Killer in white, Devil in Black

“So Marvelous is it not. Dino?” Irvin was in high spirit today as he marched confident above one of the high school walls. Dino didn´t share any of his enthusiasm.

“I don´t get it. We really don´t need such a rude girl around.”

“We need power and she holds it in spades.” Irvin rested his back on the steel fence from that place he could see far away into the oc ean turning his back on the school and into the plaza within were the execution platform stood. So peaceful.

“Can you really control her…? Not that I can´t handle her, if this whole thing goes to hell, but man. She ain´t gonna be no pawn.” Dino grabbed on to the fence and stretching his body forward and back like a child.

“I know what drives her most I can only bet on using her that way, every relationship is a matter of providing what the other party requires.” Irvin turned back to stare down to the schools plaza.

“Well, she isn’t that tough, she just got me on a tight spot back then. Lucky scaled bastard”

“No need to be jealous, you´re far superior to any pawn, you will never be like the rest of them after all you´re the queen upon the board.” Irvin spoke warmly without the least beat of shame.

“Jeez don´t call me that again.” Dino walked off hiding his face glowing with pride.

“I intent to give her some very harsh tasks, send her straight to an arduous hell, she can handle it, you on the other side I rather have you close by, I can´t really trust anyone else to protect me. Truly no such people exist. Dino and I our bond was not tainted not even by her hand back then.

“Got it. Protecting the king eh? Well you do are a wimp who can barely walk, the role does fit you I suppose.”

“In any case she has agreed to our reunion if so there is only more man I´m interested in recruiting.” Irvin walked down a nearby stairs to the backyards below.

“¿Huh? That´s news to me.” Dino rushed behind him.

The backyard tended to be empty, but not at Wednesday at 2 o clock. This is the usual time for aiming practice and all sort of students put their weapons and aim to the test, guns where common here, but so where bows and knives. There were even those with power that had no need for any kind of tool to fill the target with holes.

“Gyag… aim again you rats. Even blind I can tell you have no eyes.” An old woman scoffed before ending her sentence by spitting on a nearby vase.

An old woman sited on a chair of steel that rested upon a wheeled vehicle, a chair that resembled a tank of sorts, dressed in heavy artillery more than anything else. Indeed her sit was customized with multiple rail guns and long range cannon above her and on its center at the side of a golden vase a woman rested. She dressed peculiar as well, covered all in a black duster with a cowboy hat above her silver hair. Her old face was stone cold and her eyes where completely white. Yet she turned and looked straight at Irvin from so far away.

“Agg.” She grumbled and then spitted once more at the vase that was customized into the bottom of her chair.

“Angelica Storm.” Irvin said as quietly as he could. “Yep, the American storm of the southern USA, she is our marksmanship teacher.” Dino added. “She also does home economics, correct? ¡Such an old legend! Our teachers are truly the most frightening of all.”- Irvin was smiling.

“¿Why are we here again? I really don´t want to end up filled with holes.” Dino asked.

“As I said, we will recruit someone. One final pillar for our operation.”

“Really ¿who?”

“The boy farthest to the left.” Irvin pointed to the last boy on the loud backyard, a boy dressed in a black duster as well and with the same black cowboy hat the woman had.

He struggled in futility. aiming with anger at the far away mark; his old fashioned revolver running out of bullet as fast as he recharged them, none the less he did not stop.

But one bullet hit the mark and he could only curse the target.

“You mean the dude who can´t aim for shit, seriously. ¿You sure you are supposed to be the smart one here?”

“I believe so, yes. Its aim is not his true power. His senses are absolute, as you would expect from his grandmother.”

Grandma?

“Yes, I found out his name now. Danny Storm that is. An apple that has fallen, too far away from its tree.” Irvin felt tense again; when he read the boy´s background a strange sensation that had acted within him.

“Hey I know why you wanted Yong. That girl is strong as hell, but this dude is totally useless man.”

“There is no “useless” people in this world. There is value to be found in anyone, always.”

So I will give him worth, I believe so.

“Suit yourself. It’s not like you ever listen to me anyway.” Dino shrugged and walked away.

Dino was very upset; Irvin had spoken that line a cold and quite tone. A rare tone indeed, last time he talked this way… Things ended badly. Dino Couldn´t help but to worry. “It’s not just the eye; something else about you has changed.” Dio mumbled to himself as he left the backyard.

***

“Good day to you all, I Irvin Maxilliam welcomes you to our headquarters, for our first official reunion as a super villain’s gang.”

Irvin welcome them with all the excitement he could muster. Of course this was merely Dino´s house, but that will have to be enough for now. He had arranged for chalkboard a couple of seats, all prepare for the first of their many steps to come.

