The moon had fully grown, so round and so bright. It radiated a silvery glow, complementing the cloak of darkness around the city.
Yung Fu and Pete landed in front of the entrance of the house compund after a short flight. As they advanced toward the gate, a bizarre occurrence unfolded before their eyes. The two large red doors were supposed to be closed. Instead, one of the doors jarred open.
Two members of his security staff were lying on the ground helplessly. Yung Fu ran toward one of them and crouched. He tucked his hand under the guard's tactical vest and shirt. He moved his hand around his rigid, arching chest until he felt the latter's heartbeat.
He sighed with relief when he felt his heartbeat.
"What happened to them? Are they ok?" Pete inquired from behind.
"They're still breathing, thankfully. They're only knocked out cold..." Yung Fu stood up and fixed a stern gaze toward the entrance of his compound. He clenched his fist and narrowed his eyes. "It seems we have an unexpected visitor. Let's be sure to welcome them with open arms.
Pete rubbed his hands with excitement, "Let's go and kick some ass."
*********
The two arrived at the inner yard. They embarked upon the tiled passageway, and as they did, the atmosphere intensified because the intruder was nowhere in sight. It was as though he acquired characteristics akin to a ninja, blending seamlessly with the darkness. As the two drew closer to the fountain in the center of the roundabout ahead, the wind briskly caressed the red roses growing in the garden on their right side.
The sound of pouring water failed to alleviate the atmosphere's intensity, as it could not mask the intruder's soundless footsteps. The two scoured their surroundings, keeping their clenched fists close to their chest as they advanced toward the fountain.
"Aah!" The two heard Ace's scream pierce through the sky.
"What the hell?" Pete exclaimed.
"That must be Ace! Go and check on him, I'll cover your back!" Yung Fu exclaimed as he directed his outstretched finger toward the bedroom court. The bedroom court was positioned south of where they stood.
Pete hurriedly ran, storming past the fountain until he reached the corridors on his left side. As he ran with haste, he didn't look back, only directing his focus forward, and that was Ace's room. When he arrived, he found the door open, revealing the light shimmering from his lamp. The light emblazoned the wood grain pattern on his wooden flooring. It was made of washi paper and hardened
It was strange that his door was barred open. He studied it briefly for clues. However, he only noticed holes in the washi paper between the single-hung wooden frame.
Pete pottered inside and discovered Ace lying on his bed, facing the ceiling. However, his eyes were shut, and his bedsheets only covered the lower section of his body. A crimson fluid seeped out of his mouth. The fluid seeped out of more orifices in his arm and drenched the floor.
Pete's eyes widened with horror, his heart beating faster than it should.. He didn't know how to respond to this situation as Ace was one of the strongest Guardians. He stormed out of Ace's room and back to the inner yard. When he arrived there, an unusual event unfolded before his eyes.
"What?" He marveled. He narrowed his eyes to digest the scenario. Even after his assessment, he scratched his eyes and blinked. He looked once more, and his eyes did not deceive him.
Before him stood two Yung Fu's standing across each other, posturing in their tiger stances, ready to engage each other. As they stood across from each other, they mirrored each other from the strands of hair to the creaseless eyes and the red robe with dragon embroidery on the sleeves
"Eh, Yung Fu, why are there two of you?!"
The two looked at him simultaneously. The counterpart on the left answered, "Obviously, he's the impostor."
"Do not listen to this impostor, Peter. He's mimicking me to gain your trust," the counterpart on the right responded.
"Of course, that's what a true impostor would say," replied the counterpart on the left.
Pete scratched his hair and pursed his lips in response. He had not seen anything of this nature. Who was he supposed to believe, as they both looked alike?
"There's only one way to find the truth. A martial arts battle to the death. This is how I will avenge Ace and the death of my security staff!" The counterpart on the left said as he gestured to his duplicate to step forward.
The counterpart on the right smirked, "You've read my mind."
The two launched themselves off the ground with two massive leaps. They rotated swiftly in the air, attempting the spinning kick maneuvers. Their legs collided upon contact.
The counterparts arched their eyebrows with disbelief; they repelled each other and landed a few meters apart.
"So you've copied me," the counterpart on the left responded.
The counterpart on the right smiled, "Enough with the pretense, we both know you copied me. I wonder for how long."
"And you are very good with words. You're trying to confuse my student with your deceit," the counterpart on the left stated.
The two launched off the ground and attempted to land their exclusive attacks. They intend to assault each other with their sidekicks. Once their feet came in contact with each other, they repelled and stood apart.
