley Woley!" Olga was seething with rage from her wheelchair.
"I swear to god, when I find those Caralhos that took mi vida, I will rip them to shreds" Sida clenched her fists tightly.
What was scariest of all, was Liz. She said nothing. She simply stood there breathing heavily. Staring at the ground.
"Oi cunts, this may not be a popular thing to do right now, but I think we should report this to Ms. Jones. Those gunshots were sure to wake the neighbors, and it's only a matter of time before the cops show up."
"No! We need to get out there and find Cole! We can't just stay here and wait for the cops." Priya argued back.
As the girls began arguing, Mei took out her phone and texted them all.
*BZZT*
"I know where he is"
"MEI?! Why didn't you say something?!" Priya shrieked at her.
*BZZT*
"Because I can't speak english. I have to type on this phone in chinese and use the AI to translate my messages to you. Otherwise you all have no idea what i'm saying."
*BZZT*
"They took him to chinatown. If we hurry, we can rescue him before he is sent back to Hong Kong"
"Hold on Mei. Why do you know so much about this?" Olga asked suspiciously. Mei sighed and sent another text message to the group.
*BZZT*
"Because this is all my fault."
"You bitch! I'll kill you!" Priya lunged at Mei, before Sida stopped her. "No! Leave her alone. Right now we need to work together. Vida is counting on us. We can't waste time fighting each other."
*BZZT*
"I have an idea, but for my plan to work, we need to call Ms. Jones."
Sida looked at her confused. "Why would we do that?"
*BZZT*
"Cole is likely being guarded by armed thugs. We can't go barging in there or else we will all be shot and killed. We need guns and body armor. MON are the only ones who have any of that stuff that. They will get here much faster than the police. Call Ms. Jones, and then we attack the MON girls. Take their weapons and armor, and go after Cole."
The girls thought about that plan.
"Ya know, thats not a bad idea. I think the little pussycat is more clever than she looks!" Ellie complimented her.
"I'm in. Girls?" Sida looked around. Olga nodded. Priya nodded. Liz, simply kept staring at the floor, breathing heavily.
Without waiting for her, Sida took out her cell phone and called Ms. Jones. Within a few minutes, the MON armored truck pulled up to the house. Once the girls got out, Ellie swooped down from above and knocked out Zombina. Priya then lunged out from the bushes and tackled Tio. Mei used her kung fu to knock the sniper rifle out of Manoko's hands, then knock her out.
"Good work ladies. Now lets get dressed and move out!" Sida strapped herself in body armor and grinned when she saw all of the guns inside of the armored truck.
X
While I was being detained in the room, I noticed the Jiang-shi was the only one guarding me. She often made sultry glances at me, but yet she always held herself back. My guess is that Miss Chung told her to keep her hands to herself. If that's the case, I wonder if I could use this to my advantage.
"Hey, you know, in america, when someone is in jail, they are allowed one phone call."
"Too bad you are not in jail, mister Casey". Hmm, I need to think of a different approach.
"True, but think about how hot it would be if we called my girls and you told them how much fun you were having with me."
That got her attention. The Jiang-shi shuffled her way over to me and licked her lips. "Miss Chung told me to keep my hands off of you, but I just can't resist this opportunity." She reached down into my pocket, and took my phone out. She sat in my lap, facing me, and put the phone to my ear.
"Make the call" I dialed Olga.
"COOOOOLLEEEEYYYYYY! Where are you?"
"Olga baby, this sexy girl is TRACING lines all over my meat. She is so much better than you." Man I hope to god this girl got my hint. Because now this Jiang-shi is kissing me passionately.
"Noooo! Cole stay strong. It's all going to be okay". Olga tried to comfort me over the phone.
The Jiang-shi started talking on the phone. "Stupid girl. Your man is mine now. He knows you would never make him feel as good as I do."
"Cooooleyyyy…. Is that true?" Olga paused for a little bit. By this point, I couldn't tell if she was genuinely sad, or if she was stalling for time.
"I'm sorry Olga. I hope you can FIND it in your heart to forgive me." The Jiang-shi started laughing like a cartoon villain while dry humping me.
