Kpop Dragon

Korean Girl Groups have always had their niche markets, but in an effort to reach a wider audience, they had begun diversifying their member pool and recruited from Asian American girls but labelling them ‘Korean’ anyway. On this particular day, one of KA 2020’s American grown members was present and holding a concert for charity. Her name was Kim Ji-jhyun, or more popularly as Kim. She was the idol of every asian American teenager who were or were not also into Girl Alive!

Looks wise, Kim looked like every other Korean Popstar- someone who looked like they came out of one of those mass producing Kpop star factories. The only thing that differentiated her was her ability to speak English that didn’t garner racist looks, and her ability to effortlessly hop between English and Korean songs got her plenty of fans on both sides of the globe. Dressed in her glitzy Kpop uniform and dancing to one of her group’s catchy tunes, she gets a very warm reception and a standing ovation.

After the show she had autograph signings, handing out signed 9x12 photos of herself to the people.

It was already late in the evening, close to midnight and the crowd was thinning. Kim signed one more photo and handed it to a pair of giddy fans. Tired and hungry, she nonetheless keeps smiling. She grabs another photo for the next person in line.

“Hello, nice to meet you. Who do I make this out for?” She asked, covering her mouth as she yawned.

“To my friend, Ji-Jyun.” A familiar voice got the star’s attention, and she looked up... up... up... and came face to face with a very tall girl wearing the group’s shirt and some jeans.

“Xiao! You were in America?!” Kim exclaimed, and then got up from the table to give her big friend a small hug.

“I’ve been in the country for awhile. Actually, I’m supposed to meet someone here tonight, but I guess I can wait for them too.” Xiao explained, and the two friends began catching up on their lives.

MEANWHILE

A large van trundled through the arterial road, headed for the community center. Inside the van a group of six Russian and eastern European men in military attire were going over their diabolical plans.

“This is the stupidest idea you’ve ever had Dmitri. What use is a teenaged popstar to us?!” One generic Czech Mercenary asked of his Russian companion.

“Not popstar, but her father. A researcher for DARPA. Advanced laser weaponry. Take hostage, he will turn over secrets.” He explained in his native tongue, then took a swing from his vodka bottle.

“Okay... but why we bring power armor?” He asked, another van trailing behind them with the aforementioned hardware.

“This is Chicago. All the metahumans move here. We can’t be too careful.” He explained, getting a shrug in response.

“We’re almost there. Get ready!” The Eastern European mercenaries put on their ski masks and loaded their guns, as the van pulled up in the parking lot close to the building. They were a vicious and mean lot, as the driver occupied the last remaining handicap parking slot.

Danny woke up in Chicago and realized no one killed her in her sleep. Always a good sign -and made better with a good stretch. A few days ago, the mysterious benefactor of Prodigy told Danny to make her way to Chicago to check in on a potential recruit for Prodigy. She only knew what a vague message instructed her to look for- a girl she couldn't miss. Good job, mystery man. Thanks for the plane ticket and the concert ticket.

Early October brought the cold snap that sent the California native into a coat. If she wanted to make it to the concert in time- which she didn't even know if she wanted to- she would need to go ahead and stay in the skirt and boots. Her benefactor never granted her cab fare, but the deep pocketed teenager could easily flip the bill herself. Keen senses not needed to find the venue. A line of onlookers stood around the arena, too cool to get into the concert early, but not for Danny. Stepping out with the clack of a short heeled ankle boot, Danny moved towards the ticket taker to mark her entrance. "Ready for the show?" A smiling woman with glasses ripped the ticket in half.

"I don't really know what I'm in store for." Danny put her hair up in a pony tail and walked through the dirty halls of the coliseum. The interior always looked better, but if only the owners would do something about the concrete halls always making up the atrium. Her thoughts carried her down the halls for a while until she checked her ticket to see where she needed to go. Front row. She didn't know what she would be seeing, but she would get close. The show continued on for a very energetic, flashy, sparkly amount of time. Everyone around her looked absolutely enamored with the spectacle, but Danny had seen relics on temples on uncharted islands she understood more than Korean pop music.

