Tag Archives: Catlin Mi

Champions of Battle: The Very Best – Opportunity #23

The lady kept tugging at Brisa’s arm.  Her pleading and crying took Brisa completely off guard.  Brisa had no intention of being drawn directly into a conflict right after getting to town.  She had her own mission, but the panicking woman seemed genuine if not a little pushy.

These people had to be important to this lady.  They obviously needed crucial help.  The lady was filled with such urgency.  She kept pulling and pleading.  Brisa couldn’t help but take a few steps to go with her.  Soon they started walking faster.  Eventually, Brisa was running with her into the city.

Brisa had no idea where they were going.  They kept turning and running through alleys.  It became hard to remember where they had been.  Before long, they had gone deep into the city.

Whoever was causing the problems was going to pay.  Brisa wasn’t really a fighter but she had her weapons.  Thanks to Catlin, she was armed to the teeth.  Brisa had a real chance to be a hero.  All it really took was a few good shots to stop an aggressor.  She checked her gun clips.  They were enchanted with aim.  They would not miss.  She would have to thank Catlin, whenever she decided to talk to Catlin again.

They stopped their sprint as they looked down the final alley.  “Here it is,” the lady said, “they’re right down here,” and she took off running down the alley.

That was all the encouragement Brisa needed to follow.  She started a sprint forward.  After one step she stopped.

A brick wall of thoughts hit while a needle of wisdom pricked her head, as a warning.  Something about this whole situation was very, very wrong.  Brisa couldn’t place what it was, but it was most certainly there.  There was something bad, really bad and hazardous about all of this.

After the lady disappeared down the corner, her mind filled with questions.  Why would this lady call to only her for help?  There had to be more strong fighters leaving the shuttle.  Sure, Brisa looked like a warrior too.  However, there had to be at least one real warrior that left the shuttle before her.

Why didn’t the lady call for the local guards?  This city was a much more peaceful than Brisa imagined.  There had to be some really strong guards to keep the peace in this city full of powerful lawless warriors.

Why didn’t the lady get help from local warriors?  They had passed dozens of scary looking people on the way here.  How many warriors did this lady pass on the way to the shuttle pad?  Surely someone else in this town would like a reward for killing an aggressor; or a sucker.

A sucker?

Brisa drew her guns.  The action was somewhat slow and a little sloppy but she focused as she aimed down the alley.  She listened, there were no struggles down the alley; no fighting; the lady had stopped crying.  There weren’t even any shots fired.  No sounds at all.

Why were these questions only coming to mind now?  The lady had just run down the alley.  The answer hit her immediately.  A charm!  Brisa had been fooled by an enchantment again!  There had to be something about her that made her a target.

Brisa quickly looked around.  She wasn’t going to be a sucker, not again.  With her luck, it could be too late already.  She was already lost in the city.  All Brisa wanted to do was see the sights and maybe learn something about the people here.  Well, she succeeded.  However, getting mugged and possibly harmed in this city was not in any part of her plans.

She holstered her guns and walked briskly away from the alley.  Good, bad, or worse, whatever was happening down that alley had nothing to do with her.  Brisa didn’t mind keeping it that way.

A few blocks down, she passed a series of shops.  In the large clean window, she saw her reflection.  The enchantment on top of her mask was glowing.  She only knew the meanings of a few Hanja.  This one was the Hanja for the perception enchant.  “Perception,” Brisa said to herself, “interesting.”

She would really have to thank Catlin; whenever she decided to talk to Catlin again.

#1Opportunity #22 – Opportunity #24

Champions of Battle: The Very Best – Opportunity #21

Catlin sat back down and looked passed the empty seat across from her.  The others ate in silence.  Brisa was walking up the stairs towards her cabin still wearing the armor and enchanted gear Catlin had made especially for her.  Catlin knew exactly where Brisa’s cabin was, but it was best not to force a conversation right now.

Catlin had approached Brisa’s door with a powerful disguising enchant to keep Brisa from freaking out on site.  The event at the shuttle platform had affected Brisa much more than Catlin had wanted.  There was no way to know Brisa would be so ill-equipped for life outside the news room.

She slowly got to know Brisa.  Honestly, she was easy to get along with.  As they bonded, Catlin slowly weakened the enchantment but Brisa was still not ready to know the truth.  She had thought that eating with the person she was hired to follow would be enough of an apology.  Perhaps it was working for a while

Catlin had dropped the disguising enchantment at the table some time ago.  Her mask also had a perception enchant making it easier for her to see through disguises.  With all that, Brisa was still under the influence of Catlin’s spell.  Which meant one thing: Brisa wanted to believe the lie.

Once her eyes were open, they saw how she reacted to being tricked.  She didn’t like it.  No one does.  No one ever does.  Catlin knew that from the start but she was assured that things would turn out for the best.  They were following an “inspired” plan after all.

Catlin turned to Neely, “You told me to hide myself.  Now she doesn’t trust us at all.”

