Emerald leaned back in the seat, trying to relax. She didn't have as many problems as some people did with flying; if the plane had problems, she could just tear a hole in the side and fly away; though keeping a GPS on-hand would be a good idea. Right now she was tempted to do just that; but knew full well that she couldn't possibly outrun a jet, and it would just slow her down. She looked out the window at the ocean they passed over, before turning back to Eyeball.

"Jase... I really think we should talk to the Japanese and hash things out before we go out there. We really don't want an international incident, and, well. I'm technically still a Japanese national, even if my passport would just basically say 'send her off to the dragon island' the moment they ran it in their system."

He chuckled, and laid a hand on her knee. This time, she could actually see his smile; a bit different from how they met, but she'd had plenty of time to get used to 'Victor'. For once, everyone on the plane already knew who he was.

"I get it, sweetheart. Don't want to burn any bridges. But Clone already has a place setup in Russia, and we don't want them confiscating.. or trying to... any of my gear. Some of this stuff is... unique. If they don't mess with the island, we should be able to get in, get out, and never mess with the authorities at all."

She turned back to him, and settled her hand atop his. "Look... I've got family here. This might take time. Days, weeks. We might need to talk to the government about how things go long-term once the Empress is dead. I know you want to rush in. Kick ass, take names. I do, too. I want to just go in there, challenge her to a fight one-on-one, kick her ass, tell them all I'm in charge now, and if they want to say differently, they can go through me and the Titanslayer."

She sighed. "But. This is probably going to involve tons of time and work. Even if we kill the top few of them, I might need to take over as Empress for a while and work on breaking these people out of that mindset, or someone else will just name themselves Empress, grab a few followers, and split for the hills. And we don't want the government coming in and getting pissed off I killed the bitch who shagged the emperor a century ago."

He shook his head. "Look... I'm technically the head of state of a foreign power." He wasn't too sure just why he wanted to avoid stopping elsewhere. It would take, at least, hours to get all the people together, make sure everyone knew hour to use the weapons properly, get the boats loaded... the enemy wasn't going anywhere. The Russians weren't a problem; all the local leaders wanted were bribes, and he had money. Was it some ridiculous bloodthirsty urge to get to the killing as fast as possible, or was his power telling him to avoid Japan? "If you absolutely insist, we'll call Japan and request a meeting. But really... I think we should avoid all this."

"Good. This is my home. I didn't get to spend much time in Tokyo. It was too close. But I loved my time there. We can stop, discuss things with the ministry, and be at the kick-off well before all of our bloodthirsty associates are ready to go... and maybe after its over I give you a less violent welcome."

***

Jasmine looked down at her desk. She'd been pulled off of field duty pending an investigation; put on probation, as it were, suspended from field duty... technically any duty at all, she probably shouldn't be working.. but she was still being paid. A mixed blessing. It got her out of the boring bodyguard duty, gave her plenty of time to access the files the Russos had sent over... but also left her far to long to think about her mistakes, and what she'd learned.

Not just from the files; it was pretty clear that the Han were taking women from less desirable genetics and forcing them into secretive marriages to help boost the population trouble that the One-Child policy had caused; and possibly to help with a future expansion into the devastated region that was once Southern Mexico. They had yet to find more than a handful; but the age of the women, the fact that only women of childbearing age were among the missing, and the medical supplies that were also conveniently going missing; including several varieties of fertility drugs; both the real ones, as well as some of the ridiculous superstitious nonsense drugs... made it clear.

Somewhere out there, these women were being rounded up, taken from their home villages in western China or Southern Mexico, and ending up far from home, afraid, and likely trapped in a marriage to some stranger. And... she couldn't really do anything about it. The whole thing was clearly being orchestrated with the knowledge of the Chinese government. And everyone already knew about the concentration camps, the brutal repression... and the US was cooperating with them.

Maybe they didn't approve, but the situation in Mexico was too delicate to rock the boat. They now shared an actual, physical, border with China. Maybe they'd push to get any of the Mexican civilians who had family stateside sent back. But the rest? Hopeless. The only places they would ever be able to strike, to save any of them, would be if they caught some of them out on the ocean, in international waters... or maybe wherever they were being sold off, if it was outside of China.

She set the print-outs aside, neatly stacking them in their manila folder, clearly labeled 'General Zhou'. Is this why the Russos sent them to her? To frustrate her? Maybe get her to go rogue, sign up in the hopes of making a difference?

A sudden knocking at her door. She glanced up. Kin was there... the spikey, regenerating asian metahuman who had seemed so friendly with the Family. He smiled at her, shaking his head. "Well hello there, little lady. You look far too angry for someone whose been given a week's paid vacation. You realize that nobody holds it against you, right? We couldn't have stopped them from taking you in, but you were a bodyguard in foreign territory who saw someone with super-speed pulling something near your target; you did exactly what you were supposed to do, and your willingness and ability to do the job were proven beyond a doubt."

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

She rubbed her eyes, and spun her chair around to face him. "A week's suspension, with or without pay, doesn't sound like that. Honestly, I don't want a week's vacation. I want to find this Zhou bastard while he's outside of China with a load of human cargo and accidentally kill him trying to bring him in." She sighed. "I... I need to ask something. It might be classified, or it might not, and you might know, or not. The kid I almost killed. Robert Russo. He claimed that the criminals who founded Famiglia saved the world."

