He saw one dancing near a bank of lights. She was pretty with glitter around her large eyes and purple streaks in her long black hair. Her dress was shiny and so tight that he could see when she breathed. Her body was petite, and from his vantage point it looked tight as a drum. Sammy saw her calves split into clearly defined heads. Each of her gyrations produced a tear drop between her quad muscles. Sammy liked a girl who knew how to take care of herself, of her body. She was dancing with a loose jointed kid who could barely keep up with her, but Sammy wasn't concerned. He knew how to deal with boyfriends. Sammy motioned with his finger. A tough looking goon hurried to his side. He gave his instructions and the minion hurried down to the dance floor.

Sammy was impressed as the goon spoke to the two young adults. The man had more tact than would have been expected. The conversation didn't last long and almost as quickly as he'd gone down to the dance floor he was coming back with both the girl and the boyfriend. They didn't go to Sammy's booth. The goon led them to the VIP area. Sammy was there already. He wanted to be seated when his prize for the night arrived.

Shu had a big smile on her face, only it wasn't from getting invited to the VIP area. She and Rico hadn't planned to make a move on the local Triad captain for another day or two, but this was too good an opportunity to pass up. They were certainly going to move their time table up, a lot.

Rico found himself in a VIP booth surrounded by pretty women. They hung on his every word and laughed at all of his jokes. He knew it was fake, but it felt good for the young man's ego just the same. He managed to look through the wall of beautiful women to see Shu and their target getting along pretty well in a private booth. Shu was all over him, and before long he saw them leaving out a back door guarded by two no nonsense looking men. Rico looked at his watch. From this point on, everything had to be quick.

Sammy couldn't keep his hands off of her as they traveled up the elevator in this 70's era midrise building. He grabbed at Shu's tight body. She ran her hands up his shirt and down his pants. He dropped his suit coat in the elevator as he followed after Shu once the door had opened. He lifted her off the ground and spun her around. A shoe flew off and hit the far wall. She didn't even notice. Sammy was building himself to a frenzy. He nibbled at Shu's neck and shoulders. She really was all muscle and that turned Sammy on even more. He felt the bricks of her abs even through the dress material. He was getting pretty tired of that dress. He first tried to pull it down over her shoulders, but that wouldn't work. His hands searched for a zipper but couldn't find one.

He pressed Shu's back against a door and kissed her lips as he slowly let her sink to the floor. Only then did she realize that she had one shoe on and one off. She grinned and kicked the other shoe off and raised high up on her toes, making her calves bulge and harden. Sammy bent down to feel them as they expanded and flexed under his fingers. He ran his hands slowly up her body, to her thighs and over her little ass. They lingered a while on the small of her back before he got to his knees and forced Shu's dress up her rippling quads. He leaned forward and Shu's legs went weak. She gripped his hair with her hand as her hips moved as if on their own. A moan escaped Shu's lips. This man was quite skilled. He stopped suddenly and stood up. Shu's face must have spoken volumes because Sammy licked his lips and laughed. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a set of keys. He unlocked the door Shu was standing against. He lifted her again and carried her through several rooms to throw her down on a bed.

Shu kept her eyes on Sammy as she reached down and slowly pulled her dress higher and higher, finally revealing the secrets of her body. It was better than Sammy had imagined. Muscles jumped at each movement making Sammy feel like an animal. Light danced across her abdominal wall and arms as they changed a shape a hundred times as each muscle, tendon, and ligament moved with mechanized grace. Her skin glistened and her face was waiting. Sammy wouldn't make this beautiful creature wait a second more.

He threw himself on the bed. He spread her legs with one hand and pulled her bra out of the way with the other. Shu's perky little tits aimed right at him. He leaned forward and gobbled Shu's right breast, taking it all in his mouth and sucking as if he was a babe. Her nipple hardened and Sammy worked it with his teeth. Shu arched her back, and then cried in pleasure as Sammy entered her. She closed her eyes and wrapped her legs around his waist as he fucked Shu hard. Her nails dug into his back and he growled, but only fucked her harder. Shu was at his mercy, and then all of a sudden Shu's tight little body flexed hard. Her muscles felt like knots of rope pushing against Sammy's body. He thought he was in pretty good shape, but her muscles were hard as stone. He watched her body writhe then leaned forward to feel her muscles against his body.

Sammy was still working Shu hard when suddenly she showed amazing flexibility by putting the soles of her little feet against his chest even thought it was only inches from hers. Then he felt the strength in the legs he admired so much when she pushed him off. Sammy was forced off the bed. He took a staggering step backwards and watched Shu leap off the bed with a simple push from her arms. She moved with panther like quickness and stood in front of him before he could even react. Shu grabbed Sammy's shoulder to spin him around, then she reached down and wrapped both her arms around the backs of his thighs. With a long effort filled grunt, Shu stood up, taking Sammy with her. The sharp peaks of her biceps cut into the circulation of his legs but the view of her body beneath him was spectacular. Tendons and throbbing capillaries intertwined with hard rugged muscle.

She took an unsteady step forward, the strain and pleasure on her face plain for Sammy to see. She was excited that she was exciting him. She screamed and tensed her arms to raise him higher in the air before dumping him. He bounced twice after landing on the mattress. Shu stood over him, sweaty and ripped. Sammy had never seen a body like hers. She finally took her panties all the way off, followed by her bra. Then she jumped on the bed and instantly took Sammy inside her. Sammy was at her mercy. Her little muscle bound body controlled every one of his heart beats. Her body was kinked with muscle, tangled, like an undulating knot that couldn't be undone. Sammy let out an anguished grunt, but not before Shu's own mind numbing orgasm had finished. She rolled over when Sammy was finished, the big nipples on her little tits rising and falling with each hurried breath.

Sammy couldn't actually count the number of women he'd bedded. None of them were in this girl's class. He'd give her something special. Hell, he'd give her a Bentley or a Maserati or something that she would remember him by. He looked down his body and to his own shock and amazement, he was still hard. Shu was just as shocked. Sammy's hormones must have been off the charts because she'd screwed him hard enough for his libido to have gone into hibernation, but she knew how to deal his little problem.

She pushed herself to her knees and took him in her mouth. He moaned and clutched at the pillows, but Sammy wasn't the type of man to sit back for long. It wasn't long before Shu mounted him again. Shu's little body got more shredded as she and Sammy moved from position to position. He had her torso hanging off the bed while he fucked her, and he was only building his frenzy, but when he saw striations slice across her abs as she did a long slow sit-up he went over the edge.

He was totally spent this time. He lay on the bed next to Shu on the bed gasping for air like man who'd been under water. His shirt was unbuttoned. His pants hung around his ankles, and the smile would not leave his face. He put a hand flat on Shu's stomach amazed at how petite she was and how strong she was. Usually after sex Sammy would go back to the club as if nothing special had happened while he'd been gone, but not this time. He was going to lie here for a while. He turned to his right in time to see Shu's little foot speeding towards him. He closed his eyes just before her heel impacted his temple.

