The black car had passed no more than two intersections, when the passengers got attacked by god awful music, and for once it wasn't Janette's favorite music. Surprised and confused, Marcus and rest searched for the source, until Ms. Han retrieved a mobile phone from a small compartment in the door next to her. With one eyebrow raised she tipped on the screen and the horrible music was replaced by a likewise horrible, shouting voice. The man on the other side of the connection was apparently very angry, but neither Marcus nor Janette understood one word. Xiu tipped the screen again and muted the onslaught for a second, "He is asking why there hasn't been an update. His wording is more flowery."

Before Marcus could make a decision, Ms. Han continued the call and started to shout back at the caller. That woman had a voice! Angry Mandarin bounced around the car, jumped several octaves and varied between dangerously silent and painfully loud. The caller barked back, but Xiu Han smashed word after word against the man until the call suddenly ended. "Now that was productive," she said with her normal voice, as she looked up and saw Marcus staring at her with big eyes. Janette giggled and Marcus asked, "Did you learn something from… that?" The Chinese woman nodded. "The man is a spineless coward and not fit to give orders to anybody. He is hardly the one in charge of this operation," she said.

"No more information?" Marcus asked carefully. Ms. Han raised an eyebrow, again. "Did you expect me to learn all the secrets of our enemies through this? You have to read between the lines Mr. Freimann. That sorry excuse of a man was in charge of several class holders, which tells you a lot about the current Crimson Lotus. It is also apparent that he isn't the head of the operation, meaning…." And Marcus completed the sentence, "… that the operation is larger than just one or two teams." Ms. Han smiled and nodded.

"We need to ditch the car. Or if possible change it for another car," Ms. Han said a moment later, and the rest agreed. The local woman guided Janette to the closest parking garage, a massive building with ten levels. Janette expertly steered the large car up to the sixth level, where they stopped and removed their bags from the car. Marcus looked around the fairly empty parking space and then gave Janette an encouraging look. "What?" She asked and Marcus blinked. "Do you think I can crack cars? Why?" She asked, and a dangerous expression moved onto her face. Marcus found himself suddenly with his back to the wall and realized he kind of had expected Janette to be able to steal cars… for some reason.

While Janette stared Marcus into the ground, Xiu retrieved a small package from her large back. "Look for an old, cheap car. The new ones all need electronic tools to start them," The woman said and her two guardians quickly scrambled. One level higher up Janette found a mint green car with a lot of colorful stickers on it. It definitely didn't need electronic tools to drive, if it could drive at all. Xiu crouched down and retrieved some tools from her package. Skillfully she started to pick the lock. "Is this something you need very often in your career?" Marcus asked, noticing her experience in the matter. "You would be surprised how often this comes in handy as a property developer," she said with a smirk.

Seconds later the door opened and Ms. Han started to work on the ignition. Marcus saw the expression on Janette's face change and she said, "They are already here." Already? How could they have found us so quickly? Did they track the car, or the phone? "Class holders?" He asked and walked towards the ramp coming from the sixth level. "Two, level 40 to 50 I would say," Janette answered and drew two pistols.

Level 43 Ray Knight and level 48 of a framework I do not know yet.

Thank you, Xeen. You have improved your skills again.

Naturally. The unknown framework moves erratically, I expect some form of teleportation.

Understood.

Marcus quickly relayed the information to Janette, and she made a confused face. The reason for it became obvious about thirty seconds later. A car rushed up the ramp and several armed attackers opened fire on Marcus, as soon as they saw him. Armed humans, not class holders! Various small firearms did nothing more than ruin his nice black suit and shirt, before he Impulse Hammered the car against a nearby concrete pillar. The bone crunching impact shattered the windows and deformed the frame of the car.

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One of the passengers was still conscious and didn't get the memo. The man continued to attack Marcus from close range with his assault rifle. Even at this distance bullets of this caliber couldn't touch Marcus when he had Carapace running at max level. One of the projectiles was reflected back at the man. It punctured his chest and the attack ceased.

