Chapter 33: Chapter 20

Chapter 20

(???)

Montana
Facility 03

 

Just as he had expected, Subject Grey had found the surveillance team. He had recalled them and at least left some of the static surveillance gear; giving him time to switch his operation to a base out of the country. He was sure that she would find this installation within the mountains of Montana.

Test subjects were transported first, gear second and to finish, the personnel that he had to bribe or outright blackmail to uproot themselves. Nevertheless, this little setback was a minor speed bump on the metaphorical road that he intended to pursue, that of the control or the eradication of mutant kind.

Returning to work, he sat at his desk and for what would be the last time within this facility, his moment of silence over with, a hand reached forward and pressed the intercom button. "Kill the nonessential assets."

Hanging up, he lit on the screen and watched as the mutants in their prison cells were being gassed. He wasn't shy at watching them writhe in pain in their cell. It reminded him eerily of what the Nazis had done… but he was willing to become a monster if it meant that humankind survived.

 

# # #

(Jeryn Hogarth)

February 18th, 1997
Hyatt Grand Central
New York

 

They were back in the same blue and white Greek themed suite, with a chariot full of pastries and drinks at the table’s side. Jeryn looked at the redhead before her. She had brought another girl with her, a redhead who seemed younger than her, called Angelica, who stood behind her. The girl was fourteen to fifteen years old but wore a white skin tight short sleeved blouse with a scarlet red plaid skirt and a big belt and half calf boots. Jeryn felt that it wasn't appropriate for such a young girl to be clothed that way, in her time it was all about dresses… okay that was a lie she put on such short skirts as well. Adults are such hypocrites and it pained her to have become this way.

The lawyer laughed deprecatingly at herself and then asked Jean, “Is she your sister?”

Contrasting with the casual outfit of Angelica, Jean wore a dark blue tight business suit with a long skirt, accessorized with long black velvet gloves and round toe lacquered high heel boots. The young woman looked professional and well put together.

Jean's lips arced into a beautiful smile. “Not in blood, but she’s one of my besties.”

Angelica hugged the older redhead from behind. “Aww Jeanie.”

The older redhead put a hand on Angelica's forearm, then the two broke off and the young redhead returned to her position. Jeryn smiled at the two young women, then put her tea cup to her mouth to sip on the black tea they had brewed. When she finished sipping on the liquid, Jeryn put down her teacup on the saucer and asked, “She seems to be your bodyguard today, but she looks younger…” 

When Jeryn had seen Jean arrive in the reserved suite, she didn't see the mountain of a man that had been following her like a shadow the last time. Just Jean and her friend, something must have happened.

Jean grinned knowing exactly what Jeryn meant. “Well, I have a lot of bodyguards and I am never alone. And Angelica is deceptively strong, you know? She's fifteen in a month too..."

*How many? I discovered a lot of things about you Jean Grey and that you’re still consolidating your assets, but you still surprise me.* Jeryn thought as she looked between Angelica and Jean.

Jean suddenly chuckled as she looked at Jeryn for no reason, then switched to a thoughtful expression as she said, "...Huh, now that I think about it, we need to organize a party.”

Angelica intervened with a quick, “You don’t have to, Jean.”

Jean harrumphed and said in a mock snide expression, “We’ll see.”

The young redhead shook her head in dejection as she somehow dreaded the party. Then the two younger women calmed down and Jean decided to come to the point of this meeting. “Anyway, Jeryn, I’ve come to you for advice.”

The tone of the conversation shifted to a more serious one, the pleasantries were finally over with; Jeryn’s smile became less refined and nice, a shark like smile was the only way to describe it. “Just like I guessed, I mean you’re still paying top dollar for this room and my time.”

Fifty thousand dollars for a consultation, that's how much Jean Grey valued Jeryn’s time and advice. This was flattering and rewarding in a way that Jeryn found attractive, even if she didn’t give her money, Jeryn would have come to a meeting with Jean, but the young woman wanted her entire focus and the money she provided made it so that the Lawyer did just that; she could understand why she kept doing it. It was free money and her retirement fund kept swelling; the wife was happy as well, they splurged for a future cruise in the Mediterranean.

Jeryn already had reserved the tickets and she couldn’t wait to treat her taste buds to authentic Italian cuisine, stroll around ancient towns in Greece and soak up the sun along Croatia's stunning coastline like she dreamed to do.

Jean nodded, pushing aside her teacup with the saucer to lean forward. “You generally have good ideas; I’m thinking of offering you a position later.”

The lawyer narrowed her eyes, she had too many problems like the one caused by Harold Meachum who was already moving in to seize Rand Industry. Jeryn had to let go of the certainly lucrative business that Jean was creating. “I am afraid that I need to refuse, there’s a matter that demands my constant attention.”

“Nothing is yet written in stone, here take this.” Jean took something from her handbag and slid it on the table toward Jeryn who looked at what it was.

 It’s a business card.

 

Cygnus Production.
Modeling and Fashion

CEO: Jean Grey
NXX-NXX-XXXX 

 

Jeryn’s eyes went wide, she looked from the card to Jean’s face who had an impish expression on it. The lawyer remembered the comment she had made about believing Jean to have some kind of fashion industry aspiration because of how stylish she was, she couldn’t believe that the young woman wanted to go in that sort of business as well. "You really want to open a modeling agency and a fashion company now?"

“You gave me the idea last time we spoke.” Jean said smugly as she seemed to really like Jeryn’s reaction to her little bomb.

“I see.” Jeryn looked somewhat disappointed, the young woman had solid plans for her special laboratory, she didn't want to see Jean spread herself thin before even starting.

“So, you brought one of your best friends because…?” Jeryn began to ask.

Angelica was a rather attractive girl, she had yet to flower fully though. Jean nodded and said, “I have plans to make her one of my models, obviously we don’t intend to follow the same disgusting trends as the other modeling companies.”

Contrary to Jeryn’s expectation, Jean seemed to have more resources and ideas than she thought. The redhead smiled at her and added, “It happens that I’ve come up with a new kind of synthetic fabric, here I brought a sample. I’m not going into the fashion industry blind.”

Jean took a transparent plastic from her handbag, opened it and fished the piece of fabric out and handed it to Jeryn who accepted it and examined it with her two hands. “It’s stretchy.”

The fabric was black and smooth to the touch, not dissimilar to finely woven cotton. Jean spoke as she described the sample fabric that Jeryn was handling. "I call it Smart Fabric, it is made of molecularly entangled nanofiber; it always returns to its form, we can tweak the texture at will as well. It's hard to stain, and somewhat resistant to slashing and stabbing damages."

Jeryn still doubted despite being unable to identify the piece of fabric, it wasn’t silk, silk has a smooth, soft texture that is not slippery, but somehow the black fabric had the same quality. The fabric in her hands wasn't cotton; cotton fibers are natural hollow fibers; they are soft, cool, known as breathable fibers and absorbent. 

