Chapter Text
The clatter of running feet echoes off the brick buildings surrounding him as Yibo runs down the alley. He’s been chasing this guy for a few blocks already, and he’s a lot faster than he looks. He’s going to have to find a way to slow him down soon, or Yibo’s days of slacking off on his cardio routine are going to come back to bite him in the ass.
The guy pulls garbage cans and whatever he can behind him as he runs, trying to trip Yibo up. As he dodges a recycling bin, Yibo wishes he knew where the guy was headed — at least then, he could portal himself into his path. Right now, there are too many outlets in this alley to risk it. If he times it wrong, the guy could turn a corner and Yibo would lose him.
The man does just that at the next opportunity, wheeling to the left into a wider back street. Yibo looks up and sees a line hanging up ahead between the two buildings with a sheet and some clothing on it. If the guy doesn’t veer off course again, he might be able to use it.
Keeping one eye on the man running ahead of him, Yibo holds out his hands in front of him, making a few complicated movements, then shoving out toward the clothesline. A burst of power hits the clothesline, snapping one end. The side with the sheet swings down, and the man runs right into it, tripping and rolling into the sheet and loose rope.
He’s down, but squirming and not hurt enough to be kept down for long. Yibo has almost reached him, and is just about ready to let out a sigh of relief that he’s finally caught the scumbag, when something appears out of thin air. It kneels down next to the guy on the ground, and Yibo’s steps falter.
He’s not sure who or what this is, but he’s hoping like hell it’s not here to help the guy get away. He’s not sure he’s got the energy left to take on two people, and this new problem obviously has some kind of power.
It looks like a person, at least. Tall, and brightly colored with red, yellow, and orange visible even in the dim light of the alley. Yibo falters briefly at the sight of the newcomer but keeps his momentum moving forward, and as he gets closer he sees a bird-like mask and feathers around the top of the person’s outfit.
Feathers? Who the fuck wears feathers out in public?
Whoever they are, they’re helping the guy up off the ground. Angry at the interference, Yibo shoves past them, grabbing at the man he’d been chasing.
“Hey, watch it, Feathers!” He shouts as he pulls the criminal away and out of the unknown’s grasp. “I’ve got this!”
Yibo quickly casts a spell to shoot a green glowing cuff around the man’s wrists and then wraps the clothesline around the guy for good measure. This asshole isn’t getting away easily, even if he has to take on this new… whatever it is. Yibo stares, tense and waiting for it to either talk or fight.
The eyes of the mask are covered in black, so Yibo can’t see them, and it’s creeping him out. But now that they’re closer, he can see the mouth and jawline are human.
At least it’s not a shapeshifter, Yibo thinks. He’s run into a few of those in the past, and he doesn’t trust most of them.
“What’s your deal?” Yibo asks in a bold voice. It doesn’t seem like the person is going to take a swing at him, unless they’re stalling and waiting for him to let his guard down.
“I’m The Phoenix,” says a voice much deeper than he was expecting based on the outfit. “I was… trying to help you.”
The voice sounds sincere, and the guy’s posture isn’t poised for an altercation, so Yibo lets his shoulders relax a bit. Must be another hero. He’s never seen this one before, though.
“So you can fly?” That’s pretty fucking cool. He’s met a few other people with gifts, but he’s never seen someone who could do that.
“No…”
“Oh,” Yibo says, disappointed. “So why are you called The Phoenix, then? Is it the legs?”
The Phoenix tilts his head like he’s confused. With the feathered mask, it reminds Yibo of the parrot his friend had when he was a kid and he can’t help but smile.
“Legs?” The Phoenix asks.
“Yeah, bird legs,” Yibo answers, pointing to the legs in question. They were long and thin, covered in black leggings that disappeared into the man’s red thick-heeled boots.
“What the hell?!” The man nearly shouts and throws his hands up in the air, obviously offended.
