"Amicus meus, inimicus inimici mei."
Latin for: "my friend, the enemy of my enemy"
Where we get "the enemy of my enemy is my friend."
—Chanakya, The Arthashastra
——————
Elizabeth
The wait seemed to take forever. I plan, that if they come in with guns and I hear some "Sorry time to die!" Manifesto junk to break outta here. But what if they just come in and shoot me? Patience. My bones war with my mind for patience…
Then the door opened and weapons cocked. Two men who were pointing their weapons to me came behind me and waited at my sides. Then a bone chilling voice said,
"Turn her to me..."
The soldiers put their weapons on their backs and pulled pistols as they turned me. When turned, they got their assault weapons back out as the dark figure before me paralyzed me with fear. The Angels' motto was "Never fear." As I feared I remembered that even Jesus feared.
The only sounds were of soldiers shifting their weight and the figure's processed breathing. Blank white light tactically applied to guns blinded me, but the Baron blocked the light. He was the true Dark Knight.
Usually when one thinks of knights the fairytale picture comes to mind; one who saves. Knights rarely save, oftentimes they are worse than the enemy with the knightly greed for fame and wealth. In the fairy tales and reality, they almost always kill.
"Do you know who I am?"
I am positive that my face contorted like, "What?! Me?! Talk?! Pssh, you crazy!?"
I could sense the smile break across his masked face. His voice came out like a very real Darth Vader.
"I am your Godfather."
Disbelief hit me like a freight train. I didn't even notice the prick of a needle. Relief somehow quickened the fall into unconsciousness...
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Elizabeth
I woke to a cord disconnecting from the back of my neck. I jumped out of the hospital bed and hastily took in my surroundings. A ominous light was above me, boxes were around me, a grey tee over black combats was on me, where was I!?
An iPad on top of blood dried tools was ringing for a FaceTime. I snatched it up and answered it. The picture of the Black Baron came on, he wore something similar to the Tron movie and pajama bottoms. He smiled and pointed to the bowl of Chicken Lo Mein (noodles) in his hand, offering some of it to me.
Knowing what little I do know about him, the noodles have something to do with where I am, I said in a steely voice,
"Where am I?"
He said, twirling a fork in the noodles for a bigger bite, "China my dear. You haven't noticed any writing on the boxes?"
I replied with a determination trying not to show my panic, "Okay, WHAT AM I DOING IN CHINA!?"
He shrugged, not even bothering to look at the screen, "I sold you to a prominent triad there."
I couldn't help the falter in my voice, I thought I might puke,
"No."
"Yes."
"No."
He looked at the camera with a matter-a-fact look, "Yes, now guess who it is, I'm sure you know."
"The Wo Shing Wo!?"
He said "Bingo!" just before taking his big bite.
The Wo Shing Wo is one of the older mobs that existed even before super villains and heroes. The age of the mob is about the same as the Russian mafia and the Mexican Cartel. If I was stuck on their turf, any of these, I would be dead.
In the middle of swallowing the noodles he put his finger out for me to wait,
"Don't worry, the good news is that you have a boat waiting for you at the docks." He smirked and looked at his watch, "The bad news is, the iPad you are holding will self-destruct in ten seconds."
Before I tossed it away from me, he said meeting his eyes to mine, "Look for the pirate flag. You got three hours."
I tossed the iPad before it exploded, knocking me down. Weight held me down, and after trying to push it off in vain I lessened the gravity to push it off me. Before I did a man in a lab or doctor's coat came into the room mumbling Chinese with his hand to his head.
I pushed it off silently and sprung up to coil my arm around his neck; my arm going under his armpit so he couldn't elbow me. The Dr. Something panicked and hopelessly kicked and squirmed himself to sleep.
I dropped him and bolted toward the door but stopped when I heard speaking behind me. I thought confused, it sounded like muffled shouting. I turned to the walkie talky.
Risking much needed time I went to pick it up. Once obtained I busted out the door but stopped short of plunging into the hall to look both ways. As soon as I opened the door bullets blasted through the metal sending sparks everywhere.
A Chinese man shouted with urgency. I wasn't hit, but I chastised myself for getting the stupid walkie. I don't understand the Chinese on the stupid thing.
I expected more shots to come but the emotional urgency in the man's voice increased. I thought a moment; looked back at the doctor and then my walkie talky. I smiled at the tiny plan formulating into my mind.
I dropped the walkie trying to groan like the doctor who I choked did and the man in the hall seemed to curse and try to report friendly fire. When he came around I pitted his feet in place and side kicked him. On the ground, he went for his pistol and would have had a quicker draw than some Angels I knew; but I pasted all his limbs to the ground now.
