100.jpg)
Yuri arrived in Metro City and was in awe. This was nothing like her village back in Xian. The city was a bright and shining beacon of light and hope. Yuri was traveling in “disguise” as a gymnast with her touring “group”. They were to participate as a team in the Metro City Pro-Am Gymnastics exhibition. The four “gymnasts” were specially selected as a special task force to track the Red Talon’s activities in Metro City. Word had gotten back to Master Quai that the Talon was trying to establish a foothold in the Western Hemisphere. This was a bold move considering that the Talon and Lotus had existed for centuries in the shadows in mainland China. There were rumors that the Talon already had a faction in Hong Kong and Japan. It appeared that they were slowly building their masses and sending them West.
The four girls selected ranged in age from 19 to 22 but had years for fighting experience behind them. This was not readily apparent though by looking at their diminutive frames. The tallest girl was 5’3” and weighed 97 pounds. They all had raven hair and athletically toned bodies. They did not behave like girls their age. They carried a stern matter-of-fact look about them. They were all business. As they arrived at the downtown Metro City Hilton, people turned and stared at the pint sized wonders. There were whispers in the room, but the athletes just tuned them out and proceeded as normal. Each girl had her own special talent and ability and was a formidable force on her own, but together, they were nigh unstoppable. Little did the onlookers know that they had just witnessed China’s version of the Justice League.
Yuri was the unquestioned leader of this “team” as she had the most combat experience and was the eldest warrior at 22. Her name was synonymous with brutality and ruthless cunning. She had bested opponents three times her size with a devastating combination of speed and well timed teleport attacks. The other warriors were no slouches. Yukio was an expert in ranged attacks. She carried shurikens and hurled them with deadly accuracy. She had earned the name of Scorpion for her ability to attack at distances. Xiang was a skillful tactician that had the uncanny ability to blend into her surrounding and use the environment around her as a weapon. She was often referred to as the Chameleon. The last member of the team was also the youngest. Ming was headstrong and often rushed head long into a battle without a thought of a plan. Many thought that she was just as fast as Yuri, if not faster; but she had yet to harness her ability. But she earned her right to be on the team by teaming up Yuri to best a Red Talon Amazon in a savage battle that allegedly lasted for 16 hours. She earned the nickname of Lil Toad.
The girls checked into their suite and promptly reported back to Master Quai that they had arrived and managed to set up surveillance on the surrounding area. He acknowledged the report and outlined the objectives of their mission. After the briefing, Yuri instructed the girls to change into their costumes and get ready for practice. A short time later the girls arrived in the adjoining arena draped in red floor length robes. Usually, their practices were closed to the public and media, but this time since it was an exhibition, the practice was opened to fans and media alike. The meticulously shed there robes revealing their gymnastic attire, which consisted of a simple red leotard. This was in stark contrast to their combat attire, which was color coded and included tights and a sash. The girls went through their practice effortlessly and after approximately 1 hour the girls took a break for the press conference. They answered most questions in English and answered the rest through an interpreter.
There were several members in attendance worth noting. Among them was Donna Tan aka the Emerald Dragon and Tony Takashi better known as the Shinobi Kid. Donna Tan was in the area on a brief respite while her protégé Young Tiger also known as Andrea Ashford was attending a symposium American Studies. The Keynote speaker was none other than Paula Revere. Tony’s sister was away on “family business” in Osaka. Unbeknown to either of them was a single figure in the background. He was a gaunt man whose appearance was obscured by a floor length black leather trench coat. His hands were sheathed in black leather gloves and his face was covered by a leather fedora. You would think a figure would stand out like a peacock dressed in all black, but oddly enough his appearance went unnoticed by all except Yuri. It was almost as if he was cloaked and was moving about at different frequency from the others in the room. Yuri’s eyes locked onto the mysterious figure and she was so intent on drawing a bead on him that she failed to notice the reporters talking to her. Yukio gave her a quick nudge, which brought her back into real time. The rest of the practice/press conference went on without incident but Yuri was on full alert.
Several hours had past and Donna Tan was back in her loft in the west end of Metro City. She had managed to make a decent living as Martial Arts instructor and court reporter with the Metro City courthouse. Years of practice had turned her body into a perfect weapon. Donna, like Tony was of mixed decent. Her father was a professor from Greece and her mother was an archaeologist from Korea. This would explain her striking features. Donna was 5’9” and a very tight 127 pounds. She had taken up martial arts in an attempt to gain control over her awkward frame. She was always the tallest kid in the class and was extremely self-conscious about it. Martial Arts gave her the confidence to deal with her height. She would often follow her mother around the world on his various expeditions. This would serve as a strong foundation for her superior eye for detail as well as sharpen her detective skills.
When Donna was 19, she was spending the summer with her mother in Romania at an excavation site looking for remains of the Prince Vlad Dragul. One night, scavengers broke into the camp and tried to make off with some priceless artifacts. Donna’s mother tried to stop them and was killed as the looters escaped. Donna was devastated and closed herself off from the outside world. All she would do was eat, sleep and train. Finally, Donna decided to rededicate herself to making a difference. After graduating college with a BA in Criminology, Donna decided to open a dojo. The early days were rough as she had a hard time finding enough students to stay afloat. She would eventually get a job with the Metro City court system and put her degree to good use and supplement her dojo.
Donna trained to the point where she felt she could make a real difference—out in the street. She had always wanted to don a secret identity and fight for good like her hero Paula Revere. But she thought her costume was a little too loud for her taste. One day, while watching an old Green Hornet re-run the idea hit her. She saw Kato and decided to blend his martial arts with the Hornet’s detective skills. Thus, the Emerald Dragon was born. Her costume consisted of a dark green leotard (low cut and reveals a dragon tattoo above her left breast), a bright green kung-fu sash, a green mask that covers the top half of her head, and green spandex tights.
Over the years, Donna would make a name for herself defeating the likes of April Fool, The Ice Princess as well as several members of the Pantyhose Gang. She worked side by side with Nightswan and Blackbird, sort of like birds in a feather for a couple of capers. One day she caught a young runaway breaking into her dojo and tried to make off with Donna prized samurai sword. Rather than turn the girl over to the authorities, Donna made a pact with the young teen. If she promised to study martial arts with her and stay out of trouble, Donna would provide her with food and lodging. Over the months, the teen studied and trained with the green avenger until her skills were high enough to become her trusty sidekick. Yes, that runaway teen was none of than the Young Tiger.
Donna had finished practicing for the evening and was staring out of the window. She was still dressed in her practice costume, which consisted of a shiny sky blue short sleeve leotard and a pair of shiny footed tights. She leaned against the window, one lycra covered foot over the other. She couldn’t help shake the feeling that something bad was about to go down.
Meanwhile, on the other side of town 16 year old, Tony Takashi was also looking out his window, he was feeling restless, since his sister was away in Osaka and needed to get some night air. He went into his walk-in closet and pulled out a trunk and took off the pad lock and shifted around some items before pulling out a black opaque full bodystocking. It was no secret that Tony had a serious addiction to all things tights and pantyhose. Tina often felt he became a hero just to have an excuse to slip on his costume, which completely covered him from neck to toe. He was currently “dating” Judy Hall aka Lilac Lass and would often ask her to remain in costume whenever they got together. Tony stripped out of his street clothes and held the black costume up against his body. He slowly gathered up one leg of the costume and dipped his right leg into the form fitting fabric. After several minutes, Tony was standing up and admiring his form in the skintight bodystocking in the full-length mirror. He extended his right leg and gave one final tug of the fabric and made sure everything was in place. He pulled his mask over his head and like a shadow he made his way out the window of his bedroom and into the night.
