by Martha Carr
“That staff has a hard end.” Louie grimaced.
Ava laughed. “I would hope so. It’s made of wood.”
“Smartass.”
Ava snickered and walked over to give him a hand. She’d decided to start his training by focusing on defense. While Louie was, of course, interested in all of it, he’d explained that his sword would help him fight but he needed some help on defensive moves, since he was tired of getting knocked down by giant fireballs. Ava didn’t ask. She was starting to get the feeling that the less she knew, the better.
“All right, let’s try this again, but this time try to jump over the staff instead of letting it take you down.”
“Oh, is that what I’m supposed to be doing?” he asked sarcastically. “I thought you just came over to beat my ass a little.”
“I did, but I figured you might as well learn something in the process.”
Ava got into her offensive stance with the staff out in front of her. She began to twirl it as the two of them circled one another. Louie crouched as he moved, watching the muscles in her arms. He had learned quickly that defense wasn’t just about dodging, it was about reading the attack before it ever happened. Her right arm flexed and her grip tightened, so Louie readied himself as she swung the staff low and jumped over it, immediately putting his arm up to block her next move.
“Very good.” Ava nodded. “You are learning, my young Padawan.”
Louie grinned but kept his eyes glued to Ava, knowing she wasn’t above tricking him. Then again, neither were the enemies he would be facing. She swung the staff wide and high, and Louie rolled under it and jumped to his feet. Ava spun and swung the staff at about waist-height. He bent back to avoid it, his arms flailing as he lost balance and fell into the small end table. He smiled as he caught himself, and continued to move.
“Nice recovery.”
“I am quick and nimble like a ninja.”
“Uh... Yeah, sure.” Ava laughed, one eyebrow raised.
She picked up the pace, slashing and jabbing, and Louie evaded every single blow. He was breathing heavily, and Ava could see the pride growing stronger in his eyes. He chuckled and dodged another jab. Ava had no intention of letting him off that easy, though. She began a kata, yelling as she attacked over and over, pushing him back toward his bookcase. His face shifted to worry when he felt the shelf at his back. She raised the staff high in the air and roared as she swung it straight for the top of his head, stopping just an inch away.
Louie tensed, his eyes squeezed shut as he waited for the blow. Ava just laughed, tapped the staff lightly on his head, and walked to the couch. He nodded his thanks when she tossed a bottle of water to him and took a big gulp.
“You let pride get in the way. A certain amount of pride is good since it makes you confident in your movements, but too much makes you sloppy.”
He groaned. “I know.”
“And remember that you are going to be fighting back during all of this too, so these movements need to become second nature. You won’t be able to concentrate on only defense, or your opponent will wear you out and defeat you. If they are stronger, they can keep going. You will need to weaken them to get the upper hand. When they start to tire, that’s when they will make a mistake, and then BAM—that’s when you strike.”
“You should be a teacher,” Louie remarked, sitting on the edge of the couch.
“Nah. I still have much to learn, but you don’t know as much as I do so it’s easy for me to teach you. Besides, ninety percent of my sensei’s job is working with young kids who have watched one too many Jackie Chan movies. Their parents bring them to Chinatown for some authentic martial arts training, but they usually last one year, if that. It’s a phase.”
“Don’t like the rug rats?”
“Oh, I like them, just not the ones bouncing around kicking people. Kind of like you with better coordination.”
“Ha-ha.” Louie rolled his eyes.
“How has everything been going? I mean, obviously not too bad, since you’re still alive.”
“It’s okay. Kind of slow sometimes because we have to do black ops stuff to track down the dark ones or wait for our informants to bring us info, which can take forever if they are scared enough. It’s still okay, though, and now I’m gonna make some money doing it, so it’s great. I won’t have to spend my time scavenging or going back to Oriceran to sell at the market.”
“That’s good.” Ava looked apprehensive.
“What’s wrong?”
“I don’t know. I guess I just worry.”
“Aw, you worry about me?” Louie teased.