“It was better than the alternative,” he rebutted calmly after taking a drink.  It was water this time, “Or would you have liked her to run, scream, and call security on you.”

His distant calm bugged her and his tactics were unfeeling.  All of her hard work was wasted.  She’ll be recovering from performing those enchantments for at least a day.  The fruit of her labor walked away along with Brisa.  Catlin had lost a friend and they still needed to find someone to report on Jaquan, all because of Neely.  “What do we do now,” she asked Jaquan.

“We continue on our way,” he answered with his mouth full, “You said she was only going to stay in the town for a little while, right?”  He chewed a bit more then he swallowed, “We just have to wait for the replacement team.  Then we check them.”

They continued their meal.  Everyone ate their fill except Catlin.  She wasn’t hungry.

—–

Brisa reached her cabin still a little shaken.  It seemed that the BigBad Crew was fine eating without her.  They seemed not at all hostile to her this time.  Still the tricks and betrayal were a different type of hostility.  They had attacked her before.  No matter if they were remorseful, they wouldn’t get another chance.

Catlin’s impromptu meeting was a good trick.  The Crew may have wanted her to join them on their trip.  However, after telling them her secrets, she didn’t feel safe around any of them.  Catlin could use her fears and weaknesses for any purpose.  The “Catlin” she met could have also been a smokescreen.  She just didn’t know.

Duard would probably call her a fool for leaving like she did.  But he wasn’t here.  Only she was here with no backup.  Still, Brisa had surpassed him on one note.  She had, after all, gotten as close to Jaquan as he did; and without getting stepped on.  Duard was probably just leaving the hospital after his three day reminder that Jaquan ‘hated’ reporters.

All the same, the shuttle was landing.  It was time to call South Coast.

#1Opportunity #20 – Opportunity #22

Champions of Battle: The Very Best – Opportunity #20

Brisa sat there for a few moments, paralyzed by fear.  Jaquan and his crew took their seats around the table.  None of them said a word.  Jaquan made it a point to sit just to the left of Brisa.  They waited in silence giving Brisa time to think.  Within a few minutes the servers brought food serving Brisa first.

Still, it took a little time for the truth to sink in: Catlin’s friends were the BigBad Crew.  Brisa thought back to their earlier conversations.  Each time Catlin giggled was a reaction to knowing this secret.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”  Brisa was still wearing the mask.  There was thin black cloth covering her eyes along with a painting of a mantis designed to hide were she was looking.  However, it was quite obvious that she was talking to Catlin.

“The first time we met, wasn’t under the best of circumstances,” was Catlin’s calm response.

“What do you mean?  You knocked on my cabin door.”

Neely was sitting to the right of Catlin.  He mumbled something to her.  Catlin whispered a barely loud enough for Brisa to hear, “I dropped it a few minutes ago.  We have to wait for her.”

After a time, she gathered her wits just enough to look them all in the eyes.  Almost all the BigBad Crew was there: Jaquan, Neely, and Liana still in her mech suit.  Even Justice was there.  Brisa wasn’t sure if he was an official member of the crew.  However, he had been with them since the championship victory party.  The only one missing was…

OH NO!

Catlin sat across the table from Brisa with a bored look.  Brisa had missed it all this time.  Catlin’s eyes were different than before.  Not red in black, not glowing, or spouting black flame, they were normal.  Still, there was no mistaking it.  Catlin had attacked her at the shuttle port.  The one she had the most reason to fear had just become her close friend in the last few hours.

Brisa’s thoughts of safety were nothing but illusionary smoke.  Catlin had tracked her down easily.  Within the first few minutes of the flight Catlin was knocking on her door.  Like a fool she opened the door embracing the enemy with open arms.

How did Catlin disguise herself so well?  She must have used something, perhaps an enchantment to hide herself.  She was never malicious and could have attacked at any time.  Instead, they had what Brisa thought was the most wonderful time.  Still Catlin used a trick to get close to her.  If she was truly repentant, she would have apologized at the beginning.

“I apologize for my reaction to you earlier,” Catlin said, “I thought for sure you were a spy.  I was looking for a good time to tell you but it never came.”

“We all apologize for our actions before,” Jaquan spoke up, “but now, let’s eat.”

Brisa was so full of conflicting emotions: ultimate deception by an enemy that had become a best friend; a lady that had given her so much to prove that she wasn’t what she had to be?  Brisa said as she got up from the table, “I’m sorry.  I can’t do this.”  She walked away from the table, back towards her cabin.  She half expected to be pulled back to the table and forced to sit.  Since she was not she assumed she was free to go.  Under the mask a tear left her eye.

Catlin stood almost grabbing at Brisa with her Kin-Po Talents but thought against it.  Instead she called, “We’re planning to leave for Bear Gate at hour seventeen.”

Brisa paused at the information then kept walking.  She was welcomed to join them but unsure if she wanted to.

“So,” Liana said, her mask altering her voice to that of a machine’s, “What do we do now?”

Jaquan simply answered, “We eat.”

#1Opportunity #19 – Opportunity #21