Dante’s Angels Angels Rock the Boat
“Once upon a time there were three beautiful girls who went to different schools, and they were each assigned to very hazardous duties. But I took them away from all that and now they work for me. My name is Dante.” PART 1 2006 AD June 27th 1.00 AM USA, Los Angeles
A seemingly completely ordinary day off had started: Feenix had slept until noon as always, and while Talim was out shopping, Shiva sat back on the couch in their apartment, channel surfing with the TV remote, hoping to find something worth watching. “Anything on TV?”, Feenix spoke half-yawning as she walked over to the couch with a hot cup of coffee in her hand. “Nah... There was a movie overloaded with romantic scenes and a whole lot of sports going on. You’d expect to see something worthwhile with a selection of thirty different channels. Did you know we had a channel broadcasting quiz shows around the clock? Beats that soap opera channel Talim found...” Shiva put down the remote controller and lazily watched as a show explained how the wombats’ behavior changed during their mating rituals. “Blah.” Feenix curled up on the couch, looking out of the window at the view over Los Angeles. The Angels had been staying in L. A. for a couple of weeks now, thanks to their boss Dante recommending some time off. He’d rented the luxurious penthouse of this skyscraper for them without giving any clue as to what the occasion was, but the girls hadn’t seen him since then, so they couldn’t ask about it either. “Where’s Talim?”, Feenix asked after a moment of silence. “She found out there was a sale on all kinds of fruit juice in a grocery store nearby, she’s probably coming back with more cans than she can carry, soon enough.” Shiva turned off the television, then laid down on the couch. The girls were nearly bored to death. One would think that a week or two of peace and quiet every now and then - with their line of work and lifestyle - would be a blessing. Rest, relaxation and all that-but no. They’d gotten used to the hectic pace of things all too well, and as a result, sitting still for even a couple of days seriously unnerved them. “Any minute now...” Shiva yawned. And there it was a moment later, footsteps from behind the apartment door, then the sound of a key turning in the door’s lock. “Speak of the devil.” Feenix grinned and turned to look at the door. “Good morning.” “Morning? It’s one o’clock”, Talim replied with a laugh as she entered. “I wonder when Dante’s going to give us our next mission. I’m bored sick here... There are times when he seems to hand over more work than we can handle at a time, and then sometimes there’s just nothing to do at all. Why can’t he offer us jobs less randomly?”, Shiva started, while she looked up at a fan spinning on the ceiling. The room temperature was incredibly high. 1
“Well, uh... Shiva...”, Feenix quietly said, trying her best to hold her laughter. Shiva looked down at Feenix sitting in the other end of the couch. “Don’t tell me...”, she grinned, then quickly stood up. “Oh, if it isn’t Dante... Didn’t hear you coming in...” Shiva gave the man in a long, red jacket an embarrassed look. Talim held her stomach, laughing beside him. “I think it’ll please you to hear that for now, you have something to do once again”, Dante said as he walked in and leaned back on a wall near the coffee table with a smile on his face. Talim went into the kitchen and returned with a glass of juice, then sat down on the couch between Shiva and Feenix, who was still laughing. “Alright. As Shiva just put it so nicely, it’s been quiet lately. But I think you’ve deserved a little breather anyway. Now, however, I’ve gotten my hands on a case that seems like it was made for you.” “Just like the other cases we’ve had...”, Talim dryly whispered, grinning slightly. “Here are your mission files.” Dante gave each of the Angels a dark red folder, and they opened them up immediately. “Your target is Mizuya Ashima. He’s a rich, hardened industrial leader. He manufactures military helicopters for the US Air Force. Lately, there have been suspicions about him selling his