“It’s not an insult!” Yibo tries to argue. He lets his eyes run down the length of the man. His legs really do go on for miles.
Suddenly, the man disappears in a quick shimmer of some kind of fog, leaving Yibo staring at thin air. He looks around for a moment, trying to figure out what happened, when a hard smack lands across the back of his head. Startled, he almost loses his hold on the criminal. But luckily, the guy is just as distracted by the disappearing act. He seems to have forgotten he should try to get away and is just staring at the new guy, slack-jawed.
“Ow!” He complains as The Phoenix reappears from nowhere.
The bird-man has his arms crossed over his chest like he’s victorious and a smirk curling his mouth. In the dim light, Yibo can make out a small beauty mark just under his bottom lip, and a weird tingle of heat dances in his stomach.
He doesn’t know what kind of weird powers this guy has, but if he can manipulate other people, Yibo is definitely not going to fall victim to it. Self-preservation kicks in, and he lashes out with an angry snarl, “What the hell are you doing?”
The guy seems taken aback by his sudden anger. “Invisibility?”
“No shit, but what else are you doing?” Yibo asks. Every time the man’s mouth moves, it’s like Yibo can’t stop looking at it. What kind of weird fucking magic is he doing?
“I’m not…” The Phoenix is looking at him with that confused head tilt again. “Invisibility is my thing. Well, that and I’m fast, I guess.”
Huh, Yibo thinks. He’s not entirely sure he believes him. There’s definitely something about this guy…
“How come I’ve never seen you around, Feathers?” Yibo asks. He thought he knew all the crime fighters in the area.
“It’s The Phoenix,” the guy says. He’s irritated, and it makes Yibo smile a little to know he’s getting a rise out of him. “And I’m new to the city. I’ve only been in Beijing a few months.”
The criminal still held in Yibo’s grip starts to squirm as if he might get away. “Sounds like you two should go get a coffee or something. Why don’t I just —”
“Why don’t you just shut your mouth before I decide to test out my new spell that will erase it from your face?” Yibo growls. He doesn’t have a spell like that — it’s not how his magic works — but this degenerate doesn’t know that.
He pales visibly and snaps his mouth closed.
It’s almost sad that he thinks his chances of survival are better with the police , Yibo thinks. He wonders if this guy even has a record.
To The Phoenix, Yibo asks, “You’re working with law enforcement?”
He must be — anybody with a useful power that doesn’t hide it gets “recruited” at some point. Working for the government wasn’t really a choice for people like them. Yibo starts walking the guy a little further into the dark alley, and The Phoenix follows.
“I was… in my hometown,” The Phoenix answers. “I guess I should probably let the officials here know that I want to help?”
“Uh, yeah — you might want to do that,” Yibo says. He doesn’t add the ‘ before they find you and decide you aren’t useful’ part. He hopes the guy is smart enough to figure that out for himself. Yibo had found out the hard way that having powers in the city you grew up in, where everyone knew you and your family and trusted you, was much different from Beijing. “They aren’t always thrilled when new heroes show up. You might want to bring them a gift.”
“A gift?”
Just how much of a newbie is this guy? Yibo wonders. He stares pointedly at The Phoenix, then at the perpetrator he’s holding, then back at the hero, hoping he’s not really this simple in the head.
“Oh,” The Phoenix says. He hesitates, then adds, “You know, I did help you catch him —”
Yibo cuts him off. “You didn’t do shit. Get your own scumbag.”
“Hey!” the scumbag in question protests.
“Did you decide you don’t like your mouth?” Yibo asks, silky sweet, with no veiling around the threat.
The man shakes his head ‘no’ and looks away quickly.
“But —” The Phoenix tries again.
“This one’s mine. Find your own peace offering,” Yibo says. There’s no way Yibo is babysitting this new guy, or getting linked to him by the cops, especially if he’s not smart enough to even do the job. And it’s been a few months since Yibo has ‘paid his dues’, as the Beijing officials like to put it. If he doesn’t show that he’s a respectable member of society and helping to keep order, he knows that he’ll be chased out of town — or worse.
