The Solution (2nd Edition)

Xen

Feeling sorry for myself didn't help.

    And my burning guilt roared inside of me when O-Kenai's guttural screams molested my ears.

    Distraught, I chose to walk away even faster, until back at the crossroad of freighter pathways.

    I was unsure of what I wanted to do next.

    A part of me pined for mùqīn.

    An even bigger part yearned for the guidance of fùqīn.

    But despite my maternal-paternal desires, I'd actually wanted nothing more than the support of my sibling. Based on this, I did what I was compeled to, and looked to reforge the living Double Dragon.

    Xen: 'Brother, I'm okay. We made it out. And as strange as it is for me to say, The Pink Lady is, "gone". I need to talk. You up to it?'

    Chon: 'Well that's a relief! But when it came to her, why, Xen? Anyway, I'm glad she's been extinguished and good riddance! Nobody's forgotten how she allowed Mikey to be treated. But regardless, I'm here, we can talk.'

    Xen: 'Where?'

    Chon: 'Xiōngdi, as O-Kenai isn't running things anymore, the Leisure Lounge?'

    Xen: 'Sure. I've just hotboxed you with the decryption code. Please apologize again on my behalf, then let everyone go on their way. I'll meet you at the lounge as I'm not far from The Core. And more than anything, I could really use a drink.'

    Soon enough, we had embraced with a hug, and entered the Five Star Solar Bar.

    The old-timer, Paulie-Fen, had a daughter who'd been lucky in The Draft.

    Rightly so, I'd helped her to be allocated to the entertainment sector up here, with the intentions of following in her father's opportunistic footsteps.

    Unsurprisingly, the woman recognized Chon and I as soon as we'd sat. What was even more impressive was the fact that she'd also remembered our favorite drinks. Once she'd winked and then put down pints of Kavalan Soda and Tsing Tao, Chon wasted no time in beginning his inquisition. "So, how did you all do it?"

    Despite my apprehension, I was forthcoming. I owed Chon and his friends that much. "She was burned alive, by Emo. And her remains will probably be pushed through an airlock."

    "Shit," Chon jibed. "That's one way of getting rid of Lucifer's Love Child. Was she as formidable as everyone had been led to believe?"

    "Oh yeah," I quipped, taking in a huge lug of air. "She sure was. I'll keep it brief, but basically, we'd managed to poison her."

    "How?" Chon scoffed.

    "Well, we had sought the help of Dieng Pae. He was keen to advance his standing up here with The Coalition. We agreed, and in return, he'd agreed to be our decoy..."

    "...A decoy? How...?" Chon asked, his additional enquiry reasonable and obvious.

    "...Olaf had the idea of lacing some Daredevil with, Cyanide. He'd given Dieng the antidote before the encounter, and the plan was that Pae talked with O-Kenai to lower her guard. The main aspect of this was him taking some of the drug in front of her. After that, we relied on a lot of luck, but eventually, The Pink Lady consumed most of it. While she was confident that it would enhance her abilities, we were confident that it would give us an advantage."

    "And did it?" Chon wondered.

    "Sure did," I said. "After brushing up on his combat skills while in Baikonur, Olaf was able to kick her weakened ass around the Night Garden. So much so, that he prevented us from succumbing to her, 'third wave'. Brother, on a more unfortunate note, Dieng didn't, make it..."

    "...Xen, what do you mean?"

    "Chon. O-Kenai murdered him for spite and in cold blood. She also laid waste to most of the mercenaries up here who'd declared themselves as 'The Risen Clans' and joined our effort.

    "My Lord..." Chon breathed. "How did she do it?"

    "Brother, you don't want to know. Trust me."

    "Alright. Point taken. I'm not even sure if Pae will really be missed, but how on earth was The Pink Lady even able to be so formidable? Xen, what was she?"

    Having leaned on Olaf and his connections to intelligence, I knew. And inevitably, I was ready to tell my brother who would cascade my deposition to everyone down on the surface, as well as to the eligibles high up here. "Chon, without my knowing, Olaf proved to be our saving grace. He's a Russian expatriot who settled in Kazakhstan. Taking advantage of his political position, he'd reached out to The Kremlin, who'd had the KGB Division keeping a covert eye on O-Kenai's underground movements. And for years. As they had it, extensive surveillance and historic intel helped to deduce many things.

    "Chon, as I learned before Olaf subdued her, O-Kenai is thought to have belonged to the ancient Black Clan..."

    "...The Black Clan?" Chon questioned as I took a sip of soda.

    "Yep. The Black 'Ninja' Clan, and to be specific, the very first to emerge in all of Asia."

    "No way," Chon said.

    "Yes way," I responded. "Furthermore, that with the death of her father and mother, O-Kenai was in fact the clans' last living descendant."

    "Really?" Chon quizzed.

    "Really," I confirmed with an additional nod. "Chon, at the end, we even learned that her traditional attire was dark, complimented with a set of real eyes which actually looked as though they'd been tattooed, and completely inked in black."

    "Xen, if that's the case, then why was she called The Pink Lady?"

    "Chon, I imagine it was a permanent facade, and literally all just for show. The vampire gimmick, too. After all, she clearly wasn't immortal."

    Chon lifted his brows which prompted boggled eyes, maybe trying to take in O-Kenai's assumed heritage. "Xen, fine. But what about her being able to appear out of nowhere? The trance-like ability, her Sakura tree being in constant bloom, etcetera, etcetera?"

    "Brother, as Emo explains it, the handful of high-ranking ninjas of The Black Clan were, masters of, 'Chi'..."

    "What? Like as in, the energy source?"

    "Exactly. And to be specific, they had the ability to manipulate and harness 'bio electro-magnetic energy'. Also masterful in inducing hypnosis, tapping into this elusive energy is how O-Kenai was able to move like a phantom and imbue her deciduous tree to flower all year round. On top of that, their clan had synthesized a drug to enhance Chi even more."

    "Don't tell me? 'Devil's Demise'?" Chon guessed.

    "Indeed," I confirmed. "To most, Daredevil provides an extraordinary and dangerous high. But for her parents and The Pink Lady, their threshold was seriously strong - thus - allowing the narcotic to gift them with extra formidability."

    In response, Chon nodded heavily, and summed up Olaf's effort. "Xen, with regards to Fedor, I feel he's done us proud. Now she's gone, The Coalition can declare O-Kenai's funding debt as our own. More importantly, he's now as good as The Twelfth Tsar, and everyone's been reminded - you should never mess with a Russian."

    There was some truth in what Chon was saying. Rightly so, I allowed myself to share his chuckle. However, a moment after, our jesting was interrupted by the holotron crested in between alcoholic bottles, and a breaking transmission.

    There was news from the Red Planet.

    And my old associate, Raythorpe, had appeared.