Sammy tried to roll out of bed, but while he was slowed from the sex, she was unaffected. Shu wrapped her legs around Sammy's neck. Sammy's hands went to her knees, trying to pry her legs apart, but they were far too strong. When she crossed her ankles, his fate was sealed. Veins branched up and around her corrugated quads. Sammy's hand stretched towards Shu's throat, reaching with bug eyed desperation. Shu calmly grabbed his wrist and kept his hand at bay. Muscles flexed to alarming size on a body so slim. It was amazing to see her body expand with such size when she wanted. Her legs though did most of the damage. One more sustained crush from her legs was all it took. About thirty seconds after the fight had gone of Sammy, Shu opened her legs. She got out of the bed and ran her hands through her sweat streaked hair.

After a few moments of rest, Shu pulled Sammy from the bed by his head. Unconscious he seemed to weigh more than he had earlier. Maybe she was just tired. Her body bristled with muscles as she lifted Sammy. The ridges on the concaved rim of her tight little ass looked like saw teeth as lifted Sammy to her shoulders. Once there she got her balance before walking to the balcony. She held Sammy in place with one arm while sliding the glass door open with the other. The night air was refreshingly cool against Shu's skin. It also made Sammy start to stir. He shook his head and started moving his arms. Shu wasn't worried. It was too late. She walked to the railing and with a heave from her powerful arms, threw Sammy over the edge.

Shu didn't watch Sammy fall. She ran from the balcony into the apartment as fast as her legs could carry her. She had to hurry now. Everything was on a clock from here on out. She grabbed her panties and bra at the same time. She hopped on one foot trying to get dressed. She haphazardly pulled the party dress down over her head then picked up her shoe only to remember that its mate was in the hallway. Shu groaned and ran barefooted onto the balcony. She put one leg over the railing then jumped.

She wasn't ready for how quickly she fell. Distant lights were a blur and the wind rushing past her ears drowned out all sounds. She refused to look at the ground. That was the only thought in her head as she impacted something that gave and crushed under her. Only then did Shu open her eyes. Her fall slowed and slowed until it became a gentle decent. It wasn't peaceful though. She heard Rico's bones and joints cracking and popping as they extended, stretched by Shu's momentum. His feet were wedged beneath the concrete supports for the first floor balcony and his hands held onto a support beam on the building across the alley.

Unlike with Sammy, Rico had allowed nearly fifteen feet of give before he stopped Shu completely. He pulled his body back together and she began to rise. There was so much energy stored in Rico's muscle that he could have thrown Shu over the entire building, instead he allowed her to roll off of his chest to the first floor balcony where Sammy was bound and gagged. His shirt was still open, but at least his pants were pulled up.

"What the hell were you doing up there?", Rico demanded then stepped onto the balcony himself. 

Shu looked down at Sammy with a very satisfied smile on her face.

"You didn't!"

Shu just grinned. "We need a car."

"Already got one", Rico said then sighed. "While you were…"

"Having sex", Shu finished for him. "You should try it sometime", she teased. Rico jumped over the railing to the alley while Shu reached for Sammy who pulled away from her violently.

"Don't make me hurt you", Shu warned in her native Cantonese. "Come with me or I will kill you and figure out another way to complete my assigned mission. Your choice."

"You will die for this", Sammy tried to threaten through his gag. Shu understood enough to stay very close as he climbed over the railing and jumped. Rico caught Sammy easily. There hadn't even been a shock of impact when Rico hands had hit Sammy's shoulders. The young man didn't look nearly as strong as Sammy who was bigger and more muscled, but Rico lowered Sammy to the ground like he as a child. Shu jumped down and took hold of Sammy while Rico retrieved the car. Shu forced her prisoner into the back of a Toyota then got in beside him. Rico pulled onto a main street and tried to blend in.

Shu knew that she and Rico could have used more time to prepare. They'd only been in Hong Kong for a day and a half. They'd scouted the locations of the local Triad gang and taken a couple pictures of Sammy Chu. Everything was preliminary, just rough drafts. Nothing should have happened for at least another day. It had been Shu's idea to go to the club and get a closer look at Sammy, to figure out some tendencies and to take the measure of the man. Shu knew that she was cute, pretty even, but she wasn't nearly vain enough to think that a man with so many women to choose from would have chosen her on this particular night. They had Sammy now. They were going to have to piece together a plan as they went along.

"If you two are after money, just set your price. I can have your money delivered and this foolishness will be completed", Sammy offered once he'd worked the gag from his mouth.

"Could there be anything more suicidal than accepting your offer?", Shu replied in English for Rico's benefit since he didn't speak a word of Chinese.

"More suicidal than kidnapping a Triad administrator?"

"We aren't after money. We need something that your people have that you shouldn't. Once we have it, we will let you go and you will never see either of us again. We have a very simple, straight forward plan that you play a small, but crucial role in. You should consider yourself fortunate that we were sent on this mission."

Sammy got madder by the word. "Do not be surprised if I don't lap up good fortune from your hand like a dog."

"Think what you will, but my friend and I are quite level headed. We will not simply take lives because we can. Iif we were to fail this mission for any reason, our master would send someone else to complete it, and you'd want that fortune then, believe me." Sammy fell into a brooding, but welcomed silence. Shu looked up to catch Rico's eyes glancing back at her through the rearview mirror. His gaze told Shu that he felt the same way he did. Scared.

While Shu was more experienced than Rico, and was technically the boss of this operation, she didn't know enough to realize that Sammy had been feeling her out too. He knew that he didn't know all the facts, but he had grasp of a few. His bodyguards would be looking for him very soon if they weren't already. A man can only a screw a woman for so long before either finishing or dying. All they'd find in the dive apartment would be his clothes. The alarm would sound and the Triad hierarchy would realize that one of their top earning administers was missing. They'd turn the city upside down to find him or to kill his abductors, or both. Sammy would save them the trouble.

While Shu and Rico sat with their own thoughts, Sammy worked his tongue against the rear most molar on the bottom left side of his mouth. He felt the false top come loose and fall against his jaw. A few more licks removed the bitter tasting nonconductive paste from the transmitter leads. He sat his tongue on top of those leads, making a circuit. A homing signal activated at that point. Then Sammy sat back against the seat. All he had to do now was wait.

Adrenaline flowed through Rico's young body as he slowly drove past grim faced Triad soldiers on the way to Sammy's apartment. He knew there were automatic weapons hidden beneath their jackets. While Rico had some resistance to blunt force injuries, bullets would do to him the same thing they did to everybody else. He stopped at the rear entrance and Shu reached for the door handle.

"Hey, turn your dress around? You look stupid", Rico called after looking at her through the mirror again.

"No, fits with what I have planned", she replied and reached into Sammy's pocket for his keys. With the key ring wrapped around a finger, Shu jumped out to the sidewalk and stumbled towards the door. She pulled it open and giggled as she pretended to almost fall in the corridor. The door closed and Rico lost sight of her.

"Don't try anything", he warned Sammy who seemed more relaxed now.

"You have an amazing ability", Sammy said all of a sudden. "When your friend threw me off of the 12^th floor, I thought she meant to kill me, but then you caught me."

"Like she said, we don't want you dead. No one has to know that any of this happened."

Sammy laughed. "I don't hold grudges, young man. As a matter of fact, my organization could use someone with abilities like yours. You could become a very rich man."

"Money doesn't motivate me. Now shut up before I put the gag back in."

Sammy nodded. "You are a true believer in whatever cause you serve. I can appreciate that. I will try to spare your lives when this is over, but reparations must be paid."

