Kimura Tower. Chinatown, Los Angeles.
The time is now midnight. The unconscious bodies of ten Yakuza thugs litter the floor. They actually thought they stood a chance. The Wraith — defender of The Celestial Order, of justice and peace — stands alone, clad in a skin-tight black outfit that covers her from her collarbone down. A purple cape protrudes from her shoulders, and a matching cloak wraps around her neck and over her head, a facemask of the same color over her mouth. Her skin is a bluish gray, her eyes also glow purple. Her hair is long, black, and curly. She stands stoically, her arms down, her fists balled. She closes her eyes, and then suddenly…
POOF!
The Wraith turns half-spectral, her legs becoming one thick and ghostly tendril as she floats in the air.
"I can't be with you from this point forward," a voice in her head says. "She has the talisman."
"I'm hip," The Wraith says in silent communion. "Just gotta survive like I always do."
"May Heaven be with you, Jenny."
The voice in her head is her guardian angel, Naomi. They communicate through a technique known as silent communion, as their spirits are in communion with one another. The Wraith cannot see her right now, and it would look weird if she talked to someone she can't see out loud, so they communicate like this in high-stakes situations.
*
When the once arrogant and greedy billionaire known as Jenny Price died in a car accident, and was nearly sent to Hell for her sins, God took pity on her. He saw something in her and offered her a deal: He gave her supernatural abilities and sent her back to Earth to fight evil, he also sent the archangel Naomi to guide and mentor her — training her in her new abilities and making sure that she remains committed to her mission.
*
She flies to the top floor, phasing through the ceiling. She makes it to the top floor of the tower and turns solid again, a pitch-black, steam-like substance emerging from her body that dissipates after two seconds. The Mayor couldn't be too far, neither could she.
Suddenly, The Wraith hears a familiar voice.
"Looking for me?"
The Wraith turns around, looks up, and there she is. Mai Kimura, the Japanese-American so-called businesswoman who moonlights as the head of the Los Angeles Yakuza — smirking ever so smugly. Dressed in her skin-tight red and black leather sleeveless ninja suit, looking over the balcony down at (and down on) The Wraith. Arms folded on the banister. On her feet are black Dr. Martens combat boots. Her ponytail is tied high and neat as always. The dreaded Black Hole Talisman dangles from her neck, shining in all of its brilliance.
It's the same talisman Mai used to humiliate The Wraith during their previous clash. The Black Hole Talisman suppresses The Wraith's powers, which allows Mai to fight her on an equal footing.
But The Wraith is just tired of the shenanigans. All of them.
"Where's the Mayor?" The Wraith asks, irritated.
"Little Leo forgot his place," Mai responds with menace in her voice. She snaps her fingers.
Just then, Mayor Leo Duval is dragged out — clad only in his underwear — by Minoru Tanaka and AG Kusanagi. Duval is short and rotund, with gray hair. His mustache is hidden behind the tape over his mouth, and he's shaking like a leaf, terrified.
Minoru is a cruiserweight wearing sunglasses and a gray leather shirt-jacket, his bare chest and Yakuza tattoos exposed. He wears blue jeans and brown boots. AG is more muscular — bald-headed and wearing glasses. He's dressed in all black: a t-shirt, leather blazer, skinny jeans, and matching Air Force Ones. Both men are clean-shaven, as is custom for Yakuza members.
"See," Mai purrs, "Little Leo forgot the golden rule — you don't… offend… the people who got you elected. You don't fuck with the Yakuza! Now he gets to learn what happens when you cross us!"
The Wraith says nothing. She glares at them.
"He's been an… inconvenience," Mai continues. Her jaw tightens. "Six shipments intercepted. Twelve of my men arrested. All because this asshole wanted to look tough for the press!"
"Let him go."
"HAHAHAHAHA!!!" Mai laughs hysterically. "You still think you've got cards to play?! Sweetie, you brought fists to a gunfight — and I brought a hostage."
"I've got a few to play," The Wraith replies, nodding her head. "These hands and a whole lot of time. It's over Mai."
"This isn't over until I say it's over do you hear me? This little piggy is gonna get skinned, and there's nothing you can do to stop me!"
"I'm done arguing with you," The Wraith calmly states, her tone of voice escalating with each word. "Hand him over. Now!"
"So you'd rather fight then? I thought you'd never ask."
The two women stare intensely at each other before Mai signals for her men to take the Mayor back to the room that they were keeping him in. She looks back over the balcony down at The Wraith, folding her arms on the banister.
"You ready for me?"
The Wraith is silent, eyes still on Mai.
Mai climbs the banister and balances there — like a true kunoichi — steady, theatrical, arms folded. She flashes a grin, unfolds her arms, and then front-flips off the banister with flawless form — she nearly falls on The Wraith before The Wraith jumps back and out of the way. Mai lands feet first, standing just mere feet away.
The two women stare each other down for a beat.
