Fight Club

The Lotus Blossom, a club in the Japanese district, was home to one of the Yakuza syndicates stationed in the states. While it fronts as a typical Night club, the place is actually a front for an illegal sex ring, using trafficked women. Scum from all walks of life were here tonight, including many of the NYPDs worst, looking to unload their frustrations onto an innocent victim.

Kenji sauntered through the alley at the back of the building, his bokken resting on his shoulder as he approached the table two men were currently sitting at, playing Shogi.  

“Hey, you lost buddy!?” One of them jumped to their feet as Kenji got close, holding a hand out to stop him from moving close to the door. “Employees only, asshole.”  

Before the man could react, the hand on Kenjis chest was twisted and pulled to the side, as the bokken swung hard across the face of the second guy when they tried to get up. As the first man reached for his gun with his other hand, he felt a sharp pain between his eyes as Kenji struck him with the pommel of the bokken, and everything went black.  

Kenji let go of the limp hand, walking over to the backdoor to the club, giving a knock. He then took a few steps back before charging forward. As he got close, another man opened the door, just in time to see Kenji jump up, twist around, and kick the door wide open. The man fell back from the force, quickly trying to scramble to his feet.  

As Kenji walked inside, he swung his foot out, kicking the man under the jaw, knocking him out. “Knock knock.” He stated in a modulated voice, flipping the bokken back onto his shoulder as more men stepped out of various rooms into the hallway.  

As some random EDM music started to play from the club up front, the men rushed at Kenji.  

As one swung at him from the right, he ducked underneath, striking him in the sternum with the bokken, followed by a roundhouse kick to knock him into the wall hard. Using the momentum, Kenji caught a second punch with his free hand, rapidly striking the man with his sword, before flipping it in his hand, hooking it behind neck as he pulled him in the path of a third mans punch, letting his face take the full force. As the man reeled back, realizing he had just hit his ally, Kenji slammed his foot into his chest in a spartan kick, sending him flying back into one of the rooms.  

As two more close in, Kenji dragged the man he had ahold of around, throwing him into the other two, knocking all three of them in different directions. This gave Kenji an opening to move through, jabbing and swinging his bokken into them as he passed by, finishing each one with a strike to across the face.  

As the last man dropped, girls stepped out of the rooms, curiously checking on what had happened.  

Kenjis heart sank as a young girl came out of the room next to him, she was no older than 14. She held the top of her “school-girl” out closed with her hands, the buttons had come off, clearly coming off from the top being ripped open.  

One of the older girls ran back into one of the rooms, coming out with a suit jacket, presumably one of the unconscious mens. She rushed over to the little girl and wrapped the jacket around her, holding her as she cried. It seemed Kenji had managed to arrive before the man could get really started before being interrupted, but Kenji didn’t know how far he managed to get.

“Go on, get out of here...” Kenji nodded over to the exit. “There’s a womens shelter a couple blocks up the street, the manager is a good person, they will keep you safe.”  

“What about the others in the club??” The girl piped up.  

Kenji looked over to the door leading to the club. “Don’t worry, they’ll be right behind you...” Even with the modulator, his anger was clear in his voice, and his grip on the bokken tightened. “Now go, before more come back here looking.”

The girl stepped up to him, giving him a quick hug. “Thank you.” She then turned with the others, running out of the building.  

Kenji cracked his neck as he stalked into front of the club, scanning the scene in front of him. The place was packed, and plenty of unsuspecting people that were just here to dance and drink. They didn’t concern Kenji, once shit hit the fan, they would all, maybe one or two deciding to be brave, but that was on them.  

The other girls they mentioned were easy to spot, it was the way they strutted around, it didn’t seem natural, as if they were shutting themselves down, and letting the muscle memory take over. One looked over to Kenji with an expression that seemed to be a mix of shock and pleading for help.  

“Hey, you...” Another man in a suit came over to Kenji. “What the hell are yo-...”  

Kenji brought the full force of his bokken into a swing, striking the man across the jaw, hearing a satisfying crunch of bone being shattered.  