“There is some lemonade and I also baked some cookies, please take one .” Irvin said.

“When you told to me to join your gang, I thought you actually had one.” Miss Yong Lí went straight at him with sharp comment as there were only four of them.

She was more than causally seating on a chair with her feet on the table7

“All I´m seeing is you, dino-boy there, and whoever this guy is.”- She carelessly points to the last member on their main circle.

“The name is Danny storm.” Said Danny, who was leaning on the wall nearby with a permanently unsettled posture.

“Oh I remember you now you´re the dude who got served by the president right?”

“¡Why you!” The boy immediately moved his hand to the holster on his coat, but before Mr. Storm could get his other arm broken he was interrupted by Irvin’s words.

“Your first order is that you will not shoot anything without my consent.”

“¿What…but you say you needed…my gun?”

“I don´t need your gun, your aim is useless right now.”

“¡What, then why the hell did you say all that nonsense!”- He was furious as always, but that does make him rather predictable for Irvin.

“What I need of you are those eyes of yours, the eyes that can look more than any common person.”

“You…you just want me to look at things.”

“Yes, scouting is special, any plan I have is only as good as my ability to change it to the situation and that requires someone to keep track of the battlefield at any time.”

“I don’t get a thing you´re saying, but I’m still gonna get my revenge. ¿Right?” A genuine question, true enough a confrontation with the council will be unavoidable one day. Just not any time soon I hope.

“In due time, till then wait and hope Mr. Storm.”

“Jej fine, don´t care about the rest, just make sure I get another shot at her.” He bragged on and Irvin took that chance to go back to the topic at hand.

“Well then my comrades, this here is our upcoming objective.” He took out a long retractable pointing stick and tapped harshly at a picture of smug young man with a white fedora and slick black hair.

“Tony Beretta, I intent to make an alliance with him and to do so, we will set forth and attack him first.”

“Questions?” Miss Yong asked in a relaxed manner.

“Yes Ms. Lí, What do you wish to know?”

“Are you and idiot? Because that sure is the stupidest thing I´ve hear in a while.”

“That’s it, I´m stopping that thought right there.” Dino jumped from his seat, he had been rather quiet there till now, doing his very best to hold back till now but as far as he was concerned only he could call Irvin an idiot.

“Spit all you want Dino boy, I need me some proof you boys aren´t just bragging, like mere school boys way over their heads.” -She mocked him further; she was holding a grudge for sure.

In an instant Dino was sitting upon the table in front of her with his axe drawn, but a loud sound stopped him as Irvin hit the chalkboard with force.

“Dino, please don´t axe our only sofa.” Irvin said as severely as he could.

“¡She isn’t gonna follow the plan and we´re gonna get screwed!”

“Dino, please sit down, that is not how we are, that is not how we treat our comrades.” Irvin kept in vain.

“But she doesn’t respect us, she even call us a bunch of school boys.”

“Dino, we are school boys.” Irvin added.

“Well, yeah, but…¡Whatever!” Disappointedly he collapsed in his chair. Yong merely reached for some of my cookies, Danny on his side merely laughed at the whole scene.

“I should be more specific, there is no way to make an appointment with him. We have no money to offer or anything he may want from us, at least that he knows of; so I need to talk to him by force and you all will be the ones to make it happen.”

“Sounds nice, I have no clue who this Beretta fellow is, but I’m in.” Said Danny.

“¿If you have nothing to offer how are you going to convince him?” Yong asked again, without any sarcasm, just concern.”

“I will merely talk to him till we come to terms.” Her expression suddenly darkened at his answer.

“Right, that´s totally gonna work, you really call that a plan?”

“It worked just fine with you Miss Lí.” He answered back in a passive tone, but she still gor angry from the comment.

“Sure, but she almost killed you off at least twice.” Dino groaned at the comment as well.

“In any event we will move this Saturday as Tony Beretta tends to go off on a date with his girlfriend, to their favorite restaurant on the pear, he brings very little escort that day and only for that day. We will intercept them both before they meet.”

Irvin tapped steel pointer upon another picture, a blond woman with a black hightail on her hair and a rather pissed off expression.

“The girlfriend herself, it’s all up to you Miss Yong. Keep her away from us.” As Irvin pointed now at Yong, she crossed her arms and stayed quiet in thought.

“¿Joahn of the Black Cross, you really gonna send me off to beat her? She is their biggest bastard, no?”

“¿Is it too much to ask of you miss Li?” Irvin said.