But somehow, Jeryn felt that it had the quality of the two other fabrics. Jean understood that Jeryn needed to be shown the qualities of the fabrics. "A demonstration is required, I see."

The lawyer slowly nodded. “It would be for the best, show me.”

Jean put her hand out face first and Angelica produced  a butterfly knife from somewhere on her body theatrically. The younger redhead placed the cutting tool into Jean’s hand. Jean placed the stretchy black fabric on the table and adroitly handled the butterfly knife with her fingers and opened it, unfolding the blade and with a lot of strength planted it into the table in the middle of the fabric.

With a big ‘Thwack’ sound Jeryn flinched as she saw the ruthless downward thrust made by Jean; the lawyer was sure that the young woman had had training in wielding knives. 

The lawyer’s eyes widened as she saw that the fabric had no visible damage when Jean took out the knife.  Jean’s eyes shone with satisfaction as she said, “Now look at it.”

Jeryn quickly took the piece of fabric and looked for a puncture and saw… nothing. Then she looked at the spot on the table where the fabric was placed on. There wasn’t even a mark on the table’s surface; Jeryn’s hand tightened on the fabric, she understood rather quickly the applications of such a fabric. It’s properties were really valuable.

The older woman looked into Jean’s eyes and said, “This is… you could sell this to the military, Jean.”

The redhead’s face scrunched into a disgust filled expression. “I know, Smart Fabric has military applications, but I don’t want to be bothered with those tight assed people… I want to make things for everyday people, not to make my country more efficient at killing people.”

“I see.” Jeryn said with a knowing smile.

The lawyer was aware of how flawed their current society was and it seemed that Jean was as well; the fatal flaws of America's core political arrangements: Institutionalized pluralism, the structural dispersal of power, that generates a government too weak to solve public problems. The flawed Capitalism in the US is a hyper-competitive and grossly unfair economic system, which rewards pre-existing wealth far better than hard work or talent, and encourages petty materialist consumption of mostly low-quality goods, undermining taste as well as fairness. 

Still, the system was there, and they could only use it, instead of being used by it. A brilliant idea sparkled in Jeryn’s mind as one of her clients was in dear need of something new as well; Having Jean meet her might do some good.

With a sparkling smile, Jeryn asked, “Jean, do you know who Janet van Dyne is?”

 

# # #

 

Back with Jean…
February 20th, 1997

 

I was in my Home economics class when I realized that school was quickly becoming boring, if my friends weren't here I would have not passed the time here at all. Home economics courses are offered around the world and across multiple educational levels. Historically, the purpose of these courses was to professionalize housework, to provide intellectual fulfillment for women, and to emphasize the value of "women's work" in society and to prepare them for the traditional roles of sexes. 

But they didn’t appeal to me, I was… or at least Emily had been a geeky fashion stylist and a house-wife who had led a life that had given her all those skills. Now, I had other things to focus on; after all, I had multiple businesses that I wanted to open and that demanded my time. 

My eyes slid onto my blonde best friend and her boyfriend in the seats at my side. Gwen was still the star of the high school with her high marks, Peter followed after her and I was a close third; I really needed to graduate to be out of here and focus on the college courses that I intended to take for the three future PhD I wanted to obtain.

First, to become a geneticist, I needed to go through those courses: Genetics, biology, botany, biochemistry, zoology, molecular chemistry, horticulture and microbiology as well as general education classes, such as English, history and mathematics.

Second to become a bioengineer: Science courses in physics, chemistry, and biology with advanced courses such as organic chemistry and physiology. It will also take a series of social studies/humanities courses to be done with this.

Third, to become a computer-engineer: Core major classes in programming, data structures and algorithms, computer systems engineering, computer architecture and design of operating systems.

And for last, business courses, options include: Accounting, business administration, business analysis, business computing, business ethics, business statistics, commercial law, developing markets, economic principles, finance, human resources, international studies, management, marketing, operations management, research and technology.

Thankfully, I cracked the Wakandan sleep learning device that they used to cheat to make all their people at least somewhat learned; but I needed to test those before using them. I couldn’t absorb or use knowledge download with my telepathy anymore, I noticed a degree of mental contamination lately. My excessive curiosity? Inherited from Nathaniel essex; my stubbornness was also magnified because of doctor Octavius as well, and my mercilessness and methodical approach to resolve problems was inherited from a certain SHIELD agent, Katherine Shane. 

After living as if on a roller coaster, I was now coasting through life on easy mode; not that I wanted to have problems! Those had a tendency to find me, whatever I did… 

I already finished the assignment in class and now I was stuck watching my friend flirt while completing the same thing far slower. Damn, I missed Anna-Marie, it was too bad that she couldn't stay with us; but Raven was rather protective of her daughter. That was why I took my smartphone and decided to text Anna-Marie. I put the phone on silent and cut off the vibration it emits as a notification, looked through my contact list and selected Rogue with the thumbnail picture of her smiling face.

It had been so simple to make a smartphone with the tech Sinister had already pilfered from all over the world and perfected. I was living in the 21st century ahead of everyone who was still stuck in the 90s; never again could I live a simple life without convenient technologies. 

I texted Anna with and started with a greeting, it was afternoon in Egypt, currently. And I hoped that I wasn't bothering her. 

 

Jean: Good afternoon! 

 

Putting the phone down at my side, I looked as the teacher came to inspect the result of us being able to do our own taxes in the future. I really hated doing that, I will have people doing it for me. My eyes come back on the screen of my smartphone that lit up, Anna seems to have finally answered.

I smiled when I read the following text.

 

Rogue: Afternoon, what's up?

 

I texted a short but accurate message back and said what I felt right now.

 

Jean: School's boring, I miss you and your cute smile :/

 

It took her five seconds to answer me, and the message oozed of her smug and quick wit.

 

Rogue: You could just teleport away and find me.

Jean: It’s still morning for me, but you're right.

 

I could just stop going to school all together and pass time with my Anna-Marie, but the face of my disappointed dad and mom stopped me. They really were proud of the fact that I was so proactive in my education. While Anna-Marie had it easier, she wanted to be a cook and a badass Anzu agent, someone working to make life for metahumans easier. I was starting to fall hard for her like I did for Cindy, Anna-Marie's mind was simply beautiful.

While I was gushing about my hot girlfriend, she sent me another text.

 

Rogue: Aren't I? I want a date with just the two of us.

 

My answer was beyond positive and I was more than willing and eager to acquiesce to her demand, even more so if we ended up making out for hours.

 

Jean: You have but have to ask, my Queen. I shall organize something.

 

I could imagine seeing Anna laugh at me and slap my arm as I read her answer.

 

Rogue: Ha! You dork… I am really happy now! You better not forget. Ah shoot mom called me, Ttyl.

 

Aww, damn it Raven you're clam jamming me! I know you want to protect her from going too far with me but you're getting on my nerves sometimes… if she knew how kinky her daughter really was, she would send her to a convent! Wait, no! I mustn't tell her or else she will stick to us as a chaperone for all our dates!

