PAOLO DRAGON 02

All the masks fell off.


In a dimly lit road, within the slumbering metropolis of Manila,

There were two people who met by chance.

One, a natural citizen of from the world of light...

... And the other, a denizen of the occult, the hidden world.


I was one of them.

The other one was a girl.

She stood behind me, no taller than 5'5" and wearing a chinese dress.

The girl also happened to have long golden hair and serpentine eyes.

Upon her head were horns made out of light.


"Old man, you can see me can't you?"

She tried to sound boyish by lowering her pitch, but that was definitely a girl's voice.

Frozen by fear and uncertainty, I stood my ground and remained silent.

The girl spoke again, breaking the silence carried over from the last chapter.


"Hey, fatty! I asked you a question."


This girl is rude!

I mean, admittedly, I had quite a belly.

It's not like I'm unconcerned about my weight!

I have multiple sedentary jobs that keep me out of shape!


"I have no idea what you're talking about," I answered without turning to meet her gaze.

“That’s a bunch of bull and you know it,” she said, uncharacteristically foul-mouthed for someone so young.

"Okay. Let's assume I can see 'you'. Is there something wrong with that?" I responded angrily, without looking behind me.

"There is!" She exclaimed. "I don't like being seen."

Then don't walk around looking like Chun Li in the middle of the night!

"Especially not by creeps like you," she continued.

I can't help it if 'creeps like me' are born with eyes, young lady.

I'm terrible with kids.

I'm also terrible with 'child-lovers'.

Thus, with no feasible solution or response, I walked away.


“What the- Hey! Come back here! That’s rude!” She yelled, dropping her low voice act.

Look who’s talking! I wanted to shout back.

But having seen all those glowy things on her, it made me think twice about making her angry.

Before I realized it, she was behind me in a split second.

I saw her floating in mid-air, fist raised.

So I ducked.

A swing and a miss.


"What's up with that? You got eyes at the back of your head?" She sneered at me.

"Sorry, excuse me," I replied, again without turning toward her.

I dashed away from my crouched position.

 "You're one of their agents, aren't you?!" She shouted behind me.

Between us, she’s the one more likely to be part of a weird, shadowy organization.

I don't want to be abducted and turned into a cyborg!


I was just about to take my fifth step when I saw her pale legs hover near the top of my sight.

They were followed by the red cloth of her dress.

Then the sparkling gold from all those metallic threads that made up its dragon design.

Her golden hair flowed in a twisting path, like a spiral streak of yellow light.

Regrettably, this was one of those cases where the animator conveniently shadowed out the garment (or lack thereof) that some viewers would have wanted to see.


She landed in front of me.

In a split second.

By leaping over me.

Now, I read comics, watch anime, and play video games all the time.

… And I know that a small girl (way smaller than me, that’s for sure!) flying over without even touching me is unnatural.

There was also something about the way she moved around.

I could only describe it as graceful and yet brutish at the same time.

Everything about her flowing motions ended in abrupt, straightforward violence.

Even her Kung-fu pose brought to mind fields of nuclear wastelands and torn shirts.

I swear I could see her crimson battle aura rippling out ever so slowly from her skin.

This was too much for me to bear!

Do I sound like a Battle Manga protagonist to you?


“What’s the hurry, old man?” She said coolly.

I’m in a hurry to get away from you, that’s what!

…and who’s the old man? I’m still only 23 years old!


Without making a sound, I quickly made another break for it.

Yet she moved with such agility that she swiftly outpaced me and blocked my path.

Whenever I’d step to one side, she’d mirror me, giving no escape.

Maybe I looked like a creepy man playing Patintero with a minor in the dead of night. (It's a Filipino street game which alternates between blocking someone's way and getting around someone blocking yours.)

If there was a witness, that could probably be enough to get me arrested.


“I don’t really know what you are talking about or why you are doing this, young lady. Please let me on my way.” I pleaded.

That was the truth.

