DA Stpetersburg

Dante’s Angels

One’s a Company, Three’s a Crowd

“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 2005 AD October 17th 9.00 AM Russia, St. Petersburg, room in an infamous, if not notorious, secluded hotel

During the night, the sky had torn its insides out, pouring heavy rain over those unfortunate enough to have chosen the nightlife. The rain had continued until dawn, accompanied by equally heavy winds blowing. The trees were all but about to break under these two forces of nature.

As morning came, lightning still occasionally lit the sky outside as Shiva could see, sitting in thought on a sofa, her head leaned against an arm. Talim came in, carrying a tray holding cups of the tea that she’d just prepared using a small gas cooker. Shiva held one of the cups in her hands, warming her stiff, cold fingers and blowing air at the steaming liquid.

Talim set the tray down on the table and got herself one of the cups. She retreated from the table into a comfy chair not far away, raising her feet onto the edge of the table and taking a sip from her cup. One of the bedrooms seemed to come to life: It was Feenix, who then walked in to get some coffee. Soon enough, she sat with her companions, smelling the aroma of her cup of coffee, and let out a sigh.

“Ahh... Nothing like a hot cup of coffee in the morning to start the day”, she stated, now fully awake.

“But you two... We missed breakfast again, with both of you hiding under your blankets, going: I’m too tired to get up yet, I’ll be up for lunch! If Dante hadn’t called us, you’d probably still be in bed”, Feenix scolded her friends. In that instant, there was a knock at the door.

“Come in”, Talim said, facing the door.

The handle turned and a white-haired man in a crimson outfit entered.

“Good morning, Angels.”

“Good morning, Dante”, the girls replied in chorus, then bursting into laughter.

“Ha-ha, I get it... Don’t you ever get tired of that Charlie’s Angels joke?”

The three girls had trouble sitting still in their amusement.

“It’s time to get to work, girls. Here’s your mission file. You need to recover the pen of St. Peter, which is rumoured to write the answer to any question imaginable. Despite this miraculous power, it also has monetary value, coming from its diamond feather decorations.”

Feenix left the room to cook some instant noodles for herself, still paying attention to Dante’s instructions.

The briefing was interrupted, though, by his cell phone ringing with the theme of some fighting action film for a dial tone. When Feenix came back in, Dante seemed dissatisfied.

“I wanted to hear about the scroll Grendel, not about the graceful typographical design considering the letters. You need to find a life to go with your expertise or I’ll have to put an end to our cooperation.”

Dante hung up and faced the Angels.

“I have business to attend to. It seems one of my assistants is possessed by typography and I need to pound some sense into him again.”

1

He bid his farewells and left by the door. Feenix sighed and went back to check the noodles.

“Breakfast is ready. Come and get it.”

The girls sat down to eat. Feenix seemed to be in thought.

“What’s up?”, Talim asked.

Feenix took a deep breath after a taste of her spicy food.

“I’m hoping we don’t face anyone like J. Lee during the mission. He was so cute in that black suit of his. And he never did anything wrong, just... made a few bad career choices. That’s not so bad, is it?”

Shiva nearly smashed her bowl onto the table.

“Always the same thing. What is it with you and white-haired men? Most of whom, I might add, seem to be evil! Need I remind you, that we’ve been through this with - among others - Lord Michael Rayden, that French Mr. Lefer, Ken Irony and even our boss Dante! You always have an excuse for what the criminal ones have done, such as, that they were misunderstood, or had no choice though they were good at heart.”

Shiva furiously waved a finger at Feenix as she spoke.

“You’re one to talk! You’re obsessed with the crooks too, as long as they have long hair”, Talim responded in Feenix’s defence.

Feenix started laughing, and after mumbling to herself for a while, Shiva lightened up as well. The group then started to equip themselves for their mission.

“We’re going to miss lunch, too. Well, I guess in this line of work you finally learn that “it takes a fool to remain sane!”, Talim said, closing the hotel room door behind her as they left.

“They’re coming, Master Dan Li”, a man with long, black hair said to his employer.

“That is good, Notham. We are prepared.” “ Notham drew out his samurai sword and tested the blade with his finger.

“Yes, we are.”

2

PART 2 2005 AD October 17th 3.00 PM Central St. Petersburg

After leaving the apartment, the girls went to a Chinese restaurant to honor a tradition of theirs and to avoid working on an empty stomach. Their usual chatter reached all around from a shadowy corner table.

The food was quite tasty, even for Feenix, who had such spicy dishes that the others would’ve burnt their mouths tasting them.

As they began to leave, the three of them thanked a small Chinese woman from the staff with a bow and put their coats on. Shiva took the restaurant’s owner by the hand and led him away from other people.

Looking around, she quietly asked: “I’m sorry about this, but do you know the way to the Green Dragon baths?”

The owner quickly turned pale and raised his finger to his mouth for Shiva to keep her voice down. He tried to walk away, but Shiva wouldn’t let the man go.

“I won’t tell anyone that the information came from you. I’m only looking for a friend of mine.”

The man seemed to be shaking with his entire body, but he signaled Shiva to wait outside. When the group walked out, he disappeared into the kitchen in a swing of the door.

The Angels stood around in front of the restaurant. Ten minutes passed, and Feenix was apparently out of patience. She kicked at the pavement and loose stones lying around, mumbling something.

“Shiva, what are we waiting for? We don’t have time for this!”, Feenix said. Talim, who was leaning on a lamp post, also gave her comrade a questioning look.

“I can’t explain all of it, bu...”

Everyone was startled by a “psst” coming from the alley beside the restaurant. Shiva had a look of suspicion as she signaled her friends to stay still. She slowly walked over to the corner of the building, and from the shadows of the alley a note was given to her. She tried to identify the person handing the note, but couldn’t tell. Perhaps the son of the owner or another reliable acquaintance of his. Shiva went back to the others, and unfolded the note like there was nothing special about it. In it was an address and a tiny map. She folded it again and without a word to her companions she started walking according to the directions given.

The other two Angels followed - They were confused by the way Shiva acted, but couldn’t think of a better idea.

After at least thirty minutes of winding around on the streets of St. Petersburg, Shiva finally stopped in front of a mundane-looking door on a back alley. Talim’s expression screamed objection; was this why they’d been walking for several kilometers? Shiva gave the door two soft knocks and a slit opened on it.

A distinctly oriental voice spoke out in Japanese and Shiva replied, showing her companions. The door opened, and the group quickly entered.

They were led into a changing room by different corridors. There a woman in a kimono handed them towels. She bowed and tip-toed her way out of the room.

“What have you gotten us into now?!”, Talim asked, looking at the room, annoyed by the sudden development of things.

“I’d sure like to know that too”, Feenix added, and sat down on a bench.

Shiva started taking her clothes off and spoke in a whispering voice as she did.

“An old acquaintance, or should I say, informant, is here today. He said he had some information on the pen 3

of Saint Peter the last time we met. This place is the Green Dragon bathing house, kind of a meeting place of the underworld for bathing, taking saunas and massages. We were let in, because I mentioned that a certain highly respected crime leader wanted our services.”

Talim and Feenix cried out, almost grabbing onto Shiva’s throat.

“Services, you say!”

“Calm down, it’s all just an act!”, Shiva continued, wrapping the towel around herself. The others followed her example mumbling to themselves, and they soon left the room together.

“All that’s left is to find him...”, Shiva said to herself.

First the Angels looked into the bath section, but the person they were looking for wasn’t there. They slowly walked along the wall into the next section, gaining looks of admiration and most certainly desire, which made them pick up some speed. Inspecting the massaging rooms had no result other than that after seeing what went on in a few of them, Shiva had turned bright red...