Several people near the scene screamed, seeing a man in a blue demon mask just lay a man out with a blunt sword. Like Kenji figured, the people started to scatter, racing out the door, only the Yakuza members remaining, along with the worker girls, and a few of the patrons. As they drew guns, Kenji realized they were cops, most likely working for the Yakuza, or not wanting Kenji to destroy their den of depravity.  

Either way, Kenji didn’t care, they were all gonna pay.

The music coming from the club was so loud that it reverberated in Chie’s bones, she had gotten in the line when the sun had gone down, and now, after over an hour of waiting she had finally gotten to the entrance. They didn’t even care, about her, which was good since she didn’t have an ID. She knew she was exactly the kind of person they wanted in their club, for all the wrong reasons. She saw the eager look in the bouncer's eyes as he looked her over, the same way half of the people in the line had oggled her all night. It disgusted her how well her ‘disguise’ was working. A crop top that exposes the shoulders, leaving her toned abs and broad shoulders concealed under a thin veil of fishnet. She had on a bulky pair of black cargo pants and had concealed the lower half of her face with a black face mask, the decal of a cat’s whiskers and face imprinted on it.

Chie had heard about a couple of girls from her high school going missing, and a bit of sleuthing led her here, with a lot more missing people suspiciously last seen here. Now Chie was stepping into the den of the beast. The club was stuffy inside, partly because people were smoking inside, but also because of the hundreds of people crammed like sardines into the darkened building. People danced under flashing lights that briefly revealed the sweaty bodies grinding and dancing, drinking and smoking, embracing a night of utter indulgence.


To the average person, the crowd would be overwhelming, a sea of silhouettes moving like a single mass. To Chie, the darkness was trivial and she saw each face as clear as day. It didn’t take her long to see the signs. Her eyes flickered through the crowd, and she spotted a hand slither it’s way to a drink and sprinkle a powder into a drink before slinking back into the crowd. Another, a handsome man talking to a group of girls, motioning to a door behind the bar. The longer she looked the worse the scene unfolding became. She knew it would be a fool’s errand to save each girl stricken tonight, though there was a phantom pain as she thought about those unfortunate enough to have already been subject to whatever comes next. Each girl shared the same fate. They were all being taken to the back and she watched the door, looking for a chance to get in.

It came as a surprise when a man with a strange mask exited the back. Looking him over, she was surprised to find he had a weapon, though an odd one for any real criminal. She quickly saw just how effective he was with the weapon as she cringed at the sight of a man’s jaw being shattered, People scrambled to escape, trampling each other in terror. The darkness did not help them and for a moment it was pandemonium. The pandemonium that Chie took clear advantage of. Chie slid into cover, hiding behind the bar that had been left abandoned. The music remained on as she peeked over, looking at the standoff. This stranger was outnumbered and outgunned, a feeling she knew all too well. With surprise still on her side, Chie knew she had to help him. From one of the many pockets of her pants, she pulled out a handful of her signature weapon.

Three gangsters groaned in pain and fell to the floor, writhing in agony. The others had no idea what had happened to them until they saw a shuriken plant itself directly into another gangster’s leg. A perfect shot at the Achilles heel, his calve balled up like a knot as he screamed in agony. The rest of their eyes traced back to the woman now standing on the bar, holding a metallic staff in one hand, the other clenched into a fist.

Kenji cocked his head as three of the Yakuza dropped to the floor, catching the sight of a shuriken hitting the fourth, cutting his Achilles tendon. Kenjis head turned to see there was another figure who had stuck around. Dressed like the other club patrons, a crop top, fishnet, baggy pants, and a face mask with a kitty whisker design. She stood on top of the bar, facing down the crowd of men opposing the both of them, a Bo-staff in hand.  

Kenji smirked under the mask, as his attention was turned back to his targets, bringing the Bokken to rest on his shoulder, scanning any movements as he calculated his next move.  

His eyes caught the glint of one of the cops drawing their pistol to his right, taking aim. As the round was fired, however, Kenji was already tucked away in a nearby both, keeping the wall between him and the three other stray rounds trying to chase him. He glanced up to the other masked figure, giving her a casual salute before grabbing a bottle of liquor that had been left on the table of the booth. He could hear the cop inching forward, as he waited till he was in range, before stepping out of the booth, moving quickly to his right to avoid another bullet as he beamed the thick bottle towards the mans face.  

