Wang Wei sat behind his desk watching NewTube on his laptop, sipping juice. Long Xinyue stood behind him, still and silent.
A knock at the door. Wang Wei ignored it. Long Xinyue said flatly, "Enter."
Baki walked in. Long Xinyue looked him over. "Who are you?"
Baki rubbed the back of his neck. "I'm a new employee. I was told to report to the CEO."
A club left Long Xinyue's hand and buried itself in the wall beside Baki's head.
"No such appointment exists," she said. "Who are you?"
Baki dropped the act. "I came to meet the generous president who put a ten-million-dollar bounty on my head."
Wang Wei flinched but kept his voice steady. "Xinyue. Kill him and bring me his head."
Long Xinyue stepped around the desk with both clubs in hand and rolled her shoulders. "You made a mistake coming here."
Baki cracked his knuckles and smiled. "We'll see."
She moved first. She came at him in a blur, clubs whistling from every angle. Baki weaved through the flurry without giving ground, slipping each strike by the smallest margin. When she came around again he dropped low and swept her ankle. She stumbled and immediately launched both clubs up at his chin. Baki leaned back and drove a punch into her exposed ribs.
Long Xinyue grunted and backed off. She rushed back in and hooked a club at his ankle. Baki jumped before she could complete it, flipped backward, and brought his heel down at her head. She crossed both clubs to block.
CRACK!
The impact rattled up her arms. She pushed him back, eyes sharp, and came at him spinning, her whole body rotating into a diagonal tackle. Baki caught her mid-motion with both hands. Her momentum pushed him back several feet and his shoes left long marks across the floor, but he didn't go down.
Long Xinyue's eyes went wide.
Baki spun once and threw her. She crashed through the bookshelf and hit the wall. Wood and books came down around her.
She pushed herself up and jumped high, spinning her body downward like a drill. Baki sidestepped and she hit the floor where he had been standing. The wood cracked on impact. His roundhouse caught her in the side before she could recover and sent her tumbling across the room.
She came up on one knee and drove a club straight at his face. Baki tilted his head and it passed his ear. He grabbed her wrist, pulled her off balance, and hit her in the chest. She coughed and spun away, then came back up in a spiral, clubs striking low, middle, and high as she rose.
Baki moved with her, staying just outside each strike. At the top of her spin he jumped to meet her and drove an uppercut into her stomach. Her spin stopped cold. He grabbed her shoulders, kneed her in the face, kneed her in the stomach, then kicked upward and caught her chin.
She punched through the ceiling panels on the way up. She came back down and managed to land on her feet, stumbled, and immediately tried to hook both clubs around his neck. Baki ducked and she flew over him. While she was still in the air he jumped and put multiple kicks into her back and ribs.
CRASH!
She hit the floor hard and coughed up blood. She forced herself up, grabbed one club, and swung it overhead with everything she had left.
Baki raised one forearm and blocked it. The club hit with a loud crack and his arm didn't move. Her eyes went wide and his other fist hit her face before she could pull back. Her head snapped back. She staggered.
She jumped one more time. Baki stepped back from the first strike and ducked the second, then drove his shoulder into her midsection and kept going.
She hit Wang Wei's desk and destroyed it completely. Papers flew everywhere. Wang Wei yelped and scrambled behind his chair.
"Xinyue! Get up!" he screamed.
Long Xinyue pushed up from the wreckage, blood at her mouth. She came forward with both clubs swinging together, putting everything behind it.
Baki stepped back from the first, sidestepped the second, grabbed her from behind as she passed, fell into a backward roll, and launched her over his head with both feet.
She went upside down into the wall and dropped.
She stood up one more time. Her arms were shaking and her breathing was ragged. She gripped her remaining club and spun herself low across the floor toward him.
Baki jumped straight up and let her pass beneath him. He came down with both feet on her back and drove her flat against the floor. He grabbed her by the shirt, lifted her, and threw her the full length of the office.
She hit the remaining bookshelf, went through the filing cabinet behind it, and slammed into the wall. The plaster cracked and caved around the impact. She slid down and her club hit the floor beside her. She didn't move.
Baki walked across the destroyed office, footsteps crunching on broken wood and scattered papers, and looked down at her.
"She's tough," he said quietly. "China has strong women."
He turned to Wang Wei, who had pressed himself flat against the window. Baki's expression shifted into something that made Wang Wei stop breathing.
"Now then," Baki said calmly. "Where is the real president?"