The two launched at each other, engaging in a heated battle. The counterpart on the left attempted to strike the one on the right with a strike to the bridge of his nose. He responded by placing his wrist in front of his face to block the incoming punch.
Since his attack, the Yung Fu on the right grabbed his counterpart's arm, specifically his wrist, and kicked him in the midsection. Though he was successful. The Yung Fu on the left fell on his back, with a flexibility akin to that of a cat, he flipped himself off the ground and stood on his feet.
From afar, Pete observed, "Man, this is so hard, given that they both fight and react like Yung Fu. I remember Yung Fu grabbing my fist on one occasion. And I also remember when I swept him off the ground with a sweeping kick this other time, he flipped himself back to his feet like nothing happened. Who's who?" Pete gritted his teeth with frustration.
The Yung Fu on the left fired a red ki blast at his adversary. The Yung Fu on the right reciprocated by forming a red energy barrier. An explosion erupted. Once the smoke cleared, the two Yung Fu's continued battling. Although they initiated their assaults, it was difficult for them to land their respective attacks as they'd either block, dodge, or mimic themselves.
As the two were embroiled in their heated duel, Pete carefully observed their movements from where he stood, probing for weaknesses. The Yung Fu on the right attempted to strike his counterpart with a jab to the jaw. The counterpart on the left pushed his fist away with his spear-shaped hand.
He then attempted to strike his right counterpart with a spear hand attack toward the throat. The right counterpart swiftly curved his outstretched fingers to mimic a cat's paws. He grabbed his counterpart's wrist and embedded his nails deep inside his flesh. The counterpart on the left clamped his teeth in anguish.
The counterpart on the right pulled him closer and curved his fingers with his free arm, mimicking a cat's claws once more. He wrapped his hand around the left counterpart's neck and drove his nails deep into his neck.
Pete muttered to himself when this occurred, "The counterpart on the left is in big trouble. He's cornered as the Yung Fu on the right held him hostage with the tiger's paw on the wrist and the neck. I wonder how he is going to escape from this?"
The Yung Fu on the left kicked him in the kneecap twice; the right counterpart buckled and loosened his grip.
Since the right counterpart was on the floor on his knees, he swiveled on the floor and attempted to sweep his duplicate with a spinning kick. The duplicate responded by jumping over his sweeping leg.
The two counterparts stood apart from each other and positioned themselves in a tiger stance once more.
Pete then interjected before the battle continued. "If there's one thing that I know about Yung Fu, it's that he's experienced in the martial arts field. He is well-versed in many martial arts techniques, which gives him an edge over the imposter."
The counterparts looked at him as he spoke, " Whichever one of you is the real Yung Fu, you must prove yourself. Last week, he showed me a new technique at the training hall. It's not just any technique; a few Utopian martial artists have mastered it."
Pete smiled, hoping to catch the impostor off guard. He examined their reaction. The one on the left returned the gaze; he pressed his lips together and said nothing. Then, the one on the right smirked.
The counterpart on the right applied rapid movement, an ability that enabled him to move so fast that even a normal human wouldn't register the speed of his movements. To the normal viewer, it was like he teleported when he did not.
The counterpart on the right materialized behind the one on the left. He stuck his fingers together to form a spear hand shape. A scarlet aura exuded from his arm. Just as he was about to drive the spear hand into the imposter's back, Ace shockingly appeared out of nowhere and pushed the imposter aside. Yung Fu drove his hand between his valley of pectoral muscles.
Ace roared once the spear hand struck him; he fell on the ground on his back afterward. He groaned in agony as the effects of the spear-hand began.
"Ace, what the hell?!" Pete exclaimed with discombobulation. His mind was flooded with a range of thoughts and questions. He thought to himself as he sought answers. "Didn't I see Ace lying dead on his bed? If it's what I saw, why did he help the impostor?"
Once Yung Fu realized what he had done, his eyes widened with disbelief. Pete ran to him and stood by his side. "Wait, what just happened?" Yung Fu muttered as Pete placed his hands on his head.
They failed to process what happened; this was just the beginning of more revelations. Pete turned around to face the imposter while Yung Fu tended to Ace.
The counterpart on the left deformed into his natural state, and what came next was mind-boggling. His body transformed from a medium-built body into an hourglass shape. His arms were now thinner, and so were his legs. His hair grew even longer. As the transformation progressed, it would seem that the impostor was a woman.
Pete narrowed his brows with bafflement. He then opened his mouth in astonishment.