“Not you.” She snorted. “I’m nervous because there are so many scared humans here. We tend to shy away from change, and I am worried that when the magical folks start coming in they will have a hard time with us. Non-magicals won’t see them like I see you—just another person with a cool gift. They will see them as unknown, and unknown to them is a threat.”
“That’s why we are working so hard to make the transition easier. I know it won’t be a piece of cake, but hopefully, with some education and getting rid of the really bad ones, we can earn the planet’s trust. At least, that’s what I’m hoping comes out of all this. I certainly don’t want to be stuck on Oriceran if it really does blow. I miss home, sure, but we all have to face the reality of the prophecy.”
“You think some will stay?”
“And meet their end? Probably. We have some pretty stubborn old people, who oddly enough, remind me of you.”
Ava gasped playfully and hit Louie in the shin with her staff. He grimaced, then smiled. She stood and leaned her staff against the wall, passing the umbrella holder that she’d seen the sword in the time before. It was empty, but it slightly disturbed her.
“All right, let’s practice hand-to-hand techniques. Do your men fight like that?”
Louie shrugged. “Depends on what you’re fighting. Wizard and witches not much, but Kilomea all the time.”
“Well, let’s get to it, then.”
Ava bowed to Louie and he returned the gesture, immediately moving into a defensive pose. She didn’t waste any time before attacking, chopping her arms toward his head. Right, left, right, left—Louie blocked each blow, lowering his hand as she alternated punches. She didn’t slow as she mixed up the movements, kicking one minute and punching the next. He moved with her, blocking everything and keeping his eyes on her muscles.
“Feel the movements,” Ava shouted. “Look into my eyes, not at my muscles. You won’t always have someone fighting with their arms revealed.”
Louie nodded and shifted his eyes to hers. She chopped him in the neck, sending him tumbling back. He rubbed his throat and jumped back in, locking eyes with her.
“Concentrate. Feel the movements of our bodies. You can use this with anyone, and you will know quickly how they fight and what to anticipate. Some people are technical fighters like me, and others are brute-force fighters—throwing their weight into it. The brute-force fighters tire a lot quicker than the technical ones, but they can deal some damaging blows immediately if you aren’t paying attention.”
Ava and Louie circled, and when she reached the place she wanted to be she launched off the coffee table and backflipped over Louie’s head. He turned just in time to block her arm from slashing across his face and smiled, moving forward to force her to back up. She continued her attack, but was impressed that he had picked up on the moves she had just taught him a couple of weeks before. She couldn’t do some of the kicks, though, since she wasn’t familiar enough with the environment to throw caution to the wind and possibly fall into the rack of artifacts behind her.
Louie could sense her apprehension and moved faster, forcing her into the corner. Little did he know that was exactly where she wanted to end up, since there she knew what was behind her and didn’t have to worry about tripping. She kicked and sent him stumbling backward a few steps. She leapt forward and wrapped her arms around his neck and swung behind him. S
he pressed her arm into his neck and took him to the floor. As she held tightly to him, she explained his mistake.
“You got too focused on what I was doing. Too focused on the fact that I was pushing you backward, so you took your eyes off mine. When you are in a fight, unless it’s on a cliff or side of a volcano, just maintain a general idea of where you are. Force the fight in the direction you want it to go, or you will end up stumbling around hoping not to trip. Inattention can cost you your life. If you fall over something that’s fine, but at least you are paying attention.”
Louie choked slightly and patted her arm. Finally, she loosened the grip and Louie took a deep breath. Ava smiled as she released him and stood, letting him fall the rest of the way to the floor.
He laid there for a moment, catching his breath and recovering from her takedown. He was frustrated with himself. Ava was right, he needed to get more confident with his fighting, especially given the types of battles that he had been facing. His phone began to buzz on the table next to him and he reached up, patting around until he found it. He pulled it down and quickly sat up at the sight of Leira’s name on the screen.
“Hello, there.”