Ideas for my future dates were churning in my mind, and a way to see Anna-Marie in a bikini and me applying lotion on her came to my mind. This weekend, I was going to the Caribbean… no! A pacific desert island was better, I never went there in my last life. Huh, if I go on a date with only Anna, I will have to do the same with Cindy, this relationship needs to be fair and full of communication. 

I would tell her later in the car. Today as well, I came in my ‘Knight Rider’ replica car but with Cindy at the wheel, she too had her drivers license but her parents didn't want her to be too mobile and independent. 

That's why Cindy loved to call me her sugar mama, in a sense I was. I allowed her to be free just by existing.

Riiiiing! Finally this inane class was done, I hated it, now it was time to go do some math. 

"It’s time for calculus~" I sing-song while putting my stuff back into my bag.

Gwen followed suit as she said, "Same. Too bad Peter has Chemistry now."

Peter looked a bit sad as he gathered his notebook and writing kit into his backpack. "Today we're going to learn how temperature affects chemical reactions, something I already know…"

That bothered me, Peter could do like me right now, be done with high-school and go on to do great things. But he didn't, so I couldn't help but ask him, "Pete, you could do the same as me, graduate early, you know? I mean you already know all the curriculum they are teaching you."

He stayed silent for a moment and watched the other kids leave the classroom as he closed his backpack.  Then he finally answered when there was almost no one else but us. "I just want to stay with Gwen and enjoy my teenagehood."

I rolled my eyes while Gwen hugged Peter. "I love you, Pete." She kissed his cheek, making the boy's face red.

"Urgh, you two make me sick." I couldn't help but comment.

Other students were already filing into the room and Gwen reacted to what I said by slapping my right shoulder, "It’s time to move you hypocrite!"

"Okay, okay!" I giggled, loaded my backpack and left for my next class.

If I knew what would happen later in the day, I would have listened to Anna-Marie and teleported to Egypt base and spent my time making out with her. 

 

# # #

(Sasha Kusnezov)

 

Lunch break

 

Jean Grey was completely different from Sasha, she was smarter, rich, beautiful and strong; the redhead has a magnetic charm that made people want to talk to her, but she seemed to want to surround herself with quality people rather than quantity of sycophantic yes men. She didn't need to use violence to force anyone to admire her or rule the school. She did it effortlessly, she didn't take the power, it was the kids around her who gave her the actual power.

Popularity was fleeting. Sasha learned this the hard way, since Jean Grey was back; she went from tough and badass queen bee to be on the low rung of the student body as no one feared her anymore. It was then that Sasha realized, being popular is great, but it comes with a price. If you’re not cultivating the people and your immediate circle of friends, you’re done.

The truth is, being popular isn’t always the coolest thing to be. In fact, there are a great many more attributes that far outweigh being popular. Francine and Christina were her only friends she noticed.

Now she understood why Jean Grey didn't care about that queen bee stuff, it wasn't worth it. She felt ridiculous to have put so much effort in working so hard for a silly fantasy and now she was being punished rather harshly by her adoptive big sister and role model.

Today Sasha had one mission, apologize and invite Jean to the Chikara dojo. Sasha didn't think that Jean would accept either two despite the penned letter that Colleen had provided her. Her adoptive big sister was confident that Jean would come.

"This is a bad idea." Francine who was at Sasha's side in their corner of the cafeteria warned.

They were sitting rather close, Sasha said nothing while she watched Grey's posse eating and chatting. The redhead had brought her own lunch and was sharing with her girlfriend and feeding her some meat balls. Sasha found it strange that no one commented on Grey and Moon's relationship; in the streets, she had even seen some girls being beaten on by nutcases for liking other girls.

But Sasha didn't see any sneer or people whispering as they looked at the couple. Something was afoot, but Sasha kept it to herself. Francine held onto her best friend's arm and used her puppy eyes to say in a pleading tone, "They'll kick our asses, Sasha."

Sasha put a hand against the right pocket of her leather jacket, it contained a formal invitation to the dojo written by her adoptive big sister. "Colleen wants to see her."

Colleen had spoken about how Jean Grey had used chi against Sasha and depending on her level of mastery, that she had someone behind her teaching her. She was going to follow the protocol that the Mystic Warrior Society employs to avoid conflict or negotiate through politics. It was the first that she heard about that and Sasha was interested in knowing more.

"We must do this…" Sasha mumbled as she tried to convince herself that she wasn't making a mistake.

The truth was that the auburn haired girl was afraid of Jean Grey, the girl didn't go all out against her the last time they fought. However, she won't give into her fear and would banish the specter of defeat from her memories. "And I don't think she will attack us if we don't appear threatening."

From observing Jean from afar, Sasha somewhat understood that if you didn't provoke Grey, she would leave you alone. Francine rolled her eyes at her friend and said, "Then hold onto your temper, okay?" 

The little blonde knew her auburn haired friend's temper. Sasha looked innocently at Francine, as if she didn't understand what she meant. "Me? I assure you, I'll be on my best behavior."

"Yes, but Sasha, you're really easy to rile up." Francine said warily.

Sasha lowered her head, she understood that Francine was looking out for her now. She had thought that her nagging displeased her before but after being beaten up she understood that her friend had more common sense than she did, and wanted a peaceful school life.

The two waited for the lunch break period to conclude; everyone was getting ready to leave or took their time to socialize longer. Only Jean Grey, Moon and Watson were left on the table bordering the vending machine with all the chocolate bars, chips and drinks. As if she waited for them to approach, Jean Grey looked into Sasha's direction while she leaned in her plastic chair.

Sasha gulped and walked up to the intimidating redhead, followed by Francine. Mary Jane looked venomously at Sasha, while Moon looked indifferent. 

"So, you found your courage, Kusnezov. Welcome to our table, what do you want?" The redhead asked theatrically. 

Jean Grey wore a black mini dress with straps, a white cardigan and black knee high boots. The glasses on her nose didn't detract from her beauty but made her look smart. Sasha was surprised that the redhead had anticipated her coming to them. Yet again, Colleen had told her that Chi user had acute senses, so Sasha could understand that. After all, Colleen did the same stuff to look mysterious and inscrutable to her students.

Smiling nervously, Sasha took the letter from her jacket pocket and said, "Hey, Grey. Can I talk to you for a second?" 

 

# # #

(Mary Jane Watson)

The day had started really well, MJ had finally stopped looking behind her back when she walked the school's corridors and hallways. Now she was careful in choosing her friends and ignored almost everyone who wasn't part of Jean’s group or Liz and Flash. She understood now how people could be fake and that caring about popularity and not focusing on her future had been detrimental. She wanted to be an actress and study literature. 

Harry, her previous boyfriend, had to die and be revealed as a psycho for her to learn that lesson: appearances were misleading and blindly giving your entire trust to someone was deadly; she felt lucky that she didn't go beyond kissing with him as well. MJ might have done something she couldn't take back if that had happened, like take her life or - a hand covered hers and she looked up from her tray with her half finished lunch to see that Jean was touching her. She had compassion etched on her face as if she had guessed her thoughts.