"No, way, Bianca?!" He marveled.
"Did you just say, Bianca?" Yung Fu inquired.
"Well, not Bianca of this earth. From another one," Bianca responded.
"I need a moment to process this." Pete placed his hand on his face and rubbed his skin. He sighed afterward. He tendered his gaze toward Ace, who was lying on the ground helplessly. Ace wrinkled the skin on his forehead and clenched his teeth. He growled and tried to move his right arm to touch his chest, but his right arm failed to move
.The technique that Yung Fu used on him was on a different level. Not only did it leave him in excruciating agony, but it also shut six of his qi pathways. Since six of his pathways were disrupted, he was prone to paralysis, and some of his vital organs were in danger of shutting down since they were linked to the pathways.
"As for you, Ace, I thought that you were dead! Yung Fu and I heard you screaming from your room. When I checked you out, the floor was covered with your blood." Pete exclaimed with exasperation.
Even though Ace was in great affliction, he laughed. "Oh, about that, that wasn't my blood. That was ketchup..." He winced.
Yung Fu rubbed his face and sighed. He looked up and spoke, "What were you doing with ketchup, if I may ask?"
"Oh, that was part of my prank."
"What prank?!" Yung Fu inquired, his face now turning red.
Bianca interjected, "Apologies, but Ace and I agreed to prank you guys. I told him it was a bad idea, but he insisted. So he pretended to play dead while I used my powers to copy you, Yung Fu, and act like an impostor."
"Why would you go through all that trouble to prank us?" Pete inquired, shaking his head.
"Well, she came here looking for help and found me. We...we talked for a while until we realized that we had one thing in common. And that is the fact that we love pranks. So we decided to pull one over you guys," Ace said. He laughed afterward; however, his jerky movements and words betrayed his affliction. He writhed in more pain.
"Now look where your pranks have left you. You can't even move," Yung Fu replied sardonically.
Yung Fu gestured toward the compound's entrance, "What of my security guards? Are they part of this prank?"
"Nah, not really. I just knocked them out 'cause they were in my way.." Bianca retorted.
As she spoke, she changed the tone of her voice to mock and mimic the guard's response. "They were like, uh, book an appointment with Yung Fu, blah, blah. So I took them out 'cause I couldn't wait."
Pete and Yung Fu looked at each other, puzzled.
"So Bianca, why are you here?" Pete inquired, his finger brushing against his lower lip.
"I'm here because I need your help."
******
A man sunk his hands into a rectangular bin in an alley, downtown. His big, bushy beard was as gray as a koala's fur. His facial skin barely hung on his cheekbones, it seemed as though his skull was trying to suck his skin inside. His garments were draped with filth and goo, and his long hair was glued together by dry mud.
As the homeless man continued digging into the trash, he was graced by the presence of a passing wind. With time, however, the gust of wind blew relentlessly, moving in a spiral motion.
The wind grew more relentless by the second, pushing the two steel green bins slightly. The green steel bins scraped the cracked cement floor. The homeless man's beard bent over, obstructing his view. His muddy hair billowed from behind. The wind sent him flying with a couple of brown newspapers. The newspapers were drenched with water and mud.
Eventually, a vortex emerged, and two strange individuals stepped out. They landed on their feet and surveyed their surroundings. One had black charcoal hair, wrapped in a ponytail. He had wide, narrow eyes.
He wore a black suit. The suit comprised a black tactical vest with the D.R. insignia. It stood for the term"The Dark Raiders." The latter had a sword strapped on him from behind; the fatal weapon was sheathed with a scabbard. The latter's name was Yang Lu.
He was accompanied by his colleague, Alexa. Strangely enough, Alexa resembled Yung Fu's ex-wife, from her narrow, creaseless eyes to her body shape. The only difference was the pigment of her hair; she had red hair instead of black.
"So Bianca has traveled to this earth," Alexa said as she placed her finger on her lip and pondered.
"It has to be this earth. We checked out the history details of our teleporter, and it confirmed that she traveled here."
Alexa chuckled, "We've gotta give her credit; she used her powers to mimic one of our trusted soldiers to infiltrate our base to gain access to the teleporter."
"What annoys me the most is that I was ignorant of her new powers. Last I checked, she had none! No matter, there's no use in crying over spilled milk. I wonder what she's doing here? She could've teleported herself to Utopia since it's not that far from here?" Yang Lu said, as he pursed his lips and pondered.
Alexa turned to look at him and smiled, "There's only one way to find out, wouldn't you agree?"