"Senior brother?!"
Both Lena and Xiao Yun gasped in unison, eyes wide in disbelief.
"Never mind that," Kang replied casually, shrugging. "We're still in combat."
"GRAAAHH!"
Big John's roar shook the air, his fury boiling over. At this point he didn't care about breeder or territory anymore, he just wanted to crush every last one of them beneath his steel fists.
"Leave him to me! You girls handle the rest."
Kang said, cracking his knuckles before dropping his bag on the ground. Without hesitation, he strode forward, calm and unhurried, toward the raging hulk of metal and flesh. Big John glared down at him, veins bulging around the seams of his remaining human skin.
"Who the frag are you?!" he bellowed, swinging his massive cybernetic arm down in a brutal overhead strike.
"Beware!"
"Dodge!"
Lena and Xiao Yun both shouted at once.
Clink.
Kang didn't move a single step. With a small, effortless motion, he lifted his right hand and flicked—just a simple flick—the descending Murasame arm on its side. To everyone's shock, the blade veered off course, slamming into the ground beside him with a thunderous crash.
He looked up at Big John and got into his combat stance.
"Liu Kang, of the Hidden Tiger Style," he said evenly. "I'll be your opponent."
"Th-That stance..."
Xiao Yun covered her mouth. That was indeed the Tiger stance and his form was perfect, even better than her father. Who was this man? Xiao Yun knew every disciple from their dojo and she had never heard of anyone this strong.
"Yunyun, is he from your dojo too?" Lena asked, curiosity getting the better of her.
"I-I don't know. I have never seen him before," Xiao Yun stammered.
"Must be from a branch in another District then," Lena guessed.
The idea nagged at Xiao Yun. Maybe that was the case, though she had never once heard her family mention any branch in another District. In the first place, was their dojo even that famous to have branches?
"Forget that now. We have to clear Big John's lackeys while that man keeps him busy. Then we all gang up on the drek," Lena said.
They quickly get to the others, trusting Kang to handle the giant. His confidence aura had convinced them somehow.
Kang smiled. Finally a real opponent. After three hundred years of sleep he had wanted a test of strength. Big John might be ugly as scrap metal, but he would make a good punching bag.
"Come then, metal pile! I will teach you the consequence of harming the successor of Hidden Tiger Style," Kang taunted, curling a single finger in a mocking gesture.
Let the fight begin!
-----
"Big sis, are you okay? What about Big John?!"
The Orphan members were surprised when Lena and Xiao Yun joined them.
"Someone's holding him off for us. Let's hurry and help him!"
"Got it, but how do we deal with these dreks, big sis?"
Lena's eyes glinted dangerously.
"Recycle them all."
"Roger!"
With that order, the Orphan members immediately turned into killing machines, aiming straight for vital spots. The sudden change in atmosphere and their sharp killing intent sent chills down the gangsters' spines. Panic spread through their ranks as they shouted in desperation.
"Are you fragging crazy, Razorgirl?! We're only here for one breeder!"
"There's only one fitting end for trash that dares to invade my turf." Lena's voice was cold as steel.
"You're insane! Do you know what the other gangs will do if they hear about this?!"
"Yeah, I do. They'll say 'Razorgirl's gone nuts, better stay away from her turf.'" She grinned darkly. "Frag, I should've done this long ago."
The gangsters tried to scream more threats, but only gurgles and dying breaths followed. When Lena and the Orphans were done, not one was left standing. Without Big John's might to back them up, these low-lives were nothing more than scavengers who only knew how to bully the weak.
"What are you standing there for, Yunyun? Let's go help your 'senior brother,' or whoever he is."
Lena turned and called out to her.
Xiao Yun shook her head weakly, her tone strange as she answered,
"I don't think that's necessary, Lena sis."
Lena and the rest of the Orphans quickly turned their eyes toward the fight in the distance. For a moment, their expressions shifted from confusion to shock, and then to calm indifference, much like Xiao Yun's.
Because that wasn't a battle at all. It was simply one-sided bullying.
-----
Thud.
Kang's elbow slammed into Big John's midsection, almost replicating Xiao Yun's earlier strike. The difference was immediate. While Xiao Yun's attack had barely staggered him, Kang's blow sank deep, forcing the giant back several steps as he coughed up a mix of blood and oil.