“Heh, what’s with the running away, then? You gonna tell on your boss?” She snapped at me.

Tell him what?

That I’ll be taking the day off tomorrow because I was beaten up by a little girl?

My boss was the understanding sort though, so I probably would have gotten that day off.


“I am not who you think I am.” I said sternly, crossing my arms.

I was also using my big, authoritative, adult voice.

“I am not worth your time.” I continued, emphasizing on each word.

These weren't the droids you were looking for, either!

I hoped that my suggestion would work, seeing as I had been drilling it into her mind this entire time.


But she just had to be so stubborn.

I could hear the cracking of bone and sinew as she clenched her tiny fists.

With just that, I had already inferred her sentiment.

It was not mutual.

"Trying to get into my head won't work, dumbass.”

Oh snap! Looks like she's immune to Jedi mind tricks!

"Didn't they tell you anything about me?"

No, unfortunately, the world doesn't revolve around you.


Then she leaped forward, literally cracking the worn cobblestone beneath her with the sheer force of her kick off.

Her right fist was raised above her head, declaring straightforward intent.

No one wanted to be on the receiving end of that.

So I leaned to my left and ducked, weaving under her fist.

She missed.

But the attack didn't end there.

Her left foot had already left the ground, a split second after having just landed.

Oh crap, is this one of those overhead to low combos?

I tried to lean right, but I wasn't exactly athletic and fast enough to dodge it completely.

So I settled for raising my foot, narrowly avoiding contact with her whirling leg.

She missed again.

I quickly set that foot back down, since I had poor balance otherwise.

She was already spinning in place, and I had to lean backward to avoid getting her golden locks in my eyes.

Oh boy, it's gonna end with a side kick isn't it?

I was slightly disappointed when I saw her turn to unleash a fearsome left hook.

So I used the momentum gained from my step earlier to jump backward, leaning as far back as I could.

Her punch just barely grazed me...

And tore my beloved red jacket to tatters!


I crawled away from her, seeing as she was still regaining the momentum lost from that last punch.

Then I looked around quickly, hoping to see other witnesses of this absurd event.

Empty streets, cracked sidewalks and potted plants were my only sympathizers.

So much for Makati's finest.

As if reacting to my unspoken suffering, I heard a low chuckle coming from my aggressor.


"So you've shown your true self!" The girl stood up and pointed at me, shouting.

I then realized that bits of my belly were now visible from the holes and torn fabric of my shirt.

"You act scared, pretending to be 'blind' and powerless. But what was that just now!?" She asked.

That was me trying not to get hurt.

I pointed at the tatters on the ground.

"Girl, 'that' was my favorite jacket." is what I mustered up the courage to say.

"Okay, kid, the baby gloves are coming off," is what I really wanted to say.

See, I was trying to be civil here.

No one needs to see rudeness, bloodshed, violence, manslaughter or chi blasts in our neighborhood.

Deception and secrecy are the foundations of our modern society!

Walking around with your aura flared was just asking for trouble!

Oh well.

Since no one's looking anyway, I guess I could indulge her...

I gave her the scowl of contempt. (tm)

"I just wanted to go home, you know, and not get attacked by nor be accused of stalking little girls." I said sternly.

She was already doing that Bruce Lee hop-step stance, dancing in place.

I couldn't help but grit my teeth at her absurdity.


See, even if I seem to be treating this all as a joke,

I was truly afraid of her at the time.

Her potential for destruction was real.

If I took that last hit squarely I would have become nothing more than a buttery, red smear on the wall.

That golden aura about her, and her horns made her look like a demon.

A paradoxically heavenly demon.

Sorta like Seraphimon.


So there we were, having a Mexican standoff for a bit.

Reading each others future moves and having mental battles.

Actually, I'm pretty sure I was the only one using my computing faculties to have a mental battle, I don't know about her.

Once again, she led off with yet another question.

"So what are you? Who are you?"

My jaw dropped.

I put a hand to my forehead.