I casually pried the gun from his hand and, with a swift kick, knocked him out. Then a door at the far end of the hall swung open and a dozen Chinese men gawked at me in fear. In shock, I unloaded the pistol I got into them.
One shot lucked out and grounding one in the eye going through into the next man's shoulder. Blood splattered on the floor, ceiling, and the men. The second shot embedded in one's stomach causing him to grab at it in pain; blood began to pool from where he fell on his face. The third went through one's left shoulder and into another's chest grounding that one. The fourth missed and the fifth clicked.
The ones who were standing had their pale skin peppered with sprinkles and small floes of blood that matched their eyes. They didn't fall in pain but only grimaced with utter contempt in their eyes. I chuckled shyly, out of ammo, I bolted from them as the drugged men shouted after me.
No sort of animal holds the aura of hatred that was chasing me, the aura of rage and sadness, the blood drunkenness of losing a brother in arms. Down on the first floor, freedom in sight, were a dozen more filthy men that reeked with the smell of smoke and drugs. They rose from whatever they were doing and grabbed the closest things close to them as weapons.
Two had knives, one a dagger and the other a butterfly. One had a police baton. Four grabbed bottles and another broke the chair he was in for clubs for three others. The other threw a chair at me.
When I blocked it I went to the ground, not feeling the pain of the chair shattering due to adrenaline. I hurriedly got up to point the empty nine mm at them. They, in their drugged stupor, only reeled back for a second.
The man who threw a chair at me, and the only sober one of the group was clambering over a bookcase at the far end of the room. I glanced over at the closest weapons to me: on the table were a butter knife and a wooden case of vodka, chairs and a fourth of a bowl of noodles but in the corner, in arms reach, was a sheathed Nodachi. I quickly put the sheath on my back as they hurried toward me again.
I flipped the pistol and used it as a club bashing one to the ground while losing the gun trying to evade being swarmed into one place. I vaulted over the bar and they paused for me to do a single handed backward cartwheel and draw the Nodachi. The fearful shifts in their weight was a pleasure in itself.
My first attacks weren't even with the sword; I side kicked one to the ground and finished him with a jumping, spinning, inside crescent kick. He fell onto several of his friends and I had time for another attack. I went into another spin, going on the ground, sweeping with the Nodachi; cutting several legs off, the stumps geysering blood all over the wood floor.
They all bounded toward me when a familiar screaming was getting closer. We all stopped abruptly and glared at each other; we all knew that scream. The scream of a siren. Someone called next door for the shots I fired and possibly the explosion a moment ago.
We all bolted to the doors as three armed men arose from the door next to the bookcase. Wait! Where was that door!? It wasn't there before! The other man who was wrestling with the bookcase had opened a secret doorway!
What the men wore was alarming as well. I knew all too well what they were wearing; Angel gear. The capes were battle torn, Chinese graffiti painted all over the armor, and all the decoration added to the creepo-meter.
I saw the silhouette of a man behind them, but it wasn't the same man from earlier. The rest of the crew ran toward that door as I wasn't blocking their path. I ran out of the front door and booked it; feet splashing into the night.
Outside was a jungle of lights and sounds. Normally a person would have been overwhelmed with all that is going on, but the training I had kicked in like a second nature. I felt like an Amazon woman running from tigers in this jungle of steel and rock.
People mumbled things in alarm and soon the Wo Shing Wo brought a tide of screams following closely behind me with simply their appearance. People scattered from me and the Wo Shing Wo obliterated civilians in a rain of bullets; spattering blood, and meatballs on all surfaces.
I rounded the corner safely and was coming to a fence and a drop a football field of running people away. The same second a black and white police car screeched around into my path. The next, my pursuers closing in on me.
They wielded Chinese bullpup assault rifles from the sound of it and these police only had pistols. Instead of raining fire down on it; they blew up the car with the yellow blast of an underslung Gauss gun. Well,... that will be the only shot for that one.
The explosion kicked up a small cloud of dust and caused me to stumble. A running man took a bullet in front for me in the back as I pushed myself back up with his stone-stiff body. The bullets were getting closer…
I turned to see that they were running on the sides of the buildings, scraping their metal fingers across the buildings to keep them in the air. Their Vanguard E.X.X.O suits increase running speed, have a type of jet triple jump feature, and finally an all around nearly bulletproof protection. I struggled with a plan…
They're faster, stronger and better equipped than me. My instincts told me to use the full extent of my powers. However, if I use too much my cover can be blown. My mind concentrated on that scraping…
I smiled, and thought,
"Boo-yah!"
Using a bit of my powers, I sucked their scraping hands into the building; basically putting their arms into the wall. They were flung by their loss of momentum but even with their increased strength they were effectively stuck. For only a minute, and a minute much needed.