There was no-one in the sauna section at the time and they were running out of places to search. Next up was a room for tattooing service, and Shiva started to feel faint. She leaned on a wall and her friends needed to help her through the room, as a Japanese man was there being tattooed at the very moment.

“Oh, that’s right, you don’t like needles, eh...”, Talim said, smiling fiendishly.

Shiva’s face looked rather green...

“In case you forgot, when we got our tattoos for this job, they had to give me sedatives, then numb the skin around the tattoo a few times over, and finally tranquilize me, or did I faint... I can’t remember. But anyway... Uhh, the very thought of it makes me feel weak”, Shiva complained and hurried out of the room into the next.

And so, last but not least, they arrived in a room reserved for acupuncture treatment.

Shiva managed to get the words “Just my luck” out of her mouth before her feet forced her to sit down.

Shiva looked at the man on the acupuncture table. He was somewhat muscular, with hair reaching his ears.

Shiva quickly turned her eyes to the floor again to avoid throwing up, as this man was just about to receive his needles.

“It’s strange to see you here, Kieran Chek. It’s been a long time.” He slowly raised his head to see the Angels.

The man had green eyes with a mystery to them, and lips to die for. A huge scar went across his left shoulder, as if someone would’ve wanted to cut the arm off. Shiva, however, wasn’t paying attention to his looks at the time. The floor tiles drained all of her concentration. Chek motioned his servant to leave the four of them alone, and so it was done.

“Always a pleasure, tovaritsh Shiva”, he said as he sat up, with a towel around his waist.

He first examined her companions with his eyes and then turned to Shiva again.

“What business have you with me?”, Kieran asked, running his fingers through his hair. Feenix and Talim stared at him mouths wide open with awe; his voice was deep and a bit gruff, and it sent shivers down their spines.

“Some time ago you mentioned the pen of St. Peter, and we’re looking for it now. Care to tell me more about it?”, Shiva asked, eyes still set on the floor.

Kieran was smiling until he heard the question.

“Go to the Palace Stalin Casino and keep an eye on a man named Dan Li. I cannot tell you more, or my life will have no value in this place. Servant!” The servant returned to clean up Kieran’s back. Now all of the Angels had their gazes lowered, until the man stood up with the towel at his waist and walked up to Shiva.

He carefully lifted her head by the chin to have her look him in the eyes and moved as close as he could get.

“Until we meet again, tovaritsh.”

4

“Until then”, Shiva replied with a whisper, as if she couldn’t breathe.

Chek backed away, took his black leather jacket and the rest of his clothes and went out the door. The group took a moment to realize that they were still standing in the room with nothing but towels on. A sudden wave of chills hit them, and they decided it was best to go back to the baths. There, Shiva stopped.

“I don’t know about you two, but I need a cold shower. Maybe I’ll take a sauna and relax in a jacuzzi first, now that we’re here.” Her friends nodded, and they all went to the steam sauna. The heat there was just right.

Five minutes later, they settled into the women’s jacuzzi and let themselves fall asleep in the relaxing, bubbling water. They hadn’t noticed on their way out of the sauna, however, that one of the servants had hastily exited on sight of them. Afterwards, the girls took a cool shower and tied clean towels around themselves. They dried themselves and braided each others’ hair.

On their way to the changing room, a dozen armed thugs stormed in to meet them on the hallway, and the Angels quickly retreated to the bath section again. Dodging bullets, they took cover behind a concrete fence set between pools. Talim crawled and rolled her way toward the back of the room and made her way into the tattooing room. There, she gathered any medicine bottles with tranquilizing or numbing liquids in them. Next, she ran into the acupuncture room for a handful of clean needles. Talim returned with her loot to the other Angels, who had effectively kept their assailants at bay using a large water hose.

She hid, preparing the needles by dipping them in each bottle in her possession and shared them in a quick reunion with Shiva and Feenix. The girls then proceeded to throw the needles at the thugs, who dropped their guns or simply fell one by one, each with three to five anesthetic needles stuck in their arms. Those still standing started to move with hardly any focus at all, and with the Angels’ unarmed combat skills, they were easy to finish. In fact, they needed nothing more than tripping to take care of them at that point, but for a few that could stand up long enough to be punched or kicked down. Feenix toyed around with a wet towel, bashing anyone who managed to get close enough with it. They gathered all the guns and threw them into the pools as they fought.

Finally, when even the last thug lay down arms stretched on the floor, the Angels ran to the changing room where they’d been heading before and quickly got dressed. Staying any longer would surely damage their common health. They rushed out and headed toward the city center, trying to make sure no-one was following them. Shiva was disgusted by the idea of having held the needles in her hands, thinking that they could’ve been anywhere before that.

The Angels were on their way to the casino, when Shiva suddenly stopped as if she’d hit a wall. They were passing a movie theater, and she’d noticed a poster on its display window.

“Oh, my! Look! They’re showing Mortal Kombat Three! We’ll go see it. Let’s go see it. We will, won’t we?

Pretty please?..”, she whined, looking at her friends, blinking her eyes annoyingly.

“Shiva! We’re on an important mission, and all you can think of is going to the movies! It’s only Mor...

Mortal Kombat Three! Talim, we can go see that one, can’t we? It’ll only be a couple of hours...”, Feenix begged and prayed.

To no avail, however, as by now, Talim had begun to stare at the poster, drooling.

“Well... there’s no hurry... We can take a couple of hours off to rest. It’s only six in the evening”, Talim listed her excuses.

Hand in hand, the three of them walked in, nonchalantly bought their tickets and climbed a set of stairs to the top seats.

5

8.00 PM

The movie had been enjoyable but for a few distractions, such as someone in the audience mouthing off about coming events in it in advance. Also, someone’s cell phone had started ringing, and the fool had answered, speaking loudly in Russian. Besides, a lot of people had gone to the bathroom or who knows where in the middle of the action, blocking the Angels’ views occasionally, and the girls were of course plagued by the classical situation of three people, all of them tall as trees, sitting on front of them.

Talim was extremely annoyed, but everyone liked the film. They were especially pleased with Christopher Lambert rightfully playing a certain godly character. Feenix liked the idea, and Shiva smiled all the way.

“Did either of you get the feeling that thunder god looked like someone we know? I just can’t remember who...”, Shiva asked, and the others nodded. There was something familiar about him. They sighed all together and started walking again.

“Okay. Maybe it’s time to get to work, eh girls?”, Talim said, and they continued their trip to the casino.

6

PART 3 2005 AD October 18th 3.40 AM Somewhere on the network of back alleys in St. Petersburg

It was quiet. No quieter though, than it ever is when raindrops batter the walkways of St. Petersburg. Night had fallen again, and every self-respecting citizen had gone to bed. Here and there one could see a building with maybe one or two lit rooms, but there was one building that stood out, with every single window shining brightly. It was a neon light -ridden casino, its brand new-looking entrance crawling with visitors from the darker walks of life.

In the shadows of the Palace Stalin Casino, or, since there hardly were shadows cast by the building itself, in a dark alley across the road from it, three obscured human figures could be made out. Two of them were standing leaned against a cold stone wall, and the third one crouching, taking shelter from the wind and holding its coat tightly around itself. The weather was nasty, and they would most likely have preferred any other place to be than this cold, wet and dark alley.

Still, their eyes were set on the brightly lit casino double doors, each concentrating according to their own ability at the time. One of them held a small black book, and was trying to take notes in it, though it was a lot of trouble.