The Shinobi Kid prided himself on his ninja abilities. Tony was not as ruthless or skilled as Kunoichi, but he was still a worthy opponent. He and Tina had made a name for themselves quickly dispatching a virtual who’s who of B & C List thugs. Tony was extremely cocky while Tina was more reserved and calculating. Many of the teen heroines regarded him as a rock star and he knew it. Still, they made quite an impressive team. Several of the older heroines began to take notice and tried to recruit the twins as sidekicks. But they were not the sidekick type. They felt they were good enough as they were, and to an extent they were right.
Tony quietly raced from rooftop to rooftop with the grace and agility of a cat. Somewhere on the outskirts of town he noticed some strange activity at the old brewery. Tony thought to himself, “This place has been closed for ages, why is there so much activity down there.” He made his way to the adjoining rooftop to steal a closer look. Upon further inspection he saw girls, scores of girls in their late teens to early twenties clad only in red leotard and shiny footed tights. Almost immediately, Tony felt his “addiction” growing. He had to snap himself out of it and concentrate at the matter at hand. Tony decided to make his way into the brewery to find out what was going on. The building as an old 8-story structure erected in the late 19th century and was condemned in the late eighties. The city council never got around to knocking the building down because it would cost too much money to hire a contractor. The steel walkways were rusted and cobwebs littered every corner. Chains hung carelessly from the rafters and there were water puddles all over the place from leaky pipes and roofs. There was a vial stench of rotting barley and hops in the air. The structure was massive and had many levels and dark points throughout. It was practically a maze of steel.
Tony used the darkness to his advantage. His black bodystocking coupled with his stealth ability allowed him to get close enough to take a position one level up behind a crate. He was able to look down and see a tall shadowy figure directing the girls in red around the premise. Tony could not hear what they were saying, but from the looks of things, there was an entire operation being run from out of the old brewery.
Tony shifted his weight to try to hear what the man was saying and accidentally knocked a rusted lug nut off the gangplank on to the hard surface below. Tony held his breath and his heart began to race. The girls had no idea they were being spied on, but the mysterious figure detected an unfamiliar presence among them. Sensing he was being spied on, the figure went about his routine as if nothing happened. He continued to bark out orders in Chinese. Tony noticed a couple of girls break away from what they were doing and made their way to the vicinity of where Tony was stationed. Tony then realized that he had been found out and that the shadowy figure had given orders to find the intruder.
Tony quickly retreated from his position and began to look for cover. The girls were gaining ground on him. It looked like he would have to fight his way out. Tony ran at full speed and did a front flip over a railing. Three girls surrounded Tony. At 5’7” Tony towered over his would be attackers. He thought he could take them and make a break for the exit. But he severly underestimated his attackers. Instead of attacking one at a time they all rush him at once. Tony leaped up a grabbed a chain above him. He had no clue that these girls were so fast. He swung around on the chain and managed to kick one of the girls in the jaw causing her to stumble backward. Tony released the chain and landed on all fours like a cat. Tony was a master at stealth, but his martial art skills were woefully behind his attackers. Tony managed to unleash a roundhouse with his right leg that caught the second girl in her jaw. She didn’t budge an inch. Tony again tried to flip over his opponents but in mid flip, the third girl caught Tony and sent him crashing to the ground. Tony quickly rolled over and snapped upright into the classic martial art stance. Tony was now face to face with the petite girl that just slammed him into the ground. How could this be happening? Tony thought to himself. Tony threw out a left jab that the girl caught in her left hand. Tony exerted all his force into the punch, yet the girl held on to Tony’s fist and would not let go. She began to squeeze down on Tony’s fist slowly crushing it. Tony began to wince in pain beneath his mask. The girl finally flicked Tony’s hand away just short of snapping it off. Tony tried to back up in an attempt to gain some distance, but before he could move the girl snapped a vicious right kick to Tony’s ribcage knocking him off the platform and sent him crashing into a wooden crate several feet below him. Tony groggily rolled on to his side and then to all fours. He found it hard to breath and started to clutch his left side. He might have just fractured a couple ribs. Tony shakily stood up but could not straighten out his form. He saw the girl above him leap off the platform with a flying kick; he was too woozy to dodge the blow, which caught him dead in his jaw. Tony dropped to the floor. He tasted his own blood in his mouth and was bleeding through his mask. As the girl approached him, he instinctively performed a sweeping kick that managed to knock the girl down. This only made the girl madder. She snapped up and faced Tony. Tony stood up and tried to launch a snapping kick with his left leg. The girl caught it in mid-air and she proceeded to snap Tony’s ankle. Tony yelled out in pain and crumpled to the floor clutching his ankle. Just as Tony was about to black out from the pain, he saw the shadowy figure in front of him. The little girl that had managed to bring down the Shinobi Kid was now behind the shadowy figure. The other two girls were standing over the kid ninja. The shadowy figure snapped his fingers and the two girls picked Tony up under each arm. He was now kneeling in front of the towering being and a missionary position. The man walked up to Tony. He ripped off Tony’s mask exposing Tony’s swollen lip, blood flowing profusely from it. His left eye was already starting to close shut. The man grabbed Tony’s chin and held it up for all the girls to see. Then he finally spoke. He had a booming voice that echoed through the cavernous facility. In Chinese, he said that the gods have smiled upon us, as Master Ji’s will be extremely pleased by what has stumbled upon us. Just before blacking out, Tony managed to spit in the face of the shadowy figure. Blood and saliva covered the face of the man. He paused wiped his face with two fingers and proceeded to swallow the fallen warrior’s spit. He began to laugh in an eerie and maniacal manner. Then he ordered the girls to remove the boy and secure him. The same two girls carried the wounded Shinobi Kid off into the darkness.
Pyrrhic Victory
-
phoxy_brown
- Sargeant
- Posts: 108
- Joined: 20 years ago
thanks for the words, c...i was really nervous about using your property, but i think you will enjoy the way it turns out.
-
phoxy_brown
- Sargeant
- Posts: 108
- Joined: 20 years ago
Several nights later:
Back at the hotel, the girls were just wrapping up their late night briefing with Master Quai. Yuri’s suspicions were correct. The shadowy figure she had seen at the press conference was indeed an Overlord for Master Ji. His name was Serak and he was one of Ji’s top lieutenants. He was also one of the few men in the ranks of the Red Talon. He was sent west to set up a position in the US, recruit new members as well as seek out possible candidates for Ji’s new body. Ji’s was over 400 years old and needed to replace his “vessel” once a century. He was well into the 96th year in his current “vessel” and was growing impatient. Serak was a loyal and ruthless servant. At 6’4” and 262 pounds, he was an imposing figure. Serak’s death count reached well into the hundreds. He was personally responsible for annihilating an entire squad of Lotus agents during one battle. He had a collection of sashes and tights, which he collected from his many victims. Serak, like Yuri was a mutant with the ability to slow time down and also alter his molecules to appear invisible, thus explaining his “appearance” at the press conference. The girls were given the unenviable task of putting down Ji’s advances in the West and stop Serak. This was surely a suicide mission- four girls against an army of Red Talon soldiers and their lieutenant. Master Quai chose these girls with a heavy heart because he was certain of the outcome, but he also knew that the four vicious venoms gave him the best opportunity to stop Ji’s advances.
The girls slowly changed out of their civilian clothes and stood only in their panties staring at four steel color-coded briefcases. Each girl opened the case and gazed at their costume. Inside each case was a long sleeve leotard, beige shiny footed tights and a sash. Yuri decided in a sign of solidarity to forgo her usual red bodystocking for the more traditional tights and leotard outfit. She carefully slipped on her tights and then stepped into her classic red leotard. She had been doing this for so long that she finally got used to wearing tights. She completed the look by gingerly tying her blue sash around her taut waist. It was the very same sash she took from her fallen comrade Kimiko years earlier to honor her memory. The other girls had quietly gathered in the living room of the suite awaiting Yuri’s arrival. They were adjusting their tights and tugging on their leotards making sure everything was in place. The Scorpion wore an orange leotard with a yellow sash. The Chameleon was outfitted in a blue leotard with a pink sash and the Lil Toad was clad in a gray leotard with a green sash. They all stood in a circle and whispered the sacred chant to give them the strength and serenity to deal with the forces of evil that faced them. Then take walked over to a window, opened it and quietly made their way into the darkness.