blueprints to certain rivals of the States. Your job is to sneak into his favor, get on the inside and find enough evidence to bring him down. Once you have that information, you’ll pass everything you know on to your contact, who will send it forward from there. After that, he will take care of the rest. “There’s a picture of both Mizuya and your contact inside the mission file.” The girls browsed their files, until each of them found a photo of a rather handsome, dark man in his forties, wearing a neat dark blue suit. “He looks kind of evil”, Feenix noted, bringing out what they were all thinking. She looked at Dante. “So do you have anything to add about him? Like if he has any supernatural powers or the like...” Dante lowered his eyebrows a bit as he said: “Well... there’s word going around about the Ashima family curse, but those are just rumors.” “They’d better be...”, Talim added and turned the page. “That’s your contact: Kan Ji.” “But... he looks just like Mizuya”, Shiva said, looking at a picture of a young, wild-looking man with black hair hanging just slightly over his brown eyes. “Kan is Mizuya’s son.” Dante shrugged. “Their father-and-son relationship isn’t doing too well, I see...”, Feenix mumbled, comparing the two pictures and reading their information. “When and where will we meet him?” Talim closed her file and looked at Dante expectantly. “In this location.” Dante placed three tickets to a cruise on the table. Talim quickly picked them up. “On a ship?..”, Shiva wondered, turning her gaze from the file to the tickets in Talim’s hand. “Yep. You’ll take part in a fighting tournament organized by Mizuya on board the St. Felicity.” “A tournament?! You mean one where you’re supposed to knock big guys out one after another?” “That’s the idea, Shiva. He holds a martial arts tournament once every five years to hire new people. He’s invited a lot of men and women from around the world to fight, and most of these people are on the wrong side of the law wherever they come from, so don’t be surprised if you see someone you know. That brings us to the fact that you’ll be wearing disguises and using fake names. You probably don’t want to be found out to be agents in the middle of the Atlantic, surrounded by criminals.” “Good point”, Talim replied, setting her file on the table. “And here are your new identities.” Dante gave them a new set of folders. “From now on, Talim, you are Tae-Seon, Feenix is Fei-San, and Shiva is Sadeh.” “Fei-San?”, Feenix laughed as she read her own description: name: Fei-San, place of birth: China, age: 21, style: Kung-Fu. “What does yours say?”, Feenix peeked into Talim’s file: name: Tae-Seon, place of birth: Korea, age: 22, style: Tae Kwon-Do. “And Shiva? Who are you?” Feenix tried to reach over across Talim to look at Shiva’s file, but lost her balance and fell flat on Talim’s legs. 2
“There’s a... there’s a person in between here...”, she squeaked from underneath Feenix. “Oh, sorry”, Feenix chuckled and got off. “Maybe I’ll just read it to you so we can get Talim along alive...” Shiva then read her fake profile: name: Sadeh, place of birth: Egypt, age: 23, style: Karate. “Dante... when it says Kung-Fu in my profile... shouldn’t it be Kenjutsu?” Feenix turned to look at Dante, who hadn’t changed his expression a bit despite the recent intermission although his eyes betrayed his hidden amusement. “No. But you learned Kung-Fu for a long time before moving on to using the sword alone, so you’ll have to settle for that. There will be no weapons in the tournament.” “What?!”, the Angels cried out altogether. They’d never fought entirely unarmed unless there was no option. Talim’s skills were based mostly on unarmed combat, but she still used her sais for support whenever possible, while Feenix and Shiva hardly ever gave up their swords and throwing weapons respectively; they only used their Kung-Fu and Karate skills for tight situations... “Mizuya’s own style is a mixture of just about every martial art in the world, and he demands that his subordinates learn his ways.” The women looked at each other and breathed out in chorus: “Ohh, crap...”
