Too Far Gone (Urban)

50| One Man's Junk...

For it being her first time attending the spring Chinese Heritage Festival, she was amazed at how well decorated and cultural it was. The whole boardwalk was filled with small shops selling a variety of items from their country, from clothes to toys to food and flora. Chinese lanterns hung in strings connecting to each individual shop in a zigzag pattern, illuminating the pathway for consumers and merchants alike.

Chenelle cradled her egg drop soup in her hands, taking in the sights whilst Josh slurped loudly besides her. She had went for a different approach in her appearance, fluffing out her hair into two puffy ponytails on either side of her head. She had put on some mascara and nude pink gloss, which went well with her pink and yellow sundress she had bought a while back. She wasn't getting dressed for Josh, though, it was so Gat could easily spot her in the crowd.

Gat was also attending the festival with Mr. Wong and his translator, as ordered by the boss. It's been awhile since she's seen them, so she was glad to hear they were here, too. If she could break away from Josh for a few minutes, she could say hi. Josh stopped at an empty spot on the boardwalk to look at the junk ships docked just off the shore. He pointed at them with his soup spoon and said, “Those things are carrying this year's fireworks. They should be doing them in about an hour or so, maybe sooner.”

Chenelle nodded, stopping to stare at the ships. They were large vessels, and she remembered from her social studies class that they were originally used for long ocean voyages. They looked just as intimidating yet as magnificent as they did in the textbook photos. The sails reminded her of the wings of a dragon, which is probably where the inspiration came from, she assumed. On board, she saw a bunch of men in running around the ship frantically, but it was too dark for her to decipher what it is they were doing. She assumed it was the fireworks crew, but something about them seemed…suspicious.

“Hey, let's go look at those Japanese yo-yos,” Josh said as he tossed his bowl over the side of the boardwalk. Chenelle rolled her eyes and followed him, the people on the junk ships still lingering in her mind.

❦

Mr. Wong mumbled something in his native language, and his translator looked to Johnny Gat, who lead them through the boardwalk with a gun tucked in the side of his jeans. "You don't need to guide me like a child,” the translator said. Gat shrugged.

"The boss asked me to make sure The Ronin don't crash your party, and that's what I'm going to do,” Gat replied strongly. He'd rather be home cleaning the house or at the HQ practicing his shooting -- not that he needed much practice -- but instead he was here babysitting. Again.

Chenelle was here as well. He wished he had the task of watching over her instead of Mr. Wong. Gat fell back and let Wong and his translator take the lead. He was about to pull out his phone when a loud rumble sounded from down the street. He glanced up at the corner immediately, squinting as the rumbling grew louder. Bright headlights rounded the corner and locked on to Gat and Mr. Wong, charging straight towards them.

Gat pulled out his submachine gun and ushered Wong out of the way. "Wong, get out of here!” Wong’s translator rushed to his side to move the old man to cover as Gat began firing at the vehicle. He didn't need to see to know where the driver was, and when the car started to spin uncontrollably, he knew he hit his target. The vehicle swerved and crashed into a shop just before him. Another engine roared from the opposite side of the road, and Gat turned around ready for action.

Wong and his translator kept running towards safety, but as they neared the docks, they came to a sudden halt as Kazuo Akuji appeared. He glared at Wong with malice, swinging his katana in his hand before taking a fighting stance. "Wong,” spat.