"Cole, don't feel bad. We will see each other again someday." The Jiang-shi swatted the phone out of my hand and continued laughing.
X
Meanwhile, back at the Casey house
Olga was on her computer hacking into an NSA spy satellite to try and find out here in chinatown Cole was, when her phone rang. It was Cole.
"COOOOOLLEEEEYYYYYY! Where are you?" She started crying tears from her panic state.
"Olga baby, this sexy girl is TRACING lines all over my meat. She is so much better than you."
A lightbulb went off in her head. That clever man! He called her so she could try tracing the call to his phone's location.
Those chinese fools! Olga loaded up another program on her PC and started furiously typing lines of code into a command prompt.
"Noooo! Cole stay strong. It's all going to be okay" She tried her best to let him know that she got his hint. Then the Jiang-shi had the nerve to start talking. "Stupid girl. Your man is mine now. He knows you would never make him feel as good as I do."
Oh that bitch is totally going down. She was closing in on the phone's location. It was narrowed down to a 10 mile radius. She just needed to keep him on the phone a little longer.
"Cooooleyyyy…. Is that true?" Almost got it.
"I'm sorry Olga. I hope you can FIND it in your heart to forgive me." Yes! Location found. He was being held at the Jade Dragon night club. Olga grinned to herself.
"Cole, don't feel bad. We will see each other again someday." The Jiang-shi ended the call, and Olga locked in. She called Sida, who was already on her way to chinatown
"Brasileira, this is blackfish. Target has been confirmed. He is at the Jade Dragon on 45th and Pough."
Sida replied from inside the armored truck. "Copy that black fish. We are in route. ETA 10 minutes. Brasileria out." Sida loaded another magazine into her semi-automatic rifle. She looked over and Priya and Liz who were sitting in silence in the back of the truck with her.
"Look alive ladies. We're almost at the target." Priya cocked her 9mm pistol to load a round into the chamber. Liz just sat there breathing heavily.
"Mei, you ready/" Sida looked at the front of the truck to see Mei driving.
"..."
Sida then pulled out her phone and called Ellie. "Eagle this is Brasileira. I need a sit rep. What do you see?"
"Nah yeah there's about 10 cunts outside with guns. The parking lot is pretty full of cars, so you will have plenty of cover. According to blackfish, the target is somewhere inside, so you will have to fight your way through. I'll do my best to provide air support." Ellie replied from 1,000 feet in the air. She was soaring through the night sky, using night vision goggles they stole from MON, since her night vision is pretty bad.
"Roger that Eagle." The truck was almost there. Just before they got to the club, Sida sent out a text.
"Get your people away from the doors".
"Mei, ramming speed!" Mei put the pedal to the floor, and the armored truck ran into the club entrance at 90mph.
Sida opened the back door to the armored truck and jumped out. There was dust and debris everywhere, and the club patrons were screaming in terror. The thugs were confused, so she used this opportunity to open fire.
"FOR VIDA!" Sida shot several thugs with her semi-automatic rifle.
Priya jumped out of the armored truck and started shooting at the other thugs. She was much less accurate with a gun than Sida, but she managed to hit one of them.
Priya and Sida soon found themselves overwhelmed, and pinned down. While they were reloaded, they heard several loud bangs from inside the armored truck. Suddenly one of the thugs started screaming.
"ROOAAAARRRRR" Liz growled like a true grizzly bear. She towered over the other thugs, grabbed one of them, ripped him in half, and bit his head off. She spat his head on the floor in front of the other thugs. Her mouth dripping with blood, and her claws sliced another thug in half.
They tried shooting at Liz, but the distraction proved enough time for Sida to shoot a few more.
"Priya, go on ahead. Cole should be in one of the rooms in the back."
"But what about you?"
"Liz and I will keep them distracted here. Now GO!"
Priya nodded, and slithered on through the club. All around her, debris and dust were flying through the air, and club patrons were screaming through the fire exits. A few more thugs saw her and shot their guns. She pounced behind some cover and fired back, hitting one of them. Unfortunately she ran out of bullets, so she extended her fangs and lunged at the others. After biting one of them and injecting her venom, she used her tail to grab another one and throw him against the wall.