“Suits me just fine, but I can only promise to keep her away for a while and if you die on your own I’m out.”

“That will do just fine for us too, Dino you´re to keep his escort at a distance; they are his two best executives by the way.” I pointed at the last two pictures a Caucasian woman with blondish hair and crystal clear sharp blue eyes at the side of a black man of amber eyes that wore breathing mask over his mouth, the both wore white tailored suits.

“Ice cold Cindy and Fire Wrath Thompson, again, you only have to keep them at a distance for a while as well Dino.”

“These dudes sure got some weird nicknames.” Dino said

“Says the Dinosaur boy, did you invent that nickname yourself?” Yong interrupted him.

“…No that´s my real name….”- Dino said with bitterness.

“I´m very sorry.” She said with genuine pity.

As expected Dino just crossed his arms and ignored her…she keps eating my cookies. I hope she likes them…So this is how it feels to mingle with other people, how unpredictable…and kind of tiring.

“Sorry, but where do I come in. ¿Who I´m gonna trash, eh?” Danny was so concerned with the answer he was raising his hand high above. I was just about to get to that, he truly is lacking in patience. This is troublesome and has to be fixed.

“I have a proper place for you to look at all us from high above, so be patient and provide support through the communication channel. Be patient, Billy Boy.”

“I guess till my arm heals, fine I assure my eyes are finer than a hawk´s. So you lot can rest while I´m watching ya all.”

“Well then, it’s all settle, everything truly begins, here and now.” Irvin said as he retracted the pointer.

Our very first step, one were we will either end up death or one step forward on to our way. Yes every single step from here on will be like this, but we are to persevere, not for one common goal, not even for ideals or riches. We will persevere, because we cannot live on, otherwise. Indeed that is the one quality everyone among us must absolutely have, because that´s how I am.

Desperate and hungry, desperate indeed.

“And so, we the Maxillian Party declare our war.”

***

“Evening Granny, ¿How is business rolling?”
“Atrocious and it’s all thanks to you bastards.”

And old woman welcomed a young man into her store, a very elegant flower shop with countless colorful bouquets. A pleasant store with peaceful music and plenty of colorful animal adornments hanging from the walls. But the woman welcomed her customer with an unbearable anger in her eyes and spit on her voice.

Her customer was a young handsome man dressed in a white suit as pure as snow. A man that not one person would not recognize within this neighborhood.

“Tony Beretta…” The woman did nor apart gaze from the boy, her every word was stretched in a bitter whisper.

“As always, I came for something pretty for my Bella.” The young boy clapped as he excitedly walked to the nearby sunflowers stand.

“¿How can you still come here? ¿ After what you did to my son? ¿How?” The woman was shaking, but she refuses to stare down at her trembling hands.

“Oh sorry for that, I didn´t even knew the fellow was related to you granny, but what is done is done.” He skipped his way to some beautiful roses at the corner of his sight, his warm smile, bright as ever.

“My son and everyone else, you people really dry us out.”

“It can´t be helped I needed this whole area, good revenue opportunities here you see? Either way as long as you keep paying for our protection, no silly villains are gonna make a mess here. Such was the deal you’re not so little boy made and he should have been honest and pay up. Honesty is what matters most among human, see?” he picked a beautiful bouquet of blue roses.

“Except for me. ¿Why me you bastard? ¿Why I´m I the only you are not extorting here?”

The man in white took a smell a bouquet of flowers, he quite appreciated it.

“Because there are no roses this fine anywhere else in this rotten island and they are worth every penny I say, always.

“You don´t deserve any of them.”

“True, but they are for a fine lady rather than dirty old me.” With a spin the young boy headed to the counter, meeting the old woman’s furious gaze with a warm smile of his own, a careless youthful smile.

“So then Granny, I assume is the same price as always.”

The woman couldn´t stop trembling. It was an unbearable anger, it was an unbearable sadness, but the smirked because he knew, it was always the same, always.

“$500 goddamn dollars for a bastard like you and not a penny less.”- Tony Beretta took off his wallet with a satisfied smile.

“Worth every penny, seeya next month then, Granny let’s keep on doing our best to survive. That what being human means” And so the man paid the ridiculous fee and walked out with flowers in hand.

Tony Beretta was walking along the commercial district as if dancing, and not one person stood on his path in fact everyone remained behind their stores and windows trying their best to not be seen by the man who now owns the very street.

The man who was singing to himself a cheerful tune, it was good day. Every month in this very day, it was a careless day for him. A day free of worries, a day he valued more than money itself. So he was absolutely giddy on this sunny day of spring.

Two people walked from the sides of the street and began to follow his lead.