2006 AD June 29th 10.10 PM Atlantic Ocean, aboard the St. Felicity
“All right, here we are now.” Talim sighed, looking at the sea view opening around her. The ship had left the harbor only ten minutes ago, so the lights from the coast were still well in sight. One could probably see much more than that, had night not fallen over the ship, bringing starlight with it. “The invitation says that the matches start tomorrow. It seems there’s something like a welcoming ceremony in the restaurant on Deck 8. Think we should go?”, Feenix asked her companions, who had taken on completely different appearances in disguise. Shiva wore a pair of black pants with widening legs that covered her shoes completely, and a bluish, Egyptian style shirt that occasionally slipped off of her shoulders, nearly driving her mad. She also had a wig of black, evenly cut hair, and a small black stone hanging over her shoulder, giving her an ancient Egyptian look. Talim was wearing white pants and a rather tight, white tank top, over which she had a dark blue shirt. She’d refused to wear a wig, so Talim had toned her hair dark brown. The color could simply be washed off, or at least she hoped so. She had dark brown contact lenses on to look a bit more like a Korean. Feenix had a light blue shirt with double buttons and a pair of black pants. She also wore a wig with black, braided hair and the same kind of dark brown contacts. “I guess we should take a look. See some of the other fighters, find out how the tournament’s been organized.” Talim shrugged, then gave Shiva a questioning look, receiving a nod in reply. “Do you suppose a lot of people are going to get killed? I mean, I wonder if these fights are to the end...”, Shiva mumbled as they reached Deck 8 and headed for the restaurant. The Angels sat at a table set far away from the performing stage. They weren’t willing to test the efficiency of their costumes thoroughly yet, just in case they might bump into someone all too familiar. 3
“No idea. Doesn’t seem likely, though. Mizuya would probably have difficulty getting rid of all the bodies, considering how many people have come...”, Talim absently mumbled in response as she sat down, keeping a sharp eye on the other passengers. Not many of them were probably here yet, but quite a few nevertheless. “We should probably get some drinks... What’ll you have?”, Feenix said, looking in the direction of the bar counter, where the bartender was already waiting. “Anything alcohol-free”, Shiva replied. “I’m coming along, you won’t get me what I want anyway”, Talim said with a grin as she stood up. “All right, at least I won’t have to juggle three glasses on the way back.” Feenix nodded, heading for the counter with Talim. “Hey. Got anything non-alcoholic?”, Feenix asked the bartender. He nodded but gave the woman a surprised look. Most of the people who’d been to the counter so far had ordered the hardest drinks they could... “Well, a couple of those then.” Feenix smiled at the bartender, who immediately got to work on her order. “And a Lemon Cocktail for me”, Talim added after looking through the list of drinks for a moment. While the waiter prepared their drinks, Feenix and Talim spent the time observing the people around them. The crowd was growing little by little. Talim suddenly twitched, turning sharper after catching a glimpse of one of the participants. She blinked her eyes to make sure a group of people she saw walking into the restaurant was what she thought they were--nearly dropping one of her contacts. “Feenix...” Talim carefully tugged on her sleeve, then scolded herself for having used her friend’s real name. “Fei-San”, she corrected, then took Feenix by the arm to get her attention before the people she’d seen got away. “Hm, what is it?” Feenix finally turned to Talim, who tilted her head at the restaurant entrance. “Lee...” Feenix quickly looked in that direction and cursed under her breath. Indeed, one of their “old acquaintances” had just walked in. Lee was a white-haired man with connections to the Mishima-Megumi crime league. He was now wearing black pants and a blue shirt, and had a blonde woman wearing a tight red dress with him. “We’d best get out of sight”, Talim whispered to Feenix, then taking her drink from the bartender and heading back to the table, where Shiva waited. Feenix paid for her and Shiva’s drinks and followed Talim in such a rush, that she immediately bumped into someone. Fortunately, enough the drinks didn’t spill, which would’ve been particularly bad on a ship full of odd characters. However... “I’m so very sorry, mister...” Feenix raised her gaze to meet the person’s but lowered it just as quickly. Curses! Of all the people on board, Feenix had to bump into Notham, another old “friend” of the Angels. Will there be more?! “You should look where you’re going, miss...”, he said in a dangerous tone, staring coldly at Feenix. “As should you”, Feenix retorted, giving him a frustrated look. She’d had enough of the man long ago. “Could you repeat that?”, Notham softly questioned, stepping closer. In an instant, the people cleared out from around them--everyone had been expecting this. There was no way they could wait until the next day for the fighting to begin, and this kind of show would surely quench their thirst for the time being. “You know, I’m really not in the mood to play with you, so would you mind letting me pass?” Feenix was getting nervous but managed to stay calm for now. “Hmm... I think I would mind. I’m sure this is going to be good practice for tomorrow.” He started with a quick swing at Feenix, but she dodged with superior speed, setting the drinks aside and slamming her knee into his lower abdomen then. Notham bent over with the force of the blow, his eyes lit up with anger. He straightened himself up and aimed a punch upwards at Feenix, but a strong hand grabbed him by the wrist. “No fighting here”, the man said in an irritated voice, then forced Notham’s arm down. “Really? Isn’t that what we’re here for, Ji?”, Notham asked sarcastically, then pulled away his arm and headed off into the crowd, giving Feenix one last look of anger. The audience was gone soon, as the show had ended before it really began. 4