The show ended and Danny never saw anything that grabbed her attention other than- other than the pop star. Her mission was to recruit Kim to become a Prodigy. Danny worked her way towards the autograph session to recruit none other than the newest member of Prodigy when she caught a terrible atrocity. "You can't park in handicap zones. What a jerk." The session would go on for a while, and Danny would probably need to get there late anyways. "Hey, you don't have the permit for that spot." Danny put her hands in the pockets of her jacket and walked out into the cold night air. "Why don't you just circle for your friends or something instead of thinking the whole world revolves around you?"

The van’s driver ignored Danny as the vehicle disgorged its cargo of masked Eastern European mercenaries who seem to have come out of the six o’clock news. He kept the engine running and snidely told Danny, “Do not worry little girl. We will not be long. Don’t say a word, you won’t be involved.” He laughed and lit himself a cigarette.

The armed men came in through the service entrance and passed through the back stage, garnering terrified reactions from people. Heavily armed, not even the security guard bothered to look at them, let alone try to stop them. They checked the changing rooms, toilets and dressing rooms, but didn’t find their target. Dmitri and his goons eventually find them still talking out on the stage of the concert hall.

“Korean girl, you are coming with us.” He said plainly, standing in front of Kim and Xiao with weapons in hand.

“Wait, what? Who are you?” Kim asked, moving to defend Xiao just as she was about to stand up. This was unexpected, the taller girl thought.

“Not important. Come with us or we shoot friend... and people backstage.” He said, pointing a Kalash at Xiao. Kim immediately raised her arms, their assailant’s request extremely persuasive.

“Okay...Okay, don’t hurt anyone please... let my friend go.” Kim asked. The goons looked at their leader to make a decision. He was quite decisive, hearing about Kim’s background as having served her time in the Korean military. “Nyet. We’ll keep her around... just in case you get ideas.” Xiao made no objections for now, as there were far too many people around.

In no time at all, Danny would see popstar Kim and her tall friend Xiao in the parking lot, taken against their will by heavily armed men.

Before Danny could object any further, the slew of men produced some of the most sophisticated weaponry Danny had ever seen. No one listened to a word Danny said, and it wasn't just because Danny choked on all of her words either. Danny could not for the life of her come up with a good idea, so she went with a dumb one. "Do you think this bracelet is pretty?" Danny rubbed one of the gem outlets and looked at the man with the cigarette. The good thing about the ruckus among the rabble was the amount of noise it generated.

No one noticed the amount of noise coming from outside when Danny took on the driver taken completely by surprise when she delivered a roundhouse to his face, sending the cigarette clear across the parking lot. "Now you qualify for the spot, jerk."

Danny knocked a trunk open and put the man without his armor into the containment cell. She put a finger to her lip and hushed a Shhhh [i]to the sleepyhead. Getting the man out of his armor and getting it on Danny took a little while, but the hostage negotiation took a slightly longer minute, so Danny got the helmet over her head before the cavalcade of men paraded out of the arena. Funny how all car keys looked the same and- "Holy shit that girl is huge." After catching her breath, Danny hopped into the van and re-evaluated who she needed to recruit. Once the party arrived, Danny came to realize her plan may not be great. It wasn't even good. Danny formulated a bad plan and now needed to try and drive these guys with obvious accents to a hideout that she knew nothing about. She really needed to say this plan out loud two minutes ago.

The mercenaries spoke in Russian among themselves, while their two hostages quietly came along. They quickly pile into the van, seating the two girls between themselves. It was Kim who assured Xiao first that they'd be alright, and Xiao was beside herself how noble her friend acted.

"Don't worry Xiao. I won't let them hurt you." Kim exchanged with her in mandarin.