“And there you go, wasting a ton of money as always, it’s still on the budget, but really?” A blond Caucasian woman with a rather petite appearance walked at right behind him dressed in an elegant white suit, same as his. She was writing fast and precisely on her agenda. Her name was Cindy an ice cold woman.

“¿Huh, the old bat even hates you? If you ask me she just pretending to complain to make ya paid that stupid price over and over, and you buy it all the same, foolish.” A tall man black man with a mask covering half of his face, a dusty black hat and a scarf followed him as well, in an elegant white suit, same as his. His name was fire wrath Thompson, a man as furious as a burning pyre.

“Hehe, either way his poor son needs the green, as does she. Don´t care is she is selling her pride to survive or her kindness, a deal is a deal all the same. ¿Are they not beautiful, my friends?” Tony took another sniff at the blue roses that he held with pride.

“They are wonderful sir….just not for our pockets.” Cindy said.

“¿Huh, does Joahn even like that nonsense? ¿Doesn´t she just hate everything?”

Thompson said with clear irritation in his gruff voice.

It was clear enough that neither of them were fearful of their boss who just kept on smiling with not one care. Because today he was just another boy going up to meet girl he loved. Just this one day, he was no godfather. But as the tree of them walked, the woman turned back on a whim, as she felt someone’s eyes upon them.

“¡Watch out!” Cindy grabbed Tony and dragged him out of the way, Johnson knew in an instant what was to come.

Johnson stared back at something rushing towards them, a man, no a monster, with green thick skin and a formidable horn upon his head. The man in white held his ground, with no avail, as the monster crashed against him and threw him like a mere ragdoll from a fierce headbutt.

“Sir, Hurry up to the hideout.” The woman shouted, while Tony remained fixed staring at they´re enemy’s face.

It was a beast´s face, from an extinct creature. His body was bulking an uneven with a very thick hunchback; his face was that of a triceratops and his clawed hand held up a red guitar in the shape of an axe. There was a smile on his face with its white inhuman teeth.

“Super ! Dino said with a thicker voice than his own.

“Don´t stop running, boss.” The woman shouted again and in a sudden jump like a scared cat, Tony Beretta finally ran off.

Dino swung his axe against the woman, but Cindy opened both of her palms in front of her and a terrifying cold was unleashed. A wall of ice stopped the axe with all of its might. Dino looked straight into her blue eyes that where now glowing in an unnatural light. His instincts screamed at him to jump back and so he did.

The cold winds followed him, as the wall of ice spread through the floor in countless stakes of ice along with steam, ice so cold it burned. But Dino knew he only had to keep them both aiming at him, no need to win, just survive, he kept repeating to himself, as he looked at the woman who´s hands where now covered in a white cold mist. Yes, powers like that weren´t Dino´s forte.

“Whoever you are, you made an unfixable mistake.” She spoke with an eerie calmness; the floor around her now covered in the ice and the white steam it released. Still it was all in accordance to the plan. Something fell between the two of them and with a sizzling sound, a curtain of smoke began to fill the street, making them both cover their faces. Dozens of smoke grenades were thrown around at the accorded time and Dino knew that Irvin was on the move as well.

“The hell.” Tony looked in confusion at the bombardment; the one thing on his mind was a simple question. ¿Why the smoke? ¿Why not some real bombs? He did not linger in that thought as he heard the call of a hawk. A steel hawk, a mechanical contraption in the guise of a beast, descended upon him from high above... He saw no other choice, but to disappear within a nearby alley. He ran and ran, evading the trashcans while holding his hat in place; the bird followed him through the small alley, releasing one last smoke bomb to erase they´re trace behind them.

“Hehehe, don´t lose track of me now.” The ice woman heard a voice mocking her, as she tried to find any signs of her boss.

Dino laughed as he rushed from within the smoke scream, his shape changing, twisting from that of a heavy forgotten beast and into a fast and cruel predator. He could sniff her out, even within the tick curtain of smoke and as befitting of his form; he appeared behind her to strike with his axe.

A wall of ice rose from her back stretching towards him and his axe was grabbed frozen within it, he barely managed to let go, in time, as his claws endured a terrible frostbite.

“You made a mistake, which needs correcting.” The woman spoke calmly as a stake made of unbelievable cold ice was shot like an arrow from within her palm. Dino dodged below it and began to jump in small hoops in retreat to gain distance.

She kept shooting the ice towards him with little breathing time in between. He evade each of them with ease, Dino was used to far worse than this, but he could still feel the coldness that surrounded each attack, for a cold blooded creature like him, those assure a certain death.