Donna Tan had a police scanner on in her loft listening intently for any activity. Oddly, it was a quiet night; maybe Nightswan was making a dent in the crime activity after all. Still, Donna could not shake the feeling that something was off. The feeling that appeared the moment the young gymnasts arrived in town. She dashed to her computer and began to search her files for anything on this touring group. Her search turned up nothing. In the past, she knew that various villains adopted fake identities in an attempt to pull of a heist or lure some unsuspecting heroine into a trap. She thought these “gymnasts” were no different, yet different at the same time. Then she remembered some about Yuri. Donna noticed that Yuri had some type of birthmark on her neck that looked like a strange Asian symbol. Donna, being a stickler for details, remembered seeing a similar symbol on one of her many expeditions with her mother. She rummaged through all of her mother’s old archaeology books and finally came up with something. The symbol on Yuri’s neck resembled the symbol used by a group of monks in China. After further investigation, Donna discovered that this group was a legendary and hidden society of female warrior monks that battled a rival faction for centuries. She learned all about the warriors’ battles with an unnamed “red menace”. She thought that this whole thing was just an ancient Chinese fable, not the real deal. She realized that Yuri was a possible warrior looking into the presence of the ”red menace”, right here in Metro City. Donna’s heart began to race. She desperately wanted to find out if this was true and offer her assistance on this massive mission. She quickly stood up from the pile of books and made her way to her closet. She stripped down to just her panties and changed into her verdant costume. She carefully stuck out each leg and adjusted her tights in the mirror and made her way to the hotel.
Donna got to the hotel dressed as the Emerald Dragon and made her way to the suite where the “gymnasts” were staying. She knocked on the door but there was no answer. After several seconds, she picked the lock and made her way into the suite. Her suspicions were proven correct. There was a dossier with a photograph of Serak as well as a possible location of the Talon’s activity. She knew this was bigger than her but she could not jeopardize the Lotus’ mission by calling in for backup. She would have to go it alone and hope she could catch up with the female warriors. The Emerald Dragon quickly made her way to the coordinates in the dossier. Donna used her martial arts skills to make her way across the rooftops. Suddenly fear overtook her. She had noticed Shinobi Kid’s scent in the area. Earlier in the afternoon, Donna had lunch with Deidre Strangis aka the Lavender Lady. Somehow Deidre mentioned that Tony had not returned Judy’s calls in a couple days. Donna put two and two together. That kid is no match for the “red menace” he’ll get himself killed if he tries to investigate this on his own.
The Four Vicious Venoms approached the brewery a little after 2:00am. They carefully surveyed the area for any booby traps or security cameras. Unbeknown to them, there already was a “visitor” inside. The girls broke up into two teams. (Team A) Scorpion paired up with Chameleon while Yuri teamed up with Toad (Team B). Each group took a different route into the brewery. Team A gained access via the roof while Team B scaled the west wall and came in through a 7th floor window. The two teams carefully made their way through the brewery taking stock of various through points, choke points and escape routes. They carefully digested the schematics of the brewery back at the hotel and had a contingency plan should any of team become “compromised”. Team A had advanced as far as a major choke point on the 4th level. It was close enough to detect activity, but not close enough for sound. The main objective, Serak, was nowhere in site. He was busy with his “guest”. Both teams had a telepathic link and Scorpion asked Yuri if she had spotted Serak. No luck on her end either. Scorpion closed her eyes and knew what she had to do. She told Yuri that Team A would create a distraction by engaging the foot soldiers in an attempt to flush out Serak. Team B would then hunt him down during the battle. Yuri was in command but knew that time was not on their side. This was going to be their best chance at stopping Serak. By sending Team A in as a decoy was akin to sending an ant to battle a giant. Before Yuri could tell Scorpion to advance, she had already sensed Team A rushing into battle.
Chameleon spotted a Red soldier at a makeshift workstation entering something into a laptop. She blended into the background and snuck up on the unsuspecting girl and deftly snapped her neck. She quickly dragged the girl into the shadows and proceeded onto the next one. Meanwhile, Scorpion had managed to use her ranged attack to take down two more soldiers. Scorpion thought to herself, “great two down, Beijing to go.” On the other side of the facility, Team B was still holding their position hoping to catch a glimpse of Serak. But he was still nowhere to be seen. They knew he was still in the building but since he was cloaked he could be anywhere in plain sight. Several agonizing minutes had gone by. Yuri was still able to sense Scorpion and Chameleon on the other side of the building. They had managed to take out 30 girls on their own, thus making the pending battle somewhat more manageable. Suddenly, out of nowhere three girls materialized before Team A. They knew that the Talon had mutants but were not expecting them so soon. They quickly disposed of the three red soldiers and tried to advance deeper, but their advance was blocked by another wave of teleports. Scorpion and Chameleon realized that they had been led into a trap. As soon as they got rid of one group another would appear. It seemed like a wave of endless red warriors. Team A, advanced as best they could until they reached an open clearing on the 4th floor. Their path was blocked by not one, but three Amazon warriors. The Amazons were dressed exactly like the minions except they wore purple leotards and tights. Minions were one thing but Amazons required more planning. Team A had managed to kill off approximately half of the foot soldiers by themselves, but 3 Amazon were too much. All three Amazons were identical; in fact they were cloned from the same individual. They possessed as much speed as Team A, but were vastly stronger. Scorpion tried a ranged attack that was effortless stopped by Amazon #1. Chameleon used this opportunity to sneak up on Amazon #2, but she was able to detect Chameleon’s approach. The Amazon stuck her right arm out into thin air and Scorpion looked at her as if the giantess had gone mad. Suddenly, Chameleon materialized in the Amazon’s grip. Scorpion went pale. The Amazon proceeded to deliver several devastating shots to Chameleon’s ribs instantly crushing three of them. Chameleon feebly grabbed onto the Amazon’s forearm in an attempt to break free. She began to cough up blood. The Amazon raised her right arm and flung Chameleon across the room like a rag doll. Xiang crashed into several boxed and finally came to a halt thirty feet away. She tried to will herself up but was too weak. As Amazon #2 made her way towards Xiang, Scorpion ran toward the giantess. Her progress was suddenly halted by a steel chain that wrapped around her neck. Amazon #3 was on the other end of the chain with a menacing grin on her face. The chain was wrapped around her mammoth fist several times and she looked like a boy walking a rabid dog in the park. Scorpion struggled with all her might to free herself from the chain. She felt the blood rushing from her head. She was helpless to defend her comrade and watched in terror as Amazon towered over Chameleon. The Amazon was about to stomp Xiang with her huge lycra covered foot when Chameleon managed to roll out of the way at the last instant. Was she playing possum or was this Chameleon’s last stand? The two combatants stood in a dimly lit section of the brewery sizing each other up. Her brief encounter with the Amazon left her costume in ruins. Chameleon’s once bright blue leotard was stained with blood and sweat. Some of the blood came from the other foot soldiers she managed to kill, but most of it was her own. Her tights were full of runs and ladders. Between Chameleon and Scorpion, the two had managed to take one nearly a third of the forces out of commission, but even Xiang knew she was at the end of the line. Her comrade was still bound by the heavy steel chain. Barely able to stand erect, Xiang summoned the last of her reserves and made one final attack at the purple beast. She leapt in the air but the Amazon caught her, spun her around and dropped to one knee. She held Xiang in the like a little doll and then drove Chameleon