"Without knowing the truth, you accuse me of fraud. Without knowing the law, you judge me guilty." I muttered under my breath.

She was flustered by this, and tried her hardest to justify her obviously flawed reasoning.

"Well, yeah, I mean you can see me, right? They can see me too, and uh... they're fast and can dodge my punches. Normal people can't. They fly all over the place when I punch them and-"

Punching normal people?

Making them fly all over the place?

Where are this kid's parents!?

"There are so many things out there that can see their delicious cake, and eat it too, darling." I interjected sarcastically.

Admittedly though, I had no idea what she was either.

All I know is that she's a female supersaiyan or some close analogue.

"W-what!? You're implying I'm a cake in the same sentence as the word 'darling'! So you are one of them!"

What kind of logic is that?

Oh wait, thinking back on it, I admit that my train of thought wasn't exactly appropriate either.

Such unfortunate implications.

"...and your change in attitude! If you're not really a villain, you'd still be running away from me!"

Yes, then I'd die because you'd chase me with your super speed and punch me to death with your super strength.

"... or at the very least, screaming for help!"

Welp, she got me there.


"Okay, first of all, there are so many 'they's and 'them's and 'those'ses out there. What makes you think I'm in your particular category?" I ask informatively.

"Proximity," she answers.

Wow, that's a big word.

"Too bad, Makati has a lot of 'them's. You might as well go beat up a Jeepney driver if you're going for me."

I tried to diffuse her obsession with my pretend-mundane-ness.

"Look, kid. I can tell you haven't been long in... this... alternative lifestyle. But trust me, not everyone is out to get you."

She still has to watch out for everyone else, though.

"Anyone would freak out if they saw you the way I did. I'm just one of the few who didn't decide to get rid of you as soon as I saw you."

Others like me are quite common, actually.

They more commonly get rid of guys with the proclivity for such extreme measures.


"Huh, you speak like that..."

She smirked at me.

"... Pretending to be nice and all..."

She began to look at me with cold, serpentine eyes.

"But you've been trying to get into my head the entire time."

She sneered.

"I already told you that won't work!"

Her brows furrowed again, and she bared her teeth.


Okay, It's true - I've been trying to send her mental suggestions the entire time.

That never hurt anyone right?

Especially if they're good ideas!

I was only looking out for her well-being!

... After ensuring mine!


"Okay, I won't do that ever again, I promise." I said, holding my hands out to calm her down.

Instead, she took a step forward, and the ground below shook.

I stumbled a bit and began to back off.

She approached ever so slowly, and the mental image of that battle aura from earlier flashed in my mind.

That was my imagination's interpretation of it.

The actual aura flared so brightly that to stare at it too long was to invite blindness.



With a thunderous step, she surged forward with amazing speed.

It was a powerful, straightforward, lethal right punch.

Her fist came 5 centimeters close to the bridge of my nose...

... before utterly shattering the potted tree to my right.

I could sense her confused state with my mind...

... and I had read it on her wide eyed face.


I then ducked and rolled away to reposition myself.

You could say it was my feeble attempt to flee from her.

After I set myself up next to the sidewalk railing, she quickly appeared above, behind me.

Her right leg was right above my head.

And she sent the left crashing down.

She crumpled the metallic railing with just that thin leg!


"Okay. Now I know that I can't grapple with you," I said nonchalantly, already standing next to her.

She turned to me, eyes still livid with an unearthly ferocity.

"Fight me fairly, you monster!"

I'm not the person breaking public property.

But your mileage may vary...

"I am," I responded curtly.


She swiped at my head, which wasn't there anymore.

I had slipped around her before she even built her momentum.

When she realized this, I was already running towards a concrete wall.

She found herself punching it, causing small cracks to appear where her fists landed.

I was watching this spectacle from behind her.

She continued to wildly swing at me, instead breaking infrastructure provided by the city's beloved taxpayers.

This went on for about a minute.

