At The Point Of A Blade Part 1


    A Chinese man was sobbing and begging for his life as he was dragged into a very large office that more resembled a fancy hotel suite or penthouse apartment.  His bleeding on the carpet didn’t match the decor.

    The room was darkened, lit only by paper and wood lanterns with dim bulbs that served more of a decorative than useful purpose.  The walls were painted black with an ornate Chinese design red grid overlaid on top, matching the red plush carpeting.

    Sparse furniture in the room matched the walls, only with gold trim, that matched the tied-open curtains behind the small carved desk.  Behind that desk was a red leather chair.

    Occupying that chair was a tall Chinese man in black and gold robes with long, wide sleeves.  His arms were crossed, so his hands weren’t visible.  He was clean-shaven, had a long, braided ponytail, and wore an impatient, angry expression.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Where is my cut?”  he asked, his voice exhibiting a calm that betrayed his obvious anger.  “I told you twice, nothing gets in and out of this town without a tribute payment.  And you continue to betray me?  Did you really believe inviting a foreigner to do your trading for you would release you of your obligations?”

    More babbling as the bleeding Chinese man begged and bled some more.

    The ponytailed man uncrossed his arms, revealing long fingernails that were painted black, and filed to a razor sharp edge - only they were made of steel now.  He walked around his desk carefully, watching his victim plead for himself, and for his family.  Then he swiped at the man’s throat, and he seemed pleased at the choking sound and the pool of blood after the man collapsed.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Find his family and wipe them out.”  he said.  “And expel all the foreigners from Tianjin.”

    That was quite a demand for such a large, worldly city, but he just about controlled it.  He had his own army, men in black and gold robes, armed with guns and bladed weapons.  The police did nothing to stop them - they had better things to do than lose their families.

    So as he spoke those words, his will was done.  His control was absolute.

    He called himself The Warlord.


---


    Ã¢â‚¬Å“What’s with the fax?”  Yuki Shiro asked Jay Boaz, as she entered his office.  He was sitting at his desk, staring at a newly arrived fax.  The light passing through the paper was how Yuki knew what it was.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Trouble in some city in China called Tianjin.”  Jay replied.  “Someone called The Warlord took over the city with his own private army.  I’m not sure why the Lair Legion is needed for this.  Why does Tianjin sound so familiar?”

    Yuki smirked, and leaned on the edge of his desk.  She liked explaining things she knew and he didn’t.  “Liu Xi was born in a small town in the region, remember?”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Hmm.  I wonder if she knows about this?”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“I doubt she cares.”  Yuki replied with a shrug.  “She barely keeps up with politics in this country.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“This isn’t politics.”  Jay said, musing over the fax some more.  “This is something else.  There’s a rumor The Warlord beheads his victims using fingernails made of steel.  But no one has ever seen them.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“How does he take a shower?”  Yuki asked no one in particular.  “Steel fingernails, raises so many questions.  Wait, no one has ever seen them?  That’s unusual, it’s not like you can hide long steel fingernails.”

    Jay nodded.  “Makes me think he’s using some kind of magic to make them appear.”

    Yuki moved away from the desk, and paced the room twice, thinking, arms crossed.  “Elemental magic maybe?  Mastery over metal?”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Hmm...I’ve never seen Liu Xi try to replace body parts with other elements.”  Jay only half whispered to Yuki.  “Then again, I don’t think she’s crazy enough to try.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Well, fingernails and hair are dead tissue.”  Yuki noted.  “It wouldn’t be particularly painful or dangerous.  Scary maybe...”

    He nodded.  “I guess I need to talk to Liu Xi.  Maybe she can give me some info on what to do about this.”

    Yuki tilted her head and smiled.  “Why don’t you take her with you, Jay?  She speaks the language, and she can defend herself--”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“She’s--”  he started to say.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Don’t say she’s a civilian.”  Yuki interrupted him quickly, and she reached over the desk and poked him in the chest as she said it.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Well, she is,”  he persisted.  And then more quietly he added, “And she’s my friend.  If something happened to her because of me, I’d never be able to live with it.

    Yuki’s mouth hung open, and she had no words.  She saw the worry in his eyes.  “Then look after her,”  she said.  “You can’t always keep her locked away safely, not with power like hers.  But you can help train her personally, and you can look out for her.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“I guess.”  he relented sadly.  “Maybe...I can use someone who speaks the language.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“And can get you into China.”  Yuki pointed out.  “You can’t exactly fly the LairJet in, or use your Rockets cap.  You’ll have fighter jets chasing you all the way from the coast.”

    Jay scratched his head.  “I don’t know why I didn’t think of that.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Cause you pay me to think of that.”  Yuki joked with a smirk.  She started to walk backwards toward the door.  “I’ll send her down to talk to you.”


---


    Liu Xi Xian had just spoken to Yuki Shiro on her cell phone a moment ago.  At that moment, she was in the comfort of her apartment near Paradopolis University.  Yuki told her to come to the Lair Mansion and speak to Jay immediately, so she stepped into a hallway in the Lair Mansion as easily as she would walk through a doorway.

    She didn’t believe she was in any trouble, though, because of Yuki’s upbeat attitude on the phone - she sounded excited, not angry.

    The Chinese girl arrived at Jay’s office, and peeked around the already open door.  She caught him on the small couch in the office, flipping through channels on the wall mounted flat panel television.  She remembered Yuki had that installed with the excuse that watching live news was just as useful a resource for spotting trouble.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“You were looking for me?”  she asked, and smirked when he turned abruptly and dropped the remote.  She had entered silently, and he didn’t see her there until she spoke.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Yes,”  he answered quickly, regaining his composure.  “I have a job for you.  A mission you can help me with.”

    Liu Xi paused for a moment, and looked surprised.  “You...you want me to go on a mission?”

    Jay looked toward the doorway.  For some reason, even when Yuki wasn’t there it felt like she was watching somehow, so it was too late to back out now.  “Sure, you could really help.  And I figure if we get into real trouble I can always call in the rest of the Lair Legion.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Okay.”  Liu Xi climbed over the arm of the couch and sat down with her legs folded beneath her.  “I’m listening.”

    Jay told Liu Xi what was going on.  She felt a little disappointed that it sounded so simple for all the suspense that had been built up since Yuki’s phone call.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“So that’s all we do?  Investigate?”  She nodded slowly.  “Okay, I can help.  I can ask questions for you, since I speak the language.  When do we go?”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Right away, if we can.”  he said.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Okay.”  She nodded again.  “Let me pack a few things, I know somewhere nice we can stay in the city.”

    He was a little surprised at that.  “You do?”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“I took day trips there when I was younger.”  she explained.  “It’s a bus and a train ride from where I lived.”  Liu Xi was just about to leave the room to pack when she stopped.  “Don’t bring shorts.  They think tall Americans in shorts look funny.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“I’m Canadian.”  Jay pointed out.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Whatever.”  She shrugged.  “Meet you back here in a half hour?”

    He looked a little annoyed at the ‘Whatever’ comment, but he said, “I’ll be waiting.”


TO BE CONTINUED
    

-- Story written and copyrighted (C) 2009 by Jason Froikin, and may not be 
--    reprinted without permission.  
-- Yuki Shiro designed by Jason Froikin, based on designs by Masamune Shirow
--  Liu Xi Xian and the Psychic Samurai are original design by Jason Froikin
--  Lara Night is an original creation by Jason Froikin