“Five minutes, that´s the best I can give ya, man.” Dino muttered to himself.

But he felt another sudden change in the atmosphere, an intense suffocating heat coming straight from his right side. Dino jumped on top a parked car and out of the streets as an infernal spread of flames scorched the very ground he had just stood on.

Dino flipped in the air at the other side of the car and looked between the dissipating smokes, the man he had send flying to his end before, had walked back in front of his sight. There was blood all over his shoulder. But his posture remained firm.

“You really thought that was gonna end me. Who´s the idiot,Cindy?” The man in white had its hands bursting in flames; it was a fire that burned as if wishing to spread wildly beyond his owner´s control.

“Dallas Dinosaurus a fairly unimpressive junior student, I have no clue why he´s here at all. An interrogation could be convenient:” The woman said.

“¡Nah, let´s just roast him!”- His fire flared as if answering his anger and a vortex of dancing flames spread towards the car and Dino who hid behind it. The fiery storm covered everything in its flames causing the car to explode, releasing a far thicker black smoke from its ruins. Dino ran below the smoke, far to the side of Johnson and aimed to reach his side with his sharpest claw. As he got close to open the man´s stomach long sharpened ice came from them ground. Dino changed course, but Thompson release a flare straight ahead blocking his escape route.

Dino crossed the fire with his fearful speed docking below it as he ran, but his skin was scorched and he had to stop from the sudden sharp pain. As any pack of predators would do the man and the woman stood at opposite side of each other with Dino at the middle.

“You have the both of us all for yourself; you must really like it rough.” Johnson flames roared upon his palms.

“Quit with the innuendos brother, this matter must s be settle fast so we can find a boss in the most efficient manner.” The woman spoke firmly without any trace of fear in her tone, a rather careless manner of speech in a battle to the death and Johnson simple nodded.

“Come on Don´t be like that. Relax a little. ¿When was the last time we hunted together Cindy? ¿Isn´t it rather nostalgic? Hahaha.” Johnson laughed all by himself.

“No playing around we are not children anymore. - Dino could fell both of their intents by the scorching heat upon his back and the creeping cold crawling towards him.

“¡Three minutes pal that all you´re gonna get!” Dino screamed in anger towards a man who wasn´t even there, to that unbelievable selfish friend.

In an utter display of rage and the instinct to survive Dino rushed once more towards the burning inferno.

“Fool.” The man in white said, displaying an excited smile as flames were send forwards from his sleeves.

                                                            ***

“Drat”

The great young godfather of the Beretta family had just fallen to the ground; the blue roses he had held on to were now spread through dirty alley that surrounded him as he twisted his right eye slightly making the right side of his face rather ugly in that moment.

“¡500 buck wasted on the ground! ¡You got some nerve!” Looking at a pair of white shoes, Tony asked the person who had awaited him in that lonely alley.

“Hello Mr.Beretta it’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance. “

Irvin stood there with the giant hawk of steel right behind him, the bird in question began to compress into the shape of a briefcase and fell to rest upon his side. Calmly the young boys grabbed it and then give a slight bow towards the mobster.

“My name is Irvin Maximillian and I hope you would be willing to give me a few moments of your busy time.”

“Well time is money and you just took plenty of both from me.” Tony began to dust off his suit without showing the strange boy with the sunglasses any trace of fear. “Tsk, so speak up.” He said with a scowl.

“¿You are that boy who beat up the prince, right? The weird new kid, at the very least you are no cheap amateur.”

“I’m very happy you have heard of me.”

“So what´s this? You coming for my head next? Spare me the nonsense.” He dismissed him with a gesture of his hand, his right eye wide open while his left one squinted, his expression one of utter disgust.

“No, I have come to offer you a proposition, a business proposition.”

“If you wanted an appointed you should have pestered my secretary for it, if she didn´t freeze you on the spot you might have had a chance, but now it’s gonna be hard to lower my pressure down for any talking.” Tony cleaned off his ear with a finger looking exceptionally bored, Irvin remained unmoving with no expression on his pale face.

“That wouldn´t do. This is a matter of complete discretion, for your ears only. Believe me it’s all for your own sake Mr. Beretta.”

“Spit it out then.” Tony was still looking at the floor and in a very bitter manner he stepped upon of a blue rose, crushing it and expression grew more and more angry.

Irvin didn’t know that he had already committed a terrible mistake.

“What I came to request it’s for you to accept our aid in a matter that will benefit us both and in exchange I will offer our help into the most important of matter of yours.”

“That sounds pretty nice for me and incredible stupid for you, so I don´t buy it. Besides I don´t need some kid with fancy toys, no offense, but this is an adult’s only club.”