MJ couldn't believe that she had spurned such a gentle girl before, Jean wasn't a bitch or a horrible person like the rumor said when she transferred. She didn't even understand who was the first who circulated it, but it doesn't matter now; now she was content. Gwen organized group study in her home and Jean often helped MJ with, and… she loved the food the redhead made. It was better than her own mom's cooking. 

"Hey, you okay?" Jean asked her with concern in her voice.

MJ quickly took back her hand and said in a low voice, "Y-yeah." Her cheeks were completely red and she avoided looking into Jean’s eyes.

There was a bit of mirth in Jean’s voice. "You don't sound like it, MJ."

Jean raffled through her backpack and took out a plastic bag full of baked goods. "Here, have some homemade cookies and here's some yogurt." The redhead said after pushing a glass container full of white milky goodness.

Frowning, MJ looked at the glass container, extended her arm and touched it with her hand. It was still cold. With a surprised expression, the redhead asked Jean, "How did you preserve it?"

With a smug smile, Jean answered, "I used a bag of my invention that uses aluminum and I asked the auntie in the cafeteria to put it in the fridge for me earlier this morning."

Jean put a rectangular blue bag on the table; MJ reached for it and examined it. It was made with polyester fabric outside; when she opened the bag she saw that inside was shimmering silver fabric made of soft metal fibers. *How strange.*

MJ closed the bag full of yogurt and slid it to Jean's side of the table. "And they were just ok to do it?"

Jean shrugged. "Well, yes of course. You know I fund this school a bit." Her face showed an amused expression.

Even Norman Osborne hadn't donated money to the school, that was how cheap he had been, but Jean or her parents had done it to smooth over any problem she might cause. Now, MJ understood why the other redhead didn't get in trouble for breaking Kusnezov's face. "Ah, so that's why! Smart."

"I know, thank you." Jean replied with a light purr of her voice.

Was Jean flirting with her? MJ had that impression but Cindy wasn't reacting at all; the redhead decided that she imagined it. MJ's eyes slid off to the side behind Jean as she saw her auburn haired tormentor walking toward them. She stood straight in her chair and warned, "Jean, Cindy, don't get angry but that Kusnezov girl is coming toward us with her minion."

Jean and Cindy turned toward the two girls coming their way while in their chairs. MJ watched her new friend's shoulder slump as she sighed heavily and lamented that trouble always found her.

Sasha had seemingly changed style, the girl's auburn hair were styled in a half braid style, and she wore a simple winter outfit consisting of a tight black t-shirt with the logo of the 'Chikara Dojo' in gold and silver with a Yin Yang symbol in the background; she had tight dark blue Jean that were covered by a green winter coat with fur. MJ looked at her brown boots that completed the outfit. The redhead didn't want to acknowledge it, but Sasha had style and was somehow prettier than her and it pissed her off.

Francine, the little blonde was clothed with a woolen blue dress with ankle boots and tights covering her legs, she also wore a black leather jacket that had seen better days as the fabric looked old.

Sasha nonchalantly came to them and waved. "Hey, Grey. Can I talk to you for a second?" 

MJ couldn't believe the gall of this bimbo. She looked at Sasha and her girl with her mouth agape, the redhead asked herself if Sasha wasn't a boy, because she had big brass balls and was really dense.

Jean smiled, crossed her legs in a  graceful way and said, "Well, well, well. What might you want, Kusnezov?" With a really snide tone that made MJ happy to have befriended her and not have it turned against her.

Sasha's smile froze, it took her a moment for her brain to reboot. MJ had a smug expression on her face when she saw her nemesis' face, but suddenly the auburn haired girl had a resolute air around her and she looked at Jean in the eyes and said, "它涉及一個問題 江湖 .(This Matter concern Jiang Hu.)"

Jean froze when Sasha spoke some kind of Asian sounding language, MJ thought that it was Chinese or some such. Cindy had the same reaction but instead of confusion she had an intense frown on her face. For the first time, MJ saw Jean lose her cool, and it wasn’t pretty to see.

She slammed her fist on the table, strong enough to make it rattle and people around her flinch. "Fuck. FUCK."

This was shocking enough that the low numbers of people around the cafeteria looked at her behavior and all watched her with various expressions ranging from disbelief to surprise. Jean stood up and stomped on the gray tiles of the non-slip floor. MJ stared at the display and became somewhat worried that something caused this reaction, something dangerous.

Jean calmed down, rearranged her red hair and readopted a composed mien on her face. This was the first time MJ had seen such a loss of control from Jean, proving that she wasn’t so perfect; it reassured MJ in a sense, Jean was human. Cindy strode to Jean and put a hand on her right shoulder; the redhead visibly relaxed.

Turning to Sasha who didn’t look so sure of herself right now, Jean said, "Fine, I am coming with you. But if you try anything, you'll regret it."

Sasha stepped back under the gaze that Jean was sending her, but MJ couldn’t see what type she was projecting, but seeing her old nemesis being a bit scared, it mustn’t have been a good expression on Jean's face. MJ saw how aggressive the redhead body’s stance was.

Gulping, Sasha said, "I understand."

Jean stopped moving for three second with a vacant look in her eyes, she smiled then turned her back to Sasha and took her backpack and fetched her car keys. MJ felt somehow lost as to what she should be doing and a bit guilty as she thought that it was her fault because Jean had chosen to defend and shelter her. "Jean? What did she say? It sounded like mandarin."

With a warm and kind smile directed at MJ, Jean tried to not make her worry. "Don't worry, I need to hear her out."

She patted MJ’s shoulder, stepped back, looked meaningfully at Cindy and then left in company with the duo who had intruded on their lunch break.

MJ tried to stop her from going. "Jean-"

Only to be stopped by Cindy who looked at Jean’s back until she disappeared through the cafeteria’s exit and said, "Don't worry, MJ… she will be back."

From her pocket, Cindy took one of the flat rectangles that she’d seen everyone in Jean’s group of friends use; she was a bit jealous for not having one of those yet. The screen lit up after the half Korean girl typed some kind of security code and began texting; Jean and her friends seemed to have access to some kind of hyper advanced cellular phone.

You are reading story The Raptor of Life at novel35.com

As Cindy wrote up on the device, MJ asked her, "What did Sasha say to Jean? Why did she go with them?"

Cindy stopped typing and turned her attention to MJ. "There's things that mundane people aren't meant to know, MJ. If I tell you, you'll be targeted by-"

The redhead frowned and squinted her eyes. She remembered seeing something like that on TV called ‘Big Trouble in Little China’ and there were some asian themes and comedy. The movie was about Jack Burton, a cocky, wise-cracking truck driver who gets involved in an ancient battle between Good and Evil when he makes a delivery to Chinatown, San Francisco. *Did New York have the same kind of bullshit magic society in little china?*

She cut Cindy’s mysterious speech with, "This is some kind of martial art bullshit like in the movies?"