“Shiva, dear”, the person crouching began, in a voice that revealed her gender, and that she was thoroughly sick and tired of the situation.

“Would you like to tell me again, why we’re here?..” It wasn’t a very questioning tone, but rather one with tons of frustration in it.

“Because Dan Li should be in there with his henchmen, and we need to find out what they know about the pen”, another woman’s voice whispered, sounding equally annoyed. It was the third time Feenix asked the same question. “...And we’ll find out nothing if you keep complaining”, a third female voice came from the direction of the person taking notes.

This last one looked up from her book, and at the same time a car went by, its headlights revealing her to be a relatively young woman with a slender face, and obviously as uncomfortable as her two companions.

They’d been watching the casino for several hours, and witnessed more people slip in than they’d been able to count. It was still unclear to them, why they had to be out here on such dreadful weather.

After a sigh and an angry look at the source of this last comment, the person on the ground tried to curl up even more to warm up. Probably without any results. The surrounding buildings gave some cover to the group, but the wind kept turning so that the rain blasted them with full power now and then, and their coats were no use against it.

“Why couldn’t Dante deal with this himself? He’s the boss. He could’ve just come here and told us where to go next...”, the mumbling continued.

“Because he’s the Boss”, the one named Shiva laughed, tossing her long-braided hair from one side to another as she turned to the third figure.

“Talim, got anything useful?”

“And what would that be? You’ve seen the same I have--nothing at all”, she replied, closing the black book with a snap. “...should anything happen, I can’t even see well enough to write it down”, she continued, stretching her neck and trying to lean back on the wet stone wall as relaxed as possible. Nothing could possibly happen on this night. It was getting late for even Dan Li’s dogs to be watching any longer.

“I think we...”, Talim started, but stopped when Shiva hastily motioned her to pay attention. Feenix stood 7

up and looked into the direction of the casino from behind Shiva, whose eyes were completely fixed on the casino entryway.

The Angels now focused on a handsome oriental man, who swiftly walked out of the casino, then stood still beneath the rain shelter, as if waiting for something.

“Shao-Lung!”, Shiva hissed under her breath, getting odd looks from Talim and Feenix.

“Shao-Lung?..”, Talim repeated. At this point, had it not been so dark, she would have seen Shiva’s face gaining a red hue. Shiva tried to avoid telling the details: “Ehh... I’ve met him somewhere... He’s in the Xing-Niji clan.”

“And the Xing-Niji is?..”

“An organization, not much different from the Yakuza. One of the oldest mafia leagues in existence”, Feenix filled in.

“That’s right”, Shiva nodded.

“And one of the most dangerous too. I hear they value their reputation in martial arts above all.”

Talim chuckled lightly at Shiva’s warning. She wasn’t such a bad combatant... And besides, the three of them together were very efficient: Their backgrounds were different, but they complemented each other that way. Even the similarly named Charlie’s Angels would come in second to them. Each of Dante’s Angels had her own way of working and specialties, and Dante had found them long ago. Shiva’s good points were her logical thinking and her ability to make an arrow, or any improvised flying weapon at that, reach its target even from a long distance. Talim was the stealthiest of the three, partially thanks to her small size, and very few people could defeat her in close combat. Feenix had the strongest nerves, able to keep cool in most situations, and she handled two-handed swords with great skill.

“Shiva, we’ll get back to you about this...”, Feenix and Talim told their blushing friend together, then concentrating on their handsome target from the east.

“Damn. Looks like he’s sneaking out by car...”, Talim whispered as she saw a long black car turn around to stop in front of the casino and Shao-Lung.

“We’ll never catch him, nor be able to follow him if he leaves on that...”

Fortunately, the man only exchanged a few words with the limousine driver, who then stepped outside, opening the back door. Two other Asian men came out of the car. They were apparently important visitors, as Shao-Lung bowed in front of both as he spoke to them. After this, he looked around, perhaps just because of a habit, and led the new arrivals into the casino.

“I could be wrong, but one of them seemed pretty familiar...”, Talim quietly said, glancing at her two companions, who had backed away deeper into the alley.

“Notham”, Shiva and Feenix cried out together.

“It seems to me that Dan Li intends to join forces with the Xing-Niji...” One could nearly touch the shockinduced silence when the Angels looked at each other. They could all see the strength of such an alliance, should it be formed. The serious mood and silence lingered on, until a devilish grin crept onto Talim’s face.

“Well, girls... So much for the stakeout. Shall we go play?”

8

PART 4 2005 AD October 18th 5.00 AM Russia, St. Petersburg, old sewage tunnels

“Great. Here we are, now. I bet you thought this sewer trip would be a smart idea, huh, Shiva. Or do you feel like we wash ourselves too often?”, Feenix bitterly asked, expecting no answer, as she squeezed filthy water out of her hair.

“Eww, ahh. What’s this on my shoulder... Yuck!?”, she continued, running around and waving her arms after discovering something the color of seaweed on her shoulders.

Shiva walked up to Feenix irritated and caught the mystery vegetation between her fingers. She threw it away and listened to the sounds coming from above. The squeaking of rats, the dripping of water and the flowing of sewage mixed together awfully.

She turned to her partners and shook her head.

“Look, it did seem like a good idea at the time, and it was our only option. Otherwise, we would’ve di...”

Talim interrupted Shiva by involuntarily coughing up blood and bending over, holding her chest.

“Talim! Are you okay?” Feenix rushed to her support.

In that instant, a loud bang came from nearby, followed by the splashing of footsteps as dozens of armed men quickly surrounded the Angels. Cockroaches and rats fled into their holes, turning quiet.

“We’re in trouble”, Feenix coldly stated, with the disoriented Talim raising her head as she lay on her friend’s arms.

An hour earlier

The gang of three slipped past the guards at the Palace Stalin Casino main entrance with more than enough expertise, blending in with the gamblers inside. They split up to look around, each inspecting and partaking in different kinds of games, including Roulette and Blackjack. Their espionage eventually revealed their targets on their way to the back of the casino. Well-guarded double doors covered with red velvet closed behind the oriental party.

Talim signaled her companions to follow as she walked into the corridor for the restrooms, somewhat close to the double doors. She entered the ladies’ room, and her two partners followed, each with delay to avoid suspicion.

“This building’s so old, that its architecture would have to have been restored, and the ceilings lowered.

That leaves a small space between the roof and the room ceilings, meant for the wiring and air ducts. I think we can get right above them crawling up there. That way they won’t know they’re being listened in on.”

Shiva and Feenix agreed. Talim jump kicked at the ceiling, managing to loosen one of the large tiles. Feenix gave Talim a boost up to the opening, whereas Shiva jumped and pulled herself up. The last of them was taken by the hands and lifted, and the ceiling tile fell back into place just in time when two women came into the women’s bathroom. One sounded fairly intoxicated and the other just had an unusually shrill voice, forming a crazy, imbalanced tone in their dialogue. Some sawdust had fallen onto the floor and a muffled thump came from above. The two women looked up confused, then at each other, and finally laughed it off.

Shiva got a small flashlight from her utility belt, lighting the way ahead of them.

9

They navigated towards the VIP conference room they suspected was at the back, avoiding dead rats, cobwebs and sawdust in the crawlspace. The bitter smell of old logwood mixed into the usual stale air.

Talim held a handkerchief over her face to breathe easier, and the others followed her example. Crawling along, the began to hear muffled speech ahead, and stopped directly above the room in question. The ceiling there was differently built, however, and the trouble the girls had gone through seemed to go to waste as they realized they couldn’t make out any words. Talim and Feenix spread their arms, lacking any ideas to deal with the problem, but then Shiva seemed to have come up with something.

