After almost dying because I fell from a pick up in motion and other things that I will say after the episode, I was finally able to finish this episode. enjoy it.
virtual cookie for those who discover the identity of Nascosta.
Status: Unbetaed
Believe 1-1: "Food and Meetings"
"Are you sure you don't forget anything?" Since they woke Mei has been doing that.
"Yes Mei," repeated Nascosta again, they had woken up early in the morning to prepare her suitcase.
"Did you check the weather? I heard it would be very rainy, maybe the flights will not leave today" Mei has tried to find reasons to prevent Nascosta from leaving.
"Mei we are in the middle of the summer, and the weather guy said it would be clear for the whole month", that if she hadn't packed her toothbrush, that if she hadn't paid the taxes, even alerts of earthquakes in Chile and sudden snowfall announced by the internet.
"The weather guy could be lying, he always has that unsettling smile when he announces weather, he must be up to something..."
"Mei the weather guy is not part of the Illuminati"
"I never said that he was part of the Illuminati, it's just that I can't trust him"
They were silent while Nascosta finished packing, they were in the living room of her house, with Nascosta supporting her suitcase on the sofa and Mei behind her pouting.
"Ready" Nascosta grabs her already prepared suitcase and put it on the floor, it was a black suitcase with wheels and many pockets, she turned around to see her friend's face and delicately put her hand on her head, "relax Mei, nothing bad will happen. "
Mei's face acquired an expression of defeat as she let out a sigh, "nothing I say will make you stay, right?"
"Mei," Nascosta began to caress the panda's head "what's going on? Why are you so worried about a simple trip? "
Mei was filled with doubt, she struggled to find a way to express what she thought, "I do not know, I know it sounds silly, but I have a hunch that something big is going to happen and I do not want to be alone for when that happens," Mei put a hand to her heart, "I can feel it here."
Nascosta withdrew her hand from the panda's head "Mei, you just have to-" she could not keep talking because a thunderous sound stopped her in the act, the 2 friends saw each other's faces for a second, processing what had happened, Suddenly Mei puts her hands to her face while Nascosta burst out laughing, "I can hear that your stomach feels it too."
She wished with all her strength that the earth would swallow her.
-…-
The house where Nascosta and Mei lived was something simple, one floor, 2 rooms, a bathroom, a living room, and a kitchen, they had a small patio where there was a barbecue and little else, on the porch there was only a small road that joined the house with the sidewalk everything else had been claimed by the grass, next to the house there was a small parking lot where the food truck was.
Nascosta was putting her suitcase in the taxi she had previously asked for, "Well Mei, enjoy your month without me."
"Goodbye, Miss Nascosta, I hope everything goes well."
Although somewhat insecure, the smile on the face of Mei was genuine, Nascosta could only smile back as she got into the taxi, once inside she took her hand out the window, saying goodbye to her friend, "Goodbye Mei, remember that no matter what happens I trust you."
While the Taxi went away on the horizon, the panda realized that unconsciously she has begun to wave her hand to dismiss her friend, she lowered her hand and started heading towards the truck, after everything she was now the manager and only employee of the business.
"I can do this," she said to herself as she looked at the truck, "I have everything under control, everything is going to be fine, I'm ready for this"
-…-
"I CAN'T DO THIS, I CAN'T DO THIS, I CAN'T DO THIS, I CAN'T DO THIS."
"Miss, are you okay?"
Mei took an hour to take the truck to its usual place, being an area near the beach and in the middle of the junction of two long streets; it was not a place with a high traffic of people, Nascosta had never explained why she chose this site, she just said that she liked the maritime landscape.
Mei prepared mentally for a day like the previous one, slow and without many clients, but the 15 people waiting in line to be served decided to break with their illusions.
Mei had prepared mentally for a day like the previous one, slow and without many clients, but the 15 people waiting in line to be served decided to break their illusions.
"Yes... yes, what do you want"
The first in line was a stocky man, with dark skin, who dressed very formally to go to the beach.
"I wish..." the man inclines his head to see the menu on the side of the truck, "an Invincible Tower, in 2 parts and chopped in half please."
The Invincible Tower was a 4-story square hamburger, with each floor full of meat, slices of bacon wrapped in itself, yellow cheese, lettuce, sliced tomatoes, striped cabbage, and a fried egg cut into a perfect square, each of the loaves is coated with tomato sauce, mayonnaise, and mustard.