“Is this what you call hard to notice?”, the man who’d stopped the fight angrily whispered to Feenix, grabbing her arm this time. “I was expecting help from a professional, not some petty brawler. “If you’d been here sooner, you’d know that I was trying to get past Notham without starting a fight. He’s the one who attacked first. Did you expect me to take a hit?” Feenix, having identified the man as Kan Ji, pulled her arm free and started walking towards the Angels’ table. “You know him?”, Kan Ji asked as he followed. He apparently wanted to meet the other Angels. “We’ve run into him from time to time”, Feenix replied, trying to avoid further conversation on the way to the table. “What was that about?”, Talim turned to look at Feenix, having told Shiva about Lee’s presence. “Notham”, Feenix dryly answered, sitting down and handing Shiva her drink. “And this is?..” Shiva looked at Kan, who stood by the table observing them. “Our contact.” Feenix shrugged, letting him do the talking. Their meeting was off to a bad start. “Kan Ji, at your service. And if I were you, I’d speak more carefully. My father’s very... suspicious”, he said, obviously convinced that he was dealing with the worst kind of amateurs possible. “Pleased to meet you”, Talim said in an unfriendly tone of voice, sensing Kan Ji’s attitude. “Did you say Notham’s here too?” Shiva barely got her eyes off Kan to face Feenix. “That’s right. I almost got in a fight with that fool. To think that there are hundreds of people on the ship, and the one I accidentally run into is Notham...” Feenix sighed, having a drink. “Well, you know how it is. Notham’s our pet curse.” Shiva chuckled, giving the dark-haired man still standing at their table a look again. “Did you have something to say to us or is there some other reason for you stand there all night? Because that is suspicious”, she pointed out to him. “I just wanted to see what kind of people you are, and I must admit I’m not impressed. But, enjoy the evening, ladies. My father’s about to have a little speech over there, and I need to be there when it happens.” Kan pointed at the stage, then giving the Angels one more look and running off. He was followed by the Angels’ staring eyes. “Annoying”, Feenix noted. “I must admit I’m not impressed”, Talim mimicked Kan’s overconfident tone of voice so well, the girls all started laughing. “But he does look pretty good”, Shiva added when she finally managed to stop laughing. The others gave her odd looks. “Good evening, my dear passengers.” Mizuya, their target, had just taken the stage. His hair was slightly fixed up with gel, and he wore dark purple pants, a small jacket of the same color and a white shirt. “Now there’s a good-looking man”, Feenix whispered. “I think he looks a bit sneaky”, Talim replied. “Shh! Let’s hear him out”, Shiva hissed at them. “As you all know, your goal in this event is to beat all of your opponents. There are only a few rules: No killing. No weapons. The first round of matches consists of two-on-two fights to eliminate the weakest contestants. During and after the second round, all fights are one-on-one until there’s only one fighter left: the winner. This person will receive a great money prize and in return, work for me.” He paused, looking around at the contestants, making observations. “He can’t see us from over there...” Shiva quietly said, while Mizuya’s gaze swept across the restaurant. “And if he could, so what? He doesn’t know who we are”, Talim mumbled, raising her glass to her lips for a drink. “But as you probably also know, not only the winner may work for me. I will inspect every match and see if the rest of you are worth anything. As an exception to previous tournaments, I now hold the right to challenge the winner in a place of my choice.” These words caused some restlessness in the crowd. Everyone knew that Mizuya was among the greatest fighters in the world today. And that he’d killed more than one of his opponents... “And now, for a taste of things to come.” A cruel smile formed on his face as he called in Kan, who’d had a quick change of clothing. Now he had nothing but a pair of black leather pants with flame decorations on the sides. 5
“Oh, behave!”, Talim moaned as she saw him, and the others could hardly disagree with her implication. “I wonder who he’s up against”, Shiva said, but she found out soon enough. “Is there anyone here willing to challenge my son?” Mizuya looked around expectantly. His eyes seemed to stop in the direction of the Angels, and although his gaze moved along, it seemed to return to them again. “There’s still no way he can see us...” Talim said, feeling very uneasy. Something about this man reflected immense ruthlessness. “You don’t suppose he’ll ask one of us to fight?..”, Feenix whispered. “He can’t s...”, Shiva began, but when a hand was raised somewhere up on the balcony, she stopped. “I’ll take him on”, a gruff male voice announced. “As you wish, but I take no responsibility in whatever happens.” Mizuya’s smile widened when the large ape-like man came to the stage. “I sure hope he isn’t taking his shirt off...” Talim grit her teeth. “I’ll bust the air outova little bird like you.” The goon started laughing loudly when he climbed up. “He’ll be deat meat in no time”, Shiva noted with amusement. And it was true. Before the big one even stepped close to him, Kan delivered a swift kick into the side of his head. A soft thud resulted from the hit, but a big crash followed when the large man fell, eyes glazed with the surprise. “Flawless victory...”, Mizuya softly chuckled as Kan bowed down and left the stage. A pair of men came in and dragged the unconscious loser away. “I’ll leave you now to enjoy what my ship has to offer. All services are at your disposal, naturally at a cost. Fighting is not allowed except for practice, and only on the lower deck. That deck has been reserved for only one purpose. If there is any fighting taking place outside of the training area, such actions will be severely punished. Cherish these moments as if they were your last.” Mizuya bowed to his audience, then left the stage.