"Right..." Xiao said, more calm at the situation than her anxious Kpop star friend.

None the wiser to Danny's ploy, Dmitri pats the disguised heroine on the shoulder and spoke in a husky Russian accent, his breath smelling of tobacco. "Time for next part, comrade. Take us to hideout." At that point a small screen on the dashboard lit up and a location was blinking- the Google map was in Russian, but it showed a nearby motel in the seedier neighborhood of Chicago. It wasn't far, just a fifteen minute drive given the light traffic.

Step one complete. Somehow. Now, she just needed to complete step two. "Aw, good. Comrade. Got girl." With the amount of time being directed towards the hostages, Danny possibly completed step two. For the most part, Danny caught rides with friends or took a chauffeured ride. Driving a behemoth van would prove difficult, but if Danny could get by with everything else, she could drive a van. The van backed up and stalled, sending a shake through the vehicle. For a solid five seconds Danny grasped the wheel and thought about her bracelet. She learned fighting from the greatest hoplites . She could grasp alchemy from ancient shamans. Maybe, just maybe, she could figure out how to drive a van. "Uh, hit dog." She rubbed her bracelet and put the van in reverse with all due speed.

A quick turn of the wheel sped the van in a perfect ninety degree angle and Danny shot out of the parking space and made for the exit of the parking lot. A spiked barricade guarded the exit to the guard gate. Danny spun the wheel and van rolled, sending the spikes through the roof. When the van finished rolling, it came out perfectly on its axis and sped off into the intersection, heading for the ramp. "Aw. Googlemap is good." Danny kept the accent going as she took the terrorists to the seedy lair they spotted out.

Danny stayed in the van once the Russians exited with their hostages. Quick thinking got her in the entourage, now she needed some kind of plan to save the people she technically helped kidnap. The best way to help would be joining up with the giant girl and trying to overpower these goons one at a time. But, before she could get there, one of the men pressed a flask into her chest. "Drink." His voice was as heavy as the smell of vodka in his breath.

"Maybe later." Danny pushed past and took three steps before realizing the mistake she inadvertently blurted out.

“She’s quite pretty isn’t she?” One of the goons remarked once he got a good look at Kim, given her make up, hair and very skimpy stage attire. He chuckled and touched her chin, but Kim defiantly spat in his face, garnering a laugh from his compatriots.

The goon would’ve slapped her back, but Dmitri was adamant on keeping it professional. “Oi! Don’t hit her. Bah, they all look like that. Haven’t you heard of Koreans and their plastic surgery?”

“Really? So some parts aren’t real?” The goon replied, clueless to the goings on in other cultures.

“You’re all getting what’s coming to you, Dumbasses.” Kim said out loud, oblivious to their Russian conversation.

“Can we gag her?” He asked, but the van had already arrived in the basement parking of the city motel.

“Nevermind, we’re already here. Alright, little girl and big girl... get out of the van. Don’t do anything stupid and we all go home in time for breakfast.” Dmitri opened the door and had his men get out first, then had the girls come out next.

Xiao looked around the basement level of the motel, having been completely taken over by the mercenary group, with stockpiles of weapons, ammunition, supplies and power armor in the corners and against the walls. There didn’t seem to be anyone else but these mercenaries.

Perfect.

“Kim... keep your head down, and don’t move until I get you.” Xiao turned around said to Kim, her face somber and serious.

“Wha- ooof!” Xiao pushed Kim back in and shut the door, then snapped the lock closed. Xiao tossed the broken handle away, then broke out of her restraints.

“Why am I always being kidnapped by aliens? Ugh... and you smell just as bad.” Xiao said, in a more American accent as she worked herself up back into her dragon girl mind state. Without much provocation, Dmitri shot her in the knee, expecting to cripple Kim’s friend. When he saw it ripped through her jeans but caused virtually no damage, he was quick on the up take.