All the things that were sold in the truck had that kind of name: Invincible Tower, Incredible Light, All in One, Perfect Sandwich, Chicken Hat, Mother Soup; On the other hand the drinks had names like Wonder Vials and Custodian Ice Tea.
When she asked Miss Nascosta about the names, she responded by saying that she wished that when they were not needed that people could at least have a nice memory about them, which did not answer any of Mei's questions.
Mei did not ask why the man wanted such a beast for dinner, she would only serve it.
"Ok, to take or eat here?"
"To eat here."
"Very well, I'm already preparing it,"
Mei turned around to face the grill plates, which she left heated from the morning, Mei closed her eyes, mentally fighting her doubts and fears.
"I can do this; it's nothing that Miss Nascosta has not taught me before."
Mei briefly recalled all the moments where Nascosta taught her how to cook, it's as if it had been yesterday.
-…-
"The first things you should familiarize yourself with when you are learning to cook, are the kitchen utensils, how they are used, how they are passed, their weight and length, we will start with the spoons, what you think?"
"I think its fine Miss Nasco-AGHH!" The panda puts her hands to her forehead, a metallic sound caught her attention and when she looked at where it had occurred she noticed an innocent little stainless steel spoon on the floor. Looking up, she noticed that Nascosta had a neutral expression on her face and her arm was extended.
Did she hit her with a spoon?
"That," said Nascosta as if nothing had happened, "it's a spoon for tea."
Before Mei could say anything another spoon was thrown, this time hitting her in the stomach.
"That's a spoon for ice tea, do not confuse them, and this one..."
And so began the siege of the spoons.
During the siege, Mei tried to dodge the small instruments of pain, but the kitchen was too small for her large size, there was also the fact Nascosta apparently was half Eagle because somehow she managed to hit her in the same place 3 times in a row.
In a desperate attempt, Mei moved her hands in front of her face and managed to catch one of the spoons.
"Ha!" she let out a shout of victory and with spoon in hand Mei faced Nascosta, which had not moved an inch since the attack began.
"What is that spoon used for?" Nascosta asked seriously, her gaze fixed on the panda, every muscle in her body tense, awaited by her friend's intelligent response.
"Uugh?"
"What is that spoon used for?"
Mei stared the instrument of evil that she had in her hands, it was small and delicate, it was made of a material that reminded her of the seashells that could be found on a postcard of the Caribbean.
"A teaspoon?"
Her response was a spoon hitting the spoon in her hand with enough force that it flew out, crashing into her face.
Mei fell instantly to the ground.
Nascosta just smiled when she saw her partner on the floor, "with this we end the class about spoons, do you feel ready for the fork class or do you prefer to go over until you feel ready?"
The panda's moan of pain was the only response she received.
-…-
"The muscles are made up of millions of fibers, small threads connected to each other, this gives it many qualities, depending on the animal and the type of cut these qualities are reinforced or not," Nascosta left in front of a bruised panda various cuts of meat from different animals.
"Where did you get so much meat?"
Nascosta didn't answer the question and continued with her explanation: "Some meats need to be beaten to soften them; others need a very good cutting technique to not ruin them."
" we'll start with the simplest," Nascosta pulled out of the closet a simple, small metal hammer, "I'll give you some cuts of meat that need the strength to gain 'tenderness' and with this hammer I'll show you how you should hit them."
Mei went to grab the hammer just for Nascosta to take it out of her reach
"Miss Nascosta?"
"I told you that with this hammer I" Nascosta put the head of the hammer on her shoulders, "would teach you how to hit them, instead you should use those paws of yours."
Mei looked at her hands, trying to reason what her friend had said.
"It would not be better if I-" Mei's words died in her mouth, The manic smile that formed on Nascosta's face as she watched the meat was terrifying, as if all the heat in the room had disappeared, Mei's body began to tremble when her friend lifted the hammer over her head.
During the following hours, Mei met the Hammer of Doom.
-…-
Mei was concentrating on the vegetables and condiments that were on the cutting board, using everything she had learned, she began to cut everything into different shapes: diced, julienne, sliced and more.