"I enjoy when we do this," Mai says flirtatiously.
"Let's just get this over with," The Wraith says, ice water flowing through her veins. "Your reign of terror ends here."
"There's only one way that'll happen. But you're too much of a fucking pussy to do it… so here we are."
The talisman's effects intensify. The Wraith jitters — the celestial energy is there, burning inside her, but nothing comes out. The purple glow in her eyes begins to dim, but thankfully not enough to reveal her secret identity — a sign that God has not abandoned her.
"Whoops," Mai says mockingly. "There goes your powers!"
"I don't need powers to beat you Mai," The Wraith boasts, cool and confident as always. "I don't need to use hacks and tricks like you do either."
Mai clenches her fists and seethes, before pulling her steel tessen fans from her utility belt.
"Without my powers," The Wraith thinks to herself. "I only have my reflexes, fists, and instincts."
The Wraith stands stoically, hands at her side, fists tightened. "Mai is no mere mortal. She's a wildfire in human form. I've dealt with her before, numerous times."
Mai throws both tessen at The Wraith.
"Hmph!" The Wraith grunts as she slips to the right to dodge the first one.
She performs a cartwheel to the left to dodge the second one. The tessen get stuck in the crates behind her. Then, Mai grabs a handful of throwing knives from her utility belt, beaming them at The Wraith one at a time. The Wraith darts back, hiding between columns of crates and furniture, dodging steel and searching for an opening. Mai grabs the rest of her knives. The Wraith peeks from behind a crate, Mai throws a knife — it slashes her left cheek, right as she dodged.
"Gah!" she moans, blood trickling down her face.
The Wraith turns in the other direction, Mai throws another knife. Mai barely misses, as The Wraith dodges just in time.
"Come on Wraithy!" Mai hoots in sadistic ecstasy. "They don't even hurt that bad!" She wastes all of her knives, throwing them like Hail Mary passes, hoping one of them hits The Wraith. The Wraith continues to hide behind the crate.
The knife throwing stops. Mai has run out of them. The Wraith knows it — she sprints at her opponent, closing the gap.
"Haaa!" The Wraith shrieks, digging into the recesses of her soul for strength.
"Ora! Ora! ORAAA!!!" Mai demands in Japanese — gritting her teeth, putting up her guard, and bracing for impact.
The Wraith lands a crisp one-two to Mai's face — then drives a cross into her mouth, drawing blood. Mai staggers, nearly falling down. The Wraith charges and goes in for the finish, kneeing her in the face. The force lifts Mai into the air. Mai comes crashing down. The Wraith leaves her lying.
Mai slowly rises to her feet. She feels something trickling out of her nose. Touching her nose, she notices blood on her finger. She licks it off, grinning at The Wraith.
"Ooh! You've got me bleeding... How romantic!" Mai jumps into the air and performs a diving kick, coming down like a missile, aiming for The Wraith's head — but The Wraith backsteps. Ever the improviser, Mai twists her hips in mid-air and uses both legs to catch her in the ribs instead.
"Ggh!" The Wraith groans. She is sent flying to the floor, writhing in pain.
"Look at you," Mai says after landing, slowly approaching The Wraith like a hungry lioness before stopping herself just a few feet away. "No powers, no fancy tricks. Just a helpless little bitch in a mask."
The Wraith holds her ribs, grunting and gnashing her teeth. Mai continues her dissection, moving closer to The Wraith.
"You're not as talkative as you were earlier. What's the matter?"
The Wraith ignores her. Instead, she begins mouthing her epigram:
*
"Between shadow and light walks The Chosen Wraith
Bound to laws unseen, yet softened by mortal pain.
Her path is narrow, her heart the battlefield,
Her salvation awaits, but the call won't yield."
*
Mai continues: "That's the thing about having powers, you never know when they'll decide to just fuck off on you!"
The Wraith continues mouthing her epigram, completely blocking out Mai's taunts.
Mai grits her teeth. She stops for a bit but then begins powerwalking to where The Wraith was laying.
The Wraith stops saying the epigram. Still laying on the floor, she rolls over to face Mai, making direct eye contact — grunting. Mai stands over her, calmly — with the delight and eagerness of a child who is about to devour a birthday cake.
"And once they do, you're nothing. You hear me?!"
Mai begins kicking her in the stomach and stomping on her ribs. The Wraith grunts in pain with each blow.
"SAY SOMETHING BITCH!!!" Mai yells, before stopping her assault and looking down at The Wraith again. No matter what Mai does or says, The Wraith will not give her the pleasure of a response. And Mai hates it.
"Go ahead!" Mai exclaims. "Be the stoic warrior, or whatever the fuck." Mai gives The Wraith distance and gestures at her with her hands, "Come on, get up!"
The Wraith rises to her feet, and charges at Mai recklessly. Mai swings a roundhouse kick to her face, but The Wraith blocks it and counters with a right uppercut to Mai's face, knocking Mai to the floor. Mai does a kip-up, springing back to her feet, and gets back in her stance. The Wraith charges again. Mai charges too.