“Hey, you all right? You sound out of breath.”
“Yeah, just practicing some moves to keep my ass from dying out there.”
“Oh, good,” Leira replied. “Because we got a big one and we need to get there ASAP.”
“Okay, what are the details?”
“A Japanese mob known as the Yakuza are attempting to break into a Los Angeles vault where there are a whole lot of dangerous artifacts. They obviously don’t want to acquire them to put them safely behind glass.”
“Where’s the security?”
“There, but they don’t have enough, and it is imperative we don’t allow these men to steal anything. They are already powerful enough as witches and wizards in the mob life. If they get their hands on these artifacts, there are gonna be a lot more mob deaths.”
“Okay, is it just you and me?”
“And Yumfuck. I’ll pay you what we agreed upon before if that’s cool.”
“That’s cool with me. Send me the coordinates, and I’ll meet you there in five with bells on.”
“Cool, I’ll send them right over. Thanks, Louie.”
“You got it, boss lady.”
Louie hung up the phone and jumped up from the floor, grabbing his water and finishing it off. Ava stuck her hands in her pockets and looked at him curiously.
“Lessons done for today?”
“Yeah, I got a call.”
“Is it dangerous?” Ava always worried about him when he left like that.
“More than the other times? I suppose. It’s a Japanese mob who happen to be witches and wizards.”
“The Yakuza?”
Louie looked at her for a moment, surprised. “Yeah, how did you know?”
“They are legendary for their stealth. It only makes sense that they are magical beings. That’s the myth and legend about them, anyway. They’ve been at war with the Chinese mob for years and always seems to appear and disappear right at the perfect moments. They are really dangerous, Louie.”
“Don’t worry.” Louie put his hand on her shoulder and smiled. “You have prepared me well, Master Splinter.”
“Oh, great, now I’m an oversized sewer rat.”
“Wellll...” Louie teased.
“I’m going.” She chuckled, shaking her head. “Please text me when you’re done saving the world, okay? That way I know whether to turn this apartment back into storage or not.”
“I feel the love.”
Ava laughed and waved her hand as she grabbed her bag and headed out the door. Louie took a deep breath, his smile fading as he gathered his things. He unlocked the cabinet and pulled out the sword. He could feel its warmth as he tightly gripped the handle. The sword seemed to sense his tension, and he felt a burst of warm light moving through his body. This was going to be a fight for the books. Something—if he survived—he would be able to tell stories about. He had never fought a mob before, much less a dark magic one.
He knew he should be nervous and apprehensive, but as long as he held that sword he was confident. This was his first official call since he’d started working for Leira, and there was no way he was going to screw it up. These wizards were going to meet their match, he could feel it...or at least he hoped so.
10
Leira took a deep breath as Yumfuck hurried into the living room. This time he was three feet in height. She nodded and closed her eyes before pulling a ball of light up into her palms. She tossed it into the air and it floated gently in front of her.
“You ready for this, Yumfuck?”
“I was born ready.”
“Wish I had been,” she muttered to herself.
She opened a portal with the orb. Wherever these coordinates were, it was dark and she could barely see anything. Yumfuck and Leira stepped through, and she made sure the portal closed quickly behind them. She squinted around the area but didn’t see anything.
“Okay, we’ll move down the center and check all the rooms until we find them...”
There was a forced cough behind her, and suddenly all the lights came on. They were on the ground floor of a parking garage, and Yumfuck slowly grew to four feet tall. Leira pursed her lips and looked at Yumfuck.
“The Yakuza are behind me, aren’t they?”
Yumfuck nodded, and Leira rolled her eyes and turned around. She laughed nervously, waving to the group of men who stood staring at them in confusion. She cleared her throat and looked at the man in the front, assuming he was the leader.
“You wouldn’t happen to be a magical mob come to steal artifacts, would you?”
The men exchanged looks for a moment, and one threw a fireball straight at Leira. She ducked to the side, and after it hit the post behind her she slowly turned back and narrowed her eyes.