The bottle collided directly with the mans nose, the sound of the cartilidge breaking could be heard as the bottle didn’t break from the impact. Before the man could recover, there was a Bokken coming down on his gun hand, the gun flying out of his hand from the force. It was clear to the cop that whoever this mask man was, he was looking to hurt him. There were several powerful punchs driven into his stomach as Kenji pushed him backwards, knowing the others wouldn’t dare take a shot, not with the risk of hurting an officer of the law in the process. When one of the Yakuza men were close enough, Kenji twirled the Bokken in his hand, bringing it back up hard between the cops legs.  

He deserved far worse, knowing what Kenji knew of the place.  

As the cop collapsed to the floor, crying in agony as he clutched at his groin, Kenji shifted to the next closest Yakuza, driving the Bokken hard where his neck and collar bone meet. The man dropped, trying to bring his pistol up to shoot the vigilante, only for the Bokken to come down on the top of his head. His arm went limp, blood running down his face, as he suddenly went catatonic from the blunt force, but was still ultimately alive.  

Kenji continued down the right side of the club, not concerning himself with how his sudden ally was doing. Given her brazen display, and taking out four of them with projectiles before they could react, he was certain she was handling herself. His focus was on breaking as many of these men as he could manage.

Shuriken was doing far less admirably than her hastily made ally. Her dramatic entrance standing at the bar had seemed heroic, but as soon as the guns were pointed at her she was quite literally outgunned and it showed. She had managed to duck down behind the bar but the bullets rained above her and kept her pinned will gangsters flanked her and quickly closed in. The bottles of booze shattered and rained alcohol and glass onto her and the ground below. She knew she had to move fast. She placed another unique shuriken on the ground and scurried on all fours towards a door to the back room.

The gunfire stopped when they saw the door open and shut. Hurriedly the gangsters rushed after her, not willing to let the vigilante get away with what she had done. They walked right into her trap, as the shuriken exploded, and the blast was only amplified by the pooling alcohol on the floor. One gangster was blasted back into a wall, knocked out cold from the impact. The other was sent sprawling but quickly started to roll on the ground to try and extinguish the fire quickly engulfing his body. A fire was left in her wake but the gunmen jumped it in hot pursuit. The more trouble this girl caused them the stronger their conviction to end her grew.

In the kitchen, Chie hastily looked for another place to hide. There was an exit but she wasn't done here yet. Not until the gang had been put down. Still, she was outnumbered even if she had thinned the herd. The door behind her burst open as three more men entered the scene and they took no time to raise their guns and unload the clips in her general area. Chie lept out of the way but with no proper cover, she was a sitting duck. A bullet clipped her leg, and she winced but pushed through the pain as she toppled a steel table for cover. Bullets sprayed until the clips were empty and even then the gunmen slammed the triggers repeatedly as if their persistence would cause bullets to form in the chamber. Chie saw her opportunity and with a grunt of exertion, she pushed her cover forward with all her might, sending the table flying towards the men. Two of them managed to dodge out of the way but one was slammed hard with the heavy furniture and pinned underneath.

Chie rushed after the others as they rushed for another clip, but her leg gave out on her, the pain causing her to stumble and fall. Her heart sank into the pit of her stomach as she heard the telltale sound of a clip locking into place and the slide was pulled back. The two remaining men gave her a sinister chuckle as they closed in. She tried to rise to her feet but a hard kick to the side toppled her over and onto her back. Soon after a foot planted on her heaving chest to keep her pinned. The last of the two men stood over her, a gun pointed at her face.

"looks like the show's over, kitten" a sleazy tone came from the gruff man as he leaned in, pressing the gun again's he forehead.
"Not sure what you two were planning to accomplish. Two on twenty are bad odds" He added with a harsher tone, pressing the gun hard on her head, so hard that she could feel it pushing into her skull.

"Hurry up and finish her off, we got another one to take out" The other one protested. He had his eyes fixed on the door to the kitchen, from the small window the fire could be seen engulfing the bar by now.