"RAHHH!" The Wraith cries.
A flurry of fists and feet flies between the women. Kicks, jabs, chops, haymakers. They move so fast, so close to each other, that they don't even know whose limbs are whose.
"She's faster than the last time we fought," The Wraith thinks to herself. "Even without powers, she moves at crazy speeds. She hits like a speeding bullet too."
"But I'm The Wraith."
As they are fighting, Minoru and AG calmly walk out with the Mayor, as the tape has been taken off of his mouth. They bring him downstairs.
"Help me, vigilante!" the Mayor shouts.
The two women turn around to look at them, both out of breath, before turning back to each other.
"You actually want to save that piece of shit?" Mai asks, laughing, panting, making direct eye contact with the Wraith while pointing back at the Mayor with her thumb.
The Wraith grits her teeth, winded and hyperventilating, still in her fighting stance.
Mai continues. "No one crosses Mai Kimura."
"Except me," The Wraith says, throwing a right haymaker and hitting Mai in the mouth. Mai reels before regaining her balance. It hurts like Hell but Mai eats it. She spits out a wad of blood, along with a broken tooth. She's not angry though, she's amused.
"Finally!" Mai shouts with psychotic glee. "There's The Wraith I know and love!"
Mai squares up and tries to throw a left jab. The Wraith slips to the right and notices an opening, a pressure point under Mai's armpit. She doesn't waste any time. She pushes her left index finger into Mai's armpit, immobilizing her.
"…The fuck?" Mai curses, shocked. "I can't move!"
The Wraith throws a flurry of punches at Mai's face while Mai is distracted and immobilized, knocking her to the ground.
"What's the matter Mai?" The Wraith mocks, her stoic demeanor evaporated by rage and catharsis. She stands over Mai, who cannot do anything.
The Wraith continues: "I told you, I don't need powers to win!"
The Wraith gets on top of Mai and rains haymakers down on her face until Mai is bloodied and unconscious.
"I TOLD YOU HOW THIS WAS GONNA GO!" The Wraith roars as she continues to assail Mai. The Wraith boils in rage, and hyper-ventilates — not because she needs air (she's an undead after all, sustained only by Celestial energy) — it's out of habit. It's how she has always processed her rage.
"Hey," Minoru calls, while pointing a pistol at the Mayor's head.
The Wraith stops her beatdown and looks up. Minoru continues: "Get off of ane-san right now or the Mayor dies!"
The Wraith reluctantly obliges. It takes everything in her not to turn Mai's face into a crater.
"I'm here for the Mayor," she thinks to herself.
She releases herself from Mai, who lays on the floor bloodied and unconscious.
"Let him go," The Wraith says, reining in her worst impulses. "And I take him, and we walk out of here. I'll forget this ever happened."
"Fine by us. You have my word."
"Your word is worthless. You don't do nothin' without Mommy's approval!"
"Fuck you, bitch!" Mai shouts, now waking up.
The Wraith looks down at Mai, who looks back — she is panting. A bloodied lip, a bloody nose, and two black eyes. "We'll let him go! But you will not attack… any more of my… shipments."
"Okay," The Wraith says, quiet and sharp. She holds Mai's gaze for one long second.
Mai eyes her back and just laughs. Blood in her teeth, eyes gleaming. She says nothing — but the laugh and the look on her face says it all. She just keeps cackling, like a deranged banshee.
The Wraith walks towards the Mayor. Minoru pushes the Mayor towards her. The Wraith grabs him. Minoru and AG run towards Mai and help her to her feet.
"Thank you, vigilante," the Mayor says, almost jumping with gratitude as he clutches his bag of clothes.
As The Wraith escorts the Mayor, she turns back around and glares at Mai and her two henchmen. Mai is still laughing.
"So that's it?" The Wraith asks, suspicious. "You're just letting us leave?!"
"You two may live for the time being," Mai replies, collecting herself. "Consider this the beginning of a truce. We'll have to finish this at some point — but for now, as long as you promise to stop hitting my damn shipments, and our friend here does what he's told — we're good."
The Wraith simply nods her head and walks the Mayor out of the building. She still doesn't have enough evidence to get Mai thrown in prison, and Duval is so crooked that any attempt to start an investigation into Mai's activities will compromise him too.
"You did good Jenny," Naomi says in silent communion — still invisible.
"I finally beat Mai without my powers," The Wraith responds. "Saved the Mayor too."
"You don't intend on not hitting any of Mai's shipments," Naomi says matter-of-factly.
"I do intend on it," The Wraith responds. "But Mai will always be Mai. She'll never stop terrorizing this city. So we'll be right back to this again sooner than later."
The Wraith pauses for a bit as her and the mayor step on the elevator to go downstairs.
"And I'll be ready."