back first into her knee instantly snapping her back. Xiang lay on the ground motionless unable to move. Her cries of agony echoed through the room. She was barely conscious and was screaming that she could not feel her legs. The Amazon stood over her and ripped the pink sash from Xiang’s waist. She held the sash up in front of Scorpion and said “I enjoy hearing her cries of pain. It sounds like music to me. I will let her squirm in pain a bit longer. The suffering will be good for her.” By now Yukio was sick to her stomach. She had just witnessed the decimation of her close friend was helpless to prevent it. At that point, she had a complete system shut-down. She threw up and urinated on herself at the same time. The three Amazons took great pleasure in watch Yukio’s meltdown. Amazon #2 ripped Yukio’s yellow sash from her waist and she began to cry uncontrollably. “Shut up!” yelled the purple beast and backhanded Yukio across the face. Almost immediately, her face began to redden and puff up. She looked across and saw Xiang’s mangled form trying to crawl across the floor before finally passing out. There was a long trail of blood behind her. The three Amazons proceeded to toy with Yukio and her demise would be long and agonizing. Amazon #3 unwrapped the chain from around Yukio’s neck forcefully wrapped it around her hands. Next the beast took the other end of the chain and flung over the steel rafter and hoisted Yukio up in the air. The three Amazons then proceeded to use Yukio as a living punching bag. They unleashed some of the most devastating kicks and punches known to man on poor Yukio’s lithe frame. Each caused her to yell out in pain. Every time she would black out from the pain the Amazons would toss hot water on her to revive her. This went on for quite some time. After what seemed like an eternity, the three Amazons were huddled around a makeshift post that resembled the letter T. They stepped back in unison to admire their handy work. The stared at Yukio’s mangled form hanging from the post. She was beaten to a pulp. The site was almost sickening. Her arm were spread out across the crossbar portion of the post and secured with steel chain. Blood was flowing from the steel onto the ground. Her head hung carelessly on her chest. Her leotard had been ripped from her body and hung around her waist. The left foot of her tights had been torn away and the rest of her tights were covered with dirt and holes. There were too many cuts and bruises to count. Yuri was on the other side of the facility when she felt her psychic connection with Team A cease. She felt a tear well up in her but fought it back and channeled it into rage. She was hell bent of finding Serak.
Tony was brought back from unconsciousness by a searing jolt of electricity. He was shocked when he could not feel his legs touching the ground. He realized that he was suspended in the air approximately three feet of the ground. He looked around and was completely unfamiliar with his surroundings. He was still dazed and his vision was a little blurry, but he could make out Serak’s haunting form through the haze. For the last two days Tony was subjected to all type of torture-mental and physical. He was injected with a psychotropic drug and forced to relive all of his nightmares. Even his deepest secret about his “addiction” was revealed. In between the drugs, he was jolted with high voltage from a devise take looked like something from a horror movie. He had not eaten in two days and was given rancid water to keep him from starving. During his incarceration in the dank and drafty area, he developed a nasty cough. It sounded like he contracted pneumonia or bronchitis. He was scared and completely alone, no one knew were he was or that he was hurt. His black opaque bodystocking had been completely destroyed. The upper portion of the stocking had been ripped away exposing the Kid’s bruised and battered chest. The left arm and glove portion was also missing. His shackles had worn the material away from around the wrist of the right arm and the sleeve hung down around his bicep. The left leg of the bodystocking had a huge whole in the knee and the right foot of the suit had been stretched out and now dangled carelessly from his leg. The suit was also covered with blood and dirt and sweat marks. His ribs and ankle were killing him. Serak made certain not to torture Tony too much as he was to serve as the new vessel for Master Ji. Serak figured that by the time they returned to China all of Tony’s injuries would have healed. Besides, Serak knew of all types of herbs and extracts that could mask Tony’s torture and heal his wounds.
Yuri was trying to compose herself after the senseless killing of her teammates. She was a total ball of rage, and she tried her hardest not the let her protégé she her lose her cool. She was able to detect Serak’s presence still in the brewery but could not pinpoint a location. She acted on pure instinct and made her way to the sub levels of the facility. Toad followed close behind her itching to get revenge for her teammates. As Team B slowly descended into the darkness, Yuri’s bond to Serak grew stronger. She was on the right track. Suddenly, there was a power surge in the corridor and the hallway began to flicker. She saw a figure at the end of the hall and immediately she knew it was Serak. She rested the urge to launch an attack, and before she could instruct Toad to hold back, she caught a blur from the corner of her eye. Toad, the rash and impulsive warrior in gray, began to run towards Serak. To the average person, Toad would have appeared as a gray blur, but to Serak, she may as well have been have been moving in quicksand. Serak waved his right hand and time began to slow down. Toad was stopped, cold in her tracks. She was in a running position and in the process of forming a punch with her right hand. Serak stuck out his massive right foot at waist high level and snapped his finger. Time resumed at its normal pace. Toad was running at top speed and unable to stop. She ran throat first into Serak’s boot. Her momentum launched her into the air and she flew pass Serak and landed several feet behind him. She instinctively grabbed her neck and struggled for air. Yuri was frozen in her stance, not sure what to do. She began to flashback to her mission with Kimiko. Fighting Serak was nothing like fighting an Amazon. Serak looked straight into Yuri’s eyes and sensed her trepidation. He pivoted on his left foot and began to make his way towards Toad. Toad was still slumped on the floor trying to catch her breath; she knew Serak was approaching. As Serak was getting closer, she quickly got up and began to run towards him again. This time he didn’t even need to slow time down. He knew that he had got into her head and rattled her. Yuri telepathically screamed to Ming to stop running, but Toad just tuned her out. Serak just stood there waiting for Ming’s attack. Serak calmly dropped to one knee and stuck out his right palm. At the very same instant, Ming’s left knee collided into Serak’s outstretched arm. Serak pulled his arm away and allowed Ming’s forward progress to continue. Ming was still in the act of running and heard a loud crunch and pop in her knee. She could not stop and took another step on the leg. She felt the pain already shooting up her leg. Her knee had exploded and she ruptured every tendon and ligament in her knee. She felt to the ground and immediately clutched her knee. She bit her lower lip and tried to hold back the tears but the pain was excruciating. She rolled over on her side and began pounding the floor in agonizing pain. She had allowed her rash behavior to get the best of her and now she was robbed of her greatest asset. This entire transaction between Ming and Serak had taken place all within the span of 4 seconds. Serak walked over to the fallen warrior and looked down on her crumpled form. He bent over and grabbed Ming by the neck hoisted her up in the air with just his right hand. Ming was frantically clawing at Serak’s hand in an attempt to break free, but his hold was stronger than a vise grip. Ming was sobbing at this point, as she knew her end was near. Yuri felt a tear run down her cheek. Ming’s battle with Serak was over in the blink of an eye but the damage was clearly evident on Ming’s mangled form. Her gray leotard was shredded and covered with dirt and had holes all over it. Her tights had a big hole in the left knee from when she tripped and fell. Her knee was already purple and swelling from the massive trauma. The pain was too much for Ming and she passed out in Serak’s fist. Serak proceeded to rip Ming’s maroon sash from her waist. He grabbed it so vigorously that he tore some of the fabric away from her leotard exposing the waistband of Ming’s tights. Finally, Serak squeezed down on Ming’s neck snapping it like a twig. He then tossed her aside and made his way towards Yuri.