Cindy looked startled and really looked at MJ in approval. "Ooh, you're smarter than I thought. Well yes, you’re essentially right, I don't think we're gonna see Jeanie until tomorrow." 

Ping! Cindy looked at her futuristic phone and smiled, sighing in relief. She caught MJ’s arm and pulled her toward the table with their stuff. "Come, we have classes together."

As she put the homemade yogurt in the special bag Jean had left on the table, MJ said, "I hope I didn't bring more trouble for Jean."

# # #

(???)

Manhattan
Chinatown
Chikara Dojo

 

And here she came. Crimson red hair reminding him of a blood waterfall, emerald colored gem like eyes and pale jade like skin; in ancient times such a terrible beauty would have been the downfall of her nation as every warlord or noble and Emperor would have vied for her hand. She strode gracefully like a panther and stopped before the building and read the dojo's sign with an intense and focused glare. He felt the eddies of energy swirling around the young woman like a maelstrom of fire, it was like seeing a mobile dragon vein before him. 

She looked up and turned into his direction, a beautiful frown on her face; it seemed that she was able to guess that she was being observed, but he was one hundred meters from her, he shouldn't be able to be detected by her from this far away. She was strong at least at the level of someone who had unlocked all their chakra points, it was why she was shining like a beacon to his spiritual senses.

In another fifty years this young woman would become a powerhouse on par with someone with Stick from the Chaste. That old body snatcher would surely try to groom her, nurture her and take her over if he discovered such a powerful host body. This is why he had decided to test her and save the Chaste a travel ticket from China, and recruit this powerful asset that has presented herself.

He couldn't believe his luck, and everything had started from a schoolyard spat… but he was worried, who could raise that kind of incredible disciple in the USA? 

# # #

Back with Jean…
3 hours later

 

CHIKARA DOJO 力道場

Karate • Jujitsu • Kempo • Kenjutsu

 

When I exited my Pontiac Trans Am, I recognized the sign on the building from the Iron Fist show, a show that had been lackluster and that I decided to skip because the main actor playing Danny Rand couldn't do martial arts to save his life and was stiff as a board. The only saving grace of that Netflix adaptation had been the hot actress Jessica Yu-Li Henwick playing Colleen Wing. My Asian girl fetish made me at least watch the 'Defenders' show.

And now here we are; Colleen Wing made me an offer that I couldn’t refuse. The letter Sasha had given me invited me to come to her workplace, the Chikara Dojo. If I didn’t, I read between the lines that those ninja wannabe would annoy me everyday to force me to accept. Plans to take them out were already being put in place, because I knew how they operated.

The Black Hawks of the Ascendency were already being gathered, as I knew that this was the soft sell of the hand, the hard one would be later tonight I guessed. I intended to refuse to join such an illustrious and morally bankrupt organization. 

I just couldn't have the awesome Colleen Wing from Marvel comics, I had to have the MCU origin one. The car locked and passed into Surveillance Mode, to do several things: monitor radio transmissions and telephone communications, tap into computer systems to monitor or upload and download information and gather structural schematics of this building, nearby vehicles or other devices.

The car was ready to extract me at any moment, unlike Knight Industries, I wasn't shy about loading armaments into my car. Energy weapons and a flamethrower as the main weapons were the way to go, obviously. EVE could deploy explosives as well, but this was another story for later. 

Thump. I turned my eyes toward the other car, Francine's. It was a white Subaru Legacy RS, a good Japanese car for a new driver. Sasha exited it as well, throwing me some glare because I didn't want her in my car. How childish could she be? I won't allow anyone who isn't my friend to enter my car, it's proprietary technology after all.

Turning heel, I gave my back to the duo behind me and waited for them to blink and change my clothes with Goldie.

*Goldie, love, sporty Chun-Li template please.*

[Affirmation, humor: Coming right up.]

I now wore a blue and gold embroidered vest, dark blue unitard that flattered my very muscular thighs and golden and blue athletic shoes, as well as studded wristbands. My hair was styled with ox horns that are just pigtail buns, with silk brocades and ribbons to decorate my hair.

It was a pleasure to see Francine and Sasha blink in surprise as they watched me as if I was a demon or something. "Hey, I don't have all day, so take me to your leader." 

 

# # #

(Random Dojo student named Arthur)

 

Sparring room #1

 

They had been given a mission today. The Benefactor had come and offered to teach them personally if they could help him test the new prospective recruit that entered the dojo. Their dojo was spartan and didn’t have as many decorations as the various dojo’s in Chinatown had, Arthur had seen them; they all looked gaudy and perverse.

Colleen, their sensei had told them that a dojo should be free of distractions and extraneous materials. The purpose of training is to focus on the practice over all else their sensei had told them when they joined. Even though all the students in the dojo are dressed alike, move the same and share the same physical environment each experiences it in a dissimilar way. This is the true lesson of the dojo. That one’s experience is uniquely created within one’s own mind. 

Arthur waited with his ten fellow students in arms for the girl to enter; it bothered him that they would need to fight an unknown young woman, but Sasha, and his own female friends killed any chivalry Arthur had in their hearts; let’s not even speak about Colleen, she was monstrously strong.

He was looking at the weapon rack and longing to use ones of the bokuto on display; Arthur's specialty was Kenjutsu, but unfortunately, he was only at the stage of mastery where Colleen had told him to master his body first before being able to handle a sword. Arthur was pulled from his train of thoughts by feminine voice coming from the building lobby.

The door to the sparring room opened and here appeared a really beautiful redhead in some kind of  outfit that wouldn’t be strange for her to wear in a gymnastics sport event. The redhead was followed by the animated Sasha and Francine. Before appearing to stop them, the girl stopped in the sparring room and the group charged to test the newcomer listened to what those three were talking about.

Sasha’s voice rang in the room as she asked the redhead who was eyeing the door’s to the higher floor of the building but not moving at all. "Seriously Grey! How did you do it! I want to know how to change so fast! Can you imagine how much time I would gain every morning?!"

The petite Francine asked with enthusiasm, "Are you some kind of Sailor Senshi!? Like in the anime?"

She looked at the newcomer as if she was the second coming or some such, it disturbed Arthur to see the often shy and obedient blonde so animated and curious. The redhead, Jean, looked appreciatively at Francine and said, "Francine, you're an otaku? I would’ve never guessed."

Arthur chuckled a bit at the redhead’s tone. Everyone who knew Francine was aware of how much of a dork she was. The little blonde looked smugly at the redhead. "Heck yeah, I got into martial arts because I wanted to be closer to Japanese culture." 

Sasha poked Jean in the shoulder. "Hey, answer the question."

Rolling her eyes, Jean said, "Well, I would tell you, Kusnezov; but I'd have to kill you." Jean said with a dead serious tone.

But having thick skin, Sasha waved off the threat. "Really, Grey? Sherlock Holmes?"