“Oookay. What do you think?” Feenix looked at her companions. “That was brutal. But what to expect from a tournament like this one...” “But how will they set the first matches up? I mean who’s up against who... I’d hate to be on the same side with someone like that idiot back there.” Shiva twirled the empty glass in her hand around. “I’m worried about the fact that there’s three of us and only one can be the winner, and that means we might be put up against each other in the end...”, Feenix said almost to herself, so deep in thought. “Well aren’t you confident about us all...” Shiva grinned. “We’ll settle that later. If we must fight each other, we’ll make a deal about who wins. Besides, Mizuya said he’d hire more than just the winner. Let’s hope we can all convince him”, Talim said without a care in the world, finishing her drink. She then noticed that her friends were looking at her with a fiendish glow in their eyes. “What? What’s with that look?” “I wonder which one of us could win, in the end?”, Feenix asked Shiva innocently. “Yes, yes... it would have to be someone reeeaally good with martial arts”, Shiva replied with a similar tone of voice, looking at Talim. “And someone who’s been into unarmed combat for a looong time...”, Feenix added, nodding at Shiva. “You can’t possibly mean me!?” Talim’s eyes widened. “Oh, yes we can.” Feenix grinned. “Seriously, Talim, you’re the best fighter we have. So of course, you’ll be the winner.” Shiva shrugged. “Don’t give me that! You two can fight. That but-we-always-fight-with-weapons excuse doesn’t cut it.” Talim glared at her companions. 6
“It’s not an excuse... Shiva and I are helpless unarmed. Talim gave Feenix a nasty look, then opened her mouth to say something, but she was interrupted by sounds coming from the stage. The Angels turned to face the stage. “Noooooooo...”, Shiva cried out as loud as she could without attracting attention. What was about to happen on the stage nearly surpassed their worst nightmares in cruelty. A pair of obvious scoundrels had taken the stage, one blonde in a red suit, the other tall, bald and wearing a leather outfit. These men were standing by the microphone stand, looking around. “This can’t be happening... How can they allow it!..” Talim covered her eyes with one hand. “No, they can’t possibly do this...” Feenix looked at the stage in horror. “I expected Mizuya to be civilized to some degree, but this is as barbaric as it gets”, Shiva continued, shaking her head. The duo coughed, then started to sing as a ballad of some sort started playing on a television screen above them. “Karaoke... Perhaps we’ll check on that training center?..” Shiva quickly stood up, looking at Talim and Feenix as if she begged them for mercy.