She reached into her pocket for what looked like a knife set, and revealed a corkscrew.

“Is this one of your Macgyver contraptions again, dear?”, Feenix whispered to her, grinning.

“They’re called Macgyverisms, Feenix, darling. Besides, this one’s more like a Shivism”, she replied with a wink.

Shiva slowly and carefully drilled three holes into the ceiling for them to be able to listen in.

Light came in from the new openings, and Shiva peeked down.

“We have done our part in the matter. This box holds your pen, mister Li. What is your answer?”, Shao requested, finishing his sentence with a polite bow.

“This marks the beginning of our coopera...”

There was a knock on the door, and all the people inside turned to look. A man with white hair, tight leather pants and a blue silk shirt walked in.

“Ah, Lee-san, this is a pleasant surprise. Come in”, Dan Li said, waving for him to enter.

Notham’s face blackened and he squeezed the handle of his sheathed sword with all his strength. Lee walked with the gestures of a great conqueror and it made Notham’s blood boil.

“Lee...”, Feenix gasped out, with Shiva instantly shushing her.

Talim painfully grabbed Feenix by the wrist.

“Quiet”, she hissed.

“This is getting worse all the time. Wasn’t he supposed to be stuck in a prison in Hong Kong?”, Shiva thought aloud.

“It’s been a long time, Dan Li-sama, ...Notham”, Lee greeted Li’s right-hand man coldly and less respectfully.

There was some obvious friction between them.

“Onward, then”, Li said, returning to his business with the other visitors.

“This pen seals our partnership with the Xing-Niji Clan. Lee here represents the Mizhima-Megumi Clan, and has offered his own party’s services in return for three agents working against them: Feenix, Shiva and Talim.”

10

Shao turned slightly pale upon hearing the name Shiva, and his purplish eyes lost their focus. Everyone in the room was fortunately concentrating on other things too well to notice the rustling sounds and puff of sawdust coming from above. Shao picked up the box mentioned before and took it to Dan Li. “Our part of the deal.” Shao slightly trembled.

“It has begun. Nothing will stop us now”, Li announced as he reached for the box.

The Angels were all shocked by what they’d heard. An uneasy feeling came over them as if someone was grasping their throats. Talim took out her weapons and gave her companions a nod. They gathered above Dan Li’s whereabouts. On Talim’s mark, they broke an opening into the ceiling and dropped down into the room with the debris, landing with grace. Feenix made a catlike maneuver to grab the box. Li yelled in anger, and tried to hit her, but struck at thin air. The Angels knocked out as many intervening guards as they could on their way to the door, where Notham and Feenix crossed swords.

Notham had somehow gotten ahead, and relentlessly pressed his blade against hers, until Talim smashed a bottle into the back of his head. Lee, who had been knocked over by another guard falling onto him, ended up having Notham fall onto himself as well.

Shiva gave Shao-Lung a solid push out of her way, and the group ran for the exit. Outside, it had stopped and started raining again. The bright headlights of passing cars hit their eyes, and other pedestrians stopped to stare at the group running down the street.

Notham had quickly gotten up, and with all the fury it inspired, he ran after the Angels. He caught up with Talim and knocked her down, and turning her onto her back, he aimed a punch into her ribs. There was a cracking sound, and Talim let out an ear-shattering scream. Feenix quickly hit Notham in the face with the wooden box, sending him backwards into a puddle of water.

The criminals started shooting at the agents, inevitably launching a state of chaos in front of the casino.

People panicked and started running away, screaming in terror and stumbling as they went. Feenix ran between them looking for cover, bumping into a lamp post and hitting her left shoulder into a metallic trash can built into the post. Shiva helped Talim get up and shouted: “Feenix!” A manhole cover! Over there!”

She pointed at the cover on the driveway. Feenix ran up to the manhole and pulled the cover aside with unknown new reserves of strength. She hopped in. Talim was about to lose consciousness. Shiva had trouble keeping her on her feet, with her arm around Talim’s back and Talim’s arm around her own neck.

Running was impossible, so Shiva had to dash and leap her way to the sewers with one hand free and another tightly gripping her friend. Finally, she dragged Talim down and pulled the manhole cover back in place after herself. Feenix used a bottle of certain chemical compounds on the cover to keep it in place.

“I’m alright”, Talim said, straightening up.

Shiva let go of her to see if she could manage.

“Just had the air beaten out of me. Let’s go!”

Shiva and Feenix gave her a pair of worried looks as they started off into the dark sewers.

11

“They will pay for this...”, Li said as he helped Notham get back up.

Lee nodded, standing by him. Shao seemed to be in thought.

“They could only be going in one direction now...”, Li continued, and led his men away from the scene.

Back in the sewers, the Angels had reached a downward ramp turned slippery by the weeds growing on it and dirty water flowing down it. Feenix bravely started down the middle, where the water was running, followed by Talim. Shiva saw it in her best interest to edge along the wall.

“Whoooaaa...”, Feenix suddenly spat out, as her right foot slipped and she fell to one knee first, then down onto her bum. Talim started laughing at her, but fell right behind her.

The two of them slid the rest of the way down the ramp, and only Shiva managed to stay dry. She’d held onto the wall and laughed at her companions’ fumbling as she took the last steps down.

“You should’ve seen your own faces”, she giggled, helping them up.

Feenix couldn’t help laughing as well, that was, until something under the water brushed against her leg...

Present time

There they were. The Angels were led up the nearest manhole at gunpoint. Notham and Lee were there to painfully drag them up onto a deserted street. Their hands were tied, and their eyes could see no sign of help. Everyone had a gun aimed at their heads.

“Hand over the box”, Li demanded, but the girls dryly laughed at him.

Li nodded. Notham pierced Shiva’s shoulder with his sword. The pain was indescribable, and Shiva nearly grit her teeth to the point of breaking them. Notham turned the blade, with a cruel look in his eyes.

“I won’t ask again.”

Meanwhile, Feenix had gotten her hands free. She rushed over to Shiva, grabbing Notham’s sword by the blade and forcing him to pull it out of the wound. Lee was fascinated by the display of pain tolerance, being an expert on torture.

“The box isn’t with us. And we wouldn’t give it to you if it was. I might even say, that the pen’s on its way across the Baltic Sea!”, Feenix daringly spoke up, then wrapping a cloth around the bleeding palm of her hand.

Taking her completely by surprise, Lee took her by the chin and kissed her on the lips. Feenix responded with a kick to his groin. Lee fell to his knees, gasping.

“Not now”, she said to him.

“Maybe later...”

Shao was mesmerized by the gaping wound near Shiva’s arm. His feet were frozen, but he wanted to reach over to her to help somehow.

“Then I can’t help it. You are making this very easy for me”, Li said, and Notham raised his sword to Talim’s throat.

Something resembling a war cry suddenly came from an alley nearby. Two strange characters leapt out of its shadows and into the mob, taking the three Angels along as they passed through. One then stopped to 12

kick weapons out of the gangsters’ hands and punch them out, while the other used some custom-made electrical devices strapped to his wrists to shoot lightning at them.

“Rayden!”, Shiva sounded relieved, and the white-haired man returned a cunning smile.

The other surprise guest, a red-haired man, had grabbed Talim into his arms, as she was exhausted.

She opened her eyes then, and her surprise was as great as his when she struggled to free herself with unimaginable strength.