Taking on a surprised expression with mouth agape and eyes wide, the redhead quipped, "Wow, Kusnezov I didn't know that you could read, that's great."

It pleased Arthur to see Sasha taken down a peg, the girl had always been cocky since she was taught the Kenjutsu family style of their sensei. Despite being a brown belt in most styles, empty handed or not, the girl still didn’t have the maturity to be given a black belt. Colleen had told them that this was one of the perils of being talented, becoming arrogant and cocky, often destroying or leading a martial artist astray.

"Why are you so mean?" Sasha looked somewhat hurt.

Arthur wasn't fooled, the girl was a manipulative little chit after all; it seemed that the redhead wasn't bamboozled by Sasha's crocodile tears. "I'm not your friend, Kusnezov."

With eyes widening at the cold inflection in Jean’s voice, Arthur believed her. Suddenly, the girl looked more imposing; giving the same impression as Colleen sensei. 

Sasha gulped, then she laughed nervously and tried harder to butter up the girl. "Ah, kinda true, but we can start today."

Jean turned her back to the girl, only with Francine braving to touch the redhead with a friendly pat on the left arm. "Don't resist Grey, she's going to grow on you either way…"

The redhead sighed, she was about to say something when she turned directly to Arthur's location behind a sliding hidden door behind a Kanji tapestry.

“Come out, I can sense you all.” The redhead intoned.

Arthur laughed, the game was up, it was time to do what they were told about. The brown haired boy slid the door open and exited the hidden room. Sasha and Francine recognized Arthur and the ten others who exited different hidden rooms or came from the fake ceiling and landed on the sparring room's tatami.

“Huh, guys, you’re here.” Sasha remarked.

That Jean girl didn’t salute them or anything, Arthur had the distinct impression that she was aware of their goals. He also kept his silence when the others started speaking and speaking about the girl as if she wasn’t even here. *Not the best first impressions.*

“Yo guys, how did she know we were there?!” One of his friends, a black haired boy called Jason, began to say with a rictus on his face.

“Let us see where dis goes, my brothers and sisters.”

“Dayumn, she’s fire hot and delicate lookin’; are you sure that she’s strong?”

“Our benefactor told us to test her.”

Arthur found his friends rather stupid, didn't they know about operational security? When Arthur looked at the redhead, he found her smiling. “A test? Really?”

One of the students, one of the stupidest with blond hair and a big body said with a nod, “The old boss told us to see if we can handle you.”

The redhead laughed… no, Arthur believes that this is more of a cackle reminding him of a wicked witch. “Handle me? You’ll handle me?”

Jean started cracking her knuckles and her neck. “I guess I need to teach you guys some respect.”

"But before I can do that, I shall ask you to desist and go back to training."

Arthur facepalmed, expecting for things to go sour right away. He wasn’t disappointed when his friends and fellow students took on aggressive stances as they perceived that Jean looked down on them. Arthur frowned, then suddenly realized what was going to go down. That Jean girl, he guessed that it was to absolve herself from guilt.

He walked to Jason and attempted to tell him to stop, but another one of his friends spoke, it was Kaoru, a mixed guy of asian and african descent. "Ya hear dis bitch?"

"She has a mouth on her." Kanna, one of the local girls and regulars here sneered at Jean.

The smile on the redhead’s face split her face as she walked to the middle of the room, but the students surrounded her, reading bokutos, or entering a fighting stance. As if for the last time, the redhead asked again, "Again, stop this, you'll get hurt."

“We will reshape your face-”

Jason didn’t have time to finish as she appeared behind him as if she had teleported and hit him in the flank with a 360-degree kick that sent the young man flying into Kanna who cried out as collided with him. Arthur blinked for one second and already the redhead was on Kaoru who had shifted into a defensive stance with his bokuto, but it seemed that there was no stopping the girl; she jumped low and forward at a 45 degree angle and with a flurry of kicks broke the bokuto first, then his friend’s arm and finally kicked him away into a wall.

Another student charged her when she landed and swung left with his bokuto, only for Jean to crouch down, avoiding the attack until she sprung up and executed a perfect example of an  ascending butterfly kick. The student went down as his jaw broke. The girl had a lot of power and speed and Arthur understood that he was overmatched, but the others were blinded by the promises of the Dojo’s benefactor, their faith in their numerical advantage and were beyond reason as they were angry that Jean had hurt their friends this badly.

Arthur saw the moment where Jean lost interest in them and judged them to be not worth her time, then a sadistic grin blossomed on her face as she caught one of the Jiu Jitsu adept who attempted to grapple her and with a crack broke his arms in a way that Arthur couldn’t even guess at. She let the student fall down broken and screaming.

She shifted her attention to everyone who decided to attack her together, Arthur was smarter and stayed put, he saw the redhead’s eyes glow in a gold color as she took a stance for the first time, as she moved forward Jean turns upside down and spins on herself in place like a… helicopter, realized Arthur. It was perfectly timed as Jean took down everyone.

As they landed on the tatamis, and some of them chose to not give up, it was Kanna who performed a dive jump with the ball of her feet first.

The redhead threw herself in the air and grabbed Kanna’s leg and threw her to the ground with a big slam; Arthur thought that his fellow student was lucky that this was a tatami area and not the hard ground, the damages would have been direr. “Aaand you’re done.”

Arthur was about to tend to his friends when five other people burst from the ceiling and landed on the tatamis, surrounding Jean. They all wore black Gi with hoods to hide their face and had real katanas in their hands, Arthur understood that their benefactor had another test for the redhead and that they had become fodder for the girl.

“What the hell is happening, why are you all attacking Jean?!” Sasha cried out.

But no one answered her. One of the older students, because yes, they were older students… threw three shurikens at Jean who didn’t move from her spot. Though Arthur saw something preposterous when she raised a hand to catch the three shuriken between her fingers before sending them flying back at a superior speed and from whence it came.

“Argh!!!” The older student fell on the ground as each shuriken lodged itself in both shoulders and in his lower body… Arthur feared that the man was never going to have kids.

*Ouch. Poor bastard.*

“Mhm, Shinobi.” Jean remarked. “Against armed opponents, you’ll all notice that I become rather merciless, you should all leave, if you don’t, well you'll see.”

At high speed, the shinobi behind Jean attacked and attempted to stab Jean in the heart; without even turning the redhead caught the blade and ‘crack’ broke it. Arthur noticed how her hand was shining with a golden color. Then she finally turned to the opportunist shinobi and asked, “Is this your answer?”

The shinobi stayed silent and attacked her with Taijutsu, right, right, high kick at blinding speed that Arthur couldn’t even follow.

“You’re fast, but not fast enough to beat me. Hoyokusen.” Jean’s body was shrouded by a thin golden mist and as she said, “Hyakuretsukyaku.” Unleashes a flurry of kicks at her opponent so fast that Arthur could only see blurry after-images.