Rico had indeed heard enough. He turned to Sammy and reached for the gag. "I warned you that I'd…", Rico's words hung in his throat. Seven armed men came towards the Toyota from the rear. Rico spun back around and put his hand on the ignition, but there were five more guys coming from the front. Rico's chin slumped to his chest as he thought about Shu inside the building.

She was still in character as she came to the lobby. She'd hoped to find a staircase to Sammy's floor, but all the doors were locked. She went in search of the elevators. She'd found them along with a dozen goons. They didn't seem to be particularly interested in her as she approached, which was a good sign. She guessed the Triads just took security seriously.

"What do you want?", the leader of this goon squad asked as Shu stumbled towards him.

"Which room is Sammy's? He sent me to get him a new coat. I ruined the other one", she slurred.

"Ruined?"

"I tore it off of him! Roaaar!", Shu growled and playfully clawed at the man's own sports coat. Then giggled. "You gonna tell me or do I have to try every door?" She showed him Sammy's keys and the man looked to another goon then back to Shu.

"Follow me." The humorless thug led Shu down a hall towards a lone elevator. Shu prepared herself for the tense elevator ride to Sammy's top floor apartment. She stayed in character, but kept more than an arm's length from the man in front and the one behind her. If either did anything tricky, she'd be ready, only she wasn't. Just as she passed a door, it flew open. A man lunged towards her. She was usually quick enough, not this time.

Sammy Chu did go up to his apartment and change clothes. He fielded several calls from his bosses in the process. They'd been skeptical about purchasing the failsafe homing signals when Sammy had pitched them the idea a year earlier. They thought they were expensive toys, but this was just one more time that Sammy had been correct and the old men had been wrong. Of course he wouldn't rub it in their faces when he saw them. He had been abducted by a couple of unarmed young adults after all, so there was only so much gloating that he could do.

By the time Sammy made it to the headquarters building a couple miles away, everything was already in place. It was time for him to find out what all of this was about. He'd told those kids that he'd let them live. In reality that would depend.

Rico couldn't make himself look at the thugs surrounding him. He had already suffered the indignity of having goons point guns at his head while they forced him into a chair and shackled his wrists to chains attached to it. He'd seen a groggy Shu being carried the opposite direction as they'd dragged him towards this little room. He'd screamed to try and wake her up, all he gotten was a backhand to the jaw for his trouble. Just then Sammy walked in. "Where did they take my friend?", Rico demanded at seeing him. The same goon who'd hit him earlier back handed him again and the others chuckled, except for Sammy.

"Be careful with this one", he warned, thinking back to how easily this young man had caught him earlier. Then he turned to Rico. "She hasn't been hurt too bad so far, nothing that she won't recover from, but what happens now is up to you. Tell me why you pulled this little stunt tonight."

Rico didn't respond at first, just looked at the scarred concrete floor beneath him. Finally he looked up and said, "I'll tell you everything you want to know if you let my friend go."

This time Sammy joined in the laugher. "I don't think so. She has to pay for what she did, the little whore. She seduced me with sex, perhaps some of my men would like to try her out… actually I think I'll let all my men try her out. Although the man who goes last may not enjoy it as much as the first twenty or thirty!"

"I'll fucking kill you all!!!", Rico screamed at the top of his lungs. He was mad that he and Shu had been caught, mad that he was chained to a chair, mad that Shu was in danger, and mad that he was failing his master. Ansari always taught that the mission always came first, and that mantra made less sense to Rico now than it ever had. Shu was more important than any single mission. She was skilled and determined. She could complete a hundred more missions if she lived. Plus, Shu was Rico's friend even if she didn't always act like it.

Sammy only got close to Rico once he saw that the chains were holding. "Whether she lives or dies is up to you. She will not get another chance."

Rico let out a long sigh before opening his mouth. "A few months ago your particular gang began using knowledge against your enemies that you should not have had. Your Triad has more power now than it ever, more soldiers and more money. Some of your rivals think you've hacked their computers, and some others have torn their buildings apart looking for bugs and wire taps. Some others think you've got some new weapon from America that spies on them, but my master figured it out. You are using a weapon you call the Kongzhi." The blood drained from Sammy's face. Rico continued, "I'm sorry for my bad pronunciation, but I suck at Chinese."

"Leave the room and protect the door", Sammy ordered all but his two most trusted soldiers. "Kill him if necessary", Sammy told the remaining men then walked out. He didn't linger near the other men because he didn't want them to see his distress. The boy's pronunciation had sucked, but it had been close enough. The Controller was the deepest secret Sammy's Triad bosses had. It was their greatest weapon. Sammy's life would be forfeit if he were to lose control of it.

Sammy rushed up a flight of stairs and then fast walked down a long hallway towards the room the girl was in. He had to speak with her too. This situation was even more serious than Sammy had first believed.

Shu's head hurt badly and so did her wrists and ankles as she pulled against the bonds tying her to the bed. Her little body flexed and writhed, but she only made the knots tighter. The men standing around her bed had enjoyed the show of her muscles flexing though.

"Look at her struggle", one goon observed.

"Yeah, her muscles are nice", a second goon put in as Shu's abs worked themselves back into shredded condition. Her obliques were serrated sharp and when she twisted her body, her waist looked thin as a wafer. One man had seen enough.

He threw his cigarette in the can and walked towards the bed with purpose. The boss had already said that this girl was going to be a play thing. No one had said who could go first, but he was about to nominate himself. He unfastened his belt and let his pants fall to his ankles. He didn't bother removing his coat. His lust filled eyes never left Shu's body mostly naked body. "Stay away from me!", Shu shouted and struggled even harder against the ropes. She didn't even have time to feel sorry for herself as the man climbed onto the bed from the foot. All her struggling just made him harder, but not quite as hard as her body. She was all muscle from bottom to top, and yet she was so slight. The other goon's cock was already hard in his pants. He struggled to unfasten them. He decided to give his friend first crack at her down below, so he walked towards the top of the bed.

Shu cried out when the second goon slapped her across her already sore head. "You are going to pleasure me with your mouth", he informed her. "If I feel teeth, darling, next thing you'll feel will be my blade cutting your little tits off. Understand?" Tears rolled down Shu's cheeks as she watched the man pull a combat knife from his jacket and slam its tip into the bed post. While she was looking at the blade, the first good snatched her panties off. Shu twisted and tried to close her thighs, but couldn't. The ropes were too short or her legs were. The man positioned himself over her while the second man brought his prick towards her lips. They laughed as they moved in for their thrill. Both men knew that this woman was scared and at their mercy, but they had no idea that she wasn't quite defenseless.

A third goon pacing the hallway with a cigarette in one hand saw Sammy nearly running towards him. Instantly the man's guard went up. He put the smoke out on his palm and rushed to meet his boss. "Something wrong?", the man asked.

"What room is that girl in?"

"This one here, at the top of the hall", the goon answered and started towards the room. He was about halfway there when he heard two men scream in an unholy harmony just as a white light flashed brightly enough to light up the entire hallway even though the room's door was closed.

Shu's eyes were black as ink wells; her skin was opaquely transparent showing all the little blood vessels near the surface and allowing an almost skinless appreciation of her shredded muscles. Her face was contorted in sheer agony as she used her power to drain two men at once. Shu had been afraid that one man would get started with his rape before the other one. She'd already decided to drain whichever one touched her first, but she would have been vulnerable. The other man could have simply ended her life, but Shu had gotten lucky. The first rapist had missed on his thrust so he was pressed against her inner thigh while other would-be rapist had gotten his dick close enough for Shu to touch with her hand. That was as close to her mouth as that thing was ever going to get.