Yuri knew full well what she was getting into when she accepted this mission, but that didn’t make the outcome any easier. She had just witnessed the complete and utter annihilation of all her teammates in the span of one hour. She was unable to help any of them. She was upset over the fact that she had failed at her mission and took heavy casualties in the process. Just when Yuri was about to rush headlong into a final attack on Serak, she heard someone from behind yell get down. Yuri immediately dropped to the ground and heard a buzzing sound go by her. She looked ahead of her and saw a green projectile racing towards Serak. Serak was completely caught off guard and the weapon hit him dead in the chest. Yuri turned back and saw the Emerald Dragon standing behind her with a throwing star in her hand. The Dragon raced towards Yuri and grabbed her up by her left arm, “come with me if you want to see the sun rise” shouted Donna. Yuri sensed that the Dragon was not a rival, but some one that had come to her rescue. The two warriors ran in the opposite direction of Serak at top speed.
After several minutes of running at top speed the two warriors came to a stop in a dark section somewhere on one of the sublevels. Yuri was perplexed and tried to figure out how this lady in green found her. Donna took out a slip of paper and held it up to Yuri and began to speak in Cantonese to Yuri. Yuri was shocked but could see that Donna had some Asian features in her face. Donna said, “Look, I don’t have time to explain, but I know who you guys are and what you do. I’m here to help.” Yuri was still trying to process what was happening. One minute she was watching Ming be ripped in two and about to commit suicide by attacking Serak head on by herself and the next minute she talking to some lady in a green leotard and tights about the Order of the Lotus. Donna briefly explained her background to Yuri and Yuri could tell she was telling the truth. We need to take that guy out or there will serious repercussions, exclaimed Yuri. Donna felt somewhat out of her league dealing with all of this mysticism, but was even more uncomfortable about the carnage that surrounded her. There where dead bodies everywhere, now she would have to take part in killing someone in order to save the West Coast. Yuri could tell that Donna was having difficulty processing what was happening but explained that sometimes the justice system is not enough to deal with certain situations. Donna understood that this was one of those situations. Yuri felt that she had a chance to complete the mission after all. But before they could work out a plan, Donna told Yuri that Serak was holding one of her friend’s prisoner somewhere in the brewery. Yuri knew what she had to do.
A short time later, Yuri was making her way through one of the many crawl spaces in the brewery. She managed to pick up a scent that was foreign to her. She followed the scent to a holding area deep in one of the sublevels. She carefully looked through the crating and saw the Shinobi Kid hanging from the rafters. He did not look good. He was pale and bruised and his costume was in tatters. Yuri carefully made sure that no one was in the area and snuck into the holding area. She climbed up onto the scaffolding and slowly lowered the chain from which the Kid was hanging. The Kid was groggy and barely had the strength to acknowledge Yuri’s presence. As the two quickly made their way out of the area an Amazon appeared from out of nowhere. Yuri did not have time to deal with her and she quickly kicked the Amazon into a puddle of water and dropped the probe that Serak had used to shock Tony into the puddle instantly electrocuting the Amazon. The smell of burning flesh wafted through the air. Tony barely had enough strength to make it out of the area.
Meanwhile, Donna was in another part of the facility dosing the area with kerosene. Donna could not hide her fear. After what she had just witnessed, she knew she was not a match for anybody in the building. She waited for Yuri and Tony to arrive so she could ignite the gas. Suddenly, Serak appeared out of nowhere. “Don’t you know you shouldn’t play with fire little girl” Serak said in a condescending tone. Donna froze in her tracks; Serak was early. She was hoping that Yuri and Tony would be back by now, but Tony’s injuries were slowing them down. Donna knew she was not match for Serak and tried to make a break for the exit. Before she even got close the exit, Serak materialized in front of her and delivered a blow to her mid section. The punch sent her flying across the room into a puddle of mud. Donna was just fast enough to dodge most of the force of the punch and was able to avoid serious injury, but now her costume was ruined. She was covering in mud and her green tights were full of runs. Undeterred, Donna continued on with the plan. She circled the room carefully and ended up next to a railing that overlooked a huge vat with some type of liquid in it. Serak was growing impatient and wanted to finish off the Dragon and continue on with his plans. Donna was now pinned against the railing with nowhere to go. Serak was in reaching distance from Donna when she heard Yuri yell out to her. Donna quickly ducked under Serak’s outstretched arms and crawled between his legs. Serak was able to grab Donna’s tight covered foot and yelled, “Where do you think you’re going?” Donna quickly kicked out of his grasp and crawled a short distance from him. “Don’t worry about me, just worry about yourself in hell. “ And with that, Donna struck a match on the floor and lit the trail of kerosene she made in front of Serak. Serak was caught off guard and was unable to activate his power and was swept up in the fire. He let out a blood-curdling scream, as he became a flaming giant. Amazingly, he began to walk towards Donna, she looked up and grabbed a giant steel hook and swung it towards Serak. The hook hit Serak square in the chest and knocked him into the vat below causing a massive explosion. The explosion set off a chain reaction. Soon, there were explosions everywhere in the facility. The brewery was coming down around them. The three warriors barely managed to escape the brewery as the entire plant imploded. The image was visible throughout the entire city. A brief time later, Yuri, Donna and Tony were looking at the destruction from a safe distance. Yuri’s mission was a success, but at a painful price. All three were covered in soot and were relieved that the night was over. Yuri took the opportunity to check out Tony’s wounds. She handed a pouch to Donna and told her how to administer it to Tony. Yuri told Donna that she was grateful for the help and was eternally indebted to her. Donna smiled and said Metro City could always use another heroine. Yuri politely said she was needed more in her homeland and with that she took off into the sunrise…
Epilogue
Tony was resting in his hospital bed surfing the TV. His room was filled with all kinds of gifts from various teen heroines wishing him well. Tina was in the room and yelling at Tony that if he ever did something stupid like that again, she would personally kill him. “Don’t worry sis, I’ve learned my lesson.” And with that Tina exited the room. Tony was relieved that whole ordeal was over and he did learn a valuable lesson. The events over that last several days would stay with him forever. Despite what he had gone through, Tony was determined to become a better and smarter crime fighter. He wondered if the Emerald Dragon would be willing to take him on as a sidekick. Just as he was getting lost in his thoughts, the door opened; it was Judy. She had her hair in pigtails and was wearing a long trench coat. She walked up to Tony and said “you had me worried”. “Don’t worry babe, it’ll take more than a giant to put the Kid down. “ “That’s you, always Mister Cocky. I guess you won’t be needing my gift then.” Judy dropped the coat to the ground revealing her Lilac Lass costume. “Time for Nurse Judy to make Tony all better.” Tony immediately had a smile on his face. With that Judy pulled the curtain around Tony’s bed shut.
Back at the hotel, the girls were just wrapping up their late night briefing with Master Quai. Yuri’s suspicions were correct. The shadowy figure she had seen at the press conference was indeed an Overlord for Master Ji. His name was Serak and he was one of Ji’s top lieutenants. He was also one of the few men in the ranks of the Red Talon. He was sent west to set up a position in the US, recruit new members as well as seek out possible candidates for Ji’s new body. Ji’s was over 400 years old and needed to replace his “vessel” once a century. He was well into the 96th year in his current “vessel” and was growing impatient. Serak was a loyal and ruthless servant. At 6’4” and 262 pounds, he was an imposing figure. Serak’s death count reached well into the hundreds. He was personally responsible for annihilating an entire squad of Lotus agents during one battle. He had a collection of sashes and tights, which he collected from his many victims. Serak, like Yuri was a mutant with the ability to slow time down and also alter his molecules to appear invisible, thus explaining his “appearance” at the press conference. The girls were given the unenviable task of putting down Ji’s advances in the West and stop Serak. This was surely a suicide mission- four girls against an army of Red Talon soldiers and their lieutenant. Master Quai chose these girls with a heavy heart because he was certain of the outcome, but he also knew that the four vicious venoms gave him the best opportunity to stop Ji’s advances.