“Rang Ho, I should’ve guessed it. I don’t need your help. I haven’t forgotten about our Tae-Kwon Do match... Bakayaro!”

Rang merely smiled at his reluctant catch.

“Shh, not now!”

The Angels and their rescue team kept backing away until they realized that they were about to hit a wall.

Rayden stayed with Shiva, Rang with Talim, and Feenix had her own hand to look after. It seemed hopeless.

There was lightning in the sky now, and the rain was pouring harder. Their enemies looked like grim shadows in their eyes.

“Where’s the pen?”, Rayden whispered into Feenix’s ear in a low. She whispered back: “I left it in a trash can near the casino.”

Rayden’s voice stole any girl’s heart. Its hoarseness had an unusual charm to it. Even the Angels’ legs turned to pudding when he spoke. Feenix blushed when Rayden’s breath touched her ear, and she instantly had goosebumps. She felt his presence with her whole body.

The gang had reassembled around them. This ring opened up to let Dan Li, Lee, Shao and Notham walk in.

“There’s no escape now. It is time to say goodbye.” Li turned his back on the agents.

“Ha-ha-ha... I don’t think so”, Raiden’s short but to-the-point reply came. Those among the agents who could, posed like warriors, standing their ground despite being outnumbered.

13

PART 5 2005 AD October 18th 5.30 AM Russia, St. Petersburg, on a back alley without any particular name

“This doesn’t look good...”, Rang whispered to Talim as she wriggled in his arms.

“You don’t say?!”, she snapped at the young, redheaded man, perhaps louder than was justifiable, then finally prying herself loose.

The two of them went way back in time. Both were students of Hao-sensei at the Ryuzuki-dojo, starting their martial arts studies there. Not many had endured the teachings of the strict, yet highly skilled master.

In fact, only Rang and Talim had finished their studies under him. Master Hao’s training was long. Only a few years ago, he had left this realm without an heir to carry on the Ryuzuki-dojo’s honor.

“By the way... I thought you were still in charge of the Ryuzuki-dojo...”, Talim whispered so quietly that there was no tone in her voice that would express her opinion on his past choice between freedom and becoming the dojo master as the old and respected master Hao had wished.

“Isn’t this a long way for a master to go from his dojo...”

“I’d go anywhere for you”, Rang chuckled, with an annoying smile on his face. Talim turned to look away from his brown eyes and at the situation at hand, sighing and mumbling about how boys would always be boys...

Indeed, the situation seemed more hopeless than it usually did. If they counted in the new arrivals, Rayden and Rang, they would’ve had a one man’s, or one woman’s advantage over Dan Li, Lee, Notham and Shao, but they couldn’t possibly expect them to put up a fair fight. And to their current disadvantage, Shiva and Talim were severely injured. Feenix would have little trouble overcoming the cut along the palm of her hand, but Shiva’s pierced shoulder could be no better than it looked, and it looked bad enough despite the bandage Rayden had made fore her using his clean white shirt as material... And Talim surely had at least one broken rib thanks to Notham’s bashing. But at this time, the three Angels stood firm, as if they’d regained their strength.

This seemed to surprise their foes, arrogantly grinning. Dan Li had turned halfway to face them again, having heard Rayden’s optimistic declaration. He observed them from the corner of his eye, but his face made no statements about the situation. It was a cold and blank face by nature. Even aside from his expression, he seemed untouched; his emerald green outfit was stainless, and his black hair remained neatly on a long braid, lightly waving in the air.

“Play time is over, Dante’s Angels”, he said in a cold voice, encouraging Lee, Notham and Shao to step closer.

Notham had drawn his sword and held it in front of himself, ready to act, obviously calculating Feenix’s learning in this ancient samurai skill. None of the others were at a loss about who would take on who, either. Shao had brought a wooden staff, giving Shiva a brief smile before reminding himself about his loyalties. Lee looked as cool and calm as ever, looking at Talim and figuring out her weak spots for his attack on the right moment.

No matter how bad their odds were, the Angels couldn’t help thinking about Lee in his leather pants. They were hardly built for very wide kicks... A small grin formed on Feenix’s lips as her imagination took over, and she didn’t need to look at her companions for a second to know they were grinning that same grin...

“I don’t see anything particularly amusing in the situation”, Rayden said to Shiva as he saw her face, then turning to look at the others. Finally, he shook his head in despair and laughed.

“Clearly, that doesn’t make you worry that much...”

14

Feenix wasn’t able to hear his chuckle, fortunately, as the sound of it made Shiva and Talim lose their balance for a moment. That made Rang’s smile twist, and he turned to look at Rayden instead of Talim.

“Rayden, is it alright with you if you tried not to laugh anymore while we’re here?..”, Shiva pointed out to the more than blonde man without being able to actually look at him as she did, knowing it would further break her concentration on the development of things.

“We have the numbers, so you may as well tell me where the Pen is now. I promise you will die faster and in less pain”, Dan Li continued in nearly one breath. Lee and Notham, however, didn’t seem to like this offer of his.

“Dan Li, do you expect us to believe such nonsense?”, Rayden returned to him under his breath, stepping ahead of Feenix towards their looming foes. Though his voice was quiet, it reached everyone nearby even through the sounds of thunder.

Amazed by the strength of his voice, Feenix now looked at Shiva and Talim in awe. Talim had stubbornly walked over beside Shiva, while Rang, also stubbornly, followed her. Shiva merely shook her head at Feenix, her long braid of hair swinging over to the wounded shoulder, getting blood on it.

“You don’t need to believe a word. They will die in any case”, Dan Li said, looking at Rayden as if he tried to remember something about his own past concerning him.

“You can say all you want if that’s how it’s going to be--what real use will it be to us to tell you where the Pen is?!”, Talim said, angered by his attitude and looking at him defyingly, but Dan Li seemed to pay no attention to her. He simply shrugged, as if none of this mattered to him.

“So be it.” He turned his back again and walked away in his green outfit.

“I will find it sooner or later. I have plenty of time to wait. Nevertheless, I commend your tenacity, and therefore, leave you in the hands of Lee, Notham and Shao here. Goodbye, Dante’s Angels.” After this, he showed a hand signal, making his gunmen back away and disappeared with them into the shadows of another alley.

“Master Dan Li... was it wise to let them go?..”, one of Dan Li’s men had the courage to doubt.

“Certainly. How long do you expect them to last when they’re wounded?”, he answered. Then he turned to his underling and struck his fist into the unsuspecting, though nervous, man’s neck with lightning speed.

A disgusting crunching sound followed as the fist landed beneath the chin. The victim coughed out bloody foam, his eyes having a disoriented look in them, until he realized his own death. He fell down onto the alley floor slowly, glassy eyes staring into nothingness and blood pouring out of his throat, mixing into the dirt and rainwater on its way to the sewers.

Almost instantly after the violent scene, a person in a black ninja outfit stepped across the body towards Dan Li, bowing down to his other knee, laying his right hand on the ground and lowering his head.

“My people are in place, Dan Li-sama.” Dan Li looked up at the rooftop of the buildings around, where he could see a few dark figures stealthily moving towards where the Angels had remained to fight.

“Excellent”, he said, turning his back on the ninja and proceeding through the alley to another street, where a black limousine awaited.

As the car curved and drove away soon after, the ninja remained to look at Dan Li’s departure. The green eyes behind his hood told nothing about what was in his head. When the headlights finally went out of sight, the ninja seemed to wake up, and whispered a few words in Japanese to the shadows, where two other characters in black turned out to be. The three of them had a chat in Japanese, but soon they split up to do their tasks from Dan Li. 15

“Brilliant, the odds are almost for us again”, Feenix quietly mentioned, looking at the three men left to fight them, or rather, the one with white hair. She could still feel his lips on her own, but put the thought aside with determination. She would have to stop having crushes on white-haired men someday...