"AAARGH!!! Why?! Why does it hurt so much?!" Big John howled, anger and fear twisting his voice.
From afar, Lena, Xiao Yun, and the Orphans watched the scene unfold.
"Yeah, why is that?" Lena asked, glancing at Xiao Yun. "It looked exactly the same as what you did. How come it's so much stronger? That guy's flesh and blood too, right? Or is he packing some kind of crazy ultra-savvy bioware arm we've never seen before?"
Xiao Yun trembled, her eyes wide with disbelief as she whispered, "It's Qi..."
"What? Chi? You mean like a kind of dope-up meds or something?"
"No, Qi. Q-I. The inner energy within our bodies." Xiao Yun's voice shook as she spoke. "It's the secret technique of our dojo, channeling that energy into our attacks. The Qi Strike..."
Her words came faster now, as if she were talking to herself rather than answering.
"But how?" she muttered, her brows furrowed. "That technique was lost when my grandfather passed away... Just who is this man? Is he really a senior disciple of the Hidden Tiger Style after all?"
Kang was about to end the fight. To be honest, it was getting dull. This man was all brute force and no skill. His strikes were heavy, yes, but what did that matter when they were so slow and predictable? If not for that deadly arm of his, those girls wouldn't have been in any danger to begin with.
His defense was just as bad, full of openings. He relied entirely on his massive frame and all that metal to soak up damage, nothing more than a glorified punching bag. Kang thought to himself that Xiao Yun could have easily defeated him if her strikes carried more power. That Lena girl too. Big John was right about one thing though, without his Murasame arm, he wasn't even worthy of standing before them.
Still, Kang confirmed something important. His Qi Strike remained effective, even against these "augmented" fighters. Their cybernetics were tougher than flesh, but Qi could still destroy them from within. Seemed like advanced technology still couldn't surpass the essence of traditional martial arts yet, at least not in his case.
After dodging another wild swing, Kang moved in. In one fluid motion he stepped onto Big John's knee, vaulted over his head and gathered Qi into his palm. Then he drove it straight into Big John's left shoulder, where the Murasame arm connected to his body.
Crack.
A sharp sound tore through the air, followed by Big John's agonized scream. The chrome arm was ripped off, wires and oil bursting like dark rain. The famed Murasame arm hit the ground with a heavy thud, signaling the end of this meaningless battle.
When you fight a tree...
"...target its roots," Xiao Yun murmured, watching in awe.
The way he moved, the flow of his strikes and even his combat methodology, all of it followed the teachings of the Hidden Tiger Style. There was no doubt left in her mind. This man was deeply connected to her dojo, though how or why, she still had no idea.
Kang stood over the convulsing man, wondering if he should end it with a coup de grace, when Lena's voice called out from behind him.
"No need to bother. That drek's going through cybershock. He's not gonna last another minute."
Kang turned, giving her a questioning look. Lena grinned, brushing her dyed hair back with a slick motion.
"A purist like you probably never heard the term before, huh? Cybershock happens when the body takes the backlash from all that chrome, usually triggered with the sudden loss of an augmentation. It's usually not fatal, unless you're a stupid drek who's eighty percent machine. In that case, it's a guaranteed death."
Right as she finished, Big John stopped moving completely, the last sparks in his body flickering out.
"See?" she said with a smirk.
Kang nodded slightly, though his eyes lingered on the corpse a moment longer. Lena's tone shifted, becoming more composed.
"Thanks, stranger. I'm sure we've got a lot to talk about, but that can wait. We still have the aftermath to handle."
Around them, the Orphans had already begun their grim work. Kang watched, slightly intrigued, as they chopped up the corpses and sorted the remains into two neat piles, metal and flesh.
"Recycling," Lena said when she noticed his look.
Kang understood the purpose of salvaging cyberware and armor, but then his gaze drifted toward the pile of human remains.
"Down here, we recycle everything. Everything," she repeated firmly, her sharp eyes meeting his. "Probably sounds blasphemous to a City-dweller, huh?"
"Not really," Kang replied with a casual shrug. "Actually sounds kind of… environmental-friendly, if you ask me."
That caught Lena off guard. Then she laughed, a genuine, bright sound that cut through the grim atmosphere. Her eyes stayed on him, studying his face.
"Hey, you know what? I think I like you, stranger."
Kang chuckled, flashing a playful grin.
"Yeah, I know. I like myself too~"