Chapter 21: - The Mind of the Warrior (Part 1)

Min-jun stepped past the dead body of the cyborg and reached out a hand to Hyunji. "You alright?"

She accepted it, and let him pull her to her feet. He was taller now, almost as tall as her. Her brother was growing up, she realized.

Three months had passed. Three excruciating months. She hadn't slept more than a few hours every day, and she'd scoured the streets at night, looking for any trace of her brother. It had been exhausting.

But now, she had found him, and instead of relief, she only felt anger.

Hyunji gave him a shove, watching as he toppled to the ground. There was a look of surprise on his face.

"What the hell were you thinking?" She yelled.

A smile crossed Min-jun's face. "There's the sister I know." He stood, brushing off his jacket. "But I could ask you the same question."

Hyunji thought about smacking him across the face, but refrained. "You disappeared. What else was I supposed to do?"

"Trust in me, for a start," Min-jun shot back.

"Trust in a criminal? You killed the Prime Minister! Do you know you have the highest bounty in the galaxy right now?"

"Wait, really? Yikes…well…too late now, I guess?" Min-jun shrugged carelessly. "Besides, I'm perfectly fine. I can take care of myself."

Hyunji tried to hold back her anger. There was an explosion of flames in her peripheral vision, and she watched as Jade scrambled away from the female Flame. "Whatever, brother. Let's just get this over with so that we can get off this damn planet. Then I'm taking you home."

Before Min-jun could protest, Hyunji began making her way toward the fight, pulling out her obsidian dagger.

The female Flame looked desperate now, and her body began to glow. Would she go supernova as the other Flame had? Hyunji would stop her if it came to that, just as she had before.

A round exploded the woman's face.

Hyunji felt no shock. Instead, she turned and looked at Min-jun with disdain. "Seriously? She was mine."

"That's two to one, Hyunji. I'm winning," Min-jun gloated.

"Not for long," she replied. There were two other enemies. They were weak too. She crossed the street to where a man knelt over an unconscious woman.

"NO! Hyunji, stop!" Min-jun shouted, rushing forward. "They are with me."

The man stood, stepping in front of the woman protectively. "Please, don't hurt us. Look, her head is bleeding. She needs medical assistance."

"Why are you protecting my brother?" Hyunji asked. "What do you want with him?"

The man shook his head. "Nothing. He needed help, so we helped."

Hyunji scoffed. "No one in this entire fucking galaxy would help someone just because. You have a motive. What, is it the money? Do you plan to turn him in?"

"Hyunji, stop," Min-jun said again, but she persisted.

"Are you bounty hunters? Assassins? Federation officers? What's your real reason?"

"Look, my name is Dante. I am none of those things. I'm just…."

"Just what? Who are you?"

Dante shook his head. "I don't know. I'm…."

"See, he can't even make up an excuse!" Hyunji said, exasperated. "How do you not see through their blatant lies?"

Min-jun tried to step in between them, but it was too late. Hyunji had already reached out, her dagger nearing Dante's throat.

Then suddenly, Hyunji was falling backwards, into a place darker than Elendir. She shut her eyes and waited, until the feeling of falling ceased.

Her eyes opened, and she found herself in a new world. Behind her was a place she was familiar with, though it was at least a half a mile away. It looked like a city, with flashing, neon lights and large structures shaped like buildings. Was it Busan? She couldn't be sure, from such a distance.

"You're very disconnected," said a voice.

Hyunji spun around, and her eyes found the source. A figure was crossing a bridge that connected to another mass of land, with a similar city, although it was much closer and a lot brighter.

"Who are you?" She called out.

The figure got closer, and she recognized the face immediately. "Dante."

He looked surprised. "You remembered? Our introduction was going to be a little short, so I decided to lengthen it. We have all the time in the world in here."

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