While Liz was on a murderous rampage, Sida grabbed a few guns from the armored truck and found a few kobolds and nekos dressed up as strippers. They were cowering in the corner.
"Hey, Kathy, thanks for the warning." She handed one of the nekos a 9mm pistol. "You don't have to be afraid anymore. Take this, and fight along side me. Take revenge against those who abused you."
Once the Neko grabbed the pistol, the rest of them each took a gun. "We are with you, Sida-san!" Kathy cocked her pistol and loaded a round into the chamber.
X
Meanwhile, Priya had made her way to the back of the club and busted down a locked door. Inside the room, she found me.
"PRIYA!"
"COLE!" She pounced on me and squeezed me tightly with her tail. Before I could ask her to cut my ropes, her tail ended up breaking the chair that I was tied to.
"I knew you would find me." Priya cut my ropes with her claws, then kissed my deeply. Her forked tongue exploring all through out my mouth.
"You owe me like…. A hundred gallons of chocolate pudding for this."
"Hahaha yeah, but let's get out of here first. Then i'll do whatever you want."
Priya gave me an evil grin. "Don't tempt me with a good time." She grabbed me into her arms and slithered quickly out of the room and back into the main area of the club. Once we met up with the rest of the group, I saw her.
"You…. WHORES!" You killed my men, and destroyed my night club. Ohhhhh you are ALL going to die." The Jiang-shi pulled out a few throwing stars and launched them at Sida and Liz. However, before they could hit them, Mei deflected them both with her tail.
"..."
"WHAT? Ohh I see now. You must be Mei. The snow leopard Miss Chung told me about. So, I guess you want to die first? Very well."
Sida raised her gun to shoot the Jiang-shi, but Mei raised her paw to stop her.
"No…This one….Mei fight". Mei spoke in broken english. She struck her kung fu stance, and the Jiang-shi laughed.
"Ohhh hohoho. You want to fight me? How cute. Miss Chung told me you studied under Shifu Daisho." The Jiang-shi also struck a kung fu pose. "But you were never granted the rank of master."
She lunged at Mei, and delivered several expert punches, but unlike last time, Mei dodged them, and landed her own brutal punch to the Jiang-shi's face.
"W-what the? You hit me? That's impossible!" She tried to attack Mei again, but she was no match. Mei landed a roundhouse kick directly to the spine, and the Jiang-shi was thrown outside into the parking lot.
Mei slowly walked outside into the night. Her long snow leopard tail blowing in the gently breeze. She looked down at the Jiang-shi who was on the ground and coughing up blood.
"How? How are you able to beat me like this?! You never completed your training. You are no master!"
Mei grabbed the Jiang-shi by the neck and lifted her high into the air. She glared at her with predator eyes and spoke in broken english.
"There is no secret ingredient".
Sida reached for her cell phone and yelled out "Ellie, NOW!" Within a few seconds, Ellie came shooting down from the sky at top speed. Her talons extended, and she rammed them through the Jiang-shi's skull. The undead woman dissolved into dust right before our eyes.
X
Boy were we in DEEP trouble. Once the cops and MON arrived on the scene, Ms. Jones was FURIOUS. She walked right up to me and gave me a hard slap, then hugged me tightly.
"Mr. Casey, you broke every single rule and regulation that we have….but i'm glad you're alright. If it were up to me, you and your girls would be thrown in jail and given the lethal injections for what you did tonight. However, my superiors have given me different orders. You see, we at FIRE have been trying to take down the Hong Kong triads in this town for a while now. We knew they were involved in the illegal sex trafficking of monster girls, but since we are a law enforcement agency, we were limited in our approach. Now I find out that you and your girls took out the entire syndicate in one night."
Priya and Ellie puffed out their chests with pride. "Yeah thats right! Me and the girls are some real sick cunts…but mostly me". Priya gave her a playful slap on the back.
"Mr. Casey, on behalf of FIRE, how would you and your girls like to work for us? We would have you all investigate monster girl organized crime around town, and take action to protect the community, whereas the police and MON cannot."
Ellie walked up to Ms. Jones and shoved a wing in her chest. "Now hold on a second. You saying you want me and the girls to risk our lives playing detective, and fighting the fucking mafia? All while you the cunts at FIRE get all the credit?"
