Tag Archives: Justice He

Champions of Battle: The Very Best – Opportunity #13

Transport Shuttle: Stirrer 34, Midflight to West Drop

I’m crazy, just crazy.  A sane person wouldn’t do this.  I have to be crazy.  Brisa regretted getting on the shuttle the moment it showed signs that it would start moving.  She was on assignment to track a group people that didn’t like her in the slightest.  Any one of them could kill her.  She knew for sure that one of them hated her; Jaquan hated reporters.  She also knew for sure that one of them found her and attacked with no warning.

The ship had taken off about twenty minutes ago.  Brisa has had plenty of time to think about her mental state since then.  The original event was fresh in her head; forced to stare into those red in black eyes; hanging helpless in the air.  They found her once, they’ll find her again.  They could already know that she was there.

“No, no,” she said out loud trying desperately to push that thought away.  They found her once and she got off with a warning, a warning she will never forget.  She may not be so lucky if they found her again.

They can’t know that she was there.  The shuttle was huge.  There was no way they saw her get in the shuttle.  She sat in the back of the shuttle they were in the front.  They couldn’t have seen her enter the shuttle either.  The fans bombarded the Champion and his crew before she entered.  Besides, if they knew she was there, she would have known by now.

She was safe as long as she stayed out of sight.  Her part of this mission was about finished.  Things were going well.  All she had to do was get to West Drop, meet the other reporter, and go back home.

The pulsing heat on her chest was getting easier to bare.  It was far from gone though.  Maybe she was getting used to it.  The heat was getting to the point where she could possibly ignore it if she was distracted enough.  Now she just had to bare this flight, however long it would be.

—–

In the celebrity cabin, Jaquan, Liana, and Justice were on the phone with the last of the angry fight commission representatives.  Jaquan was under contract to fight Orien Quan plain and simple.  If Jaquan failed to make the appearance at the fight his title was forfeit.

Jaquan was perfectly fine with losing the title.  Things got a little complicated when ticket sales were added into the equation.  The promoters and event center owners were counting on people in the seats and gold in their pockets.  One at a time, everyone with a voice in the matter expressed their displeasure with the situation.  Some even made interesting threats.

Neely and Catlin were sitting on the couch sound asleep.  It was a wonder they slept without stirring.  As the messages played on, the speakers became more and more intense.  However, Jaquan had made his decision.  The BigBad Crew stood with Jaquan.  They were moving forward with this to see where it landed them.  If it gave them troubles later, so be it.

No doubt how Quan would spin this.  He took every opportunity to tell the press Jaquan was dodging a fight with him.  He would use this move to only “prove” his story.  As the messages ended, the three sat in silence.

Liana was the first to speak up, “Now that we’ve disappeared from the promoters, they’ll think you’ve run away from Chuan.”

“Not scared of him,” Jaquan responded as he would to a nagging parent.  When did Chuan get so important anyway?  It really was getting old.  All Quan did was talk about himself on the news.

“How would the public know that,” Liana gave the basic logical response.

Jaquan couldn’t get mad at that.  He was half thinking that to himself, “I’ll say it.”

“To whom,” Liana responded, “Whatever you say, Orien will spin to say whatever he wants it to mean.  He’s been doing it for years.”

“I find that face time is only good for drawing attention,” Justice added with an air of insight, “like advertisements.  Even if you sent a convincing message though the press, Chuan will counter.  But, if we show what you’re doing and prove Chuan a liar, he’ll have nothing to say.”

“No one respectable is here to film us,” Liana said, “We left without any notice to the press.  For all the promoters know, we’re going to West Drop to party.  No one even knows that we’re…”

They all came to the same conclusion, even Jaquan.  He slapped his head with disgust, “A reporter, really.”  He didn’t like it, but it was the fastest option they had to stay credible.  They had to get the word out that he was not hiding or running.  This would silence Quan before his loud mouth even opened.

They looked at Catlin and Neely napping on the couch.  If Brisa was truly from Champion’s Chronicle she’d be on this shuttle somewhere.  Once Catlin woke up, she could easily track Brisa down.  Then they’d have a special exclusive for the rookie news starlet.

#1 – Opportunity #12 – Opportunity #14

Champions of Battle: The Very Best – Opportunity #11

Brisa had never expected to follow Jaquan and his crew all the way to Bear Gate.  The city had a very dangerous reputation; surrounded by dense dangerous woods; impossible to reach by air.  Only a relative few people knew how to get there.  Justice seemed to be one of them, but how?

She was surprised the BigBad Crew took the travel plans so well.  They were just going to walk through the woods.  That was crazy, even for a professional fighter.  They were going to that insane city to rest, oddly enough.  The tournament was even deeper in the woods!