When she finished cutting everything, she presented the fruit of her work to Nascosta; she grabbed one of each and evaluated them, "the cubes are not perfect, some slices are not thin enough, you waste a lot of the chili with your juliennes, disapproved," without much ceremony Nascosta shot everything over his head, describing a perfect arch to the wastebasket.
Mei stepped aside and grabbed the knife that Nascosta threw in the middle of the flight; she would have to start from scratch, again.
-…-
Mei was in front of a pot cooking a stew, while she was sautéing some condiments in a pan at her side, on the other side of the truck she was frying some french fries, in the driver's cabin Nascosta was driving through the streets of Boston.
"Miss Nascosta, I don't think this is safe" Mei was stirring the stew with a wooden spoon, "I don't think it's legal either."
"Do not worry Mei, everything will be fine, see it as a type of training, yes?"
"Okay ..." Confidence in Mei's voice was present as water in a desert.
"That's the attitude."
Mei was removing the pot to make way for a pan in which she would be cooking a chickpea sauce when the truck took a sharp turn, seeing that everything was about to fall, Mei moved with an agility that never thought possible that she could have, she grabs the pot and the pan in the air, unfortunately she couldn't do anything for the fryer, which with the turn spilled part of its contents on the ground.
"Miss Nascosta! What are you doing!?"
Faced with the complaints of the panda Nascosta could only say one thing.
"EARTHQUAKE!"
The speed reducers caused the entire truck to bounce.
Panda included.
-…-
A shiver went up the back of the panda, Miss Nascosta could be something extreme with her training method ... also a little crazy.
With renewed determination, the panda seized the kitchen and began to work
"Next order".
-…-
The day gave way to noon and noon gave way to evening.
An exhausted panda was sitting at one of the tables she brought for the clientele, under the small awning that gave shade to the customers who are about to buy and those who were eating.
With the counter empty and nothing in the kitchens, the panda was rested, deciding to close early the Mei started to get up from her seat when she noticed a shadow over her, looking up, she realized he was the first client of the day; the dark-skinned man was standing in front of her.
"I've never tasted a hamburger as delicious as yours, miss?" The man's sudden question made the panda sit down again.
"Mei, sir?" Normally Mei would be turning into a ball of nerves, but the exhaustion of the day helped her stay calm.
"Agent Stockwell, PRT, you are the owner of this place" Agent Stockwell showed his plaque to the tired panda, this woke her up from her stupor.
"No, I'm just an employee; can you know what you want it for?" Mei was using all her will to avoid being turned into jelly.
"Simple, all Parahuman owner of some business will have to prove that they don't have a power that leaves their business without competition, please put me in contact with your boss, also bring me your registration papers, all Parahuman that wants to work using their power should be evaluated by the local department of the PRT, obviously you are registered, right?"
"Of course," Mei did not know why but there was something in the agent's tone of voice that she did not like, "let me go for my papers, I have them in the glove compartment of the truck."
"No problem, does it bother if I accompany you?"
"Not at all."
The two went to the truck, Mei went to the driver's cabin, while she explored the hidden universe that was inside the glove compartment, the agent was watching the kitchen, slowly passed his finger by one of the tables and then takes it to his face to inspect it closely, "How long have you been in Boston, Miss Mei?"
This made the panda doubt, she was already registered in the PRT, they even made her choose a name and everything, the agent should know about her.
"That I know about 3 months, sir," the panda replied.
"That you know? Aren't you sure?"
"I suffer from amnesia, sir"
"Of course..."
The tone of suspicion did not please Mei at all, she took a deep breath and tried to find answers for this situation.
Maybe it was a new recruit or something, maybe the agent is from another state and recently has been transferred, maybe someone is playing a joke on her or maybe it is another of Nascosta's training scenarios…
Taking out her papers from Schrödinger's glove compartment, the panda turned around to meet the agent inspected her knives, it was not the only things that had received the agent's attention, the cupboards were open, the pans were scattered on the floor.
"Here are my papers" Mei was upset, she disliked the condescending expression that the agent had while he watched her kitchen, it bothered her that a stranger destroyed the order that was in her kitchen,
Who does he think he is? perhaps he thinks he can understand the work of a
The panda shook her head worried, she did not know where that thought had come from.
The agent ignored the mental drama of the panda, reading the documents that were given to him, he began to check the information, and in one of the documents, he found something that caused him to raise an eyebrow.