All the while, I wondered: Why do the police never arrive when you need them? Don't we have a neighborhood watch? No concerned homeowners?

Come to think about it, I just noticed that the street lights were now dimmer.

... And her grunts and screams were becoming weaker.


Suddenly, she stopped.

She must be hurting after punching rocks and kicking walls repeatedly.

I was tired from just one minute of working out.

I really should cut down on the fried chicken.

The girl huffed and puffed, frustrated at her failure to hit an old fatty.

There were small cuts on her knees, knuckles, fingers and legs.

After a deep breath, I put my hands to my waist and gave her a smirk.

"Time for beddy bye bye?" I sneered.


She too smirked at me, her eyes showing a different emotion.

Besides anger, that is.

It's too bad, really; wrinkles don't suit someone so young and so fair.

"I figured out what you're doing!" She said.

Well, about damn time, I thought.

"... how you're evading all of my blows!"

Hm. I didn't expect that.

"Your movement! You're falsifying your body language!"

Eep. She figured that one out?

I better give her a medal for overlooking the obvious to get such small details.


But it's true, it helps.

A lot of human interaction depends on understanding and interpreting visual cues and signals produced by one's movement.

In daily life, face-to-face communication is relayed and interpreted with a lot of context stemming from facial expressions and hand positions.

For Martial Artists, body language is just as, if not more, important.

An enemy's shoulder movement gives away which hand he's using to strike.

The rotation of his hips tells a person the direction of his blow.

A leg raised, a fist held back, a foot stepping to the right... These are all clues for what comes next.

I just give out false movement, creating the illusion of intent.

Anyone would just call it a feint, except I'm feinting the entire battle.

Those who pay too much attention to my movement and anticipate my next moves will create their own illusions.

Positions I'm implying I'd reach.

They'd attack false openings, created for my own convenience.

But that's not all of it.

That's not enough to match her speed or avoid the raw destruction of each her blows.


"Oh no! You figured me ooooouuuut!" I say, looking as scared as I can be.

My singsong voice betrayed my purpose.

I should have just knocked her out quickly, since she's now tired from all that self-inflicted beating.

"Shut up, you!"

She pointed at me with her bruised right hand.

"Everything about you is deceptive, underhanded, fake, and gay!" she screamed.

That particular phrase she said is hard to forget.

"There's no doubt that you are a denizen of the night!"

I don't associate with denizens of the night.

Not on purpose, anyway.

"My name is Alicia Min-hua! I hide nothing of my Destiny!" She finally exclaimed.

'Alicia' began to take esoteric martial art stances.


Oh my, a final attack?

I underestimated this one.

People who shout their names in battle are a rare breed nowadays.

Alicia's hands flowed in front of her chest, calling to my mind a serpentine fish swimming gracefully.

I wish that she at least made afterimages with her hands when she did this.

Then I wouldn't regret being on the recieving end of such a cool move.


"Chi'en!" 


She yelled, and shone brightly.

The girl jumped impossibly high into the air, and I wondered if anyone would see this.

No one? Are we in a shadow world?

Chinagirl had gone far enough into the sky that all I could see of her was her whirling golden hair.

As for me, I made sure I was scarce.

I'm not stupid enough to stay and hear the end of a monologue for a finisher I'm about to recieve.

Then the sky flashed brightly, like a lightning bolt hitting close to home.


"Jumping over the Dragon Gate!"


Another cry from the heavens.

I looked up and saw her accelerating towards me.

Her hair was wildly flowing now, her aura crackling with energy.

She was releasing golden shards of light, shaped like scales.

... And I could hear a loud roaring noise as she made her descent.

At the fore of her attack, her legs were dazzling, wrapped with spiraling golden energy that ended in sharp points.

I calculated her movement in my mind, surmising that she was headed to a spot on my left.

Then I realized too late that she was going to hit really close to my actual position.

So I quickly moved out of the way.

... and then the impossible happened.


"Jiu - Si : Tantiao Long!"


