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In the eastern-styled district of Nexus City, one particular building stood out among the japanese manors, the chinatown suburbs, and the modern skyscrapers; casting its great shadow high in the sky, at a height worthy of a megacorporation. It was a tower of metal and glass that rose up to a castle of stone and tile and magic, an ancient chinese building nested on top of a modern construction. Great reptiles that flew and spit fire guarded this very top, occasionally circling it like birds of prey. There was no one in this part of town who did not fear the shade projected by the fortress, ignorant as they may have been of its new master.
And now, deep in the chambers of the Sky Palace, that very master stirred. Demonic red eyes opened lazily, shining among the darkness that covered the throne of the oppulent, formal hall. A massive scaled body rumbled and adjusted itself. A clawed hand distractedly clacked its fingers one by one against the metal of the throne and then produced a sharp snap.
From the right of the throne, three dark vults emerged from the shadows and bowed towards the throne.
"Call my servants," a deep voice ordered, scratching like coming through a ragged throat. The three ninjas bowed their head and disappeared. The large, enlongated, draconic head that had produced the sound was laid in the palm of the being's hand, and then halted all motion. Waiting.
"Grrmlrm."
"Hrrmph."
Two men grumbled at each other, bumping shoulders as the tall doors of the throne room of the Sky Palace swung open. Stealing a glance at each other, they took hesitant steps inside. Their steps made almost no sound on the great carpet that led to the center of the room, passing the rows of braziers that lit themselves as they walked forward with strong flame, of stronger and more encompassing light than should've been allowed. Slowly, they came to a stop in front of the throne, lowered their heads, and kneeled.
"Gunhao," the master called from the shadow, and the man on the right supressed a shudder. He looked up to the shadowed draconic form of his leader, with his round face with a strong jaw and shoulder length black haired tied back in a ponytail. He flexed his wide shoulders, and his garish suit much too small for his build complained.
"Yamanashi," the master called next, and the man on the left jumped to attention. He too looked up. His lean face, with a short mustache and hair gelled back, did nothing to hide the elaborate tattoo that spread on his neck up from his back. One of his hands jumped to his collar to adjust his tie, but he remembered he did not often use it, so contended himself to straighten his suit jacket.
The master leaned slightly forward, and addressed them both. "I have a job for you two."
In response, they both nodded tensely. Then, with a huge step, the one speaking rose from his throne. The shadows drew away to reveal the full, imposing form of the master. A wide muscular upper body, with clawed hands and feet; a horned head with fins, like a mix between a dragon of the east and the west; dark yellow scales covered every inch of its body, and a simple purple half-robe hung around its waist. The demon sorcerer of fire, Shendu, stood tall and intimidating, and continued to speak.
"I have felt a great source of dark power enter this city, wandering absently. It is contained in a vessel held by someone. You will find it, and bring it to me."
Shendu's order declared, Yamanashi smacked his own chest with a closed hand and responded with overly hearty enthusiasm. "Leave it to me, boss! This Yamanashi and his gang will find that thing in no time."
"Psh," Gunhao scoffed to the side in reaction to the japanese's words. "Yamanashi? More like Bakanashi. Running around like a headless chicken won't help. I'll take care of it."
Yamashi turned to the chinese with a twitchy glare at that.
"Did you just call me stupid?!"
"What, are you deaf too?"
"Bastard, I'll put the 'gun' in Gunhao by sending you to the hospital with one!
"Try me! Even your comebacks are second-rate, you shitty yak!"
"Oh I will, you stinking chinaman!"
Both had risen as the argument escalated, and continued to increase the volume of the sudden discussion while drawing their antagonistic expressions closer. Shendu sat back down on his throne, and covered his face with one hand, groaning quietly into it. "Now matter what world, I am surrounded by incompetents."
In extreme contrast with his own rasp, strong tone, a sharp, feminine voice reached Shendu's ears. "Sounds like you're having a tough time, boss-man."
Shendu turned his head to the sound of bubblegum popping. There, leaning against one of the support pillars of the room, was a tall and curvy woman in informal wear, biker leathers and boots, cherry red hair done up in a ponytail. A tiny smile was on her face as she looked at Shendu and sucked the gum back inside her mouth.
"Finnigan. If you only chimed in to sell humor, I'm sorry but all my savings are going towards unholy patience right now," the demon said.
Rachel Finnigan the freelancer couldn't help but let out a little chuckle at her patron's choice of words.
"Far it be from me to try and cheat you out of your hard earned money for a brief respite," she said, walking closer to Shendu. She looked to the bickering yakuza and triad executive in front of them. "But you could probably do with someone more subtle than those two for this occasion."
A puff of smoke exited Shendu's nose as he observed his bickering minions before turning back to Rachel. "What do you have in mind?"
Rachel smiled. "Give me control of the shadowkhan. I'll get it here quickly and quietly, or failing that, find all the information you could want."
Shendu took a moment just to look her in the eyes. To her credit, she did not flinch. A second later, a row of the demon sorcerer's ninja oni troops appeared behind her and bowed.
Rachel shot a glance behind her to confirm the presence of the shadowkhan and returned her attention to her contractee. His hand went down to her level, and with a swirl of green fire, opened to reveal an ornate compass on a golden chain. Blinking, she carefully took the item.
"You should be able to sense it yourself once you are close enough, but this will give you the direction where to look," he declared.
The mercenary nodded and placed it into her jacket. Puffing out a new bubble with gum, she turned around and started to walk back from where she came, waving away. "I'll give you a call later. Good luck with the situation here."
The popping of bubblegum marked her departure with the shadowkhan, as Shendu once more had nowhere to focus his attention on but his two other servants.
"You can't even control your men! I heard they got a pachinko saloon wrecked because one of them was dumb enough to provoke a werewolf!"
"And your subordinates let an entire shipment of drugs go up in smoke because of a stoned moron they weren't paying attention to! Can't exactly talk, can you!"
"You drunkard, give me an excuse to teach you about waterboading. Just one!"
"Better to like saké than to have my brain so addled by opium I can't tell when a suit looks awful."
"What about my taste in suits?!"
Two yellow beams blasted the floor right in front of them before the argument could go further. The relatively small explosion sent the two flying in surprise out of the great doors they had entered through. They landed in a mess of limbs, smacking against the ground with uncomfortable groans. And accompanied by a distinct growl, the entrance to Shendu's throne room closed with a heavy thump.
Yamanashi and Gunhao looked back at each other. Yamanashi spoke first.
"I think that could've gone worse."
"If you hadn't opened your mouth to begin with..."
"You little shit, I'll kill you."