“I don’t think Dan Li intends to play fair...”, Shiva muttered, getting an agreeing nod from Talim.

“Either way, there’s five agains the three of you. You two can secure our escape, boys...”

“Shiva!”, Talim and Feenix shouted out, looking at her in disbelief.

“You’re not serious about running away from them...”

“I think it’s wise. You’re wounded, and no matter how hard you try, you should know I can tell it’s an illusion...”, Rayden said, slightly absent at the time, looking up at the rooftops, as if looking for something.

He wouldn’t have had time to say any more, however, when suddenly a four-pointed throwing star coming from above hit the ground in front of Talim.

“I knew it. They’re so predictable... I will take care of the ones fooling around on the roof with Rang. No use to try escaping right now... Do your best, girls.” Rayden swung his hand upwards and nodded to Rang as a signal, then running off into the darkness. Fortunately, the rain had calmed down a bit, clearing the view a lot. The downside was, that anyone on the roof had the same advantage...

The redheaded Rang gave Talim a quick look, smiling as if victoriously in advance, then dashed after Rayden.

“All right, girls. If we go down, we’ll go down in glory.” Talim let out a short laugh at Shiva and Feenix, then taking a ready stance.

“One for all and all for me!”, Feenix called out on her behalf, receiving a pair of strange looks, which she then responded to with a playful grin and raising her sword to face Notham’s in the same manner. “...” Shiva thought about her own line for a moment, then took out her whip and yelled: “Banzai!”

“Hey! How long are you going to keep up the racket?!”, Rayden hopelessly cried out from above, causing an enormous outburst of laughter in the Angels. Their moment was stolen by Lee, who made the first attack...

Lee had been watching Talim for an opening, and there it was. A man come to the Angels’ rescue had yelled at them, distracting all three for a moment.

With his catlike movements, Lee attacked the blonde woman, aiming to knee her in the stomach.

Noticing movement in the corner of her eye, Talim just barely avoided Lee’s kick with a spinning maneuver to the right. Regaining her balance, she struck Lee beneath his left ear with the back of her right hand, accompanying her counterattack with a high-pitched cry, making him stagger. But as quickly as she’d regained her balance, her opponent regained his.

The first blow had been given, and they now moved in a circle, looking for holes in each other’s defenses.

With determination, Talim used what she’d learned over the years to shake off the sensation of pain in her side as she prepared to block whatever Lee had in store next.

16

She’d fought with him before. Once, for a very short time, as Shiva and Feenix had interrupted them. They already believed they’d sent him to an infamous prison in Hong Kong, but as it had turned out, Lee had more powerful allies behind him than they’d imagined...

Upon hearing Talim’s sharp kiai - which, however, even the dead would’ve heard - Shiva and Feenix looked each other in the eyes and nodded. They would all be on their own from here on. All they could hope for was that Rayden and Rang took care of their share so the Angels wouldn’t have to dodge throwing stars and who knows what else in addition.

Shiva swiftly raised her whip, stepping closer to Shao. For a moment they looked at one another and nodded in acquaintance. She’d met the black-haired man at an archeological dig site. At the time he had been the four-eyed, clumsy assistant of the woman in charge of the dig. Or at least posed as that sort of person. He was later revealed to be the worst kind of conman, dealing in drug smuggling while he worked at the site.

Shiva never had quite figured out Shao’s true motives. He had managed to deceive everyone around him, and she couldn’t believe him being nothing but a petty drug smuggler. She later found out that he belonged to the Xing-Niji.

“So we meet again, in this manner, Shao-Lung.” Shiva smiled treacherously at him, coiling the whip in her hand.

Thanks to the powers that be, Notham had plunged his sword into her left shoulder, so her right arm was unscathed. Although the pain had begun to fade, Shiva could feel the bloodloss weaken herself as the torn wound gave her a dull beating sensation.

This could only end badly or very badly...

Feenix grasped the handle of her sword, shivering slightly with pain. As if a piece of cloth around her arm would allow for a tight grip...

“Well then, you have all the advantages, so my chances of winning are a bit lower.” She grinned at her opponent.

Notham. Ever since their first mission together, the Angels had seen this oriental swordsman a few times too many. It was as if he sold his services to everyone he could. Only recently, they found out that Notham, being the oldest thorn in their group’s flesh, had mainly been working for Dan Li, one of the most powerful underworld leaders. How long this had been going on was unknown to them.

Feenix’s thoughts were interrupted by a few carelessly loud steps coming from Notham’s boots. She quickly raised her sword to parry her assailant’s blow. A sharp, loud clank of metal hitting metal resulted...

17

PART 6 2005 AD October 18th 6.00 AM The same old alley with no name

Talim breathed heavily in exhaustion. The taste of blood in her mouth grew stronger and she felt dizzy. Lee kept aiming his kicks and punches at her hurt ribs, knowing that was her weakness. She’d already fallen and the pain made it hard to stand up again. She’d most likely gotten more ribs broken by now and she coughed up some blood. Talim was galled. She did a fast throwing maneuver and swung Lee’s weight stomachfirst into her knee. And Talim was in no mood for jokes whenever she blew a fuse. This time she held her opponent close, spanking him a few times, then roughly pushed him down.

Lee spat out rainwater and his eyes sharpened. He’d obviously blown a fuse of his own.

“You need to learn some manners”, Talim said, straightening up without thinking of the pain.

Lee’s blows and parries were more furious and faster, respectively. Talim still fought back as well as she could, and both fighters began to look run-down and bleeding. But then, one more hit on Talim’s chest, and she fell to her knees.

Sweat drops cascaded down Shiva’s forehead. She held her bleeding shoulder with her right hand, squeezing it properly, and kept her whip in her weak and numb left hand, trying to keep Shao at bay. It wasn’t worth half the effort, and she had to take the whip into her right hand and let the wound bleed.

Then her lashes started to get in with force. Shao aimed at her head and hurt shoulder, and Shiva nearly looked like she was breakdancing to stay in one piece. She jumped, squirmed, leaned back and forth, and did whatever she could to get out of the possessed staff’s path. It whistled and whizzed as one attack led the staff right past her ear and she flipped backwards. Shiva lashed at Shao’s face, making a deep cut across his cheek. Shao automatically raised a hand to his cheek when the pain reached him.

“You’re not fighting properly, Shao! You’re losing against an injured woman. Shame on you. You were acting so tough when you betrayed me.”

Shao-Lung was angered by the remark and aimed his next attack sharply at Shiva’s right hand, so the whip fell from her grasp. In that instant, Shiva faked a kick, making him fall into a defensive position, and instead, jump-kicked at the staff, breaking it in two and landing on one knee. Shao grabbed her by the waist and turned her back against himself, wrapping an arm around her neck. She was stuck, as her feet couldn’t reach the ground. Shao pressed on her wounded shoulder, surprisingly intent on bleeding her dry slowly.

Shiva couldn’t tell from the pain, however, that he leaned on the back of her head, eyes closed and wept.

Feenix parried a strike and struck back at Notham with her katana, but both were as solid in their actions as the walls around them. Notham’s appearance had a look of danger, even terror in it. Feenix felt that keeping her position was challenging enough. The blades bit into each other for the Nth time, but now the distance between Feenix and Notham grew shorter and shorted as they twisted their weapons. Finally they were face to face. Notham didn’t say a word as he dropped his sword and took Feenix by the arms, making her drop her own sword. Her eyes widened as Notham monstrously forced her arms aside, gripping them painfully.