“She’s a metahuman! Kill her!” Their leader wisely ran away, heading for the shipping container in the corner while more than a dozen goons grabbed their rifles and opened fire on Xiao, filling the air with the roar of machinegun fire and smoke. Xiao shielded her face on instinct, waiting for the first salvo to finish, and also moving away from the van to avoid bullets ricocheting to her friend.

"You sound different. Like teenage girl with annoying voice or..." Before the guard could get around Danny, she turned and put her knee into his solarplex before dropping the full weight of the armored arm upon the man's spine. He crashed to the ground when Danny heard the entire room shoot into a frenzy. Looks like trouble. Big trouble.

Tall trouble actually.

And, then her mission was confirmed. "A meta-human. That's a terrible word to say though. You don't get to say that word. That is our word!" Danny came close to joining the fray but knew her mission contained a smaller mission vital to the large and in charge dragon girl. "I know." With the guard on the ground and the driver still locked in a trunk somewhere, Danny could slide into the van with no resistance and start it up. Her plan consisted of driving the van out of the motel and making a getaway while her potential recruit played the hero. Out of all of Danny's plans, this one seemed the most thought out and practical, a bad sign if there ever was one.

Not ten feet into the drive until Danny felt the cold steel of handcuffs wrap around her throat. A frantic squeal came from the K-pop star with a fresh line of tape over her mouth, louder than the noise Danny could summon with her choked larynx. Danny flailed her arms as Kim dodged each attempt for Danny to reach her. The van collided with the side of the wall, throwing Danny and Kim forward. With the chains removed from her neck, Danny reached over and ripped the tape off of Kim's mouth. "Not Russian. Not Russian." In between gasps of air, Danny pushed her hands together in the shape of a 't' to try and call a timeout.

Even with Kim stopping from choking Danny anymore, the van looked out of commission, unless it ran on the thick steam cascading from the engine. This was such a good plan. But, if Danny wanted to escape this mess, she would need to come up with something far more stupid. Much more stupid.

A bald Bosnian with a rifle came over to the crashed van and tried to pry the driver’s door open in a misguided attempt to help their ‘man’ behind the wheel. “Oi, you alright? What happen... URGH!” In the confusion the man did not notice a Kpopstar’s leaping, spinning heel kick connecting with his face, which connected his face with the windshield. He slides down happily into slumber land. Turns out, it was not good to stand still for a Korean trained black belt, nor to not tie up her feet.

“Hey not-Russian! We have to get out of here and get help for Xiao!” She said, having the sense to unlock the door and help Danny out, even with her hands still cuffed. She looked over but visibility was reduced with all the smoke, but from the sound of it a lot of the soldiers were starting to voice their objection at having their toys taken apart like electronic gadgets with planned obsolensce.

With a few guns left, the few remaining soldiers began to bail on their contractual job, heading up to the motel lobby.

And then that was when a bassy growl was heard. In the far side of the room where Dmitri fled, a pair of giant robot bears was activated. Their tactical AI analyzed the situation, and one set its eyes on Danny and Kim, just as Xiao was occupied by the other. Accelerating like a toddler towards an ice cream truck, Danny was in for a heap of trouble as the robot barrelled towards her, letting loose a loud roar and playing Soviet era patriotic music from built in speakers.

Soviet Robo Bear Str 6 Spd 5 Dur 7 Fs 4

So the large girl was Xiao. And quite large. And fighting a bear. Yeah, she found the right girl.

Danny helped Kim from the van, but couldn't find anyway to break the handcuffs or get Kim free. "Alright, if you could help me and just tell me exactly what it is you did, then I think I could help a little more." A few centimeters separated Danny's thumb and index finger as she showed a figurative measurement and the bracelet along her wrist.

She needed more help. These bears sent every beastly, gun totting, power armored man fleeing for a good reason. Xiao kept herself in check against the bear, but Danny lacked the brute strength to check the bear. From the looks of it, the handcuffed Kim needed some help too. Kicking a metal bear would only result in Danny acquiring a broken foot, so Danny needed to think of something a little smarter.