“¿Did you witness the machine at my back, this marvelous bird of steel?” Irvin raised the briefcase in Tony´s direction.

“Yeah the thing that tried to kill me. So what?”

“He merely guided you here, but I digress. This creature is a fully functional nest of Nano machines very similar to the ones a certain man uses. They share the very same operating system employed in various installations of the allies of justice. Even in…let´s just say the diamond vault.” As Irvin spoke Tony Beretta seemed to become absolutely furious, but just before he spoke. He began to laugh instead, either way Irvin´s words had reached him just as he had expected.

“¡Hahaha I get it ; you gonna regret to have made her your acquaintance pal, she is for sure spilling much about you too.”- So he could tell already, well she was a very well know girl around here. Still this was not the reaction I expected. Tony kept laughing; Event thought I know now his reason for living it didn’t faze him at all. Irvin pondered.

“I wouldn´t worry, I never told that woman anything of importance.” Irvin said fixing his tie slightly.

“Neither Did I, but just with little pointless questions that girl is sure to know, everything about you, to the very core of your soul” It matters not right now in any case.

“If you cooperate with me I’m willing to risk my life and those of my followers, for the sake of committing the greatest heist in history. Let me share your grand dream.”

Yes, things will fall into place all thanks to his little machines, this is lucky, almost a sort of faith. The heist this man is so desperate to commit.

“¡If what you say is real this is a godsend for me, really!” Tony opened both of his arms excitedly, as he keeps on laughing.

“So we have a deal then, we can arrange another meeting for the small details….” Irvin lowered his shoulders in a short respite.

“Just one problem little man.” Tony stepped forward with his cracked smiling face.

“Yes what would that be?” Below his sunglasses, Irvin´s eyes finally saw it.

Irvin raised his briefcase of steel stopping the furious blow of a metallic crow bar. The man in white had unsheathed his weapon from within his coat; his right eye almost seemed about to pop out from pure anger as he wielded a simple rusty crowbar.

“¡I just don´t like ya!” Tony said almost spitting from his mouth.

Irvin was thrown to the floor by the sheer force of his strike. The man in white sneered as he walked in circles in front of him with the metal crowbar over his shoulder. He is not taking me seriously, he already knows I can´t afford to kill him.

“Besides you guys made the worst mistake of all, by screwing up our date.” Tony stroked the metal briefcase with his crowbar with utter glee. His was not the face of someone who feared for his life.

“That´s right, it doesn´t matter how many people you have!” The briefcase opened and rearranged itself and took on the shape of claws over both of Irvin´s arms; clumsily he deflected his attack and managed to crawl away from him.

“Nice toy, you´re probably speaking the truth about everything.” Tony turned his back to Irvin and shrugged his shoulders.

“She doesn´t know I´m safe and sound. That’s gonna piss her off.” Tony said to no one in particular as he slammed the crowbar on his open palm.

“A good reason for the two us to come to terms” It’s already useless, this man isn´t taking me seriously at all. I must think ¿What sort of words do I need? Regardless I cannot show my eye to this man. So I must think.

“That woman won´t let me die, at least till my promise to her is fulfilled.” Her rushed again and tried to hit Irvin´s head off as he fell back evading it and crashing on the wall upon the alley.

“I need you to stop. There is nothing to be gained for either of us in a fight here.” Irvin blocked every strike with the claws of iron; from the very beginning this was not a fight that would reward him anything so he could only defend.

“¡I told ya, I just don´t like ya!”

Carrying a great momentum Tony managed to hit Irvin on his left side with an intense blow accompanying a mad laugh, Irvin crashed on the ground bleding from his head, as Tony lead forward his expression relaxed once more finally looking again like the handsome young man he was.

“You´re all dead now, but at least you aren´t gonna have to meet my Bella. Lucky you.”

Tony spoke in a gentle manner as he raised his crowbar above his head, Irvin couldn´t get up anymore his body felt too weak; Tony had such a content smile, honest and youthful; And so with a single laugh Tony Beretta swung down to smash his head.

***

“Well, he´s nowhere to be seen.”

On a nearby café a woman awaited.

“He´s never late, not for croissants, not ever.”

The woman looked quite on guard, she didn´t give the impression of a girl on a date if anything she looked like local security wearing a black suit with a neck and a pair of leather gloves. People evaded looking at her as much as possible, even the few customers at the café seemed to have evacuated the area, the woman didn´t particularly care, she preferred silence after all.

“Well.” The woman sighed arranging her black highlight hair out of eye as she looked above her to the skies with a clear resignation.

