Rebirth in the Apocalypse: Third Time's a Charm



Chen Zi Han lowered his head and chucked as he took a step in front of me. "Do you want to repeat that?" He asked in a very soft tone and he pulled out a pair of black leather gloves from his side pocket. He very slowly and meticulously put them on, almost becoming absent-minded in the process.

I had once asked him why he carried the gloves with him but I had never seen him wear them. He simply replied that they were a memento of the past.  I never questioned him on it. Everyone was entitled to their own secrets, but I was surprised as I watched him putting them on now.

The Chen Zi Han that I knew seemed to become a whole other man as the gloves went on.  As the final snap at the wrist was done up, it was like a wall shut down over him.

"No?" He said in a deceptively soft voice. "I think it was something about my bitch," he continued as he placed his hands to his side and looked at the man in front of him.  In contrast to Chen Zi Han, the man was much smaller, with a definitive beer belly and gold chains around his neck. Coupled with his overly colorful, large print, button-up shirt, it was hard to take him seriously. However, sometimes those that looked like a joke were very much a threat.

The man scoffed as the woman shook his arm again. "Wu Long," the woman whined, not saying anything else.

"I'll take care of it," said Wu Long as he patted her hand where it rested on his arm. "Don't you worry about a thing."

I walked up to the side of Chen Zi Han and noticed the slightest flinch as I leaned against him. Confused as to why he would flinch at that since he was starting to touch me more, I put it to the back of my mind until we could discuss it later. "It would be better for you to worry about yourself," I suggested, shifting my weight as Chen Zi Han crossed his arms in front of his chest. "Or did she not tell you that we shot at her?"

I chuckled as I once again pulled out the gun and aimed it at the woman.  There was nothing I hated more than someone that tried to make trouble for others.  As far as I was concerned, the end of the world would be a much better place if everyone just concentrated on surviving and not stirring up shit.

But then again, there would always be shit disturbers. And let's face it, it was nice to watch the drama unfolding, especially when you didn't have television anymore and it didn't involve you.

The man in front of me, Wu Long, didn't flinch when I moved my arm and took aim at him instead of the woman whose name I still didn't know. Seeing his lack of a reaction, my impression of him improved. "Are you dumb enough to be killed for a woman?" I asked, looking at him seriously.

"No," he assured me. "But that is my woman." I could respect the fact that he would back his partner up, even if he had to know that he was on the losing end of the fight.

  I nodded, "So, how do you propose we go about this?" I asked.

"We fight."

"You won't win," I assured him. Chen Zi Han remained stoic beside me and Liu Wei came up to my other side, the baseball bat that Chen Zi Han took from the woman over his shoulder.

"There are more of us," Wu Long pointed out.

"There are," I agreed, not arguing with the number. "But I'm pretty sure that he alone could take out all of your men," I said, pointing the Chen Zi Han. "We wouldn't even have to lift a finger."

"I think you are underestimating me," said Wu Long as he looked at me seriously.

"And I think that no matter what, you think that you are nothing but a big fish in a small pond," I replied, not at all intimidated.

"Does the Golden Phoenix mean anything to you?" he asked, his head tilted to the side like he was trying to give me an advanced warning on what we were trying to bite off.

"Does the Red Dragon mean anything to you?" Liu Wei returned, gently swinging the bat around in a small circle as if he was just stretching his wrist. Finally catching on to what the two were trying to say without actually saying anything (stupid men), I kept my mouth shut while waiting for a reply.

"They are not here," said Wu Long full of confidence. I watched the posturing between the men and rolled my eyes.  This was taking much longer than I wanted it to and I still had supplies that I wanted to grab.

"Yes, they are," I said, twirling my hand in what I was sure was the universal gesture of hurry the fuck up. "But nothing matters at the end of the day except for the last one standing. So, if this is coming down to a fight, let me know. If not, get out of our way, we have better things to do than waste time on this dick-measuring contest."

This time all the men turned to look at me. "What?" I snapped. "I am tired, I'm hungry and we still have to do some more shopping before meeting up with the other boys and Fuck Face."

Liu Wei let out a chuckle at my tantrum. "Okay, Sweetheart, we are sorry."

Wu Long scoffed at his reply. "You are going to let a woman lead you by your balls?" he sneered, seemingly unaware of the exact same thing happening to him as well.

"This woman is more than welcome to any part of me, including my balls," laughed Liu Wei, letting the perceived insult completely pass over him. "But I also know that once she is done with a situation, she is more than likely to set it on fire than deal with it for another moment. I was trying to give you an out, but if you don't want it…"

Wu Long didn't appreciate the warning, and I was done. I needed the ice cream in my space if this day was going to go on any longer. Putting away my gun, I subtly called my fire, and once again ignited my hands. "You boys want to bring a knife to a gunfight? Then let's see who is standing at the end of the day."  Taking a step forward, I was stopped by Liu Wei's hand on my shoulder. Quickly putting out the fire before anyone could really notice it, I looked at him.

"We can't let you fight all of our battles," he said into my ear before nodding to Chen Zi Han. 

I had never seen the man move as fast as he just did. In less than a minute, he had already taken out three of Wu Long's men, a single punch to the jaw in every case.  The men dropped like a sack of potatoes allowing Chen Zi Han to move on to the next one.  The fourth man put up a bit of a fight but Chen Zi Han quickly had him on the ground and was working over his face until blood and teeth were splattered all over the alleyway. 

Is it bad that a part of me was turned on as I watched it? I looked over at LIu Wei, but the man's eyes never left me.

When the fifth man tried to pull Chen Zi Han away from the fourth. Chen Zi Han came up swinging, his uppercut practically causing the fifth man to go flying backward. Now very much distracted from #4, #5 knocked out, Chen Zi Han stood up, not even winded.

Adjusting his gloves, he looked at the remaining 5 men like how a lion looked at a hyena. They were not a threat to him, only an annoyance. It was up to them if they wanted a beating like the others had.

Wu Long studied Chen Zi Han as he returned to my side, this time, standing behind me and a little to my right. "Who is he?" he asked, a note of wariness coming out for the first time.

"Chen Zi Han," Liu Wei said simply as he looked at the man in front of us. "Of the Red Dragon Syndicate." As soon as the words were out of his mouth, Wu Long dropped to his knees.

"I'm sorry I didn't recognize you," he stuttered turning only for a moment to glare at the woman beside him.  Liu Wei simply nodded in response to his apology.

"Unfortunately, there is going to be a price to pay for this," said Liu Wei looking like this whole thing was not related to him in any way.  Wu Long, still on his knees in front of Liu Wei could only cringe in fear.

"Of course," he said after a few seconds.

Liu Wei looked at me and smiled gently, "What price should he pay?"  I looked back at the man completely stunned. I had nothing to do with their world and knew nothing about what they were talking about.

Price? What price?

I looked at Chen Zi Han, hoping that he would be able to help me out, but the man stared stoically ahead of him, refusing to even look at me, even though I knew he must be able to feel my glare.  Looking back at Liu Wei, I frantically opened my eyes wide.

He simply chuckled. "It's okay, My Queen. Since apparently, you have my balls, you should decide this man's fate."