Ms. Jones nodded.
"Fuck yeah mate! Where do I sign?"
While the rest of the girls were talking to the cops, giving their statements, I noticed Sida was not around.
"Mr. Casey, i'm sorry about what happened to your house. Rest assured I will have FIRE repair all of the damages as quickly as possible."
"Thanks Ms. Jones." I smiled and looked away. "Was there something else on your mind?"
"Can I be honest with you? One human to another?" Ms. Jones took off her sunglasses and gave me sympathetic look with her brown eyes.
"Between you and me, I feel all this monster girl stuff is spiraling out of control." I looked at Ms. Jones while she lit a cigarette. "I love my girls, but sometimes I wonder if having their kind among us is really for the best. Just look at what happened tonight. Sometimes I wonder if this whole interspecies exchange is doing more harm than good."
Ms. Jones took a deep drag of her cigarette. "Believe me, Mr. Casey. I understand. More than you could possibly realize. I understand."
There was a long pause between us before she continued. "The best we can do is put our faith in these girls, and hope that this will all be worth something in the end."
The two of us sat together for a little while before the police escorted us back home.
X
Meanwhile, unknown to Cole and the others
The neko and kobold strippers who escaped the nightclub were on the run from the cops, since they were all technically illegal immigrants. They didn't make it very far before running into Sida, and a werewolf girl who was next to her.
"Running from the cops too?" Sida asked the girls.
"We are grateful that you rescued us from the Triads, but now we have nowhere else to go. What should we do?" The Neko named Kathy asked Sida.
Sida looked at her lieutenant, Sydney, and then back at the girls.
"Come work for me."
"W-what?!"
Sida smiled. "Your days of dancing are over. But there is much work to do. I won't treat you like those bastard humans did. Work for me, and I will treat you as an equal. Us monster girls have to stick together after all."
Sida extended a hand to the other girls. "Join me, and together, we will show these human men the true power of our kind."
All of the nekos and kobolds kneeled in front of her. "Yes my lady. We pledge our loyalty to you."
Sida smiled a wicked grin. "Excellent. Now come, we have work to do."
TO BE CONTINUED...
Bonjour dear readers! I hope you have been well. This chapter was so much fun to write. Not only was it fun to explore Mei as a character, but it was also great to see the girls team up for some epic action. I feel like we haven't had a good fight scene in this story for a while now. What's the point of having apex predator monster girls if there is no fight scenes? So what did you think of Mei? Is she your new waifu? What about Sida? Seems like she has her own agenda behind the scenes. I wonder what she is plotting. What about that priest, Dante? Why is he and the church coming to town? A lot of questions to think about as we begin the next arc of the story. Let me know your thoughts in the comments. Thanks for reading my story and GO BE ALIVE!
Next time on Everyday Life with Apex Predators: Cole and the Girls are now a secret covert ops team working for FIRE to investigate organized crime involving monster girls. Their first mission is to track down a serial killer who FIRE believes is actually a vampire. During their investigation, the gang runs into Father Dante again, and learn more about him and the church's mission. Also, in the middle of all of this, Cole reunites with a familiar face from his past, and must confront his trauma once and for all. See you next time!
Now here are some fun facts about Snow Leopards:
-Snow Leopards have longer tails than any other big cat. Their tails are between 80-105cm long. This means their tail is almost half of their body length! They use this to help them balance while climbing and running.
-Snow Leopards have extremely thick fur. It's designed to help insulate their bodies to keep them warm in the harsh mountain snow.
-Since they live in high altitudes, Snow Leopards have adapted to have short front forelimbs and long hind legs. This helps them jump incredibly long distances. They can jump up to 9 meters!
-Snow leopards have very large paws. They act similar to snow shoes, spreading their body weight around so they can walk thorugh snow. They also act as shock absorbers, so they can jump on rocks without slipping
-Snow leopards can't roar. In fact, most now leopards are very quiet cats. They rarely make any sound at all.
-Snow leopards are not actually leopards. They are a subspecies of Tiger.
-Snow leopards can jump very high off the ground too, thanks to their strong hind legs.