“Show yourself already or I´m leaving.” The woman moved with certain laziness as she tilted her head backwards her blond hair falling down onto the chair as she looked at the skies above.

“I´m very sorry about this…”- Behind her a short woman cracked her knuckles, she stared at the woman in black, her face showing no anger whatsoever as she has simply resigned herself to this fight. The why of her being here still assaulted her thoughts, but Yong Lí was willing to follow the plan.

“Tell me something shorty. ¿Is my boyfriend still alive?” The woman in black opened up her suit jacket and released the firmness of her white tie.

“He is fine, so if you do not move from here, nothing terrible is going to happen to either of you.”

“Hahaha, no that would be way to lame. ¿You´re the dragon´s daughter right? I hope you´re more than just a family name, I really do, I don´t get to fight often this days.” Joahn stood up from her chair an walked away from the restaurant and Yong followed as well in a complete silence.

Joahn began to stretch her black gloves, the strange leather gloves didn´t seem like part of her formal attire, Yong could tell they were made to allow a safer punching for the user, they were modest boxing gloves.

“I´m a bit rusty, so let me warm up a little.” She began to jump short hops in the same place, shook both hands and then began to throw one punch after another. It was a boxer´s stance.

Yong took her stance and awaited, all she needed to do is to hold her here till the signal was shown. Finally Jeanne settled down with both of her fists closed near her head.

“¡Don´t bore me now!” She rushed forward, breaking the distance between them in a second, Yong saw a slight smile appear on the strict looking woman and the next she saw was a fist. A solid black fist. She deflected it with her right open palm and countered it back with a fist of her own. Jeanne´s head disappeared below her attack and another of her black fist head up straight from below her.

“Shit”

Yong clenched her teeth as her whole balance disappeared, the strike was strong enough to make her body slump backwards as her consciousness flicked, it was not a common human fist, fortunately she was no common human either. The tattoos upon her right arm began to glow and her eyes opened wide.

Yong stood her ground at the very brink of collapse; her arms grew as her skin became encroached with grey scales; and she threw another blow with her now scaled fist. Making the woman in black hoop backwards, just as fast as she had closed in, she was now safely away. Her stance not dropping for one second, the traces of a smile now visible upon her lips glossed with red lipstick.

“¿It wasn´t a knockout? Ohh, finally a decent gig.” Joahn began to hoop again, over and over in the same spot, almost as if taunting her.

Yong compose her chin, she had barely managed to harden it before the blow hit and even so the punch almost took her down. Yong had transformed in an instant, although she hated to do so, fear forced her hand. Her eyes glowed red as did the cursed tattoo upon her right. She could not fight as a human anymore.

“Ohh, there it is. The killing instinct you were missing. Now I can finally see the family resemblance. Too bad you didn´t grew any taller.” Yong´s arms and shoulder grew wider, but her body remained mostly human.

“This is my last warning, stay still.” It was a bluff from Yong and the woman in black groaned in disappointment at it.

“The good girl act is seriously lame. ¿I´m gonna have to ease you into it won´t I?”

For the first time Joahn broke her stance, looking relaxed in far too careless way. She grinned as let her blond hair cover her face and stretched her arms wide, leaving herself open for any strike, but something emerged from her palms, a black an impenetrable smoke as dense as mist, that creepy black fog didn´t stop spreading from her in every direction, the darkness reached her gloves and condescended around both of her fists surrounding her arm like a whirlwind of wind spinning only around her fingertips, winds of a solid black form.

“¿What?” Even her eyes stained red couldn´t grasp the shape of her enemy any more, those shadows had hidden her shape.

Darkness danced, enshrouding all around the woman in black as if she herself became a shadow. It twisted; it burned, blurring everything around her. Young took her stance again as she stepped back; now far too late as the black mist spread forward washing over her and robbing her of all sight.

Yong was hit roughly on her face, even with her thick skin all of her mouth ached terrible, she swing her claws after seeing her enemies face for a second, but her strikes reached no one. Yong spitted as she felt a piercing blow to her stomach, she bared the pain and hit back with both hand to the place she should have been at. She saw Joahn as she vanished completely upon the shadows with a smile on her lips.

“Too slow, you became too slow.” The woman in shadows mocked her.

As she felt countless blows hit her fortified body, with a rapid, recklessness, yet her eyes could only grasp a faint trace of her enemy, as each devastating blow was delivered. Yong raised her arms to block any incoming strikes towards her head.

“¿You aren´t comfortable in that body, right?” Her skin ripped apart with every blow and then regenerated, but the pain remained.