“Uhh, this can’t be good”, she said to herself, struggling against his strong arms to free herself.

Notham simply stared at her all the time, and Feenix pulled herself out of his hold, falling on her back. The rain had stopped completely. She crawled backwards, facing her opponent, while Notham followed with torturing, slow steps. Feenix kicked him in the shin from her position; naturally a low blow, but Notham 18

had the upper hand and something had to be done about it. He fell to his knees and Feenix made a leap for her katana and Notham did the same. They stared at each other as the adrenaline rush had overwhelmed them, until the tables were turned by a disaster.

Shiva had fallen to her knee’s unconscious in Shao’s binding arms and he’d followed her down. He stroked her cheeks, gently moving her wet hair away from her face. Talim had fallen down onto her back and was breathing faintly. Lee was just about to finish her off. Feenix raised her katana diagonally above her head to block the next attack. To her dismay, Notham’s sword broke hers in two, sending her onto her back to join her companions.

That’s when a cry came from above. Rayden and Rang jumped in, obviously having dealt with their own part, coming to help just in time. The bad guys weren’t shaken at all by their return, but when Rayden sent Notham flying into a group of trash cans, their attitude changed. Lee was holding Talim by her shirt’s collar, but let go as he saw the flames in Rang’s eyes. Rang jumped Lee like a raving lunatic, kicking the air out of him and knocking him out immediately.

Rayden picked Shao up by his neck and threw him over to keep Notham company.

“Rang, let’s go!”, he shouted, and raised Shiva to his right and Feenix to his left side to support them both.

Rang took Talim into his arms and they made an inhumane jump up to the roof of a nearby building, around 20 meters high up in the air. During the jump, Shiva had woken up, but the view made her feel no better with her fear of heights and this, therefore, being her worst nightmare.

“No-o-o-ooo! It’s so high! Nyaaah!”, she cried, grabbing Rayden around the neck with her stiff arms.

“Whee!”, Feenix screamed, keeping her hands on Rayden’s shoulder, obviously enjoying the flight.

She couldn’t understand how the two of them managed such a feat, however. Their rescuers were clearly hiding things from them.

She couldn’t understand how the two of them managed such a feat, however. Their rescuers were clearly hiding things from them.

Talim was completely out of this world, because otherwise she wouldn’t have stayed in Rang’s lap another second. Rayden put Feenix down on the rooftop, but still held onto Shiva, who couldn’t walk on her own in her condition.

“If you are afraid to trust, you will loose...”, he whispered into Shiva’s ear. She was paralyzed by a cold wave passing through her.

They continued along, leaping from roof to roof. At what they believed to be a safe distance, they climbed down the fire escape of a building and checked their surroundings. Shiva daringly dropped out of Rayden’s arms though she’d found it safe and warm to remain near him.

“Thank you, but I’m fine on my own now”, she said, staggering forward.

Rayden looked at her, puzzled by her stubbornness. Then Talim’s weak voice was heard, as she came to as well, her words resembling Shiva’s in a way.

“Let go of me! I don’t need your help!”, she said, and Feenix walked to her aid.

Rang opened his arms, confused, and Talim gave him an outright poisonous look. The Angels’ walking was slow, but they felt the danger was behind. Rayden walked with his hands crossed under his cloak, apparently in thought again. Rang whistled a tune, following the Angels a couple of meters behind them.

Then Rayden stopped, raising his head.

“It’s time for me to leave but fear not. I won’t be very far if you ever need me”, he said, bowing.

“That goes for me, too. Dan Li is planning something, and I need to know what it is. I’m leaving as well”, Rang added, running off to one direction.

19

When they looked back to the other, Rayden had disappeared into thin air. The Angels felt out of place on this unfamiliar street. Shiva started to feel dizzy again.

“First things first, we need to get to a hospital. We’re defenseless now.”, she said, leaning on Feenix.

They started off towards a health care center down the street, when all of a sudden three men ran out of an alleyway behind them, chasing the girls. Talim looked over her shoulder just in time to see them coming and cried out. The Angels ran as fast as they could in their pain, coming to a nearby demolition site and putting all of their effort into crossing the fence. They helped each other off the ground on the other side and kept running for the condemned building. Their pursuers crossed the fence with equal grace.

Feenix led her companions as they tried to avoid tripping on bricks and all sorts of junk lying around. They headed up, the floors went by one after another until there was a collapsed section in the staircase. They’d hit a dead end. Shiva backed Talim up again as the situation looked worse than before.

The men after them arrived soon enough and closed in on them threateningly. Shiva felt her way backwards with Talim and Feenix backed away after them, to shield them. It was in favor of the irony in the air, that their end might not be at the hands of Notham, Lee and Shao at all.

A strange creaking sound started behind the girls, coming to a bigger crunching sound as the creaking grew stronger. The floor beneath them collapsed, dropping them through the floors on four stories. It left them lying in and under the debris, that dropped with them to the third floor of the building. Notham and Lee looked down and Lee smiled viciously. When they left the opening, Shao took his turn near it, crouching to look down. He looked at Shiva, whose face, in her battered and dusty state, appeared to shine like those of an angel when a beam of light reached them from outside. Shao sighed, stood up and walked after the others.

20

PART 7 2005 AD October 18th 6.00 AM Russia, St. Petersburg, a demolition site that probably once had a name…

Slowly, the dust settled, some of it remaining in the air right above the floor. It was silent. There wasn’t the slightest sign of movement under the pile of rubble in which the Angels now lay. Moments passed, until a tiny bit of movement shook the pile. It was still again. With an awful noise, some boards came crashing down onto the pile. Then it was as quiet as the grave again.

“Well?” Dan Li’s tough look turned to the men who had just arrived and looked more or less ragged now.

“Have the angels gone to heaven?”

“Yes, master. Dante’s Angels have reached the end of their road. They will no longer be a problem to anyone”, Notham said, wiping his sword with a cloth he carried with him.

“And the pen?..” Dan Li’s eyebrows slightly stirred as he inspected Lee, Shao and Notham.

Would these three have succeeded in what others never had?.. They were dirty and covered with smaller wounds. The three agents had seemingly fought back fiercely. It was a pity that they were on the wrong side... None of the men answered to Li. Lee looked around himself looking fed up and Shao kept his eyes down. Only Notham’s hard eyes looked back into Dan Li’s.

“This means you haven’t retrieved it.” Dan Li turned his back on them, joining his hands behind his back.

“I understand that we were never meant to look for the pen, only take care of Dante’s Angels”, Lee finally spoke up, stretching his sore muscles.

“That is right, Lee-san”, Dan Li said, turning around again, looking at Shao-Lung, who was still skilfully evading his stare.

“Shao-san... Is something troubling you?” Li stepped closer to Shao, who then returned the suspecting, cruel gaze.

“Nothing, Dan Li-sama. I simply imagined, that, were they alive, your chances of finding the pen would have increased...”

“The Angels would have told nothing, whether they were tortured or not. They have been a very recent nuisance, but a nuisance, nonetheless. This is for the best”, Dan Li stated, looking away from his henchmen.

He didn’t have the pen, but as long as the Angels were dead, it meant more than enough success from this deal.

Shiva opened her eyes and instantly closed them again with a moan of pain. She felt like she’d been run over by a street roller at least. Her shoulder was on fire by the feels of it, and she had bruises all over. She’d had a nightmare about Rayden making her fly around, until all of a sudden, the floor had failed beneath 21

her. Shiva reopened her eyes when she heard a muffled wail came from under her.