"Case 42?" The agent asked, his voice was full of doubt.
"Yes, the agent who evaluated me classifies me as a case 42 after determining that my only power is to be a panda."
Apparently, Mei's response did not convince the agent; he put his arms on top of each other and looked accusingly at her. "What makes me sure you're not a creation of the bioterrorist and drug dealer Blasto?"
The panda was offended by that statement "if you read all the papers you would realize that there are some blood tests that confirm that I am not a creation of any kind, there is even an MRI that confirms the presence of a Corona in my brain, now If you excuse me, I have a business to close, any other question may be answered if you read the report that was made by Agent Black, a report which should be in your offices."
"But-"
"Good afternoon."
With a push, the panda took the agent out of the truck and closed the door and the roller shutter, on the other side of the door she could hear the agent talking to someone, after a while the sound of motors were present, and slowly they were fading.
Meanwhile, the panda was lying on the ground clutching her head.
"AHHH, WHAT I HAVE DONE, IDIOT, IDIOT, IDIOT"
While the panda lamented her existence, a slight knock caught her attention; Mei slowly raised her head and opened the door to see who it was.
On the other side was a peculiar couple, a dark-skinned man, dressed in a gray shirt and dark pants, by his side was a girl with black hair who wore a green dress.
"Is it still open?" Asked the man
Mei just sighed "no, I'm getting ready to close."
"What a pity ... I came here to try that famous challenge that my friends talk so much about."
'The challenge' was something that Miss Nascosta was very proud of, she thought herself capable of cooking any dish that exists, she took the challenges very seriously, so much so that she had an exclusive section to prepare them, she even had a refrigerator that Mei was sure that it was made by a Tinker, because it has a screen and keyboard, where if the necessary ingredients were written, they appeared from nowhere inside.
Mrs. Nascosta jokingly said that the refrigerator was like a door to the food dimension.
The objective of the challenge is to exceed the expectations of the client, if the client did not like him he could leave without paying; on the other side if the client was satisfied then he would have to pay triple or quadruple of a normal dish.
Upon hearing the words of the panda the man lowered his head, the disappointment was clear on his face; this caused some strings to move in Mei's heart, she could not stand that kind of expressions, she reached out her hand to reach the man, holding his hand, stopping him for a moment.
"Wait," the panda released her hand, "I'm willing to listen to your challenge and if it's something very complicated I'll tell you to come tomorrow but if it's something I can do here then there will be no problems." The man's face radiated happiness and he began to do a small dance of victory, which made his partner turn her eyes because of the antics of her partner.
"I want you to make me a Pabellón Criollo," while the man was talking, the panda went back up the roller shutter and lit the kitchens, "my grandmother used to prepare it every Sunday, it was a family tradition that died with her." The girl put her hand on her partner's shoulders and squeezed a little.
Once everything was prepared, the panda searched on her phone for the recipe of the Pavilion, Nascosta was the one that could do all those memory dishes, she had to compensate in some way.
Having obtained the information that she needed on the internet and not being a very difficult dish to make, Mei introduced the name of the ingredient in the refrigerator, it was opened five minutes later with everything necessary to make the dishes and without further delay, the panda put paws to work.
-…-
30 minutes later, in front of the couple the panda put 2 plates, in them were black turtle beans with cheese over it, Fried Sweet Plantain Slices, Venezuelan shredded beef, and rice, all decorated to make it looks like each ingredient was the petals of a flower, all joining in the scepter of the dish.
Once the dishes were on the table, the panda retired to the counter to watch the couple eat, the girl ate slowly savoring each new spoonful of the dish but the reaction that caught her attention was the man.
He had just tasted a bite, slowly put the spoon on the table and stood looking at the horizon, From his eyes fell a lonely tear, suddenly the man began to eat too fast to be healthy, scaring both his companion and the panda. Once the dish was finished, the man stood up from his seat and went to the counter.
"How much do I have to pay?" His brittle voice did not match the big smile on his face.
The man just took out his wallet and put $ 400 on the table.
"Here, take the change, I had years without trying something like that, seriously, thank you very much."
Mei felt a little uncomfortable about the man's attitude, but she accepted the money without problems.
The man put a hand to his jaw, his expression changed to that of a person lost in his thoughts, suddenly his expression turned to a smile as he snapped his fingers and pointed to the panda.
