Week 20.5 – Yi Fan

Previously: Twain faced off against the Cobalt Czar’s men in an alley, watched by a mysterious, beautiful woman with a scarred face. And now…

The big man stepped forward grimly. Twain had first thought to just use the kung fu to taunt his opponent, then fight in his usual manner. But he found himself actually using the techniques the old fraud had taught him, all those years ago.

And they felt…. right, as natural as breathing. Not only did the movements seem to flow organically into one another, but he actually seemed to be controlling his opponent’s reactions, redirecting his energy, each strike setting his foe up for the next.

Time seemed to slow down and speed up in the same moment as his hands swirled and swept. He heard a rushing in his ears and felt a giddy breathlessness in his chest, as if he were riding the rapids of a mighty river, a massive power on which he was the merest speck skimming along the surface. And yet he felt in complete control, like a surfer shooting the curl of a tidal wave, and the world was as clear blue as the water.

He felt the power pulling at him, urging him forward, and pushing at him, shoving his fist ahead of it. He dimly heard screams and the report of a pistol. His opponent suddenly didn’t seem so big, and a moment later, he seemed smaller still.Twain laughed, and his opponent fluttered away, a leaf carried on the wind of his voice.

[blockquote type=”blockquote_quotes” align=”right”]He dimly heard screams and the report of a pistol. His opponent suddenly didn’t seem so big, and a moment later, he seemed smaller still.Twain laughed, and his opponent fluttered away, a leaf carried on the wind of his voice…[/blockquote]And then his vision cleared, and he saw that the fight was over. He was standing at the mouth of the alley with one man unconscious at his feet, and another on his back on the other side of the street, barely stirring. He turned to look back at the girl, saw the big man groaning on the ground with an extra joint in his arm.

The girl stared at him, astonished. Even her scarred eye was wide. “Where did you learn to do that?” she asked in a tiny voice.

Twain set his face in a deadpan expression, determined not to show that he was as astonished as she was. “An old man taught me, long ago.”

“What was his name?” the girl asked.

“I don’t think I ever really knew it,” he said, which wasn’t an answer, but was true nevertheless.

The girl nodded absently as she stared down at the big man groaning at her feet, then perked up at the sound of distant shouts from up the street. She dashed forward and grabbed his hand. “Come on, quickly!”

She led him away from the building and into another part of town, trhough a twisting maze of alleys that he couldn’t hope to keep straight. After a while, he could hear no more sound of pursuit. She pulled him through a doorway into the back room of some sort of shop. It was a storeroom, shelves stacked with dusty boxes. “You should be safe here for a while,” she said.

“Who are you?” Twain asked.

She tossed her white-streaked hair. “My name is Liu Yi Fan.”

Looks like Digger isn’t the only one who has suddenly developed new abilities. What’s the story on Twain? And who’s Yi Fan? You’ll have to wait for the answers, because next week, we rejoin Digger and Metalord. Join us Monday for the next exciting episode!

To read from the beginning, click here…