They AI pushed the bear to cut off Danny's flight towards the door to pursue the fleeing Russians. The savage claw ripped off a large section of the wall, showering Danny in dry wall. Figuring out the intricate design of a robotic bear probably stood outside of the knowledge her bracelet could give her, but it needed to track her somehow. Danny darted for the wall to grab the fire extinguisher and aimed for the face of the charging automaton. The spray shot out, with all of Danny's hope. The blow from the bear swiped just to the side of her, but its large body knocked her to the ground. Danny tumbled away from the collapsing bear, hoping it did enough damage to hurt itself, because Danny and her kicks would amount to nothing.

Over in the other corner, the struggle between Xiao and the Battle Bear had ripped through a good amount of walls, fenced off areas, unsorted guest luggage and a water pipe. The big gal manages to finally shake its jaw off, then, with a negligee over her head, Xiao lifted the bear overhead and suplexed it into the basement’s concrete floor, leaving a bear sized crack. Then she tossed it into the motel’s electrical room... the resulting power surge plunged the basement into darkness, just as Danny sprays the bear with the flame retardant foam.

“Optics compromised! Optics compromised!” The robot bear gave out an electronic warning in Russian as its programming was struggling to compensate. It backed off, ran in a cirle a few times, then started rotating its head left and right rapidly. It did this for several precious seconds. Its rampage caused it to cut a power cable on the wall, and now it dangled dangerously and freely just within Danny’s reach...

Bare fists could do nothing. If only Danny had bear fists, then maybe she could bash this things head- and then an idea came. Doing her best impression of a matador, Danny tried to provoke the bear to charge her, only to move at the last second, sending the bear face first into the concrete wall. Stepping back, Danny lowered herself and prepared for the second assault. This time a metal pipe would burst, scalding the metallic circuitry of the automaton. A step back in shock stood over the face of victory Danny kept to herself. "So, what now? Those guys with the guns are probably setting a trap for us and they know this building better than we do."

Danny pulled a pin out of her hair and rubbed her bracelet. A little to the left and then a slight jar to the right. She could feel the muscle memory and felt relieved when it led to the handcuffs coming undone. "So, did they kidnap you for being famous..." Her finger pointed to Kim. "Or you for being a superhero?" Danny drifted her finger over to Xiao. "It doesn't make a whole lot of difference, but I'm just wondering if these guys were ready for people with powers, or were just trying to kidnap some Asian girls."

Xiao took the awful nightwear off her head and threw it aside. She never understood such impractical underwear. The emergency lights came on, and bathed the basement in a pale red light. Some pipes were busted open and now the floor was ankle deep in water. Thankfully it didn't smell. She approached Danny and Kim while dusting herself off and coughing. She looked at Danny as she snapped open Kim’s handcuffs with a frightening lack of effort, the heavy metal bonds yielding like foil under her strength.

Kim stuttered as she addressed her very tall friend, still in disbelief. “Xiao... you... you’re a superhero?” She asked, with both wonder and fear in her voice. She was now involved in the world of metahumans.

“I have been away for a while, Kim. I don’t feel like I’m a superhero. I feel like a monster.” Xiao said, in a morose monotone, typical of angsty superpowered beings entering young adulthood.

“Are you kidding me? You totally trashed those guys! You totalled that robot bear!” Kim said enthusiastically, holding Xiao's hand like she was the fangirl.

“Yeah, and trying not to bring the whole hotel down on our heads." Xiao paused, listening to Danny's question. "I was wondering that too. Kim, why are they after you?”

“Uh...Dad is a scientist? He's working on something for the South Korean and American Government. Missile Defense lasers." Kim said with a nonchalant shrug of indifference.