"You make deliveries?"
The panda shook his head, "Really, that idea had never occurred to me, why?"
"A friend is going to attend a very stressful meeting tonight on this beach, I know he will leave very upset that meeting so it occurs to me that we could cheer his night with this precious delicacy, What do you say?"
"I do not think it's healthy to eat something so heavy at night, there's also the problem that these streets are not safe at night, do not forget that-"
"I would pay you 5 times the dish if you accept"
"I accept, Mister?"
The smile on the man turned to something dark but Mei ignored her, she was busier thinking about the money she would earn with just a sale.
"What a shame, my grandmother would kill me when she found out that I didn't present myself before, my name is Rey Andino and my partner here is Angelica," the girl waved her hand at the panda, "now these are the details of the delivery..."
-…-
Rey and Angelica walked slowly along the beach, after finishing the details with Mei, the couple decided to take one last walk before having to attend the meeting that night.
"How much of what you said is true?" The brunette known as Angelica asked her partner
"Everything" replied Rey.
"Even about your grandmother?"
"That's the truest part of all, Angie."
"So if this is so important why are you making her come to the meeting? You know very well that not everyone would take well the fact that out of nothing a panda of at least 7 feet tall is present at the meeting."
A smile opened from ear to ear in Rey's face. "For several reasons, if I have to tolerate the pedant of Accord for more than 10 minutes I would prefer at least to have a full stomach of that Pabellón, Accord can't afford to attack her in any way during the meeting, would break with the environment that he and Detente want to impose."
"And what assures you that they wouldn't attack her after?"
"If they attack her, then we appear before her and offer her a position in our small team, anyway we are missing members in Blastgerm."
"I know you very well; you're doing this just for the food, Rey."
Rey didn't deign to answer her and they continued walking on the beach.
-…-
After some inconvenience, Ashley was able to arrive, a bonfire illuminated the beach in the middle of the darkness, around were the most powerful groups in the area, here were The Four, a group of 2 men and 2 women, was dressed in strange ways and their masks were simple horizontal white stripes on a black background, there was also a group of 3 capes dressed in a vegetable life theme, a man in a robe, mask, and accessories based on mushrooms, another man with a snake mask mounted on a beast and a hooded woman behind them. The Mullen brothers were also present wearing their metal armors, which with their active powers turned orange from the heat.
Finally, there was The Clockwork Dogs, the masterminds, a group of villains who dressed as if they were high society gentlemen or something like that.
These were the leaders of the last factions that had power over South Boston, there were other groups with less power gathered but they had neither voice nor vote in what will happen that night.
"
For now," thought Ashley
After all, she had come to Boston to make a name for herself, for now, she would let the big dogs play their power games, but by the time they least expect it, Boston would be under her power.
-…-
The meeting began when the Clockwork Dogs began to talk about their plan to distribute the territories that were left without an owner after the PRT raids and to form an alliance, everything was fine until the capes offered Hyde Park to The Four this made the Blastgerm members get upset and ...
"I know that we can distribute the territories in a peaceful way, for our part we only need an area with at least 30 thousand people, I am sure we can reach an agreement, Blasto." He was a potbellied man, dressed in a Black suit poorly closed, with a white mask that had motifs of gears; he was trying to appease the best known Biotinker in Boston.
"Not only do you dare to choose for me, but you have the nerve to tell me what is best for me? you are not my father Detente, you don't have the rights to decide for me, "Blasto, on the other hand, was a thin man, dressed in a walking and black pants, on it he wore a white coat, randomly distributed by all his clothes were orange mushrooms with yellow dots, millions of small mushrooms being their mask that protected his identity.
The cape next to Detente decided to give an opinion about the problem, he was dressed in a white suit with a dark tie, on his face there was a mask with small fibers that imitated each one of the facial expressions that his wearer made, "you have to understand that It is natural that we distrust your cognitive abilities to make this kind of decisions."
"I challenge you to say that again Accord."
"I do not need to repeat something that is true; after all, I was not the person who left his creation free in the middle of the city, created chaos with only its presence."
"My dog ran away."
"That was not a dog, Blasto."
"Calm gentlemen," Detente tried to separate the 2 temperamental capes, "I know we can come up with a solution."