Her body vibrated like a plucked guitar string as their energy surged into her. The pain got worse the more she pulled. Her sister Wen had a higher pain threshold, and had routinely sucked two or even three people at once. Shu tried to avoid it. Wen teased that she was more powerful than Shu, but while she handled the pain better, Shu had always been faster at draining, and this time was no different. The man between her legs died first as she took every drop of life he had. The second man was taking a little longer, but with his friend gone Shu turned all her attention to him. She sucked his energy like a jet engine sucked fuel. He didn't last long. When he died he fell across Shu's body, but she didn't care. She gulped breaths and her heart raced like a rabbit's. The pain began to subside but would take some time to fully go away after killing two people.

She was soaked in sweat, so was the bed. Some of it had even dripped down to the floor. Shu wasn't tired like she should have been after so great an effort. Instead she was energized. Her eyes had returned to normal and so had her vision. She looked at her bound wrists and managed a chuckle. These ropes were had been strong enough to hold her, but that was before these two guys had given her their strength. She was just about to try the ropes again when the door was kicked open.

The bang of the door hitting the wall was startlingly loud. Shu flinched then looked up to see a goon with a gun rushing towards her. He surveyed the scene quickly, seeing two of his friends dead and this little bitch still tied up to the bed. He didn't know what she'd done, but he knew she wasn't going to do it to him, and he was right.

The gun came up, and Shu's eyes went wide. She snatched her arm in towards her body. Her muscles bulged bigger than they had when she'd lifted Sammy. Her biceps were flush with new strength and showed it with a double headed peak that looked foreign on her body. The rope didn't stand a chance. It snapped in two as the goon pulled the trigger. Shu's ears rang with the shot, but her mind stayed focused. It was too bad the goon's didn't. He should have aimed better. The bullet slammed into the back of his dead friend. Shu's freed left hand flashed up to the headboard, just as goon number three looked down his sites for another shot. She grabbed the knife and hurled it with a flick of her wrist. Her aim wasn't perfect, but good enough. The blade buried itself into the left side of the gunman's neck and his second shot flew high and left missing the entire bed. He tried to take another shot, but her off target throw had put a leak in the man's carotid artery. Shu relaxed with relief, but didn't rest long. She pushed the dead man off and prepared to free herself when she looked towards the door and saw Sammy looking back at her. The confusion and disbelief on his face could have made Shu laugh, instead he made her mad.

Sammy looked at the dead men then looked at Shu. She only had one hand free at the moment, but he knew those ropes wouldn't hold her anymore. Shu's glistening muscles looked too big for her tiny frame to hold. Then she flexed them bigger and harder. Her muscles flexed with incomprehensible definition. Muscle fibers burst and fragmented like the ends of the severed rope as they grew under her smooth skin. Her quick expansion threw sweat from her abs and chest all the way to the ceiling. She didn't simply break the ropes holding her to the bed, she obliterated them. Her right arm broke free and then each leg. Her quads were huge but her hamstrings were equally massive and sliced like ribbons across the backs of her legs. Her body was as hot was her gaze. Sammy knew what he had to do. He ran.

Rico heard distant gunshots and so did the men watching him. They kept their eyes on the young Chilean, but their minds began to wonder. They noticed, but didn't give a second thought when Rico started twisting the shackle chains. He kept the pain from his face as the bracelets bit into his skin. He twisted until the pain caused sweat to dot his forehead, until the chain was barely one link long. Rico exhaled slowly, then looked up at the two men standing near him, preparing himself for what was going to happen next. Shu had made her move. Now Rico made his.

The torqued tension of the chains had build up inside of Rico's arms and he used it. With a violent jerk, he snapped the steel like plastic. The man nearest him reached for his gun while the other one rushed to restrain the young man. Rico gripped the chair and swung it using his entire body. It broke over the charging man. The other man pulled his gun free, but Rico grabbed his wrist before the gun could be aimed. Rico drove his body into the man and used the power of both of his arms to wrest the gun from the man's hand. It fell to the ground just as his partner got back to his feet. A punch slammed into the side of Rico's face. Unlike a normal person's face though, Rico's crushed inward beneath the man's knuckles. A punch to his midsection had no effect either. Rico's face went back to normal before forcing his hands beneath the man's shoulders. He used the last of the strength stored in his muscles to launch the man straight up. The goon's head hit the ceiling. He was knocked unconscious before he landed on the floor. His partner didn't get a chance to pull his gun. Rico attacked him with all the pent up anger inside him. The goon was a bloody mess when the door opened and three more goons rushed in. Rico didn't hesitate. He charged them.

Shu threw the party dress over her head, grabbed a gun from the dead Triad soldier, and took off down the hall after her target. Sammy ran down the stairs so fast that he nearly fell. He could hear that bitch behind him, ready to do to him what she'd done to his men. Sammy had known those men, and only one of them had died in a way that he understood. He nearly fell down the stairs. He grabbed the frame for support then quickly went out and slammed the door shut. Shu was only seconds behind him. He barely engaged the lock before the heavy door shook. "I'm going to get you!", he heard that girl scream.

He tripped as he came to the decline ramp part of this hallway. The bang behind him was so loud that he turned to see a bulge growing in the middle of the thick door. Sammy cursed as he got to his feet. He looked to the left and saw men strewn on the ground near the room where he'd locked up Rico. Sammy kept running, his eyes locked on the door at the far end of the hall. He picked up his pace when he heard splintering wood behind him. Sammy wondered who in the hell that girl was.

Shu backed away from the door and with a banshee yell ran into the door. Shu flexed her delts as hard as she could and prepared for an impact. Her quads and calves and hams were ripped beyond belief, surging with super human power, propelling Shu with so much power that she burst completely through the door. Wood flew everywhere. Shu didn't stop until she hit the far side of the hallway. Stars floated around Shu's vision as she sat on her rear on the floor. She rubbed her sore shoulder and got unsteadily to her feet. Shu pulled her dress down a little then searched the hallway for Sammy. She saw a door closing at the far end of the hallway. Shu would have run faster but she'd used up the energy she'd drained. She could only run as quickly as her own impressive muscles could carry her.

"Shu", Rico called as he saw her coming his way.

She windmilled a stop and looked at her partner. "Are you okay?"

"I was going to ask you the same thing", Rico said between deep breaths.

"I'm fine, but you need to work on your cardio. Master Damteni would be most disappointed."

"What! I beat up six guys just now!", Rico boasted.

Shu shrugged. "I killed three men while tied up to a bed." Rico rolled his eyes and Shu allowed herself a small grin.

"We better follow our target", Rico suggested and crept towards the closed door. He pressed his back against the wall while Shu stood across the doorway from him, nearest the knob. She took a calming breath then slowly reached to open the door, but before she could reach the knob, the door opened and one gun toting man after another rushed out.

Sammy tried to angle his head to peer up the staircase and through the door to witness the ongoing battle. He heard grunts and slaps and even a gunshot although all he saw were shadows. He did realize that this should be over by now. Those men he'd sent up to the ground floor weren't the Triad's best soldiers, but they weren't sacks of grain either. They should have been able to put down two kids, but as he heard a man's pained grunt he realized that it wasn't going to be that easy. Sammy had more men coming from an attached building, so he kept his hopes up.