"And waste valuable product? I don't think so. Tie her up" He added as he looked to the other man.

Chie knew she wouldn't get another opportunity. As soon as his eyes were off her she reached forward and grabbed the slide of his gun, keeping it from firing. Her other hand grabbed his trigger finger and pulled it back until she felt it snap. The man reeled in pain, dropping his weapon. The other man moved to aim and fire at her, but not before Chie could roll to the side, taking the man on top of her with her and using him to absorb the bullets for her. The last man standing fired three shots before he realized what he had done. Chie rushed to her feet, the pain in her leg dulled by a rush of adrenaline as she pounced towards the last man. He fired wildly, and a bullet was planted in her side but couldn't stop her momentum. Chie tackled the man to the ground and pinned his arms. Blood was draining fast from her, and every movement was agony as the two of them wrestled for control. She managed to push the gun from his hands and it slid across the floor. Still, her strength was beginning to fail her now and as the two of them tumbled across the floor the gangster managed to take the upper hand and pin her down this time. In a frantic frenzy, he bashed her with his forehead over and over until a final burst of strength gave Chie the power to slide her legs under his body and rolling with the motion, Chie kicked the man off her and sent him flying into the leg of the toppled table. She heard a grotesque crack as his rib cracked against the table's leg and the man fell to the ground. Both of them started to stumble back to their feet, each one haggard, gasping for air, and covered in Chie's blood. The sound of a fire alarm going off caught them both off guard and the sprinklers above them went off, drenching the whole scene in water. Chie and this stranger locked eyes as they got to their feet, each daring the other to make a move.

"Run" She finally said between staggered breaths.

"What?" The man replied cautiously.

"I'll give you one last chance before you end up like them," Chie replied cooly, an eerie calm to her voice despite her various wounds. She gestured to the dead man on the floor. The man contemplated her proposal as the sprinklers continued to pelt them with cooling water. As the sprinklers died down, he slouched and nodded. Slowly, cautious not to alarm the girl, he started to make his way to the exit. Chie watched him like a hawk, standing like a statue, unmoving even as her blood dripped onto the floor. As soon as the man was out the door, he fled like a bat out of hell, running for his life. Once he was out of sight, Chie collapsed onto the floor. She was spent.

The gun shots ripped through the loud music, as Kenji took an opportunity between his attacks to glance back to see the girl retreating into the back. As the men chased after her, they were greeted by a loud explosion, but even that wasn’t enough to slow them down.

As Kenji had taken his eyes off the ones that remained, he paid the price, as one of the last three thugs standing brought their pistol up, firing five rounds square into Kenjis chest and shoulder. The force of the .45 caliber rounds hit the protective armor of his suit, knocking Kenji back onto the ground and forcing the wind out of his lungs. He rolled onto his stomach as he slowly pushed himself back onto his feet, only to take another two rounds to the back, this time he managed brace for the impact, scooping up a gun off the floor as he stumbled to the his feet, covering his face with the jacket of his suit as he got hit three more times in the side with rounds. When the gun clicked, indicating to the thug he had emptied his mag, Kenji threw the gun he had picked up.

The pistol found it’s mark square into the thugs crotch, forcing him to keel over in pain. Kenji used the opportunity to rush forward, vaulting over the mans back as he was hunched over, shooting a flying kick into the abdomen of the second thug, knocking them over a table. As he turned to look to the third and final thug, he pushed the first thug over casually, leaving him whimpering on the floor. “Run...” Kenji stated as he pointed the bokken towards the thug, the mask modulating his already terrifying voice, adding to the fear factor. “Or be next.”

The thug dropped his gun, turning and running to the exit, not even looking back.

The moment the thug was out of view, Kenji deflated, quickly clutching at his left shoulder. As he pulled his hand away, he saw it was covered in blood. One of the many rounds that were fired at him had found a weak point between the armor of his suit, and managed to stick him in the shoulder. Fortunately, it wasn’t lethal, but definitely needed tending too.

But first, his attention turned to the back rooms, where his ally had slipped away too. She had drawn plenty of attention on herself, which did help Kenji, so he should return the favor. Every step he took was painful, he was definitely going to be bruised to high hell after this, and possibly a couple cracked ribs. He got to the back, pausing for a second to notice the man who was clearly on fire moments before, but the rise and fall of his chest told Kenji he was still alive.