“Guess that answers that.”
Immediately Yumfuck grew to eight feet tall, growling loudly as he bared his teeth and ran for the group. Leira pulled energy from the ground, swirling a fireball in her hand and sending it flying toward the leader. The men scattered, but with a wave of his wand the leader reversed its path and fired it straight back at Leira. She ducked but this time kept her eyes on the group, whispering spells under her breath. Small orbs of light burst from her fingertips, splitting and shattering like broken glass over the mobsters.
Several yelled as their cloaks caught fire but Leira ignored them, too focused on sending magic their way. In retaliation, they hurled bolts of dark magic at her and Yumfuck. One struck the fur on the top of Yumfuck’s head, and he paused to angrily watch pieces of green hair float to the ground. He roared loudly, and when he swiped his giant claws at them he took several of the mobsters’ heads off their shoulders. Leira leaned to the right as a head flew past and nodded in approval.
“That’s right, Yumfuck, get those motherfuckers.”
Leira darted to the large column in the center of the floor, sliding behind it as she closed her eyes and began to draw more magic. The bracelet vibrated on her arm while it worked to keep her as grounded as possible and she growled. When she opened her eyes, her magic was illuminating the floor around her. She stepped out from behind the pillar with a gigantic white orb swirling in front of her that almost resembled the solar system. She launched the orb at the group, knocking several of the men to the ground like bowling pins.
Just then a portal opened next to her and Louie stepped through, grasping his sword tightly. He jerked it up in front of him to deflect an incoming fireball and slowly turned his head toward Leira, lifting an eyebrow.
“Talk about getting the coordinates on the mark...”
“I know.” Leira scoffed. “Walked right into this one.”
Yumfuck let out a roar and Louis and Leira watched as he grabbed a man and ripped him apart, flinging the top half one direction and the bottom half another. Louie was surprised. He had seen Yumfuc
k fight before, but not with such intense anger.
“He seems a bit grumpy.”
“He had to miss lunch.”
“Ahh.” Louie nodded. “That’ll do it. All right—I’ll go left, you go right?”
“Sounds like a plan to me.”
Louie started toward the dozen or so men on the left, gripping his sword tightly. It had told him to deflect when he stepped out of the portal, saving him from a fireball to the face. All he had to do was wait for it to start issuing orders to him. It was the only entity in both worlds that he allowed to order him around, and in fact, preferred it. Deflect to the right. Louie immediately pulled his sword up, feeling the heavy thrum of dark magic vibrating the metal.
“Thank you,” he whispered.
Swing forward. Jab. Swing left. Turn, swing low. Louie followed the sword’s instructions, trusting in its instinct. He swung forward, slicing a wizard across the chest. He jabbed, pushing several back as he swung left then turned quickly, taking a wizard out at the knees with a low swing. Bolts of magic barreled toward him and he held his sword up, letting the magic bounce off. He groaned as the attack increased. There was so much dark magic being thrown around that he could barely see the wizards in front of him.
“I don’t think I can hold this much longer.”
Suddenly the sword began to glow, the metal blazing so brightly that Louie had to look away. The mobsters slowed their attack, watching in wonder as Louie’s instrument of destruction turned into a brightly glowing star in his hands. When the glow became strong enough to light up the whole floor a wave of magic burst out, knocking a dozen or more of the mob off their feet.
Louie opened one eye and looked around when the light started to dim. The mobsters were slowly picking themselves up and shaking their heads to try to stop the ringing in their ears. Louie chuckled as the wizards retrieved their wands and dove behind a low wall. A blast of magic slammed into the concrete and chunks of rock and dust blew up around him. He ducked his head for a moment and waited until it settled.
Get up and start swinging right and left. Louie sighed, knowing they were waiting for him to stand. He took a deep breath and popped up, swinging the sword from side to side. To his surprise he hit three of the wizards, taking one man’s head off and mortally wounding the other two with chest strikes. Louie looked down at the head by his feet.