The shinobi’s broken body fell on the ground, and a pool of blood spread from him. Jean turned to the rest of the shinobi and said, “Those who wish to die, step forward.”

The men and women looked at each other, nodded in sync and attacked together. What was happening here was a literal slaughter as Jean was assailed from every side, but was handling all of her foes as if it was super easy. She started dislocating limbs, breaking bones and turning all of the shinobi into slabs of meat that she was tenderizing.

“You don’t get it, son. This is no longer a sparring room we’re in. But an operating table, and I am the surgeon.” When she said that, she was holding onto a man’s leg that she had caught into a grapple.

For the first time, one of the shinobi spoke and pleaded, “No! Please don-” CRACK. “Aaaaahh!”

*HOLY SHIT* Arthur screamed in his thoughts.

“This is gonna hurt, and I’m gonna enjoy it.” Jean then proceeded to go do the same to everyone who had attacked her with a bladed weapon, she was all smiles as she broke their body. 

Blaargh. Horrified by this scene happening around him, Arthur emptied his stomach on the tatami as he watched Jean literally kill people.

When she was done, she dusted her hands and outfit, looked around her and raised an arm in victory, “Thug life biatches!”

Then she left for the stairs leading to the personal space of Colleen in the higher floors; where she taught her students personally. 

*That girl is a freak!* Arthur thought as he wiped his mouth and moved to take care of the wounded. “Call the EMTs, Sasha!”

Arthur saw that the auburn haired girl at Francine’s side had been paralyzed in horror and had vomited as well at the scene before her, when she heard Arthur, she moved with difficulties and slowly to go reach the office linked to the sparring room to call the hospital.

“Dude, we got off lucky.” Jason and his friends all realized.

 

# # #

(???)

 

"Instant movement, power and speed eh."

She showed so much potential, so much power! She was better than Perfect Death ever was, showing that she wasn’t so… perfect. He had also been surprised to see that this girl had mastered something like controlling her surroundings by spreading her consciousness in a spherical shield around herself thus combining offense and defense. The man had seen similar techniques before taught by a master in Kun’Lun, a sure sign that this slip of a girl had also attained a certain level of spiritual perfection; the power to act without being attached to emotions and thought, free of fear, anger, pride, and ego, to draw upon the contents of one's heart intuitively without obstacle and hesitation, and to be aware of the world and to know one's place and meaning within its vastness, to flow with all of creation without the need of worry, desire, and doubt. 

“The Power of Nothingness.” The man sat on the table as he watched the girl go up the stairs and the dimly lit personal training space of his pupil, Colleen Wing.

“We will see who has the better student.” He said out loud, thinking about the master who has trained that redheaded hellion. The man or woman must be proud of the fact that they had found such a student in their lifetime.

*Time to see if it is worth poaching her.*

 

# # #

(Colleen Wing)

Colleen wasn’t adverse to death and loss. Some of the shinobi killed had certainly known what they were going to deal with. Watching people die in her dojo hadn’t been easy but grown men suddenly appearing from the ceiling told her that they weren’t her students; was her father figure, Bakuto, spying on her? She hoped not, she had thought that he trusted her.

This didn’t look like trust to her, so her sorrow at having seen death diminished as she was now sure that those weren’t her students. Colleen needed to know why she’s been under surveillance and why her father figure was so interested in Jean Grey; though she could understand she was a prodigy. But talent had its own pitfalls, the girl looked too confident and sure of herself.

She sat in the middle of the training room with a table and a candle sitting before it; the room was dimly lit. The floor was made of stone and woven straw tatami under the table. The door to the training room opened, and Colleen who had been projecting her consciousness out of her body to observe the fight focused on her surroundings. As she opened her eyes, she saw Jean Grey stand in the entrance.

The girl walked toward her with a feline gait, contrary to her expectation she wasn't attacked right away. The redhead sat before her in seiza and… made a tea set appear in a shower of blue light on the hardwood table between; one white teapot and two cups with the effigy of a manekineko on them. A box of Jasmine Gold Dragon Tea appeared next and Colleen watched her fellow redhead put a sachet inside the teapot and conjure water at the same time.

Colleen raised an eyebrow as the girl began to prepare tea for the two of them. To the dojo's master, it was surprising to see a young woman sixteen and a half years old manipulating her Chi to heat the water. Nothing was said for five minutes as the tea boiled and the fragrance of jasmine tea leaves wafted from the pot.

One minute later, the girl poured hot tea in both cups and offered one to Colleen. "A moment of quiet is good for your mental health. Here, have some calming Jasmine tea."

The master of the dojo took the cup from Jean’s hands and waited for it to cool down a bit, then took a sip. The fragrance and taste filled her mouth, making Colleen moan in appreciation. Jean smiled and took a sip of her own cup.

"This is good." Colleen found herself saying with a note of delight.

"Thank you." Jean nodded. "Sensei taught me how to make it."

Colleen didn't doubt what Jean said, her teacher had taught her advanced Chi manipulation by making tea, it sounded like a reasonable training exercise. Colleen asked herself if her sensei taught her how to use magic tricks like making a tea set appear out of thin air? She didn’t react earlier as she had seen her father figure do some strange things similar to what Jean did. The man was always armed and she thought that there was a technique like a chi spatial pocket where you can store things… but maybe Colleen has read too many manga.

The girl surprised her again by saying. "From how upset you were when I entered the room, I presume that you sending your students to fight me wasn't your idea."

Colleen guessed that Jean could feel the flow of Chi of someone and read their emotions; with her level of chi manipulation, she wouldn’t be surprised. This was a level of dedication to the art that was rare amongst practitioners that she had the luck to meet in Japan and surrounding countries. They always focused on martial prowess and not at all on the subtle enhancement and abilities offered by mastering your lifeforce.

She chose to go with the truth, now knowing that Jean will believe her. "No, I intended to spar with you, but letting the kids get hurt? This isn't my doing."

"Nor the five who tried to kill me?" Jean continued the interrogation.

To which Colleen shook her head in answer to Jean’s question, then took another sip of tea. As a matter of fact, the swordswoman wanted to know something. “Was killing them truly necessary, Miss Grey?”

There was a burst of malicious intent exuding from the younger woman, Colleen saw the content of her cup ripple as Jean’s ki coalesced around her in invisible waves. A sure sign that despite the young woman's control, that she still had a lot to learn to control herself.

“I was bored. I do things like this when I'm bored.” The young girl said matter of factly.

She was clearly taught how to kill by that Sensei of hers, maybe as a way to defend herself at first, but it seemed to have become her go to response to people wanting to kill her. There was a story behind that, Colleen felt it. “You need to curb those… destructive tendencies, fortunately for you, I desire to throw my hat in the ring and teach you.”

Jean looked at her placidly as Colleen spoke, “I wish to formally invite you to join the Chikara dojo and bury the hatchet between you and my adoptive daughter.”

Jean’s chi stopped rolling from her as if the waves were frozen. “That's nice of you, but...satin red's not really my color.”