Shu leaned out of reach of a punch, knuckles just brushing the skin on her nose as her eyes focused not on the punch, but on the face of the man who'd thrown it. The moment the punch cleared her face, Shu rocketed forward, using the power of her ultra lean core muscles to slam a punch to the side of the man's face. He stumbled towards the wall then went to a knee when a man crashed against his back after receiving a kick to the chest from Rico. Shu hopped back, nimble as a rabbit, and twirled her small body to gain speed to land a tremendous kick of her own. With her muscles warmed and pumped, she could produce amazing power for her size. Blood flew from the man's mouth along with three teeth. His head smacked against the wall before he went down.

Rico blocked a flurry of punches and kicks. He angled to attempt a punch, but didn't have to worry. Shu's foot suddenly appeared between the man's legs. He looked like he wanted to vomit as Shu's kick nearly ruptured his nuts. Rico crashed a series of hard punches to put the man down. Rico poked his head through the doorway to look down the stairs. "It's clear", he uttered and both moved to the top step.

Sammy leaned through the bottom doorway, lifted his gun and fired the entire magazine. Rico dove right and Shu luckily dove to the left or both of them would have been shot. She crouched next to the door as bullets flew past her, hoping Sammy never got the idea to actually shoot at the wall.

"Clear!?!", Shu shouted across the doorway when the bullets stopped. "Sometimes, Rico, you are a moron!" Rico just shook his head. Sammy quickly ran once he was out of bullets. Rico and Shu jumped to their feet and had just made it to the stop step when more than a dozen voices shouted from behind them.

"Damn!", Rico exclaimed. "They must have called for reinforcements!"

"You are a genius!", Shu hollered as she hurried down the stairs. They had to pause at the bottom of the staircase the burst into a subterranean corridor than looked like it stretched for more than half a mile in either direction. It was fairly well lit, but not flat. Shu searched one way and then the other, not knowing which way to run when she caught a glimpse of hair. "This way!" She slapped her hand against Rico's chest and started running.

Shu had never cared that she was no taller than 5'0", but as she ran down this hall, she wished that she had longer legs. Rico was a few strides ahead of her and pulling away, not that it would have done any good. Sammy's head start was too great. Rico couldn't catch him, and the sounds of shoes banging on the stairs behind her said that it was only a matter of time before the goons behind them caught up. She and Rico were running out of options.

The end of the hall looked like a solid wall, but it opened as Sammy got closer to it. A man casually strolled out from behind the massive camouflaged door to see his boss coming towards him like a man running for his life. The man looked past Sammy to see two kids chasing him, and the girl was wearing a party dress. The man reached for his gun, but Sammy gestured towards him. "Back inside! We have to get inside and close the door!"

"They're going to lock us out", Shu observed as they gained on Sammy, just not enough. "Give me your hand", she yelled to Rico. "I might be able to make it!"

"This is gonna hurt, isn't it", Rico lamented and slowed down. Shu took Rico's hand now that they'd matched speeds. The pain began immediately. His heart raced and his muscles began to burn like he'd been running for hours. A powerful fatigue hit him suddenly and harshly making it increasingly difficult to keep running alongside Shu as she sucked ever more energy. He slowed down as Shu sped up. Her hand closed tightly around his and for several yards she basically dragged him while sucking more of his energy. Then all at once she let him go. Her short legs were a blur now.

Sammy looked over his shoulder and nearly pissed his pants at seeing her gaining on him. She was something more than human, or perhaps something less. Sammy and his chief lieutenant went behind the door and pulled against its weight to close it quickly, just not quickly enough. With no room at all to spare, Shu turned profile and slipped her muscular little body through the opening an instant before the heavy door banged shut. The two men thought that they were in the clear until Shu twirled in a tight arc and kicking Sammy hard enough to send him flying against the heavy door, knocking it open a few inches. The other man put his hand on his pistol, but felt an overpowering force resist him when he tried to lift his arm to unholster it. He tried with all the strength in his right arm, but Shu easily overpowered him.

He looked down and she actually smiled before she swept her leg forward knocking this man's legs out from under him. His ass had barely hit the floor, and air had yet to escape his lungs from the jolt when Shu kicked him the middle of his forehead putting his lights out. She hadn't even kicked him that hard. Pulling energy from gifted people was so much fun. Shu flexed her right arm, curling it slowly from her waist, so she could watch the fibrous strands of muscle in her biceps knit themselves into a solid rising peak. Her upper arm looked pregnant, about to explode but it was the power coursing through her body that was truly amazing. Shu was about to flex her quads to feel them swell, but the double thump of an indoor gunshot brought her back to reality. The shot had come from the hallway and she rushed to the door.

Voices shouted from beyond the steel door and Shu had a moment of dread thinking that a bullet had struck Rico, but her sweaty winded partner pulled the door open enough for him to crawl through on all fours. She reversed all the door's momentum and pulled the door towards her. Men shouted as the opening closed once again. More gunshots bounced harmlessly off the steel door as the opening closed to a sliver and then the door banged shut. Men slammed against the door then unfastened some handles that Rico and Shu hadn't known were there. They started pulling against Shu. Her cute little face twisted and her muscles solidified like lava flows. Her soles slid across the concrete floor a couple of inches, but she pressed the balls of her feet into the ground and with a girlie growl, pulled the door all the way closed. She did get to feel her quads grow and swell beneath her skin, and her biceps peaked even higher than before. She held the men at bay with one hand while reaching for the locking mechanism. She had to reach to her left to grab the polished steel handles and that was all that saved her from another blow to the head.

Sammy raised his empty gun and brought it down where Shu's head had been only a moment before. The heel of the gun struck Shu in her shoulder. Only her thickened trapezius kept her collar bone from being smashed to bits. Shu cried out and spun towards Sammy. She saw his friend getting to his feet and knew she had to make a choice. The man was once again going for his gun, so Shu reluctantly, let go of the door handle to fight.

Rico was tired but as she suspected, aware. Her hand had barely left the big handle when his slid on. He was still tired from Shu's actions in the hallway, but he didn't need all his strength for what he had planned. While Shu fought two men at once, Rico held onto the door handle with his right hand, he stretched his left arm towards the corner to an exposed i-beam. Rico didn't have the strength to pull the door all the way back closed, but the men outside couldn't open the door with his body trying the handle to the wall either.

Shu could have killed Sammy and his assistant, but she couldn't talk to dead men. She disarmed them and left them dazed in the center of a room that was much bigger than she thought. She just hoped there weren't any other ways out because she turned away from the men to help Rico. She grabbed the handle and with a single tug, pull the door shut. Rico unwrapped his arm from the handle and rotated the lock. Thick steel bars slid into the wall locking the entire thing in place. It would take a bomb to open that door now. Rico slumped against the cold steel huffing and puffing.

Shu leaned down and put her hand against his sweaty face. "Nice work", she said simply, but it made Rico smile just the same. Shu was notoriously stingy with compliments. Then she did him one better. Her hands flashed and the energy she'd taken from him minutes earlier returned. It flowed through his body like the sweetest summer breeze. This high was better than any drug known to man. She could have made Rico pass out from pleasure if she'd continued, but Shu stopped and turned around. She'd kept a little of Rico's energy so she could keep her muscles slightly super charged. She lifted both groggy men and tied them to chairs near the middle of the relatively large room.