She screamed the name of her finishing blow.


Then I tripped.


I didn't 'just' trip.

I stepped on a crack, which instantly expanded as the ground beneath it slightly crumbled.

My toes slid inside the new small hole, caught in it.

Then my momentum continued to carry me forward in a new direction.

... Towards the center of her attack.

I could already see, in my mind, her leg utterly pulverizing my spine.

I could feel the heat from all that light she was generating.

I could tell that I would be replaced by an explosion in the next frame.


For such a random mishap of chance to occur at the worst moment!

For I to have fallen into the worst possible place!

It was as if the world itself conspired to end my story!

I could see the headlines now:

"Excessive vandalism! Man killed by crazy little kung fu girl!"


But it was not meant to be.


The attack instead brutally zipped past me, a few inches from my right shoulder.

My bag's strap was torn by her kick, and it fell on the ground, depositing its contents on the cobblestone sidewalk.

The power of the blow caused a small crater to erupt where her feet landed.

Stones had flown out all over the place, one particularly large chunk hitting me squarely on my right flank.

Luckily it didn't break any ribs.

Instead, it just gave me a nasty contusion.

The pain caused me to fall completely face first on the ground, clutching my side.


The girl then flipped me over, probably to check if I had any more will to fight.

I saw stars of many colors.

That is such a strange pattern to have.

Although, remembering it's wearer, such a kiddy design shouldn't really surprise anyone.

She was standing over me, and it was the first thing I could focus my eyes on.

The thought of news articles with the heading : "Paolo Cavanza, convicted for Pedophilia" flashed in my head, so I shut my eyes.


She exhaled loudly after looking me over, and walked off.

I saw her lean down to check my things in the bag.

She's probably thinking I got some high level loot.

In some ways she'd be right.

But that stuff is useless to her, as far as I'm concerned.

She looked over my sketch pad, and my folders, and my notebooks.

"What's this? Where's your weapon? How do you contact your brethren?" She asked, frustration apparent in her voice.

The only incriminating things you'll find in there are my attempts to start a doujin circle!

Oh, wait, I better stop her before she decides to show them to the wrong people.


She suddenly ran up to me and roughly opened my mouth, probing inside with her fingers.

It was not as nice as some people would have thought it would be.

Consider the fact that she was force feeding me asphalt and mud.

"You don't have fangs, you're not a bloodsucker!"

Oh, so that kind of 'them'.

I can see why she's so riled up.

I pushed her as strongly as I could to get off me.

Then, I spat out her filth.

Finally, I tried my hardest, through sheer mental fortitude, to get back on my feet.


"Yeah, happy now? Now leave me alone. I'm not gonna get in your way, like I've been saying over and over and over..."

It was my unspoken rule to get out of a problem with as minimal hangovers as I can.

I usually offer to forget things first.

"But you could be their servant! They've had thralls and... people... who pose as trustworthy folk..." She trailed off.

I could sense her reluctance to continue with this line of discussion.

But I had run out of shit to give at this point.

Getting beat up by a crazy Kung Fu girl with laser horns does that sometimes.


I walked towards my stuff.

She just watched me as I leaned over to slowly pick up my things.

"See for yourself! I'm nothing! I'm no one! Now leave me alone!" I yelled at her.

I then threw some of my crappy drawings and old notebooks at her feet.

She just stared, with an expression of disbelief and guilt.


I noticed her lean down to pick up one of my drawings.

She was interested in a portrait of a dark-skinned girl, with wavy, medium-length hair covering her left eye.

Oh, it was one of my sketches of 'her'.

I should have thrown it away.

It reminds me of things I should have forgotten by now.

Alicia's face changed after she looked over my work.

I'm not that good of an artist, so what's with that look?

Will she also take issue with the quality of my art?

The girl demurely handed back my junk to me.


"W-well, then let me say I'm sorry," she said, trying to look and sound mature.

I noticed she was showing off a bit more of her leg as she said this.

