1 - Introduction (Part 1)

The luminescent purple light illuminated the alleyway. Boots could be heard clanging, and shadows danced on the walls as a tall woman walked along its path. Shouting and cheers of laughter rang out over thunderous music coming from a nearby bar. The woman exited the alleyway and entered the bar through the front door.

Inside, a fight was taking place. Two men clashed inside a ring while people shouted and waved fistfuls of cash in the air.

The woman pushed past them and strode up to the bar. "Whiskey, two shots," she said, slamming her fist down to get the bartender's attention.

"Right away, ma'am," the bartender said nervously. He knew what she was, though he'd made it his policy to welcome anyone in, no matter their status.

"Bounty hunters," he muttered under his breath as she walked away.

Sitting in the back was a man who'd arrived just a minute before.

The woman had followed him here; he was her target.

The man glanced around the room, as if he were looking for someone. Taking a sip of his beer, he began glancing at a menu.

He only looked up when the sound of the woman's boots stopped in front of him. "What the fuck do you want, woman?"

In a flash, the woman unsheathed a dark but glimmering dagger, stabbing it into the man's hand. The blade slid its way through his flesh and embedded itself into the table. The man screamed out in pain, and the woman quickly reached a gloved hand across the table and covered his mouth. His eyes widened as she tightened her grip on the handle and dragged the blade across the table, shredding the wood and cutting through the fibers of his hand. Scarlet red blood spurted out, coating the table in its gleam.

The woman sat down across from him and smiled. "I'm going to keep this nice and simple. Where is he?"

The man whimpered and shook his head. Not removing her hand from his mouth, she pulled the blade even further. The man screamed as loud as he could, but it was buried beneath the roaring crowd.

"I'll slice you apart, limb from limb until you answer me. Believe me, I've done it before," she said. "Now…where is he?"

She removed her hand from his mouth.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" he asked, gritting his teeth.

"Wrong answer," she said playfully, giving the blade a shove in the opposite direction. The man cried out as the dagger cut through his wrist and bisected his forearm. As his head began to fall, she reached out and grabbed his hair. "No passing out on me. We're not done yet," she said, pulling his face up.

"What…what do you want from me? Who are you looking for?"

"I'm looking for a boy, dark hair, similar features as me. His name is Min-jun Quon," she said.

The man shook his head. "Please, I don't know anyone like that. I swear to God. Please don't cut me anymore, I'm begging you." He began to cry, his tears mingling in the pool of blood on the table.

"If you don't know, take me to someone who does." The woman wrenched the dagger from his arm and wiped the blood off on his leather jacket's sleeve. Sheathing it, she pulled him by his hair from his seat, dragging him across the floor.

This garnered some attention, but no one dared to intervene in a bounty hunter's business. The woman stopped at the bar, where the bartender had prepared her shots. She drank them both in succession and left. The bartender reached out his hand and started to ask for payment, but thought better of it.

The woman shoved open a side door and grabbed the man by the collar of his jacket. Effortlessly, she tossed the man out into the alleyway. He groaned in pain and started to crawl away. "Where do you think you're going?" She inquired, pressing her boot into his bleeding arm, the heel pressing down into his flesh. He screamed out, his voice bouncing off the walls.

A group of men ran into the alley, shouting at her.

"It's Yu-jin! No one messes with one of us!" One of them shouted.

"It's just a fucking woman! We'll kill you!"

"I'll shoot her!" Another said, pulling out a pistol.

The woman removed her boot from Yu-jin's arm and turned toward her attackers. "Alrighty boys…take it easy on me," she said nervously, moving her black hair behind her ear.

"She's fucking insane!" Yu-jin screamed at them.

"That is the first true thing you've said tonight," she said, reaching behind her coat. "Let's get this over with."