"No solutions," Blasto straightens his robe and looks directly at Accord and Stop, "Hyde Park will belong to Blastgerm"
Detente, realizing that nothing he could say would change the mind of the Biotinker; he dismisses any plan they might have that had involved the direct support of his group.
"What do you say, The Four?" Détente directed his gaze at the group of capes.
The closest to Detente, one of the men of the group shook his head "We can handle ourselves Detente, tempting but not."
"Brothers?"
The duo of brothers looked at each other, as if they had a conversation only with their eyes, after a slight gesture one of the brothers cleared his throat to speak, "Besides the territory, what else do you offer?"
"Money, facilities, and support for any activity that may generate an impact, as long as the terms of the alliance are respected."
The two brothers turned to look at "Let us think about it, you'll have your answer in the morning."
"What about us?" Ashley decided to get noticed among the crowd with her question.
Accord was going to respond when Detente's hand landed on his shoulder, stopping him. He put his gaze directly on Ashley to then observe the various capes gathered.
"We offer the same agreement as the Brothers to all those who want to join the alliance." Detente's soft response did not please many of the capes gathered.
Ashley could only smile; they had not taken into consideration the capes that were not so powerful or recognized, you could tell they had no interest in negotiating with people like her. But that did not matter, Ashley just wanted to see their faces when she was the owner of Boston and the Clockwork Dogs had to answer to her.
"If you are unknown," continued Detente, "then make a name of yourself, you could also form your own group to be considered as possible members of the alliance, but if you want you can also join us, we offer you a well-paid job and an opportunity to prove yourself"
"With all this said," Accord raised his voice, "I think we can call it done-"
"Excuse me" a melodious voice interrupted the cape.
All the people stayed looking at the new arrival.
It was as if someone had mixed a person with a panda, her dark hair fell on her shoulders in two pigtails, she did not have a mask but the black spots on her eyes could be mistaken for one.
She was dressed in a ruby red dress and on the edges, there were patterns of yellow, it seemed to be taken from a martial arts movie.
She came with her attention focused on a note she carries in her right hand, on the left, she carried a bag with a disposable box inside.
Accord was going to say something when the panda interrupted him again, this time raising her gaze from the note.
"But the... king... rules...?" the panda's voice was breaking while processing the situation she was in.
All the capes gathered tensed before her presence, waiting for the entire meeting to go to hell; before anything happened, Blasto raised his hand to attract the attention of the panda.
"You're the surprise my friend got?" Blasto's mask modified his voice in such a way that the panda could not recognize it.
"Your friend" Mei started to get scared, all these capes, probably all villains, did not take their eyes off her. "He made a request for a challenge, he said you would love it, don't worry about paying, he already did it."
Blasto approached the panda, grabbing the bag and inspecting its contents.
" Pabellón? I had centuries without eating one these, thanks "
"You're welcome ..." Mei decided to take this opportunity to leave, "well ... I think it's time for me to leave ... you can continue doing whatever you were doing," without more words Mei turned around and started to run in the opposite direction to the assembled capes.
A figure dressed as a baseball player began to follow the panda, their hands clenched on the handle of their metal bat and making large strides in the sand.
She was not the only one to follow the panda, another figure dressed in dark clothes and a mask made of pieces of black metal also began to follow the panda.
-...-
I When Mei arrived at the truck, the first thing she did was to throw herself on the ground and roll while holding her head
"AGHHHHHHHH THIS IS BAD, VERY BAD, BAD, BAD, BAD AGHHHHHHHHH"
It is enough to say that the panda was wishing she could hide in the center of the earth forever.
"GO WHERE YOU CAN SEE BEAST."
But apparently, someone wanted to find her.
Mei stopped rolling at the scream, slowly pulling her head off the side of the truck she could see a figure in the distance.
This figure was dressed in a baseball uniform, wearing a biker helmet and holding an aluminum bat, it was not very intimidating or muscular, the cape walked down the street turning their head constantly.
In one of those turns, the figure found its target.
"YOU," the cape got closer to Mei, "who do you think you are? I've been in this business for months and it's the first time they've invited me to something so big and you come with a little bag in hand and you have the nerve to introduce yourself to the most powerful capes in the city as if it was nothing. What gives you the right to step on all the hard work that villains like me have to do to be noticed? "
Even been so close, Mei could not distinguish the gender of the cape, their figure was very androgynous to really know and their tone of voice was high enough to confuse.