"Sounds about right." the Dragon girl said, then Xiao then turned towards Danny, addressing the immediate situation they were in. “If you can get a car going, I can clear a path to the outside...” She trailed off as The far garage door where Dmitri retreated behind opened up.


"No one is going anywhere." Dmitri and a two other Russian Power Armors emerged from the secure garage. Big, bulky, retro, almost diesel-punk, and painted with the soviet hammer and sickle, they presented a most intimating presence with their glowing red visors... and electricity crackling all over their armor.



Xiao looked down and realized they were all standing in ankle deep water, and the ruined car was too far away to get the other two girls to safety. She looked at Danny and shook her head, hoping she understood that electricity, water and humans were a poor mix.

"I don't suppose... we can't talk this over can we?" Xiao asked, putting her hands up.

While Danny needed finesse and a little luck to dismantle the robotic beast, Xiao tore the creature to pieces with her bare hands. Must be nice. As the thought rolled off of Danny's mind, she snapped herself back into her original mission. Danny walked over in the midst of the talk of monsters and scientists and dughters to deliver her proposal since she knew who she needed. "Yeah, she's definitely something super, and speaking of which, I'm here on behalf of an organization looking to recruit able powered young people to help fight against..."

Before she could finish her statement the door burst open and three men in power armor burst into the holding area. "Three on three shouldn't be too difficult. We fought some bears, so this shouldn't be too..." While she assumed she would find Xiao readying herself to break into their lines with a savage charge, she instead found the large girl shaking her head and holding her hands up in surrender. A jolt of electricity coursed through Danny's leg. Sparks flew from their armor into the water, jolting the girls with each break. "Do you think it would overheat their armor if they came in? Cause I think I have a plan..."

"No plans for any of you." A voice boomed from the power armor.

"So you let your buddies get beat up while you suited up in power armor to fight teenage girls?I'm not saying it doesn't work, but I'm pretty sure when you go back to Russia, you should probably tell them something a little cooler than what I just said. Because what I just said is really sad and pathetic for terrorists." Once Xiao withdrew her support in fighting, Danny lifted her hands in the air and gulped. "Also, your bears aren't in great shape. I hope you kept the receipt."

With Dmitri aiming his arm cannon at Xiao, Two of the Tesla Armors came over to the girls to restrain them. A bionic third arm slapped heavy duty superhero grade manacles onto Danny and Kim. Now both their arms and legs were confined. "Good, good. This time they won't be able to kick." One commented off-handedly.

"Vell... your terrorists are our freedom fighters, da? What would you understand, stupid American kids. Buy anything you want, whenever you want. In Russia-" Dmitri started but his friend called him out, and he cut off midsentence. Kim looked at Dmitri with a questioning stare, wondering what he was going to say.

"It's always America's fault, is that how it is?" She asked scathingly, but got no response. The proximity of the Tesla armored goon caused her hair to fray and stand up slightly, as well as keeping her docile.

"Come upstairs little girls." The Tesla armored goon said, directing their not very-strong hostages up to the motel proper, via the stairs up. Kim looked at Danny with a 'what-are-we-gonna-do' expression, the Kpop star having run out of ideas. The Tesla trooper pushed them along. "Keep moving. We shoot music video now. hehehe."

Dmitri looked at Xiao again. "You are strong, China. But not that strong. Still, too dangerous to live." The red-light illuminated basement suddenly lit up as Dmitri poured a large amount of current and voltage into Xiao with his weaponry. The dragon girl screamed in agony as she convulsed and spasmed, before falling down where she stood, her body smoking. Kim witnessed this and screamed, her eyes cascading with tears. "XIAO! YOU MONSTER, YOU KILLED HER!"

Dmitri looked down at the tall girl, who was from all appearances, dead. "This is what you get for playing hero. No hero in world. Only survivors. Artyom, get some people down here, we've got a mess to clean up." With that, Dmitri followed the girls upstairs towards a function room with video recording equipment.