Another blow stroke her arms and the scales at the center break, the muscle below it began to bleed and Yong´s thought where swallowed by the piercing pain.

“Your balance is all out of place, and your movements got way stiffer. You just made yourself weaker, Haha!” The woman spoke with excitement from within the darkness.

“Clumsy, clumsy girl.” Joahn mocked her, the source of her voice simply lost within the surrouding darkness.

In desperation Yong lowered her arms and send a power blow towards the darkness ahead, her arm reached no one and then she saw it. A hand of solid black, reaching from her head and behind it. The shadow of a woman, a smile upon her red lips, but her shape had changed; she could see it, a horn rising from the right side of her head. She felt it again a fear that made her forget all she could do, all she could be.

¿What is she?

The hand within darkness reached out, and took her vision away.

***

“¿Hehe, seriously?” Tony Beretta was genuinely speechless.

“As I said… I really need you to listen to me…” Irvin spoke, as best as he could while the other man´s foot was on top of his throat.

“Still, you are worse than I thought. You aren’t just a criminal, little man, a real bonnafide villain is what you are.” The man made wretched little smile and lifted up his crowbar to point it at Irvin´s chin again.

“As I said, coming to terms here is worth everything for both of us...”

Irvin lay on the ground with his briefcase away from his hand, he was in terrible shape, but he still had managed to scary Tony out of killing him, below Irvin´s lab coat there were multiple packages of C4 explosives and a detonator hiding on his left hand.

“You’re a bloody terrorist or something. Well at least I know this deals means a lot to you stupid kid. You shouldn´t show your card so close to your heart, makes it obvious I have the upper hand in our little chat.”

“Unless you have my technology, the vault you wish to reach will never open.”

“That´s the problem see, you know exactly what I want, more or less. But little man, what the bloody hell is making you do this; if a man is willing to end his life, well he has to want to gain something real badly in turn. It´s hard to do business with such a man, they will sacrifice you just as easily as they would sacrifice themselves.”

“I want to destroy the strongest man in this school…”

“HahaHaha, really, Adachi Kojiro of the Scorching sun, then.”

“I want you to help me destroy him, and in exchange make us associates of your family.”- The man in white, his expression relaxed letting his handsome smile be shown again.

“Now you are speaking my language, I´ll admit there is plenty of business to be had in that side of the island if you could clean those yakuza out from there.

“In exchange I wish only to control the area in your place; of course the biggest cut will be all yours; 80% that is my offer.” Suddenly Tony´s foot stepped roughly on top of Irvin’s face forcing him to see only the ground at his side again.

“¡See that is why I don´t like ya! You don´t value money at all.” Tony kicked his face once more making him groan and then stomped his chest as he leaned forward above while putting him all of his weight against his chest.

“¡You don´t fear it! ¿You don´t know how scary money can really be?” Tony again was screaming in anger as his right eyes opened wide, making his face look utterly ugly.

“¡This whole damn school is full of morons like you, idiots that think they can destroy the world with their own fists; this so called villains they´re all so childish!” He stomped on his chest cavity over and over, making Irvin groan in pain.

What is he even saying, this is bad…I was not prepared for this. Irvin felt as if he would pass out from the pain, but refused to let go of the detonator.

“¡You want to destroy this world, want to conquer it, or just want to get your things and screw whoever ya´ feel like it, just get rich then that’s the trick. Use the weapon that the world has decided matter to really win. ¡Money you fool that which dictates all that we are worth!”

“…Agg.-“Irvin spitted blood as he kept trying to bare the pain, the man kept kicking completely absorbed in his own words.

“It´s the violence that cannot be seen that really rules this world. This is just a pleasantry”- With one last kick he walked away from Irvin as he was slammed against the wall.

“We will not be equal and I will never trust you, but I accept your proposal. Just be ready because I´m gonna exploit you for all you´re worth little man. “Deal?” He smirked carrying the bloodied crowbar upon his hands.

“Deal.” Irvin spoke without hesitation with a clear resolute voice that made Tony´s big grin banished. He looked back over his shoulder to see the small, thin, wounded man taking out a small red gun from his pocked.

“¿Really now? I´m no good dealing with mad men. Men who don´t seek money, men who don´t get the laws of our jungle. They are always so hard to read.” There was no fear in the mobster´s eyes just a relaxed smile as he walked completely sure that Irvin could never really kill him there.

“We have come to terms.” Irvin raised the gun and shoot a red flare towards the skies, never taking his sight from the man in white.

“¿A retreat signal? Sorry, but by now, you´re all alone for sure, little man. None of your friends would still be alive.”