Mr. Meng, the chief executive of The Champion’s Chronicle, wanted to do a story on the BigBad Crew for some reason.  He seemed to know that something especially interesting was going to happen.  He wanted to expose all of their secrets or something?  Brisa wasn’t sure.  She did know that to make an authentic story, someone would have to follow them wherever they went.

Not her.

Her job was getting the information to pass to the brave/foolish reporter.  She was supposed to get the information unnoticed, a relatively easy task.  It seemed she failed to do even that.

Of course, it was Duard Ban’s fault getting her trapped in all this mess.  That idiot always thought too much of himself.  Jaquan hated reporters.  Everyone, from the fans to the doorkeepers at the hotel, knew that Jaquan Zu hated reporters.  Still, he leaped at the assignment without thinking of her position in this.  He wasn’t scared of Jaquan.  He will be now.

He was bold enough to stand directly in front of Jaquan Zu, trying to get him to stop.  He got a good rib-crushing stomp in the chest for his troubles.  Now, he’s resting in the hospital.  As Duard’s errand girl, Brisa was the only person from Champion’s Chronicle near the scene.

She always wanted to be an ace reporter but never thought her chance would come like the, or be so short lived.  She watched her quarry load onto the shuttle, a large white box of a ship.  None of them wanted to see her again, their glances made sure she knew as much.

She watched each of them file into the shuttle one at a time.  Each of them scared her to death.  For the strangest reason, Neely scared her the most.  Not so much for what he did; but what he said or, how he said it.  His words bore into her consciousness.  Even now, she remembered power behind his words.

Just thinking of his words brought the entire torturous scene back.  The memory was more powerful than the experience.  The fire and frost seeping into her chest while floating helpless in the air.  She was unsure that she would ever forget.  There was no way she was going to follow them.  She wanted to write about safer things.

She was done.  The only thing left was to tell Mr. Meng of her utter failure and probably get fired.  Her hand slowly lifted her handheld to talking position while she carefully dialed the numbers for headquarters.  She wanted to get a good look at her boss perhaps for the last time.

Within moments, she was speaking with Mr. Meng.  A hologram of his torso and face appeared just above her handheld.  She saw a bit of scenery behind him too.  Apparently, he was sitting at his desk.  He was heavy set and sweaty.  His grey suit was quite disorganized with splotches of food condiments.  He had tan skin with thick golden tiger-like stripes all over his face and body.  Never mind his appearance; she knew his reaction to failure.  He yelled at Mr. Ban enough times, and that was for minor errors.  Could she go through with this?

She started slowly trying to sound strong in front of the one Crisho she desperately needed to impress.  She failed miserably.  “Th… they found me.  I don’t know how.  It was… it was horrible.  I thought th… they were going kill me,” Brisa was at the verge of tears by the time she finished.  As she heard herself talk, she realized that she really had no idea how they found her.  She was recording things on her handheld; there was a bright flash; then she was staring into the most frightening pair of eyes she had ever seen.

“Kid, listen to me,” Mr. Meng sounded strangely understanding, “they’re bluffing you.  Don’t fall for it.”  He spoke to her in a calm but firm tone.  “I know these tough guy types.  They put up a good front but when you get to know them, they’re a bunch of softies.”

He spoke like he had been there, but Brisa knew better.  The BigBad Crew was not bluffing, nor were they softies.  They knew who she was.  They knew why she was there.  If they saw her again, they would stop her from doing it.  “B…but.”

“No buts kid,” the chief executive almost started to sound frustrated.  He corrected himself immediately, “Our star reporter is out of commission because of this guy; Zu is hiding something, I know it; and you’re the only one we can tag on his trail right now,” his argument made a small amount of sense. “You want to be a news star, you need a big chance.  This is your big chance.  I’m not asking you to do anything dangerous.  All you have to do is follow him.  I’ll get a reporter to meet you at Bear Gate and you’ll come home.  It’ll be easy.  Just stay out of sight.”

That was easy enough.  All he was asking her to do was follow them.  The shuttle had no windows, there was no way they could see her.  All she had to do was stay out of sight for the shuttle ride to Bear Gate.  Once she was there, the new reporter team would be there, and she was done.  It was an easy job.  “Okay,” it seems a little too easy though, “I’ll do it.” This could be a bad idea.  Despite her doubts, she boarded the shuttle.

—–

The BigBad Crew rested in their private cabin on the shuttle.  They had their own aircraft but Justice insisted they travel like this.  No worries.  Jaquan only had to sign a few autographs for the fans and then ask to be left alone.  The fans knew to give him his space.  Justice filled Jaquan and Liana in on the details of the city and made reservations for their trip.

Catlin sat on a couch right next to Neely and rested on him while he read.  Neely didn’t mind her head on his shoulder.  They had been good friends for a long while now.  Also, with her close to him there was little chance for her to turn wild.  Sometimes it happened while she slept.

