Sigma/Star

Chapter 112: Return to Beijing Part 2

Porter shook his head, clouds of darkness lifting around him. His eyes opened to vibrant lighting above him, amplified by the metallic sheen of the walls he was surrounded by. As he began to gather his wits, he made out the forms of his compatriots. Each of them had their wrists tied behind their backs, seated on the floor.

The last thing he could remember was standing in the shop and finding out that he was staring at a government officer. Then everything was blank. How they had gotten to this point, or where this point even was, was just empty space. Panic began to set in to Porter's mind as the list of negative possibilities started to pile up.

"Up you get." A large woman had walked through the door, a gun twirling around her finger. She eyed all of them individually, examining them up and down and daring them to challenge her. She quickly asserted her authority over the room, stalking in between them and glaring at anyone who made eye contact. They all slowly tried to respond to her request, struggling without the full use of their hands. Eventually they were all close enough to standing that she continued. "They're all ready for you sir."

The woman backed away and turned her head towards the doorway, waiting for somebody's entrance. A green-toothed smile preceded the smaller man, and Porter felt a rush to his head before his entire body released its tension. "Ling Shi?"

"There is only one Ling Shi," the man answered, stepping into the light. It was indeed the leader of the Jade Fang, his slim body and round-face hiding the dangerous warrior underneath. "And he is right in front of you." Ling did a bit of a bow, before he snapped his fingers and the woman disappeared, leaving the five pilots alone with the rebel leader.

"What are you doing here?" Porter could barely contain his smile. Ling Shi was the last person he expected to run into at this moment, and wasn't even on the list of possible reasons he had no memory and was tied up.

Ling Shi gave out his infamous smile, though his eyes did seem to wander around a bit, as if he were searching for something still. "I live here Porter. A better question is why you're here."

"And why are we tied up? And what happened?"

Ling leaned back against the wall, inspecting his fingernails for dirt. "Look, I asked the question after I answered yours. Piling more on doesn't really answer my question at all." The rebel leader stopped for a bit, glancing up at the five sets of eyes staring at him, and continued anyways, disregarding his prior complaint. "If you think you can walk into my country, let alone my city, without me knowing, then you certainly underestimate me. We are the Jade Fang, Porter. I am the Jade Fang. I know when foreigners come visiting, particularly ones who were deemed criminals in league with my organization by the local government. As for what happened, I believe you were about to be arrested by official agents here, due to that whole 'criminals in league with my organization thing' that I just mentioned." Ling Shi made air quotes to emphasize his point. he had begun to strut around the room, wandering aimlessly as he boasted about himself.

"Then, of course," he continued, "since you were about to be put into arrest, I thought it would be a better idea if you weren't put into arrest."

"That's not really a descriptive retelling," Ardwen cut in, his logical brain trying to catch up to the situation.

"We're not really a descriptive-retelling kind of group." Ling flashed his smile again, but it took on a much more sinister tone. "Anyways, knocking out just about everyone in that shop seemed like the best option, and to answer your last question, you're tied up because this is my place, you're foreign visitors, I only know one of you, and I generally don't trust you even if I like you." Ling Shi snapped again and the woman returned, carrying a small platter with a glass of water on it. The rebel leader snatched the cup immediately, downing half of it, then splashing the rest on his face to cool off from his lengthy speech.