Once Upon A Star

The sounds of sparring could be heard echoing throughout the gym. Two figures were busy exchanging moves in the middle of the gym, their movements fast and fluid. The male had sweat dripping down his neck, jaw tense with frustration. It was clear to an amateur's eye that the female was overwhelming the male, not even the sight of exhaustion on her face. Her hands and legs were moving on autopilot, she was obviously trained to the point where fighting had been deeply ingrained into her bones and muscles.

Every reflex and reaction was on point, the female's face relaxed and steady unlike her out of breath male partner. She bounced on the tips of her toes, easily dodging an uppercut to her chin. She twisted her waist around and quickly performed a perfect round house kick to the male's side, who wasn't able to defend in time. The female fighter continued her barge of attacks, not letting up for a moment. Cross, hook, elbow strike, leg trip takedown. Min Joon was certainly a master at krav maga, yet he was still no match for a powerful mixed martial artist like Yuan Xing. He cursed and fell back onto the mat in defeat, groaning. "No more. Please, kill me now."

Yuan Xing outright laughed at the middle aged man's complaints. "Sensei, were did all your confidence from before go?" The man, Choi Min Joon, was a half Korean and half Chinese military man who decided to later become a martial arts teacher. Yuan Xing was supposedly one of his students, that being said, she kicked his a.s.s more times than they could both count. Min Joon sat up and rubbed his aching back. "Lady, don't compare me with a monster like you. Seriously, from which hell hole did you crawl out from?"

Yuan Xing flashed him a pearly white smile. "And here I thought you appreciated our lessons together."

"HA! Who are you trying to fool? There not so much as lessons as they are a one sided beat down." He paused and scrutinized the young woman beside him. Her lean body had subtle calf muscles and biceps which indicated that she had been training for a long time, perhaps a decade long?

"You would definitely be able to take on five of me, at the very least, much less me. Why don't you enter any competitions? They'd be a piece of cake for you." Min Joon was a bit confused as to how she had gotten this strong, sure she was insanely talented in the combat arena, more than some of the military men he knew, but she still had to put huge effort in to get this strong. He knew she was still hiding most of her strength away because whenever they sparred, he always noticed her pulling back. For her to be this strong...what the hell did she go through?

She shook her head and simply said, "They're not for me." Yuan Xing ripped off her gloves and packed away her equipment. "I look forward to our next lesson, Sensei." She could hear Min Joon choking when she left the gym.

The Apocalypse was raging by the time she got there at 7. Not that it wasn't ever chaotic. Yuan Xing saw Zhang Jie waiting in her usual corner booth. He was sitting slouched on the chair with his arms folded watching a bunch of pretty girls dancing. Zhang Jie's eyes came across a pair of long legs and looked up to see who the gorgeous specimen was. He nodded his head along in approval, slowly making his way up the woman's lovely waist, and endowed c.h.e.s.t. When his l.u.s.ty eyes came to rest on hers, he froze in shock and despair, sputtering his drink. "Like what you see, Mr Zhang?" Yuan Xing's amused voice sounded in his ears.

Zhang Jie quickly shook his head and then stopped, cringing hard. What should he say in a situation like this? Yuan Xing took pity on the poor man's frightened soul. He looked like someone had just killed his parents. She sat down and brought out the envelope. "I want this sent to building 13's occupant in Pandora Heights. Make sure it's done efficiently. On another note, if you lose this package..." a small surge of killing intent seeped out of her and stilled the upbeat air around them.

The dark aura became so thick that Zhang Jie felt like he would surely suffocate and leave this world. Like an invisible hand had reached out and grabbed hold of his neck in a choke hold. His body was paralysed, trembling with shock and an intense fear he had never felt before. He couldn't lift his head up! "Well, I suppose I don't really need to tell you how to do your job, now do I?" She patted his shoulder in a casual manner. After Yuan Xing withdrew her killing intent, Zhang Jie finally released a heavy breath he didn't realize he was holding.

He hid the envelope into his jacket with shaking hands. "I-I'll make sure n-nothing goes wrong." The terrifying beast beside him nodded her head and stood up to walk away. She paused slightly and tilted her head in a different direction before moving along. Meanwhile, a shadow of a figure was watching the whole ordeal from afar.