The girls slowly changed out of their civilian clothes and stood only in their panties staring at four steel color-coded briefcases. Each girl opened the case and gazed at their costume. Inside each case was a long sleeve leotard, beige shiny footed tights and a sash. Yuri decided in a sign of solidarity to forgo her usual red bodystocking for the more traditional tights and leotard outfit. She carefully slipped on her tights and then stepped into her classic red leotard. She had been doing this for so long that she finally got used to wearing tights. She completed the look by gingerly tying her blue sash around her taut waist. It was the very same sash she took from her fallen comrade Kimiko years earlier to honor her memory. The other girls had quietly gathered in the living room of the suite awaiting Yuri’s arrival. They were adjusting their tights and tugging on their leotards making sure everything was in place. The Scorpion wore an orange leotard with a yellow sash. The Chameleon was outfitted in a blue leotard with a pink sash and the Lil Toad was clad in a gray leotard with a green sash. They all stood in a circle and whispered the sacred chant to give them the strength and serenity to deal with the forces of evil that faced them. Then take walked over to a window, opened it and quietly made their way into the darkness.
Donna Tan had a police scanner on in her loft listening intently for any activity. Oddly, it was a quiet night; maybe Nightswan was making a dent in the crime activity after all. Still, Donna could not shake the feeling that something was off. The feeling that appeared the moment the young gymnasts arrived in town. She dashed to her computer and began to search her files for anything on this touring group. Her search turned up nothing. In the past, she knew that various villains adopted fake identities in an attempt to pull of a heist or lure some unsuspecting heroine into a trap. She thought these “gymnasts” were no different, yet different at the same time. Then she remembered some about Yuri. Donna noticed that Yuri had some type of birthmark on her neck that looked like a strange Asian symbol. Donna, being a stickler for details, remembered seeing a similar symbol on one of her many expeditions with her mother. She rummaged through all of her mother’s old archaeology books and finally came up with something. The symbol on Yuri’s neck resembled the symbol used by a group of monks in China. After further investigation, Donna discovered that this group was a legendary and hidden society of female warrior monks that battled a rival faction for centuries. She learned all about the warriors’ battles with an unnamed “red menace”. She thought that this whole thing was just an ancient Chinese fable, not the real deal. She realized that Yuri was a possible warrior looking into the presence of the ”red menace”, right here in Metro City. Donna’s heart began to race. She desperately wanted to find out if this was true and offer her assistance on this massive mission. She quickly stood up from the pile of books and made her way to her closet. She stripped down to just her panties and changed into her verdant costume. She carefully stuck out each leg and adjusted her tights in the mirror and made her way to the hotel.
Donna got to the hotel dressed as the Emerald Dragon and made her way to the suite where the “gymnasts” were staying. She knocked on the door but there was no answer. After several seconds, she picked the lock and made her way into the suite. Her suspicions were proven correct. There was a dossier with a photograph of Serak as well as a possible location of the Talon’s activity. She knew this was bigger than her but she could not jeopardize the Lotus’ mission by calling in for backup. She would have to go it alone and hope she could catch up with the female warriors. The Emerald Dragon quickly made her way to the coordinates in the dossier. Donna used her martial arts skills to make her way across the rooftops. Suddenly fear overtook her. She had noticed Shinobi Kid’s scent in the area. Earlier in the afternoon, Donna had lunch with Deidre Strangis aka the Lavender Lady. Somehow Deidre mentioned that Tony had not returned Judy’s calls in a couple days. Donna put two and two together. That kid is no match for the “red menace” he’ll get himself killed if he tries to investigate this on his own.
The Four Vicious Venoms approached the brewery a little after 2:00am. They carefully surveyed the area for any booby traps or security cameras. Unbeknown to them, there already was a “visitor” inside. The girls broke up into two teams. (Team A) Scorpion paired up with Chameleon while Yuri teamed up with Toad (Team B). Each group took a different route into the brewery. Team A gained access via the roof while Team B scaled the west wall and came in through a 7th floor window. The two teams carefully made their way through the brewery taking stock of various through points, choke points and escape routes. They carefully digested the schematics of the brewery back at the hotel and had a contingency plan should any of team become “compromised”. Team A had advanced as far as a major choke point on the 4th level. It was close enough to detect activity, but not close enough for sound. The main objective, Serak, was nowhere in site. He was busy with his “guest”. Both teams had a telepathic link and Scorpion asked Yuri if she had spotted Serak. No luck on her end either. Scorpion closed her eyes and knew what she had to do. She told Yuri that Team A would create a distraction by engaging the foot soldiers in an attempt to flush out Serak. Team B would then hunt him down during the battle. Yuri was in command but knew that time was not on their side. This was going to be their best chance at stopping Serak. By sending Team A in as a decoy was akin to sending an ant to battle a giant. Before Yuri could tell Scorpion to advance, she had already sensed Team A rushing into battle.
Chameleon spotted a Red soldier at a makeshift workstation entering something into a laptop. She blended into the background and snuck up on the unsuspecting girl and deftly snapped her neck. She quickly dragged the girl into the shadows and proceeded onto the next one. Meanwhile, Scorpion had managed to use her ranged attack to take down two more soldiers. Scorpion thought to herself, “great two down, Beijing to go.” On the other side of the facility, Team B was still holding their position hoping to catch a glimpse of Serak. But he was still nowhere to be seen. They knew he was still in the building but since he was cloaked he could be anywhere in plain sight. Several agonizing minutes had gone by. Yuri was still able to sense Scorpion and Chameleon on the other side of the building. They had managed to take out 30 girls on their own, thus making the pending battle somewhat more manageable. Suddenly, out of nowhere three girls materialized before Team A. They knew that the Talon had mutants but were not expecting them so soon. They quickly disposed of the three red soldiers and tried to advance deeper, but their advance was blocked by another wave of teleports. Scorpion and Chameleon realized that they had been led into a trap. As soon as they got rid of one group another would appear. It seemed like a wave of endless red warriors. Team A, advanced as best they could until they reached an open clearing on the 4th floor. Their path was blocked by not one, but three Amazon warriors. The Amazons were dressed exactly like the minions except they wore purple leotards and tights. Minions were one thing but Amazons required more planning. Team A had managed to kill off approximately half of the foot soldiers by themselves, but 3 Amazon were too much. All three Amazons were identical; in fact they were cloned from the same individual. They possessed as much speed as Team A, but were vastly stronger. Scorpion tried a ranged attack that was effortless stopped by Amazon #1. Chameleon used this opportunity to sneak up on Amazon #2, but she was able to detect Chameleon’s approach. The Amazon stuck her right arm out into thin air and Scorpion looked at her as if the giantess had gone mad. Suddenly, Chameleon materialized in the Amazon’s grip. Scorpion went pale. The Amazon proceeded to deliver several devastating shots to Chameleon’s ribs instantly crushing three of them. Chameleon feebly grabbed onto the Amazon’s forearm in an attempt to break free. She began to cough up blood. The Amazon raised her right arm and flung Chameleon across the room like a rag doll. Xiang crashed into several boxed and finally came to a halt thirty feet away. She tried to will herself up but was too weak. As Amazon #2 made her way towards Xiang, Scorpion ran toward the giantess. Her progress was suddenly halted by a steel chain that wrapped around her neck. Amazon #3 was on the other end of the chain with a menacing grin on her face. The chain was wrapped around her mammoth fist several times and she looked like a boy walking a rabid dog in the park. Scorpion struggled with all her might to free herself from the chain. She felt the blood rushing from her head. She was helpless to defend her comrade and watched in terror as Amazon towered over Chameleon. The Amazon was about to stomp Xiang with her huge lycra covered foot when Chameleon managed to roll out of the way at the last instant. Was she playing possum or was this Chameleon’s last stand? The two combatants stood in a dimly lit section of the brewery sizing each other up. Her brief encounter with the Amazon left her costume in ruins. Chameleon’s once bright blue