She searched the room for weapons or cameras or other doors, but found none. The only sound was breathing and the muffled banging from the hallway. She picked up the unknown man's wallet and pistol. She idly held the gun in her hand while she read his info. "Ronald Wong", she said then tossed his wallet on the floor.

"I'm going to cut your fucking heart out!", Ronald yelled angrily and tested the knots holding him to the chair.

"He's a spirited fellow, Sammy. I hope you pay him enough to warrant all this", Shu taunted both men. "Now, you know what we want. Hand over the Controller and all this goes away."

Sammy laughed. "This isn't going to go away. Do you really think you're going to walk out of here! You killed a few of my men, but there are at least thirty on the other side of that door. I'll wager that you can't kill all of them before one of them kills you", Sammy reasoned.

"You have no idea what I can do", Shu countered.

"Now is not the time for big words little girl. Either shoot us with that gun, or tickle yourself with it, but you're not getting a damned thing from me", Sammy declared rather matter-of-factly. Shu realized that she wasn't very good at negotiating or even at intimidating. It didn't come naturally.

Shu looked at Sammy's lieutenant and sighed. He actually tried to bite her hands as she placed them on his head. "This is nothing personal", she said just before her eyes flashed like strobes.

Sammy watched with helpless awe as his lieutenant's strength began to wane. He'd jerked and fought in the first few seconds, but now it seemed almost impossible for him to draw a breath. Dark black veins showed on Shu's ghostly pale skin. Her eyes were shifting masses darkness set deep into her twisted face. She didn't try to hide the pain. She let it wash over her knowing that this man was feeling it too, only worse. When Ronald's skin was as pale as hers, Shu stopped. She took two slow steps backwards, blinking fast as the pain continued to fry her nerve endings. Sammy nearly pissed his pants when she looked at him with those black eyes, there was no white at all and it made his skin crawl.

"Demon!", he cursed. "Murderous succubus!"

Shu smiled and held a finger towards Ronald. A barely visible stream passed between her fingertip and Ronald's nose. It lasted for only a few moments before Ronald jerked and took a ragged breath. Shu kicked his leg to get his attention. Fear had replaced anger inside him. His eyes cut towards Sammy then to Shu and then to the left to a spot on the wall. Shu kicked him again. "Tell your boss how much it hurts!", she ordered and Ronald started to break down.

"It hurts", was all he could manage.

"I will not betray my duty. Kill me", Sammy declared.

Shu lunged forward and gripped Sammy by the throat. Her biceps practically leapt off of her arm as she lifted Sammy and the metal chair off the floor with one arm. She held him inches from her face. "I can make it last for days and days! Trust me death would be welcomed! Give me the Controller. NOW!!!"

"Fuccck you", Sammy managed to hiss. Shu opened her fingers, allowing Sammy to crash to the ground. He looked up at her from his side as she stared down at him with those black eyes. He didn't know what she had planned for him, but he would meet his fate with as much courage as he could muster. Real bravery was a rare thing, and something Shu hadn't known was inside Sammy, not when he'd run from her, not when neither she nor Rico could catch up to him, but looking down at him she realized that she didn't have enough time to break him.

"No!", Ronald screamed as Shu walked back towards him. His eyes looked up at her and then towards the left as he tried to roll to his knees to get away from her. He didn't get far. He screamed like a man on fire when Shu grabbed him by the shoulder. Her eyes flashed again and the color began to drain from her as she began to pull energy from Ronald. He wouldn't have believed that it could hurt worse than before, but Shu knew how to ratchet the pain to unbearable levels. She drained his energy twice as fast as before, but she didn't really want to kill him so she actually forced some energy back into him, prolonging his suffering while lessening hers. Ronald cried like a baby when Shu released him this time. The pain was so great that his brain was to the point of madness, but then eased him from the brink and even returned some of his energy. She leaned her cute little face close to his ear and whispered, "I can take all the pain away, and I don't have to hurt you again. Just tell me what I want to know. Is the Controller worth your life?"

"There is a secret lever near the bottom of the wall that opens a hidden door."

"Ronald you traitor! I will kill you myself you bastard!", Sammy screamed as Rico searched the wall for the secret lever.

"Got it", Rico said and began to unlock a door that was almost seamlessly hidden.

"Great", Shu said then bend down next to Sammy. "Don't blame Ronald. I left him no choice."

"Fuck him and fuck you!"

Shu reached down and grabbed Sammy's tied up arm. Her eyes flashed one more time and then Sammy understood. It felt like she was ripping his skin off of his still living body. It was the most agony he imagined that a human could feel and not die from the shock. He was covered in sweat and breathing fast when Shu let him go.

"Hey you need to see this", Rico called as he opened the door.

Harsh florescent light spilled out from the little secret space. Inside was a bed, a plastic table, a pile of clothes on the floor, three flat screen computer monitors, a half eaten box of KFC, and to Shu's visible surprise a young man in the middle of all of it. He wore a robe, pajama bottoms, and a Batman t-shirt shirt. He had an Xbox controller in his hands and a just opened bag of Skittles on his lap. He didn't glance away from the bank of monitors as he began to speak, "You guys took long enough", the strange young man said with a shake of his head.

"What?", Rico asked.

"You guys took long enough", he repeated in English. "I kept making Ronald look right at this door. I made him do it five or six times. Do you know how hard that is for me to do from a distance? Jees. Now I will say, it was easier to get into his head after you pretty much killed him, nice trick by the way", he blathered and then finally looked at Shu. He teased his spiked hair and smiled. "Ohhh, hel-lo."

Shu rolled her eyes. "Who the hell are you?"

"I'm the Controller!"

"What?", Rico asked with a frown.

"That has got to be your favorite word", he said with a snicker. "They don't just imprison any idiot down here in the old tunnels", he said and rattled the chain that was hooked around his ankle and anchored into the wall.

Shu stepped forward. "We thought the Controller might be an object that the Triads were using."

"Nope, just me. Now if you would be so kind as to bring Sammy closer to me, I can show you guys how I got my nick name."

Shu walked towards a mostly recovered Sammy who looked more afraid of the gamer inside the secret room than he did of Shu. She didn't need to demonstrate her power again as she untied the ropes and guided Sammy to his feet. The courage he showed a few moments earlier melted by the step. He was shivering by the time he stood before the Controller.

"Tisk tisk", the Controller began. "Sammy Sammy. You usually have a second or even a third guy along when you come to give me new orders, but now here you are with no one to back you up." Sammy whimpered when the Controller reached out and snatched his hand. "Now, Sammy tell me that you weren't going to kill me."

"I… I… didn't want to hurt you. They dropped you in my lap and I only wanted to do my duty", Sammy managed to say.

The Controller nodded. "Okay. You're telling the truth. Now unlock this chain and I'll help you survive this."

"This what?", Sammy asked as he reached to the lock and put in a complex combination.

"I don't know these fine people, but I'm guessing that they aren't going to just leave me here. I'm not going to work for the Triads anymore. My debt has been paid ten times over, wouldn't you say?"

"Yes! Yes it has", Sammy said emphatically.

The Controller laughed. "Don't start lying now, Sammy. You really think that I should stay down here until the powers that be let me go. Am I right?"