I ran past bleeding and dying people to the fence; leaving the burning cop car and death's smells behind. I heard the baddies crash into the ground as I crashed through the sunroof of a Mitsubishi Evolution X and I flipped out from the woman right of me freaking out. I messed with her only for a moment of pushing, shoving, and threatening and then she bailed with-
The keys were still in the car…
I slid over to the right side of the car and started the engine; it churned on for me to command it. The tires screamed before launching into a sea of foreign cars and I tried to find my bearings. I hate how foreign car seats are backwards from American cars.
It seemed that I might be home free; I sighed a sigh of relief. I was going around forty or something miles per hour, and all was great. The lighting bathed the dark, wet streets with gold. I sulked my head into the seat, adjusting my rear view mirror. I'm free.
Until I saw a man gaining on me with a ninjato in hand in the rear view, and on foot for that matter. He slashed the back-left tire and then the other, but since this Evolution X was 4x4 I kept going until I crashed into a bus stop. Crashing, I hit an occupied bus stop and slid on the side of the car into a meat market; smashing through glass and stands.
Coughing and spitting up dust, I opened my eyes to see the ugliest fish head ever. Fish heads? Fish come from boats. My eyes widened with realization of the proximity of freedom. I wrestled with the airbag to climb out of the car.
Once out I met the gaze of the man who stopped my car. He watched me with his sword in the chest of a civilian with absolute pleasure, but this was nothing like the Baron's goons. No, his eyes were wide and his head twitched from pleasure similar to a bird of prey.
Water was everywhere and people were fleeing or taking cover. I unsheathed my Nodachi and, faking the all too excited psycho out, ran. Running from a super speedster on foot would seem like a dumb idea; but I had a plan.
I just started running up the building as he stopped himself to gawk at me. I heard him climbing up after me and he kept up; I still might have a minute of more time to plan at the top. At the top however I was filled with worry but could see the marina in the distance.
The woman, Thread Walker, was waiting up there, chewing on her nails. She wore black spandex armor and a scabbard to a katana-like weapon. The scabbard and the highlights in her hair caught my attention and confused me at the same time. A black sash tied about the scabbard, flailing into the wind like a Pirates' flag in the distance.
Actually,... In the distance was the pirate flag!
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Thread Walker
I rolled my eyes, this girl is awfully dense. Smart to suspect betrayal but dense. I flicked my head for her to go and she did.
I smiled at the man who was pursuing her. Laughter nearly bubbled out of me when he smiled back. I spoke to him in English,
"Do you know Iaijutsu or Iaido?"
His smile broadened and he sheathed his sword; ready for conversation.
"Yeah, is that a challenge?"
I laughed, maybe giggled, "Yes!"
"I trust that my men are dead or captured?"
My voice hissed with tacit confidence and instilled horror as he listened carefully with worry erasing the smile on his face, "Yes!" I met his priceless gaze, "The police came in time to clean up the bodies after 'Mr. Cheng's' boys killed 'em and took back all the things you stole." -He was probably cursing in his head, the realization of defeat growing his eyes wide- "Same thing for the unground escape, but they're already buried," I cocked my head, "right?"
"No!"
"As for the other two," I said rising, dusting my hands, "their suits you worked so hard to steal are being removed now."
I leapt down to him and he said,
"That sword won't hurt me!"
I smirked as I gripped my sword, I counted to three in my mind, but I interrupted his monologuing. He drew his sword with a vengeful smile. I didn't have a sword though…
See, this man had betrayed the Wo Shing Wo for the 144k, the modern day name for the 14k triad. From the information given to us about the 'problem' we have observed the target's powers and prepared accordingly. That's why I have a bokken…
In Iaido it's all about the draw, like the drawing of six-guns; speed. He had a steel sword, heavy, and my bokken is lighter wood. The shock of his arm snapping gave me time to snap his leg as well.
He screamed and fell to the ground, dropping the ninjato. I kicked the sword away as he fished in his pocket for his wallet. He begged,
"Please! I have a family!" He tossed his wallet sobbing as it opened.
"Don't worry," I said sarcastically as he struggled up, I picked up his ninjato and swung at his neck…
The blade broke…
I tossed the sword behind me like a bad chicken leg,
"We helped your friends find them too in return for the fact that you're impervious to METALS."
He sobbed, "NO!" His family was dead this morning, beautiful wife and daughter. When they were dead I had joked that Obsidian had looked a lot like them, but, you know, I was referring to their bodies.
I kicked him to the ground and he rolled onto his face crying. I gripped him by the hair and smashed his face into the cement roofing; and kept doing it...