"Bring me to your house." She blushed, while looking to the side.

I've seen them more than enough, thank you.

"No," I answered curtly, tearing apart the scandal-bearing newspapers in my head.

She was genuinely shocked with my response.

Then she turned her gaze downwards, ashamed of herself.

Seeing as she left me be, I resumed the stuffing of my bag with my stuff.


But when I turned to her to see what she was doing, she was already bowing deeply on the ground, dirtying her fancy dress even further.


"Please, I'm sorry!" She said, exasperated.

"If you're not with them, then I really need your help!" She said. "Please take me with you, I'll repay you forever!"

She looked really pitiful now, as opposed to her entire crazy warrior chic just earlier.

I am not a fan of slice of life/comedy/romance shows where a girl becomes part of a lonely guy's life.

I hate those shows.

Also, a fugitive hiding from vampires?

Man, I have enough issues to deal with.

You don't see me whining about them!


"'No' means 'no'," I told her.

She snapped her face up at me to speak, but I stopped her.

"You wanna fight me again? Go ahead. You'll be no different from other 'denizens of the night' you so hate."

She shut her mouth as I continued to speak.

"I'll probably haunt you after I hemorrhage to death from all these internal injuries. You should be thankful I'm just leaving it at this, despite all the medical expenses I have to pay."

No healthcard could ever cover what I just went through.

Not without extenuating the circumstances.


"I can pay, okay!?" She yelled, her voice now coarse.

"I already said I don't want your body," I said angrily.

"No, I mean if it's just riches, a good long life, true love... I can give you that!" She shouted, blushing brightly.

"I don't think you're old enough to get married," I said sullenly.

"No! that's not what I mean!" She said, still blushing. "I mean I can give you that luck... that destiny!"

Destiny?

I hate that word.

But I won't expound on it, since we're nearing the end of this chapter.

"Not interested. Luck and Destiny sound as shady as the people who throw those words around," I said, turning away.

She grovelled on the ground, crying.

"Please! You don't know what they want from me! What they've done to my family to get it! I'm willing to give all that to you just so they can't..."

Like I said, not my problem.

I have a hospital to visit.


"I don't want any of your luck or your destiny. I don't need them," I said, turning away.

But to think that a superpowered being would ask for my help after beating me up?

"If anything, you probably need it more than me," I said callously.


"Oy, that's a shame then!"

art by Ananagi

I heard a man's voice from the darkness.

The girl got back on her feet, standing behind me.

I could feel her long hair roughly brushing against my exposed side.

She was standing so close to me, already forgetting that she had called me a 'monster' before.

I looked around, and saw why even she was scared.

I had just realized it now.

We had taken our sweet time just sitting around when we could have just left for a night at McDonald's or something.

The street lights were all off.

The entire area permeated a black haze.

There was no sound to be heard for miles around.

Not even the cool breeze of the wind.

Just the beating of two hearts, and no one else's.


I could make out five silhouettes, standing in various places not meant for pedestrians.

They were all unnaturally slim, yet their upper bodies and waists all suggested masculine builds.

The source of the voice was a fair-skinned man in a beige outback hat, standing on a lightpost.

He had dirty brown-ish blond hair, small squinting blue eyes, and his cleft chin was rugged.

Two silver-plated Desert Eagles were holstered on each side of his fancy belt, which a huge skull buckle.

His overall look was black on top, and brown at the bottom. On his hands were open-knuckled black leather gloves.

The man was wearing a long-sleeved black shirt and a gaudy, shiny black vest with silver chains running across his chest.

His worn jeans and long boots were brown.

This guy probably worked for the Chippendales once.



"We're here to collect, madame," he continued, winking at her.

This guy was their leader.

Well, he looked like it.

Everyone else looked like generic Cullen wannabes.

Except these guys were not pale enough to sparkle - they had tanned, darker skin - the local flavor.


Alicia loudly whispered behind me.

"Epilogue... the Sandman!"


This was going to be a long night.