Sammy just hung his head. The Controller rubbed his ankle where the shackle had been then went to his pile of clothes. Shu turned around with a frown when he pulled his pants down to reveal that he had nothing on beneath. Rico smirked as she blushed. The Controller put on some tight jeans and a jacket over his Batman t-shirt. He retrieved some items from the table next to his messy bed then stepped out of the secret room. He smiled when he looked at Rico and Shu, but his face morphed to a frown as he approached Ronald, still tied to the chair.

He squatted down next to him. "Now, we both know I'm not going to have to test you, Ronny. The rest of the guys sent to handle me were at least professional, but you have a sick streak as wide as the ocean. Five months ago I told you that I was going to kill you, and I am." The Controller looked up to Shu. "Could you free him please?", he requested politely and she did as he asked. "Now give him a gun actually give him two guns."

"We only have two guns!", Rico exclaimed. "And there are thirty soldiers out in that hallway."

The Controller shook his head. "No. There are only eight. The rest of them probably went to get something to open this door. Now, you came down here to get the Controller. You have him, so you might as well trust him", he said with a chuckle at speaking the third person. He'd never done that before.

Shu took the guns from Rico and handed both of them to a confused and scared Ronald. He instantly took the gun in his right and tried to put it to his temple. It only made it half way. "You aren't getting off that easily!", the Controller said. He smiled as he reached out and touched Ronald. The man's countenance changed instantly. The fear and near panic left, replaced with a youthful smirk even though Ronald was nearing middle age. Shu looked at the Controller and saw only a blank stare.

"I'm in here", he said with Ronald's voice then laughed. Sammy felt nauseous because he knew what was about to happen. He'd ordered the Controller to do this very thing many times during the Triad war last year.

Ronald strolled to the metal door and unlocked it. Rico and Shu moved away from the opening while Sammy stayed still wishing that he'd catch a bullet, but then he heard the Controller's voice in his head. 'Don't try anything stupid', the punk kid told him as Ronald walked out to the hallway.

"We have it under control", the Controller lied through Ronald's teeth. Shu ran up behind the door and began to close it as Ronald's arms rose and the first two bullets fired. Two men then four men and then six were hit before the first self defense bullet slammed into Ronald's torso. He smiled as the hot stab of pain found its way to Ronny's mind while the Controller avoided any pain at all. More shots struck Ronald's torso and his muscles were no longer obeying the Controller's commands as quickly as before, but they were quick enough. He shot another man in the foot and then put a bullet through his ear. The last man put seven bullets into Ronald's body. One of the bullets shattered his pelvis. Ronald fell to his knees, but raised the gun in his blood covered right hand and fired one last shot that ricocheted harmlessly off the wall. The last Triad soldier had better aim. His last shot blew the back of Ronald's head off.

"Damn I thought I could get them all", the Controller lamented, now back inside his own body. "Oh well", he said and stepped past Shu and opened the metal door. The last remaining Triad soldier looked up and saw the Controller coming towards him stepping between puddles of steaming blood. He raised his gun. "Too close", the Controller said as he bounced along the clear spots until he stood in front of the last soldier.

"You had a moment to keep control of your own body when I was at the door, but as they say you snooze, you lose", the Controller laughed and was about to continue walking when he stopped suddenly and looked at this soldier closely. "Wait, I remember you", he exclaimed and snapped his fingers. "They sent you to shadow my little sister on her way from school. You sent those pictures to me and the texts about what you were going to do to her. I don't fuckin forget a face!", the Controller screamed, visibly angry.

"No one messes with my family ASSHOLE", the Controller growled and touched the man's cheek. Suddenly the soldier took off running like he was in a 100m race, only the hallway was just eight feet wide. He slammed head first into the concrete wall only to back up a few feet and slam his head into the wall again and again and again even as blood began pouring from a gaping wound. The cracking of his skull made goosebumps rise on Shu's skin and she wasn't even that close. The Triad soldier's head was oblong and his face unrecognizable when he finally fell dead.

The Controller motioned for the group to join him. "Okay score settling is over. I promise." He looked at Shu and chuckled, "I see the look on your face. I'm not crazy. I've just had months to hate some of these guys."

"Do what you must", she replied and started towards the staircase. Rico trailed the group, a few feet behind Sammy who looked like he was being dragged to his death. He didn't resist though. From what he had seen Rico was the least dangerous of his new bunch. They made it to the main hall and were heading to the front door of the building when suddenly it opened and a crowd of armed men rushed in, including one serious faced man in the front. He held up his hands as two dozen guns trained on Rico, Shu, and especially on the Controller who actually looked pleased by this development.

"You were the man I was coming to see, but since you are already here…"

"Don't play games with me!"

The Controller's smirk was infuriating. "I do play games, lots of them. One of them got me into this mess, put me under your thumb. Well, Mr. Yue, I'm crawling out from under you. My debts are paid."

"You dare lecture me! I could have killed you and your entire family!"

Shu glanced to see if the Controller reacted to the taunt. If he did, it didn't show on his face. Instead he stayed bemused. "You didn't kill me. Instead you used me to get power that your Triad has never had before. You rule more than a third of Hong Kong's underworld. Any more than that and it gets unwieldy, you said so yourself."

Mr. Yue pulled back. He hadn't said that in this boy's presence.

The Controller chuckled. "When you sent your men down to give me orders, you don't think that I went into their heads? Anything on the tops of their minds was mine for the picking. Sometimes it was problems at home or with Triad brethren, but sometimes… when I was lucky, it was information about you. Which leads me to my last point.

"We all have family Mr. Yue. Only the sickest amongst us love no one. I love my family and would do anything for them, just like I'm sure you would do for Amy, your good daughter who lives in Seattle. She wishes that she could be closer to you, but you want her to have a life outside of the family business. Then there is Mary, the daughter you love dearly but who wouldn't give you the time of day. She's made it high in the London banking world despite her father being a criminal. She even changed her last name to hide the shame. None of that matters to you. You'd be there to catch her if she fell, wouldn't you?"

Mr. Yue looked angry enough to explode and the soldiers around him were confused. "My debt is paid", the Controller declared. The boyish tone was gone. His words were final. "My family will be unmolested, or … or you can imagine the rest. I wish you no ill will, Mr. Yue. Just let me be."

"Go", Yue spoke like a man wanting to be rid of a problem bigger than his ability to tackle. "All of you go."

The Controller smiled as he turned and motioned for the group to follow. "Not you", he said to Sammy. "You're where you're supposed to be." Sammy had a rush of fresh fear when he looked at Mr. Yue's face.

"What am I supposed to do with this failure?", Mr. Yue grumbled.

"I don't know", the Controller responded. "But Sammy was the only one of your men who I never got information from. His loyalty was too strong. I can't tell you how to run your business, but that would mean something to me", the Controller said as he walked out of the door with Shu and Rico close behind him.

The group stopped once they were sure no one was following them. The Controller looked up at the sky and smiled. "Wow", he said as he took a deep breath. "I finally get to feel the air against my own skin. The feelings are muted when I'm in someone else's head", he explained to Rico and Shu who both felt like accessories at this point. They'd set out to retrieve something for Damteni, but not something that walked and talked and thought. Shu stepped up, knowing she had to assert some control over the situation before it was too late.