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PART 2 2006 AD June 29th 0.00 AM Atlantic Ocean, aboard the St. Felicity
Finally, the Angels reached a safe distance from the terrible karaoke act. The two crooks were off key and off the scale. When the double doors closed behind the girls, Talim shivered at the thought one more time. “My ears couldn’t have taken that for a second longer. Geez, the poor song!”, Feenix said, fixing her outfit a bit. “Hopefully, there’s something interesting on the lower deck”, Shiva said to herself while rubbing her neck. They slowly walked down the steps and began to hear sounds of sparring. The girls entered the training room and split up. Mizuya’s ship had a complete, well-equipped gym. The back wall was mirror plated from top to bottom and the great straw mat, or tatami on the floor, laid there for the matches, was as good as new. All of the gym equipment was set a good distance away from the tatami, and right now a thug-like man loudly hammered away at a punching bag. The Angels didn’t seem to have gathered any attention and wanted to keep things that way for as long as possible. Shiva walked around inspecting the gym equipment while Talim conversed with another woman using Tae Kwon-Do. Feenix simply leaned on a wall, watching other fighters’ moves. Her eyes came across Ji, who was also there to figure out the strong and weak points of his potential opponents. He hadn’t put his shirt back on, which gave Feenix another chance to admire his muscles, together with his leather pants. Feenix calmly walked up to Talim and asked her to have a practice match with herself, just for show. They moved over to the tatami mat, while Shiva went over to Kan Ji, watching the ongoing practice matches for a while without exchanging a word with him. Eventually, when Shiva believed her arrival hadn’t been noted, she broke the silence. “Any good tips for tomorrow, mister Ji?” “If your mind is observant, it keeps you ‘awake’ in battle...”, he said, crossing his arms. “You might as well tell me what you know right now, so there won’t be anything unclear”, Shiva whispered. Ji remained silent for a moment, staring forward. “Not here...” ...” Mizuya had just arrived at the gym, escorted by his guards, and was looking in the direction of his son and Shiva in particular. Kan turned slightly pale and hissed something about separating. Shiva was angered at Ji treating the Angels like amateurs again. “...Now, if I may put your learning to a test here and now!”, Shiva sharply stated and threw a sudden punch aimed at Ji’s head. He grabbed her wrist and swung the arm aside to block the attack. “What are you trying to...”, he whispered from between his teeth, but straightened his back, met by Shiva’s cold stare. “I accept!”, he then replied as part of the act, and they moved over to the tatami. During their conversation, the two of them hadn’t been paying attention to the other two Angels. Feenix and Talim had been fighting for a while now, but then a hand firmly took Feenix by the wrist and turned her around. “Not again”, Feenix exhaled, seeing Notham standing in front of herself. “What do you want now?”
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Notham was smiling his usual cold smile as he painfully squeezed her arm. “You insulted me in the dining room. I request a practice match to return my honor. Feenix was about to run out of patience, when suddenly Talim came to the rescue. “Excuse me, sir, but we were having a practice match of our own just now. And as my opponent...” “Fei-San”, Feenix added after receiving a questioning look from Talim. “...has her say in the matter, I cannot accept such rude behavior from you.” Notham’s released Feenix from his gaze and walked up to Talim with a threatening air, overshadowing her. Talim gave him an icy stare, then kicked at his feet with her right leg to trip the man. Notham nimbly evaded the attack, however. Talim took her ready stance and smiled. “I am called Tae-Seon, and if you’re not called a coward, then bring it on!” Notham’s reply was a fighting pose of his own. Feenix stood aside to watch them fight. Then she noticed Shiva and Ji brawling. Shiva had kicked him in the side, leaving him with a nasty bruise and a grin of pain. Kan Ji had otherwise been able to avoid Shiva’s attacks as well as she’d been able to avoid his. She had to admit that Kan knew what he was doing and that this battle would either end painfully or very painfully. Feenix was glad to be left alone at last. No fights or other unhealthy activities in sight for her. But she thought too soon instead of knocking on wood like she should have in such a situation. “Hello, pretty. I don’t suppose you’re much of a fighter, letting someone else take care of your business. But you sure have the looks”, a man with white hair said, standing beside her. She should’ve known that Lee was that kind of man who wouldn’t let anyone enjoy their idle time. Calmly, Feenix turned around to face him, then quickly grabbed him by the collar of his shirt. “I am going to regret this. I know it”, she thought to herself. “Come on. You don’t stand a chance”, she said, letting go of Lee’s shirt and walking onto the tatami without a look back. “Aren’t you the fiesty one, girl. Hmm. This’ll be fun! Kiai!”, he yelled, aiming a flying kick at Feenix’s head. Mizuya frowned slightly. His eyes focused. These people now on the arena were among the most skilled martial artists he’d ever seen. He’d retrieved his long, light purple leather coat and was wearing it now. He