Catlin’s Thermal and Motion talents were very active even while she rested.  They were amplified by her Unholy talents.  Each person had a heat signature that moved with them.   Using this skill, she watched all the passengers and crew on the shuttle for a while.  However, she was tired from enchanting the huge jug of healing water for Neely and the activities afterwards on the shuttle pad.

Catlin was on the verge of falling asleep when she noticed a particular heat signature moving towards the back of the shuttle.  This one was altered slightly; it had a unique pulsing signature that only someone using the Thermal and Motion Talents could place.  It also had the shape of a bow-tie.  She spoke just loud enough for Neely to hear, “Brisa Gan from the Champion’s Chronicle is following us.”  She decided to sleep anyway.

“Oh well,” was his simple response.

#1 – Opportunity #10 – Opportunity #12

Champions of Battle: The Very Best – Opportunity #9

Close to early evening, they were all packed and ready to go.  The sky began its cycle of twilight shades as the sun prepared to set.  Before long the blue sky would fade to indigo.

Bome City’s defensive turrets scanned grass and the skies just as they always have looking for the slightest hint of danger.  A grid of massive turrets throughout the city perched on the tallest buildings and also set on towering pillars.  Not all of the pillars held the powerful cannons.  As large as the wildlife was, many times a simple bright light or loud noise could scare them off back into the wild.

The Bome’s Prime Minister insisted they be placed all around his kingdom evenly to protect all the people from any wild life that would approach as well as any raiders that would try their luck.  The turrets were everywhere, threatening to tarnish the city’s beautiful skyline.  A tower was even present at the shuttle station where Justice met with Jaquan’s team.

They all looked different now, dressed in traveling gear.  Liana was in her metal mech suit complete with a mask that covered her face.  Jaquan and Neely repeatedly told her it was a horrible idea for her to wear the helmet, but Liana insisted on being able to protect them and herself from whatever may come.

Neely had a heavy looking bag slung over his shoulder.  He stood apart from them with Catlin who wore normal clothing and brass knuckles.  They all had various Hanja on their clothing to enhance certain aspects of their strengths.

Justice was telling Jaquan and Liana about the city they were going to stay and the further steps they would have to take to get to the town that held the tournament.  It seemed like it could become a dangerous trek, only one suitable for someone used to fighting wild beasts.  Liana was quite unhappy about the trek.  Jaquan seemed only a little more welcoming to the thought.

“Getting there is half the fun,” Justice reassured them.

This did not gain any reassurance points with Liana, but a decision was a decision.  They were going.  Neely’s drunken rage set them all strait.  He reminded them why they started in the fight game in the first place.

Neely was the only one still foggy on the details of how they got to this point.  He had asked Liana but she insisted that Catlin knew best about what happened.  As he spoke to Catlin, she enjoyed giving tiny bits of information.

“Why would I ask for poison?”

“The drink I think is designed to have it.”

“So I asked for the drink,” he said riddling out the situation.  “And I knew the poison was added to the drink?”

“Yes it is quite popular with ladies.  The fruit juice usually…” Catlin’s eyes suddenly changed to an unfriendly gaze.  Her mannerisms changed along with her gaze.  No longer was she a silly child teasing her brother about the secret he may never know.  She was the alert warrior that knew something was misplaced, invisible but certain.  Having seen this gaze many times, Neely picked up on the change and translated it correctly.

“Empowerment aura and light please,” she whispered.  Her eyes quickly faded black her irises turning a brilliant red.  She pointed with them to the pillar about a meter behind her.

Neely activated his empowerment aura signified by a dim silver sphere extending about four and a half centimeters from him in all directions.  Along with it, a bright outline of gold closely surrounded his body.  Standing close to him, Catlin was completely engulfed by the aura.

Neely took a simple looking handle from his pocket and held it inside the pack he was carrying.  Gears and machines whirled and within four seconds he was holding a fully functional and strung compound bow, small but really strong.

He pulled an arrow from the pack.  It caught fire as he shot it at the pillar.  Just as it would have hit the pillar, Catlin motioned with her hand for it to go around the pillar.  The arrow obeyed perfectly and landed on the other side of the pillar with a flash bright enough to be visible in the daylight.  Along with the flash: The shadow of a very surprised person with a handheld.

With anger in her mind and hands encircled with dark red flames, she performed a gripping motion in the spy’s direction and performed a pulling motion in the air towards her chest.  In that split second motion, the spy was delivered from behind the pillar directly in front of them.

By now they had the attention of the whole team as well as a few onlookers.  Her cover blown, hanging in the air at Catlin’s thinning mercy, the spy had only one thing to say.

“Um… Hello,” she started nervously, “I’m Brisa Gan with the Champion’s Chronicle.”

#1 – Opportunity #8 – Opportunity #10