He eventually found the other vigilante, laid out on the wet floor in the kitchen. Her face was bruised and battered, covered in blood, but she was still breathing. He knelt down beside her, picking her up in his arms as the distant sound of sirens could be heard. “Cops are coming...” He stated, in case she was still cognitive. “I’d prefer to not deal with them, and something tells me you wouldn’t either.” He carried her with ease as they slipped out of the back door, vanishing into the night.

Some time later.

Kenji growled in pain as he dug the pair of needle-nose pliers into the bullet wound on his shoulder, biting down on the leather belt he had in his mouth. When he felt the bullet that was lodged deep into his shoulder, he took a deep breath before he pulled the projectile out of the wound. He dropped the bullet into the sink of the hotel bathroom, bracing on the counter as he let the wave of pain subside. He peeked out to the girl, who he laid on one of the two queen size beds, who was still breathing.

He had patched up the bullet graze on her leg, but she would definitely need stitches, and he wasn’t about to start sticking needles into her before she woke. Given the damage he saw in the kitchen after her fight, he wasn’t going to test her skills against his, so he would wait till she woke up. He did grab as many bottles of orange juice as he could grab, as well as Tylenol for the pain.

He turned his attention back to the mirror as he started to stitch his own wound up, his phone blowing up. News reports about a sex trafficking ring being taken down by a pair of unknown vigilantes spreading like wildfire. Kenji smiled as the reports stated the girls managed to get to the shelter safely, and were being taken care of.

But the club was just one link in a chain, and only the first stop on Kenjis mission. He bandaged his wound, looking over files on his phone as he plotted his next step. Even though he had just been shot, and his body looked like it was beaten with a hammer, he had to strike quickly, before they have time to recover from the first hit.

Chie was feeling woozy on the kitchen floor, sitting in a pool of her blood, breathing heavily, a throbbing pain with each staggered breath pulsing from her side. She was sure at that moment she had met her end, lacking the strength to even pull out her phone to dial an ambulance. Her life began to flash before her life, though it was brief, just as her life had been. Her time as a hero cut short by a single bullet. A morbid chuckle escaped her as her thoughts waved to the foolish, child-like thoughts dwelling deep in her minds. How if she survived this her mother would surely kill her. How she would have to cancel her plans for a slumber party. All the youthful thoughts she could to evade the slowly growing fear of her untimely doom.

A shadow blocked out the nagging florescent lights she had been staring into. Her eyes, glassy and glazed over, strained to focus in on the man standing over her. A deep-seated fear filled her now, deeper than her fear of death was what this man might do to her. The club had been a front for the most heinous of crimes, now an assumed criminal hovered over her like a grim reaper. She winced as she saw him reach down for her and the pain in her side as he hefted her up was so bad she passed out with little struggle, barely able to rasp out a response.

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Chie's conscious returned hazily some time later. Her head was splitting with pain, a dull, lingering pain from the repeated trauma to her skull and the bruising that came with it. Her eyes where blurry, but slowly they gathered themselves. It was good that they did, her sight was her truest weapon. As the room came into focus she realized she had been moved, and slowly the memories of the night before returned to her. She heard a noise from the bathroom as saw someone within, someone she did not recognize. Her first instinct was to reach for her shurikens, but reaching for her side caused her pain. The bullet wound was still there, and she did her best to stifle a yelp of pain, gasping quietly instead. Her weapon was gone, and she could not feel her back-ups either. Not the bow staff, not the even the knife hidden on her leg. She moved for her phone, but quickly realized even that would be gone, as would the camera she had been instructed to wear.

Looking around the room she found a make-shift weapon to make her point. First, the alarm clock by the bed, the next, a bible in the drawer near by. She threw the clock at the man, being sure to miss him just narrowly, the bible already clutched in her hand ready to throw with the same strength.

"I meant to miss. Next time, I'll beam you between the eyes if you don't tell me where I am right not" She growled, struggling to sit up right. The effort of that alone made her dizzy, but she didn't falter.