leotard was stained with blood and sweat. Some of the blood came from the other foot soldiers she managed to kill, but most of it was her own. Her tights were full of runs and ladders. Between Chameleon and Scorpion, the two had managed to take one nearly a third of the forces out of commission, but even Xiang knew she was at the end of the line. Her comrade was still bound by the heavy steel chain. Barely able to stand erect, Xiang summoned the last of her reserves and made one final attack at the purple beast. She leapt in the air but the Amazon caught her, spun her around and dropped to one knee. She held Xiang in the like a little doll and then drove Chameleon back first into her knee instantly snapping her back. Xiang lay on the ground motionless unable to move. Her cries of agony echoed through the room. She was barely conscious and was screaming that she could not feel her legs. The Amazon stood over her and ripped the pink sash from Xiang’s waist. She held the sash up in front of Scorpion and said “I enjoy hearing her cries of pain. It sounds like music to me. I will let her squirm in pain a bit longer. The suffering will be good for her.” By now Yukio was sick to her stomach. She had just witnessed the decimation of her close friend was helpless to prevent it. At that point, she had a complete system shut-down. She threw up and urinated on herself at the same time. The three Amazons took great pleasure in watch Yukio’s meltdown. Amazon #2 ripped Yukio’s yellow sash from her waist and she began to cry uncontrollably. “Shut up!” yelled the purple beast and backhanded Yukio across the face. Almost immediately, her face began to redden and puff up. She looked across and saw Xiang’s mangled form trying to crawl across the floor before finally passing out. There was a long trail of blood behind her. The three Amazons proceeded to toy with Yukio and her demise would be long and agonizing. Amazon #3 unwrapped the chain from around Yukio’s neck forcefully wrapped it around her hands. Next the beast took the other end of the chain and flung over the steel rafter and hoisted Yukio up in the air. The three Amazons then proceeded to use Yukio as a living punching bag. They unleashed some of the most devastating kicks and punches known to man on poor Yukio’s lithe frame. Each caused her to yell out in pain. Every time she would black out from the pain the Amazons would toss hot water on her to revive her. This went on for quite some time. After what seemed like an eternity, the three Amazons were huddled around a makeshift post that resembled the letter T. They stepped back in unison to admire their handy work. The stared at Yukio’s mangled form hanging from the post. She was beaten to a pulp. The site was almost sickening. Her arm were spread out across the crossbar portion of the post and secured with steel chain. Blood was flowing from the steel onto the ground. Her head hung carelessly on her chest. Her leotard had been ripped from her body and hung around her waist. The left foot of her tights had been torn away and the rest of her tights were covered with dirt and holes. There were too many cuts and bruises to count. Yuri was on the other side of the facility when she felt her psychic connection with Team A cease. She felt a tear well up in her but fought it back and channeled it into rage. She was hell bent of finding Serak.
Tony was brought back from unconsciousness by a searing jolt of electricity. He was shocked when he could not feel his legs touching the ground. He realized that he was suspended in the air approximately three feet of the ground. He looked around and was completely unfamiliar with his surroundings. He was still dazed and his vision was a little blurry, but he could make out Serak’s haunting form through the haze. For the last two days Tony was subjected to all type of torture-mental and physical. He was injected with a psychotropic drug and forced to relive all of his nightmares. Even his deepest secret about his “addiction” was revealed. In between the drugs, he was jolted with high voltage from a devise take looked like something from a horror movie. He had not eaten in two days and was given rancid water to keep him from starving. During his incarceration in the dank and drafty area, he developed a nasty cough. It sounded like he contracted pneumonia or bronchitis. He was scared and completely alone, no one knew were he was or that he was hurt. His black opaque bodystocking had been completely destroyed. The upper portion of the stocking had been ripped away exposing the Kid’s bruised and battered chest. The left arm and glove portion was also missing. His shackles had worn the material away from around the wrist of the right arm and the sleeve hung down around his bicep. The left leg of the bodystocking had a huge whole in the knee and the right foot of the suit had been stretched out and now dangled carelessly from his leg. The suit was also covered with blood and dirt and sweat marks. His ribs and ankle were killing him. Serak made certain not to torture Tony too much as he was to serve as the new vessel for Master Ji. Serak figured that by the time they returned to China all of Tony’s injuries would have healed. Besides, Serak knew of all types of herbs and extracts that could mask Tony’s torture and heal his wounds.
Yuri was trying to compose herself after the senseless killing of her teammates. She was a total ball of rage, and she tried her hardest not the let her protégé she her lose her cool. She was able to detect Serak’s presence still in the brewery but could not pinpoint a location. She acted on pure instinct and made her way to the sub levels of the facility. Toad followed close behind her itching to get revenge for her teammates. As Team B slowly descended into the darkness, Yuri’s bond to Serak grew stronger. She was on the right track. Suddenly, there was a power surge in the corridor and the hallway began to flicker. She saw a figure at the end of the hall and immediately she knew it was Serak. She rested the urge to launch an attack, and before she could instruct Toad to hold back, she caught a blur from the corner of her eye. Toad, the rash and impulsive warrior in gray, began to run towards Serak. To the average person, Toad would have appeared as a gray blur, but to Serak, she may as well have been have been moving in quicksand. Serak waved his right hand and time began to slow down. Toad was stopped, cold in her tracks. She was in a running position and in the process of forming a punch with her right hand. Serak stuck out his massive right foot at waist high level and snapped his finger. Time resumed at its normal pace. Toad was running at top speed and unable to stop. She ran throat first into Serak’s boot. Her momentum launched her into the air and she flew pass Serak and landed several feet behind him. She instinctively grabbed her neck and struggled for air. Yuri was frozen in her stance, not sure what to do. She began to flashback to her mission with Kimiko. Fighting Serak was nothing like fighting an Amazon. Serak looked straight into Yuri’s eyes and sensed her trepidation. He pivoted on his left foot and began to make his way towards Toad. Toad was still slumped on the floor trying to catch her breath; she knew Serak was approaching. As Serak was getting closer, she quickly got up and began to run towards him again. This time he didn’t even need to slow time down. He knew that he had got into her head and rattled her. Yuri telepathically screamed to Ming to stop running, but Toad just tuned her out. Serak just stood there waiting for Ming’s attack. Serak calmly dropped to one knee and stuck out his right palm. At the very same instant, Ming’s left knee collided into Serak’s outstretched arm. Serak pulled his arm away and allowed Ming’s forward progress to continue. Ming was still in the act of running and heard a loud crunch and pop in her knee. She could not stop and took another step on the leg. She felt the pain already shooting up her leg. Her knee had exploded and she ruptured every tendon and ligament in her knee. She felt to the ground and immediately clutched her knee. She bit her lower lip and tried to hold back the tears but the pain was excruciating. She rolled over on her side and began pounding the floor in agonizing pain. She had allowed her rash behavior to get the best of her and now she was robbed of her greatest asset. This entire transaction between Ming and Serak had taken place all within the span of 4 seconds. Serak walked over to the fallen warrior and looked down on her crumpled form. He bent over and grabbed Ming by the neck hoisted her up in the air with just his right hand. Ming was frantically clawing at Serak’s hand in an attempt to break free, but his hold was stronger than a vise grip. Ming was sobbing at this point, as she knew her end was near. Yuri felt a tear run down her cheek. Ming’s battle with Serak was over in the blink of an eye but the damage was clearly evident on Ming’s mangled form. Her gray leotard was shredded and covered with dirt and had holes all over it. Her tights had a big hole in the left knee from when she tripped and fell. Her knee was already purple and swelling from the massive trauma. The pain was too much for Ming and she passed out in Serak’s fist. Serak proceeded to rip Ming’s maroon sash from her waist. He grabbed it so vigorously that he tore some of the fabric away from her leotard exposing the waistband of Ming’s tights. Finally, Serak squeezed down on Ming’s neck snapping it like a twig. He then tossed her aside and made his way towards Yuri.