whispered something to a security guard, who gave his comrades a signal to take out their nightsticks. Talim and Notham had been fighting for a while, and when they realized that Mizuya stared at them, they suddenly broke away and bowed down to one another. There wasn’t an ounce of warmth in their eyes though, on the contrary. But for the time being, their disagreement would have to wait. Feenix found herself caught between a wall and Lee’s body. She had no idea how they’d ended up in this situation. Lee held her hands tightly up against the wall and quickly smelled her hair. “Ah. Lotus blossom”, he mumbled, moving closer to Feenix’s face. “What are you doing... Stay back!” As Lee turned her request a pair of deaf ears, Feenix kicked him in the shin most painfully. In that instant, they noticed the real situation at hand and called off the match. Lee needed to have the last word, though, and he slapped Feenix on her backside, winking afterwards. “Some people have the nerve... White hair or not...”, she swore to herself, walking back into the crowd. “Hopefully, Shiva can see what’s happening... though it looks like she’s furious... that’s strange...”, Talim whispered to herself. The only ones even fighting in the room were Ji and Shiva. At the moment, Ji was sitting on her waist on the floor after the two of them rolling around for a moment. “Uh... now I know what it was like for Talim to be stuck under Spy... This is humiliating”, she thought, 9
suddenly awakened by Ji gently touching her cheek. An image, like a mask from the past appeared over her face and faded just as quickly. There was a flash of purple in her eyes. She then quickly rolled over, catching Ji beneath herself, but instead of sitting on top of him, she was lying on him. The two of them were both quite surprised, but Shiva hurried up, getting ready to fight again. Their match seemed unending. Eventually Shiva hit Ji on the cheek, giving him a bleeding scratch on the way. She backed away, realizing she might have gone too far this time. Shiva investigated the audience around and, when she looked at Kan again, a strange shape, like a tribal tattoo, flashed on his forehead. Mizuya moved, hesitating, as if he wanted to stop his son from doing something irreversible. It was dangerous to show one’s powers under the eyes of strangers. Shiva fell on her back, frightened. Ji noticed his father and immediately stood still. The shape disappeared. Talim and Feenix were cursing at Dante. No supernatural abilities, yeah, right. And the boy had to have inherited his powers somehow, whatever they were. Their friend would have to be very careful now. Shiva decided to finish her act with dignity and kicked Ji in his chin as if she wasn’t at all startled. She rolled backwards and stood up, straightening her outfit. Kan blinked, blood ran down his lower lip. He touched his lip and rubbed his now bloody fingers together, looking at his discovery. Ji furiously reached for Shiva’s arm. “I will not bow down for anyone, mister Kan Ji, not for anyone!” Shiva turned around on the spot and walked out of the room without giving Mizuya or his security guards one look. Mizuya rubbed his chin, looking at his son with dissatisfaction, even scorn. Ji rubbed his fist angrily and ignored his father on his way out the door. As it closed behind him, Ji’s eyes flashed, and he ran after Shiva, who’d gone to the upper deck. Shiva was leaning on the railing outside, catching her breath and looking at the sea and the moon, feeling slightly faint. Back in the training room, Feenix and Talim were looking at each other silently, when suddenly someone pulled on Talim’s sleeve again. “You have no idea who you’ve crossed swords with today, ms. Tae-Seon”, Notham said, unfortunately at the wrong time and in the wrong place. As the others, so was also Talim running out of patience, but she was definitely the first to run out, as this threat pushed her just that much further over the edge. She tugged Notham in front of herself with lightning speed and hit him in the chest with an impossibly powerful blow. The black-haired man flew back a long way, landing on his back in front of Mizuya, who gave the source of the blow and its recipient a quick look. He’d taken note of this woman, as well as the one who’d just left and Feenix, who hid in the crowd, already in the dining room... Talim walked towards the door with a blank expression, across Notham’s body and past the crowd. The people began to talk, making their guesses about what had just happened. Feenix kept her distance to Lee, as she didn’t want the kind of attention her companions had gained. Mizuya left the room and Feenix made her way out with other people exiting the gym. “Subtle... so subtle, girls... Anymore and we could’ve just taken our costumes off, sitting in Mizuya’s lap. And strangely enough I’m the one who kept her cool this time. Great... Alright, all I need to do is find the others before they get themselves killed. Yeah...” Feenix swore to herself as she ran above deck. The cabins on board were very fine and well-equipped. They were large, yet every room was reserved for one person. There was a minibar in each cabin, a telephone and a luxurious shower room. Mizuya truly didn’t mind his expenses. Talim had just arrived in her own cabin. She looked at the time, threw her little purse on the bed a bit mad about everything, and sat down. “It’s three in the morning... No sleep tonight either. Damn...”
Translated by: Lari Fagerholm
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