Colleen didn’t show her surprise outwardly, but inwardly it was different. “So, you know about my… sponsor.”

A lot is said about the hand, that they were criminals and promoting their goal through and influencing people in power. But Colleen hadn’t seen anything suggesting that they are a criminal organization, so she waved away at people decrying it as such;Bakuto has been a good person to take her in after her grandfather died, he even trained her and made her reach her potential and current level of martial expertise. 

Colleen had made her own research on the organization that was sheltering her; All she knows is that the Hand is a clan of ninjas, with the traditional training in martial arts, camouflage, and subterfuge. They had four branches, in Japan, Eurasia, Africa and South-America; North America being the new one they opened. Colleen was the current recruiter for the NA branch…

Jean answered, “This was an attempt at recruitment huh… too bad my sensei taught me how to recognize the styles the Hand uses. You’re not Chaste, and your students move like Hand ninjas.”

*What a pity, the girl has already been poisoned against us.* Colleen thought after closing her eyes in suffering.

She reopened them and asked, “Which are you then? Are you affiliated with the Chaste?”

The Chaste was a mystical martial arts enclave founded by Izo, an immortal warrior of great skill founded the Chaste. The Chaste's mission was to combat the Hand, Colleen had met one of their members and almost died, fortunately, Bakuto saved her after killing him.

Jean sipped on her tea, not tearing her gaze from Colleen’s for a moment. She put the cup on the table and said, “I am my own island, Miss Wing.”

So she was telling her that she was a neutral party; this pleased Colleen and as a result made her bold enough to ask, “Can we bargain? I have an offer for you.”

“Oh? Let’s hear it.” The redhead put her cup on the table and waited for Colleen’s offer.

Colleen hesitated, this girl wasn’t acting like a normal sixteen year old. She kept taking control of the conversation despite Colleen doing her best to change it’s rhythm. “As we’ve clearly wronged you first, I decided to not bother you. We will also leave you alone, or at least I will make the organization unable to bother you; and I’d like it if you could spar against me.”

Jean looked thoughtful for a moment, then said, “Hmm, sure why not? I think it could be good experience to fight against you.”

Colleen smiled and bowed slightly. “I thank you for accepting my conditions.”

Standing up, Colleen took her Meitou; a Katana which was an hereditary weapon passed down through her family for millenia. Jean looked at the white katana and nodded; as she held out her hand, a beautiful sword in a black and white sheath appeared in her hand, next was a blue sword belt. The hilt and guard of the katana were atypical, yet beautiful, Colleen remarked as the redhead placed the sword at her waist.

Colleen unsheathed her sword. Jean took on a stance, one Colleen had never seen before. But she understood the concept, it was a stance taken for the rapid drawing and sheathing of a sword. Colleen frowned as she felt Jean’s chi coalesce around her and suddenly form a golden bubble around her that quickly became invisible.

*Seikūken? Just like Master Furinji. Is she connected to those old monsters in Tokyo? Or is it Yami?* Colleen wondered, Jean was a killer, it wouldn’t be so far-fetched that her master would be part of any Yami.

In her eyes, Colleen could see that Jean was being dead serious about their spar and intended to go full out against her. Colleen answered Jean's aggressive stance with a textbook Gedan-no-kamae, she placed her sword out in front of her body, pointing it at her knee. This stance was a defensive one that allowed the practitioner to deflect blows and perform counterattacks.

“You’re like a knife, sharp and deadly. Your teacher taught you how to kill?” Colleen found herself saying as she observed her foe.

Jean answered, “My teacher is my family, she likes the fact that I can protect myself.”

“I feel that she erred.” Colleen simply said with a tone that said that it was such a shame.

Jean’s face darkened. “Then lemme show you her teaching.”

Colleen felt as if she had hit a nerve and… quickly deflected the blade coming for her neck; she pumped as much chi as she could and deflected it, not before being pushed back as the impact made her skid left. Colleen felt the air pressure come for her feet and jumped, it kept following her as Jean shifted movement to make an ascending strike. The blade being blunt allowed Colleen to use it as a perch and try to kick Jean in the face.

The redhead shifted her head to the right to evade and swung her katana to throw Colleen into the nearest wall. But with a somersault, Colleen ended up landing six meters away from Jean who sheathed back her blade and started doing hand seals Colleen recognized that the Hand Ninjas used.

Snake, Ram, Monkey, Boar, Horse, Tiger; then Colleen saw as Jean drew chi from her mouth into her chest and exhaled a stream of fire which erupted into a large sphere of flames coming toward her. Colleen made her sword twirl as she loaded chi into the blade and gathered her will and… cut the incoming giant fireball.

The stream of chi coming from the blade didn’t stop there and cut through the room only to be stopped by Jean’s own infused chi blade to parry the sword intent beam. The younger redhead’s eyes glowed gold as she gathered her inner energy around her like a cloak and batted away the sword beam; next she mimicked Colleen by twirling her sword and channeled chi in her blade, the sword’s edge gained a blue color as more chi was pumped into it.

Jean swung overhead and a more rough sword beam unleashed toward Colleen who shook her head in disappointment and batted away the beam like Jean did earlier, but her action was more casual. “You’re mimicking me, but you don’t have the same level of control I possess. The energy wasn’t tightly packed together enough, you actually lost a great deal of chi with that action.”

Jean looked at Colleen and thought about what she saw Colleen do and nodded. “Mhm, I need more training.”

Colleen sheathed her katana and said, “We will stop here, come find me when you fix that.”

With a frown, Jean started to say, “You think you can stop and-”

Colleen smiled and pointed her index finger at Jean’s left arm. There was a big laceration that was bleeding. “Look at your arm. You’re bleeding.”

Glaring at the wound, Jean finally made a sigh. “Ah. I see that I really lack experience with that type of fight. Fine, I will leave.”

“See you next time.” The redhead said and simply disappeared in a flash of blue light.

The tea set that was on the table in the middle of the room disappeared as well. This was the first time that Colleen had to fight this intensely against someone who was on par with her; whoever was her sensei must have the patience of a saint to actually teach someone like Jean Grey. “The girl is a handful… I’m happy she refused my offer.”

 

# # #

(???)

 

He looked as Jean Grey teleported to her car, whose door opened and let her enter. The redhead completely ignored the EMTs and police who were before the building and left as swiftly as she came. The man was interested; short range teleportation, instant movement, empty hand and sword skills. “The girl was trained to be an assassin.”

The man wanted her, with Jean in his ranks he would be able to overtake Gao’s organization and take the leadership of this branch of the Hand in North America. But how to do it? The girl seemed to be wary of the Hand and knew what they were about… but there were ways, he just needed to get ahold of her and change… her mind.

“Great, let’s do that.” He said out loud as he left the roof of the building facing the dojo. 

He would get Jean Grey to join the Hand, whether she wanted it or not; or his name wasn’t Bakuto.

---

A/N: Sorry guys! I forgot to release this! I'm between project at the moment...

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