"We have to get out of here. You should come with us."

"I really appreciate you breaking me out. I do. But I don't know anything about you or why you want me."

"We're part of a group of gifted people, people with special powers", Rico said. "We live away from many people so we can train our bodies, our minds, and our powers. I know you feel like you've never quite fit in, no matter how much you might try. You'll fit in with us."

The Controller looked at them for a moment then nodded. "Okay. I'll go with you guys. I mean you did get shot at trying to rescue me after all." Rico left on his own and came back a few minutes later driving a delivery van that they'd rented and stashed close to Sammy's headquarters in case the Controller turned out to be heavy. Instead he sat on the bench seat between Rico and Shu. The first stop was to the hotel where Rico and Shu took turns showering. Shu changed out of her ruined party dress and finally got to put on some shoes.

Rico and Shu only grabbed what they needed before checking out. Back in the van the group was careful in case Mr. Yue had changed his mind and come after them. There were no Triad soldiers waiting though. Rico and Shu had worked out an escape plan on their first morning in Hong Kong that was about to be rendered useless.

"We need to go to the ferry", the Controller said suddenly.

"What? We need to get out of the area", Shu protested.

"Look. I'm going with you guys, but I need to go to Macau first. I have to."

Rico looked at Shu who nodded. "Just as long as it's quick."

Shu should have known that the ferry across the Pearl River Delta wouldn't be quick even if the ferry itself was the fastest boat she'd ever been on. There were lots of people on the ferry as it worked its way across the choppy water, but the group of three found a spot to themselves on the second deck.

"Thanks again", the Controller said as he leaned against the bulkhead. "I mean I could see the sun through others eyes and get some fake freedom every now and then, but I was going to go crazy down there."

"I can see how being chained might suck", Rico said then yawned. He'd had a long day.

"How many special people are in your group?", the Controller asked.

"Eight if you chose to join us. There are some more, but they have other rolls within the team", Shu answered.

"So seven others. What powers do they have?", the Controller got excited.

"Our master will give you all the information you want once you meet him", Shu replied to the Controller's disappointment.

"What's this master like. I've never had a master and the idea is kind of weird."

Rico laughed. "He's like no one you've ever met. Smart, strong, and all that good stuff. He didn't ask us to call him Master, but once you meet him you'll realize that there is nothing else that fits him better. Probably not even his name."

"What is his name?"

"We don't know", Shu answered. "He has many names, but we don't know his real one."

"Speaking of names", Rico began then sat forward. "What's your name? I can't keep calling you the kongzhi."

The Controller threw his head back and laughed, the first real laugh they'd heard from him. He pronounced the word correctly then ribbed Shu. "Come on. You've got to teach him better than that", he said in Cantonese then looked to Rico. "My name's Francis Kuan Peng. Most mainlanders call me Kuan and the rest call me Francis."

"Ricardo Rios del Campo, but everybody calls me Rico."

"Liang Shu", she answered. "You can guess what everybody calls me."

Francis held out his hand. "Nice to meet you both. My heroes."

The mood got serious again when the ferry landed in Macau. The Chinese government had gone to great lengths to stamp out Triad activity in Macau after the gang wars a few years earlier, but the gangs weren't completely gone. There was too much money in Macau to abandon it all together. Everyone was wary as they walked onto dry land. There lots of choices for transportation, but Shu decided on one of the least used ones. She rented a car because she refused to be depended on public transportation or a taxi if the Triads came. Rico got behind the wheel and off they went.

As impressive as Hong Kong was, the much smaller Macau was impressive in another way. The lights of casinos turned the sky all shades or reds and greens. One expensive car after another drove past as they continued down the streets. They pulled up to one of the newest and grandest entertainment palaces in the city, rivaling anything in the world. The lights were gold and red with fountains the size of lakes in front of it. Francis led them to an access road that took them to the side of the massive hotel casino. He rolled down the window and waved to a camera before a hardened traffic barrier in front of them raised out of their way. They ended up near the loading docks when Francis told them to stop. "I won't be long", he said as he got out.

"We'll come with you", Shu said.

Francis nodded. "Ok, but just stay back. They don't know you in here."

"I suppose they know you", Rico said.

Francis grinned. "Yeah. They know me."

Even the parts of the casino unseen by guests were fancy and only got fancier as they continued deeper inside. They went to the second floor and found themselves in an opulent room with only a few chairs around one side. Large gilded double doors opened and a man in a smart suit rushed in. Shu and Rico felt their adrenaline rise, but the man rushed up to Francis and threw his arms around him.

"It is good to see you son", the Ferdinand Peng said and hugged Francis tighter.

"You too Dad.", he gathered himself and took a deep breath. "I just wanted to come tell you that I'm safe."

"So those Triad men aren't after you anymore?"

"No. These new friends of mine helped with that", Francis said and pointed to Rico and Shu.

Ferdinand leaned close to his son and whispered, "What do they want from you, because you know they want something. All of them do."

"I'm sure they do" Francis replied then explained about the group of gifted people that he might join. "But I'm no fool. I tested them before agreeing."

Ferdinand was not convinced. "You can't detect truth son, just tell when someone doesn't believe what they are saying. Those two might be true believers in something that is sinister."

"I know. But I can't stay here right now. The Triads aren't on my back, but that doesn't mean they're happy with me either. It might be good for me to go away for a while."

"Perhaps you're right, son. Just don't get into anything that you cannot get yourself out of. Make sure you go see your mother. She would kill me if you didn't, and your brothers and your sister."

"I will as soon as I leave here. I promise."

"Good."

The father and son hugged again and Francis was just about to leave when the double door open again. A white man with sandy blond hair walked in with his head buried into some papers he was reading. "Ferdinand these figures look great. You already know the board gave me static when I nominated you for this job, and you are making me seem like a genius. I bet they…" the man stopped when he saw that Ferdinand wasn't alone. "Oh, I'm sorry for interrupting", the American said.

"You're not interrupting anything Mr. Hewitt."

"Please call me William. We're too far along for formalities, Ferdinand", the American drawled in his aristocratic accent. "Is this your son? It has to be."

"Yes", Ferdinand beamed proudly. "This is my oldest son Francis."

"Nice to meet you young man. Are you going to introduce me to your friends?"

"Oh, how rude of me. This is Shu and this is Rico."

William Hewitt took the time to shake their hands before turning back to Ferdinand. "I have seen everything I need to see. I'm going back to my suite. I'm leaving for America in the morning."

"If you need anything at all", Ferdinand said as Mr. Hewitt left. He walked Francis and his new friends out to the delivery van and waved as his son rode off with them, wondering when he'd get to see his son again. He'd been a man without a plan for a while now, surfing from one situation to another. Maybe this situation would suit him.

Rico and Shu stayed outside while Francis went into his family home to speak to his mother and siblings. They got the feeling that Francis' father knew more about his unethical dealings than the rest of the family did. Shu took the time to make the phone call she'd been hoping to make. Her master answered after only one ring. "Tell me good news", he said in Shu's native language which always made her smile.

"We have the Controller, master, but it's not what you might think."

to be continued....

Recent Chapters

Chapter 1       Chapter 2      Chapter 3      Chapter 4   Chapter 5   Chapter 6

There are plenty of others where this story came from.  Please check out the bookshelf for all the past chapters of Power and Fury and my other series.

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