"I-"
"SILENCE! I DO NOT WANT TO HEAR EXCUSES "with each word that said, the cape moved their bat in a threatening way.
"But you just-"
"NO!" Mei's blood froze, the cape was slowly approaching her, Mei tried to move but her body did not respond.
"Look, girl, I do not know what I'll have done to bother you but I'm sorry."
That stopped the cape cold before they let out a cry of indignation.
"I AM A BOY!" The cape took a breast to the helmet and let out a sigh " it seems that The Batman will have to show you more than respect." Bringing his 2 hands to the handle of his bat, The Batman made a swing towards the panda's face.
Mei could see how the bat approached slowly to hit her face, the seconds became eternal for the panda, until something inside her responded, a strange session invaded her and a memory invaded her mind.
In front of her was the Master.
In his hands was a wooden box.
The Master and the disciple sat on the floor.
The Master opened the box and slowly pulled out 12 wooden figures.
He placed them on the ground and put his claw on one.
It was that of a panda dressed in armor.
"You must never forget my little disciple, that each style has its advantages and disadvantages"
"Look at the panda, his style is not something meant for attack."
"It's made for defense and counter-attack."
"The panda never starts a fight, but rest assured that it always finishes them."
As quickly as the memory came, it left, and with it, her nervousness was also gone. As if her body knew what she would have to do, she stepped toward The Batman, stepped beneath his attack and slapped his jaw with the palm of her paw.
The cape was stopped by the impact, his weapon escaped from his hands to land on the ground.
Mei did not give him time to think about another attack and connected both palms to the chest of the cape, The Batman flew a few feet before gravity claimed him and ended up hitting the pavement with his head.
Mei looked at her hands, incredulous with what had just happened. She opened and closed them for one minute, trying to find a logical explanation for what had just happened and failing in the attempt.
"Hey, that was great, what you do was Karate? Kung Fu?"
-…-
Ashley's question brought the panda out of her thoughts, she managed to see how everything developed, The Batman was a small-time villain, whose only power was to reinforce a single object that had a hand to make it twice as strong. Ashley was very surprised to see the panda go from being frozen from fear to kicking the ass of the baseball cape in a blink.
The panda looked at her hands again as she tried to say something.
"Pssft," the panda began to move her hands in a nervous way, "that wasn't Kung Fu, that ... that was just the way... the way... I… I learned how to cook!" The panda's voice and her nervous gestures only made Ashley smile.
"If it's how you cook, then I'm dying to try some dish of yours."
Ashley approached the truck while thinking about what happened, she needed a second in command to help her conquer the city, and the panda proved competent.
Nodding, she decided that the panda would be part of her group.
"The name is Damsel, what do you say if we go to a calmer place to talk about our future, just you and me?"
The panda stared at Ashley for a second, letting her head fall to a side.
"I feel flattered, but I do not feel in a position to start a relationship with a possible villain cape that I do not know."
Ashley was surprised at what the panda said until she thought what she had just said, it was at that moment that an atomic flush was present on Ashley's face, and she also wanted the earth to swallow her.
-…-
Meanwhile, in the mind of one of the most intelligent people in the world, a thought continued to circulate in his mind, since the plague of Blasto refused to accept his place in the great picture of things and to top it off he had the insolence to hire a stranger to interrupt his meeting to deliver food.
He wanted to feel insulted, for minor things he had sent many people to… disappear.
But when He put his gaze on the panda all his desire to kill disappeared.
"Her coat is so harmonic" that was all He could think about, "She's so white, so black, her fur is so fuzzy, She. She... SHE IS PERFECT"
From the rhythm in which she walked to the spots on her fur, everything was symmetrical, harmonious, even the pauses she took when speaking had a certain tempo in them.
Accord promised himself that he would find out who the panda was, even if it was the last thing he did.
-...-
Well, recently I started an internship in a hospital far from my home, I will be working 7 months in a double shift and without pay to see if I qualify in their work standards.
This means that I only have 2 hours to write the days of the week. My rhythm is obviously affected, but there are no worries, I keep writing and looking to improve my grammar.
See you soon.
PD: The fall from the pick up was not a lie, I am grateful that it ends up rolling on the ground and that it does not end with fractures