“There’s... there’s a person in between. A person in between... Could you get up or something... Shiva!?”

She shook her head, there was something familiar about the voice.

“Talim! Oh, my god!”, Shiva cried, jumping up onto her feet and falling back down on more junk. Not good, not good. Her dream started to have too much of a real feel to it. She stood up holding onto something that distantly reminded her of a support beam, grinning with the pain. Right, not a dream.

“Talim... Are you alive? Say something... I haven’t got a bloody clue where you are...”, she spoke into the dark.

“Running out of air... there’s a lot of... of... junk.” Talim tried to tell about her whereabouts, if at least her voice would lead Shiva to her.

Finally Shiva traced the voice to a nearly imperceptible bit of movement in the pile of rubble. She started throwing junk aside, until a pale figure became visible. Quickly, or as quickly as she could, Shiva pulled Talim up from beneath the junk, receiving a flood of insults.

“Was pulling off my arms absolutely necessary?! I’ve been slapped and kicked around, my ribs are totalled, I’ve been dropped from a few floors’ height into a massive pile of garbage and you have to tear off my hands too”, she puffed through a cloud of dust that had followed her up.

“I’m glad to see you’re alright too.” Shiva grinned, coughing at the dust, then started to dig around for Feenix.

“Feenix! Say something. We don’t know where to look for you... Need a little hint here.” Shiva briefly giggled, then pressed her hand against her shoulder and grinned at Talim in pain.

“It’s a bit nasty to kick someone when they’re down.”

“Unless you’re the one kicking and one of the bad guys is down”, Talim added, then starting to dig. She stopped all of a sudden, listening.

“What?”, Shiva whispered, observing her.

“Whoooo...” There! I heard it gain.” Talim dug with more energy now, until Feenix’s pale face turned up at last.

“Bullseye”, she said to herself, moving junk away from around Feenix, finally freeing her as well. And there they stood, all messed up beyond recognition.

Feenix had a nasty cut in her cheek from Notham’s katana as he’d attempted to cut her head in two. Some of Talim’s hair had gathered around a bleeding gap, from falling down, on her other temple. The girls’ clothes were torn and thanks to the dust, their skins looked like they’d been swimming in ashes.

“We’d better get to a hospital as soon as possible... Any idea how we’ll get there from here?” Talim tried to get most of the dirt off her clothes, unable to hide the throbbing pain in her side any longer. Shiva walked up to her, carefully holding her by the waist, while Feenix walked over to Talim’s other side, wrapping an arm around her as well.

“Are you sure you’ll make it?”, Feenix asked, looking at Talim’s tired and scratched face, worried.

“Of couse I am... or did you think you could leave me here?”, she bitterly answered.

Shiva laughed. It was a relief to see that her friend was alright. And it further relieved her to know they’d all survived the ordeal. On a whim, she took Talim into both her arms, hugging her carefully, what with the broken ribs and all.

“Group hug!!”, Feenix chirped and joined in, embracing both Talim and Shiva at the same time.

“Ribs!!”, Talim screamed, taking comfort in the fact that they were all together. Shiva and Feenix let go of her, smiling a bit ashamed of themselves, then helped each other out of the condemned building and into the direction of a hospital.

22

2005 AD October 18th 6.30 AM Russia, St. Petersburg, Tzanicha hospital

Dead tired, the three agents sat in the hospital lobby, waiting impatiently to get some care. An accident of some sort had occurred in the morning, filling up the hospital with patients. The girls’ calm demeanour led to them falling into the less urgent patients’ category. A deep silence had come over them, but Feenix seemed particularly absent-minded, and that drew the others’ attention.

“Feenix... Is anything wrong?”, Shiva finally asked, leaning her head back into the wall, but fighting back her weariness.

“My sword...”, Feenix replied with a blank forward stare. The others then realized, that Feenix, who would hardly go to the bathroom without her katana, didn’t have it with her now.

“What happened to it?.. You didn’t leave it in the rubble, did you?”, Talim asked, hiding a yawn with the palm of her hand. They were tired, moody and hurt. Why couldn’t anyone take a look...

“Me, leave it somewhere?! How could you say so!”, Feenix hissed back, looking... almost insulted.

“Well, where is it then?”, Talim rephrased it, using a sharper tone of voice.

“Calm down. That’s not helping at all”, Shiva said to calm them down.

“What did happen to it?”, she continued calmly. She knew Feenix was nearly in love with her sword and was easily angered by anyone implying her negligence concerning the blade.

“Notham broke it...”, Feenix quietly spoke, her shoulders dropping a bit.

“Broke it?! How’s that possible...”, Talim asked.

“I don’t know.” Feenix shook her head.

“It simply broke when I parried one of Notham’s swings... And I no longer have it. I feel... naked without it.”

She finished with a depressed sigh. Feenix had truly bonded with her weapon.

“Cheer up a bit. As soon as we get out of here, we’ll go on a tour of weapons dealers get you a brand new sword.” Talim tried to cheer up her friend, perhaps in vain.

“So someone like Notham can come up to me and break that one, too”, Feenix mumbled in objection, still smiling in thanks to her. There was a point to Talim’s suggestion. Nothing beat looking around in sword shops.

“Excuse me. Are you Talim Latex?”, a woman in a nurse’s outfit asked Talim in Russian, and when Talim nodded, she motioned her to follow. Soon enough a pair of nurses came for Feenix and Shiva as well.

Slowly the lobby cleared up, patient after patient getting attention and family member after family member leaving. It eas early in the morning, so apart from the victims of the large accident, there weren’t all too many people in the reception area. After a while, there was no-one around but for a man with short, black hair wearing a reddish purple shirt, black leather pants and sunglasses. He’d kept his distance from the Angels, smoking a few cigarettes, but kept an eye on them. People had told him not to smoke inside the hospital, but he hadn’t listened. When the nurses had led the agents off, he’d begun to smile and put out his cigarette by shoving it into the base of a potted plant.

“Of course... I figured I wouldn’t get rid of you so easily”, the man said to himself quietly, throwing away his black wig.

He swept his white hair neatly and put the sunglasses into his pocket, then walked out of the hospital. He’d leave the Angels alone for the time being. It wasn’t Lee’s first time facing these three agents, but he was certain it wouldn’t be the last. The Mishima-Megumi would find use for the information he’d collected on the girls, but it wasn’t time to strike back yet.

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Epilogue 7.30 AM Russia, St. Petersburg, outside of Palace Stalin Casino

The morning sun reached the colorful casino walls, and the people walking the streets increased. A man in a black cloak walked slowly towards a trashcan set into the side of a streetlight. Now and then, a white string of hair flashed beneath the hood, as well as a pair of magical, blue eyes. The figure put a hand into the trash can, feeling what was inside. He slowly took out a box.

Inspecting the insides of the box, his cloak slightly revealed a long crimson coat beneath it. He had a manly grin on his face as he hid the box under his cloak.

“My Angels did very well. I think I’ll go see how they’re doing.”

The sunlight made his hair glow, as the man had a glimpse of the sunrise, then headed off into an alleyway like a ghost, whistling an old, gothic tune. St. Petersburg wouldn’t be the same after this night.

- THE END The Legend Will Never Die...

Stay tuned for the sequel of this story!!!

The Pen That Tells No Tales No chicken and grilled ribs were eaten during this story, but the noodles were great…

Translated by: Lari Fagerholm

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