Kin frowned, looking thoughtful, absently scratching the stubble on his chin. "Interesting. On the one hand, that's a strong claim. On the other hand, probably true." He shut the door to her office with a firm click. "First of all... you're officially on suspension. You can go anywhere and do anything you'd like for the next week, so long as you don't claim to be a federal agent. If you should happen to turn up on a dock somewhere and notice something inappropriate, nobody would hold it against you. Second...."

He gave a long exhalation, seeming suddenly tired. "Ask the director about Ragnarok. Tell him the Russos told you part of the story, that their people saved the world. Whether he wants to fill in the rest is up to him; that one is being held fairly close to the chest."

***

Minister Kono wasn't used to sudden, surprise meetings. When someone important came along, he would arrange everything far in advance; research the person, their positions, the best ways to motivate and push them to work towards Japan's best interests, and, of course, to his own; after all, he still had ambitions of being the Prime Minister someday. Well, for the most part he would have his employees do so. He certainly wouldn't normally go meet someone at the last minute. But having a foreign head of state calling, informing him he and his bodyguards were already en route, that his fiance had suffered an attempted kidnapping by a Japanese national, and that he needed to discuss a complicated situation at the highest levels?

This Titanslayer was not, himself, that big of a threat compared to those he'd removed from the picture. While competent, his deeds had clearly been mostly a matter of luck, skill, patience, and preparation, rather than some sort of divine power. The video of the death of Tai was enlightening; the weapon he used was technology borrowed from a dozen sources, cobbled together into a barely-working prototype... and then put into the hands of what must be the most gifted sniper on earth.

Fortunately, he already knew of the man a fair amount; the Prime Minister was considering officially recognizing La Famiglia as a country, and an ambassador was already being chosen. Trade with the tiny island was thriving. But his files didn't mention a fiance anywhere. Nor why someone from Japan might try to abduct her.

He settled into his limo; his bodyguards keeping an eye on the road to either side. He didn't have an armored limo, and wasn't under any serious threat; but one of the two men assigned as his guards was a metahuman, albeit a grade-C energy-wielding one, and he generally kept at least two with him; sometimes more; to maintain appearances. Most such meetings would be in Tokyo; instead, he'd been drawn off to a mid-sized airport in northern Japan.

This foreigner must have an excellent reason to call on him with such haste.. or the Minister would make him regret it. Either by sending him the most annoying twit he could find as an ambassador, or just generally making sure to waste his time just as excessively.

***

As the jet settled in to land, Eyeball could see the limo, with guards standing to either side, waiting a distance away from the runway. The sun was setting here; he must have dragged the poor man away from dinner. He glanced at Emerald. She seemed... nervous. Excited. When he opened the door of the plane, she leapt free, gliding to the ground without touching the stairs; and spread her wings, stretching, inhaling deeply.

As Eyeball stepped down across the stairs behind her... one of the Family guards following behind; Steve, if he recalled correctly; she smiled, and turned to him. "Smells like home. Feels like home. Its been far, far too long since I've been here."

As they approached the limo arm-in-arm, Eyeball with his chrome helmet and black bodyarmor, Emerald in a simple black kimono adorned with cherry blossoms, heavily cut and altered for her tail and wings, a man emerged from the vehicle, looking back and forth between the two. The minister; a healthy, fit man, looking perhaps in his 40s or 50s; gave a short bow as they arrived.

After rising, he looked between the two. "I am Abe Kono, Minister for Foreign Affairs. I was told the matter was urgent?"

Eyeball gave a similar bow. "And I, of course, am Eyeball, Chief Enforcer of La Famiglia. This is my fiance, Princess Emerald, great-granddaughter of the Dragon Empress, and a cousin to your Emperor Naruhito. Her Great-Grandmother attempted to have her abducted by an assassin yesterday, and we are venturing north to have words with her, with arms, if necessary, to ensure there is no repeat performance."

At first, the Minister looked fairly unconcerned with what Eyeball was saying. But as the introduction of Emerald began... and continued, on through his final sentence, his vision steadily went from calm unconcern to nervous excitement to outright panic as he stared at Emerald. The story was known to everyone who dealt with foreign affairs; every major airport's head knew the basics, though they kept it out of the public eye. An embarrassment to the Imperial family, some woman who claimed to be a Dragon, seducing the Emperor, and their bastard child being banished north with his mother.

But... that was just a story. Just some woman with scales, an unfortunate mutation with an excess of audacity. The beautiful young woman who appeared to be carved from the gems that were her namesake must be the genuine article.

Before he could wrap his mind around just what this might mean, Eyeball suddenly jerked into awareness. "Emerald! Leap! Sniper on the roof!" And charged forward. As the Minister's bodyguards drew their weapons; aiming, at first, at Eyeball; he brought himself and the Minister both slamming to the ground in a tackle, just as a gunshot rang out; a bullet striking the ground where the Dragoness had been standing moments before.

He stared up in awe as the creature hurtled into the sky towards the rooftop of the airport; and spat forth a string of blue flame as the sniper fired another shot; this one missing, just before the figure; unknown, at present, but clearly male judging by the sudden scream of agony; was abruptly dragged from the rooftop, still aflame, by Emerald.

One of his bodyguards had his handgun out, and was sweeping the area... while the other... was holding his own handgun aimed at the Dragoness... while also, surprisingly enough, recording her with his cell phone.

Minister Kono wasn't certain whether to be glad to have video evidence to send back to Tokyo or angry at the man for pointing a gun at someone who was likely both bulletproof and capable of cooking them alive in a heartbeat.