Yuri knew full well what she was getting into when she accepted this mission, but that didn’t make the outcome any easier. She had just witnessed the complete and utter annihilation of all her teammates in the span of one hour. She was unable to help any of them. She was upset over the fact that she had failed at her mission and took heavy casualties in the process. Just when Yuri was about to rush headlong into a final attack on Serak, she heard someone from behind yell get down. Yuri immediately dropped to the ground and heard a buzzing sound go by her. She looked ahead of her and saw a green projectile racing towards Serak. Serak was completely caught off guard and the weapon hit him dead in the chest. Yuri turned back and saw the Emerald Dragon standing behind her with a throwing star in her hand. The Dragon raced towards Yuri and grabbed her up by her left arm, “come with me if you want to see the sun rise” shouted Donna. Yuri sensed that the Dragon was not a rival, but some one that had come to her rescue. The two warriors ran in the opposite direction of Serak at top speed.
After several minutes of running at top speed the two warriors came to a stop in a dark section somewhere on one of the sublevels. Yuri was perplexed and tried to figure out how this lady in green found her. Donna took out a slip of paper and held it up to Yuri and began to speak in Cantonese to Yuri. Yuri was shocked but could see that Donna had some Asian features in her face. Donna said, “Look, I don’t have time to explain, but I know who you guys are and what you do. I’m here to help.” Yuri was still trying to process what was happening. One minute she was watching Ming be ripped in two and about to commit suicide by attacking Serak head on by herself and the next minute she talking to some lady in a green leotard and tights about the Order of the Lotus. Donna briefly explained her background to Yuri and Yuri could tell she was telling the truth. We need to take that guy out or there will serious repercussions, exclaimed Yuri. Donna felt somewhat out of her league dealing with all of this mysticism, but was even more uncomfortable about the carnage that surrounded her. There where dead bodies everywhere, now she would have to take part in killing someone in order to save the West Coast. Yuri could tell that Donna was having difficulty processing what was happening but explained that sometimes the justice system is not enough to deal with certain situations. Donna understood that this was one of those situations. Yuri felt that she had a chance to complete the mission after all. But before they could work out a plan, Donna told Yuri that Serak was holding one of her friend’s prisoner somewhere in the brewery. Yuri knew what she had to do.
A short time later, Yuri was making her way through one of the many crawl spaces in the brewery. She managed to pick up a scent that was foreign to her. She followed the scent to a holding area deep in one of the sublevels. She carefully looked through the crating and saw the Shinobi Kid hanging from the rafters. He did not look good. He was pale and bruised and his costume was in tatters. Yuri carefully made sure that no one was in the area and snuck into the holding area. She climbed up onto the scaffolding and slowly lowered the chain from which the Kid was hanging. The Kid was groggy and barely had the strength to acknowledge Yuri’s presence. As the two quickly made their way out of the area an Amazon appeared from out of nowhere. Yuri did not have time to deal with her and she quickly kicked the Amazon into a puddle of water and dropped the probe that Serak had used to shock Tony into the puddle instantly electrocuting the Amazon. The smell of burning flesh wafted through the air. Tony barely had enough strength to make it out of the area.
Meanwhile, Donna was in another part of the facility dosing the area with kerosene. Donna could not hide her fear. After what she had just witnessed, she knew she was not a match for anybody in the building. She waited for Yuri and Tony to arrive so she could ignite the gas. Suddenly, Serak appeared out of nowhere. “Don’t you know you shouldn’t play with fire little girl” Serak said in a condescending tone. Donna froze in her tracks; Serak was early. She was hoping that Yuri and Tony would be back by now, but Tony’s injuries were slowing them down. Donna knew she was not match for Serak and tried to make a break for the exit. Before she even got close the exit, Serak materialized in front of her and delivered a blow to her mid section. The punch sent her flying across the room into a puddle of mud. Donna was just fast enough to dodge most of the force of the punch and was able to avoid serious injury, but now her costume was ruined. She was covering in mud and her green tights were full of runs. Undeterred, Donna continued on with the plan. She circled the room carefully and ended up next to a railing that overlooked a huge vat with some type of liquid in it. Serak was growing impatient and wanted to finish off the Dragon and continue on with his plans. Donna was now pinned against the railing with nowhere to go. Serak was in reaching distance from Donna when she heard Yuri yell out to her. Donna quickly ducked under Serak’s outstretched arms and crawled between his legs. Serak was able to grab Donna’s tight covered foot and yelled, “Where do you think you’re going?” Donna quickly kicked out of his grasp and crawled a short distance from him. “Don’t worry about me, just worry about yourself in hell. “ And with that, Donna struck a match on the floor and lit the trail of kerosene she made in front of Serak. Serak was caught off guard and was unable to activate his power and was swept up in the fire. He let out a blood-curdling scream, as he became a flaming giant. Amazingly, he began to walk towards Donna, she looked up and grabbed a giant steel hook and swung it towards Serak. The hook hit Serak square in the chest and knocked him into the vat below causing a massive explosion. The explosion set off a chain reaction. Soon, there were explosions everywhere in the facility. The brewery was coming down around them. The three warriors barely managed to escape the brewery as the entire plant imploded. The image was visible throughout the entire city. A brief time later, Yuri, Donna and Tony were looking at the destruction from a safe distance. Yuri’s mission was a success, but at a painful price. All three were covered in soot and were relieved that the night was over. Yuri took the opportunity to check out Tony’s wounds. She handed a pouch to Donna and told her how to administer it to Tony. Yuri told Donna that she was grateful for the help and was eternally indebted to her. Donna smiled and said Metro City could always use another heroine. Yuri politely said she was needed more in her homeland and with that she took off into the sunrise…
Epilogue
Tony was resting in his hospital bed surfing the TV. His room was filled with all kinds of gifts from various teen heroines wishing him well. Tina was in the room and yelling at Tony that if he ever did something stupid like that again, she would personally kill him. “Don’t worry sis, I’ve learned my lesson.” And with that Tina exited the room. Tony was relieved that whole ordeal was over and he did learn a valuable lesson. The events over that last several days would stay with him forever. Despite what he had gone through, Tony was determined to become a better and smarter crime fighter. He wondered if the Emerald Dragon would be willing to take him on as a sidekick. Just as he was getting lost in his thoughts, the door opened; it was Judy. She had her hair in pigtails and was wearing a long trench coat. She walked up to Tony and said “you had me worried”. “Don’t worry babe, it’ll take more than a giant to put the Kid down. “ “That’s you, always Mister Cocky. I guess you won’t be needing my gift then.” Judy dropped the coat to the ground revealing her Lilac Lass costume. “Time for Nurse Judy to make Tony all better.” Tony immediately had a smile on his face. With that Judy pulled the curtain around Tony’s bed shut.
-
phoxy_brown
- Sargeant
- Posts: 108
- Joined: 20 years ago
somebody stop me
- Attachments
-
- asian warriors.jpg (54.02 KiB) Viewed 2464 times
-
phoxy_brown
- Sargeant
- Posts: 108
- Joined: 20 years ago
More for ya...I guess I probably should put these in one message instead of scattering them about...wasn't thinking...sorry
- Attachments
-
- Red Mist.jpg (23.95 KiB) Viewed 2462 times