Two more armed attackers ran up the ramp, a shotgun and a hand held grenade launcher aimed at Marcus. He Burst jumped forward and was quickly far too close for the grenade launcher to be viable. He slapped the man with the grenade launcher and Marcus' mortal strength was enough to knock him out. Mr. Shotgun used the time to rush closer and aim the weapon right at Marcus' head. A few pellets shattered his sunglasses and Marcus shattered the man's ribcage.

The deep sound of Janette's super-heavy pistol echoed through the parking garage. Marcus turned and saw Janette drag the corpse of a Crimson Lotus enforcer into the middle of the road. Where is the other class holder, Xeen?

Running away it seems.

At least one with a hint of intelligence.

"Who trained that Kage?! Trying to go up against a Hawkeye! That is just stupid!" Janette looked seriously upset. Marcus was about to say something, when the sudden sound of a brawl made him turn with fear. Ms. Han! He might not be in danger, but she was just a common human!

Xiu was engulfed in close quarter combat with a masked assailant that had sneaked up on them. The Crimson Lotus member had an assault rifle and tried to shoot Ms. Han, but Xiu was all over the attacker. Xiu deflected the rifle with a karate-chop and delivered precise blows to the chest and throat, before she deftly threw the masked fighter to the ground. A few more blows and the rifle was out of the hands of the criminal and a kitchen knife was at their throat. Xiu pressed the weapon against the exposed skin and a line of blood proved that the tool was wicked sharp. Xiu pushed her knee unto the chest of her foe and ripped the mask away. The terrified face of a young woman stared back at her.

Ms. Han started shouting in Mandarin and checked the young woman for weapons. A combat knife and a small pistol changed ownership and Xiu continued to grill the woman. Sobbing with tears the defeated woman said a few things. Marcus moved quickly closer, worried something bad might happen in a second. Xiu got up and said something in Mandarin again. The young woman closed her eyes and clenched her teeth. Without hesitation Xiu raised the pistol and shot. Blood quickly drenched the pants around the bullet hole in the leg. Ms. Han turned and nearly ran into Marcus, who stood behind her. Cold eyes met his own. "She will live. It is better to be defeated with a wound than to return unharmed," she said, and moved past her bodyguard.

They quickly gathered their stuff, some weapons, and left the parking garage in their 'new' mint green, rolling piece of scrap. Nobody said anything for a few minutes, until Ms. Han broke the silence, "Why is it stupid for a Kage to go up against a Hawkeye?" Janette turned her head a bit and answered, "Kage is a fine enough class. They can hide in shadows, and even kind of teleport from shadow to shadow with their third ability. But all of that is useless against a Hawkeye. These eyes can see them." And she pointed at her own eyes. Ms. Han nodded and leaned back in her washed out seat. "The girl didn't even know why she was after me. The leader had given the order that was all she knew. She was also lacking training...," Xiu said after a moment.

Marcus could see that their employer was deep in thoughts and turned to discuss the next steps with Janette. "Take the next street to the right," Xiu suddenly said, and Janette followed her command. Three more times the Chinese woman guided them and they ended in a small back alley with no visible exit, a dead end. "What now?" Marcus asked, truly uncertain what was going on. "We need to leave this car, too. We have to stay away from the main streets. I think they are using the police surveillance system to track us," Ms. Han explained, and was already with one leg out of the car.

It was still slightly raining and Marcus retrieved their bags from the trunk. "Do you really think they have access to the police?" He asked Xiu, and the woman nodded. Of course Marcus knew that Hong Kong had a tight security system, but that should only be available to local authorities. "Your lack of experience with our country is showing, Mr. Freimann. Money and influence opens most doors. And it seems the current Crimson Lotus has a lot of both," she said coldly.

"Where are we going from here?" Janette asked using her phone to plan a route. "You can forget that thing. I know a place we can stay and nobody is going to bother us there. We will use the back alleys for now," Xiu said, and started to move, dragging her bag behind. Marcus took the heavy bag from her hand and continued to walk by her side. "Are you going to tell me why you are really here?" Xiu asked, without looking at Marcus. "It is a training run," he replied, his voice as flat as possible. She made an amused face, "Of course." The rain grew stronger again and soon the small group vanished in the meandering back alleys of Hong Kong.

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