One hand releases its hold on the criminal, and with a quick twisting hand movement, Yibo spins a portal out of thin air that will take them straight to the nearest police station.
“See you around, Feathers!” Yibo tosses over his shoulder as he leads the man toward the circle of green light. It’s been a long night. He’s tired, he’s got an early class tomorrow… and there’s bound to be paperwork to fill out once he gets this guy to the station.
“Wait!” The Phoenix shouts, just before Yibo can step into the portal.
He stops and turns his head to look back.
“Who are you?” The Phoenix asks.
“You can call me Jade Dragon,” Yibo answers. He steps through the portal and lets it snap closed behind him, leaving The Phoenix alone with his mouth agape in the dark alleyway.
🐦* 🥷🏼 * 🐦 * 🥷🏼 * 🐦* 🥷🏼 * 🐦* 🥷🏼 * 🐦 * 🥷🏼 * 🐦
Xiao Zhan knew that moving to Beijing meant that things would be different, and that there was a certain amount of risk for people like him when it came to relocating to new places. His parents had certainly been very vocal about their concerns when he’d first brought it up. But when he’d been given the opportunity to take a promotion at his company’s main headquarters in the capital, it felt like the chance of a lifetime — too good to pass up.
Being a graphic designer may not be a glamorous career, but Xiao Zhan enjoys it. And he’s good at it. Unlike the rare genetic gift passed down from his father, his artistic skills were born of talent and hard work. Xiao Zhan is just as proud of his accomplishments as a designer as he is of the work he’s done in the community, and while he knows that his ‘special skills’ can be of use for many years, there will come a point when he’s not needed to fight crime. He can’t help but want to do as much as he can while he’s young and able. To take every chance he’s given to make the most of his life.
Xiao Zhan wants it all — he’s driven by an ambition to be successful for himself and to help improve the world around him in the process.
Moving to a new city for his dream job allows him to achieve both, or so he thought.
His plan had been to follow a process similar to the one he’d had in Chongqing — graphic design at the office by day, monitoring the neighborhood and fighting crime by night. It was a routine followed by almost all of his favorite heroes from movies and graphic novels, and it worked out well for him in his hometown. His father had been working freelance for the city law enforcement since he was a teen, and when he felt Xiao Zhan was ready, he’d connected him with his friends to let his son take on some tasks.
His powers were mostly useful for surveillance and spy work, going undercover to gather intel for the detectives and professionals that would handle the arrests. It wasn’t too dangerous, so long as he didn’t get caught, and Xiao Zhan was always careful. He’d had a few close calls, but luckily his combination of swiftness, invisibility, and extremely long legs gave him an almost ninja-like ability to get around undetected and unscathed.
Unlike some people, whose gifts manifest when they’re older, Xiao Zhan has had his powers since he was very young. At first, it only seemed to work when he was frightened. He can still remember the day his parents discovered it — he’d been five years old and hiding from his mother. He’d broken her vase while playing with a toy, and he’d hid in a closet, too scared of the beating he knew was coming to show his face even when he heard her searching for him and calling his name.
She had opened the closet and looked right through him, still calling his name as if he wasn’t even there — which scared him even more than the trouble he was in. Xiao Zhan had started crying, making his mother scream in fright, and he’d thrown himself at her legs and reappeared.
It was then that his father told him about their family secret, the powers that he hadn’t even told his wife about. He’d kept it a secret even from her, not wanting to scare her away, and hoped that his son would be spared the trait.
It was a reasonable dream — their gifts were rare, and even in families, it was sporadic and sometimes skipped a generation or two.
“How did we get these powers, Baba?” Xiao Zhan had asked, his head full of excitement and questions.
“No one really knows for sure. But I’ll tell you the story that my grandmother told me.” His father had taken a deep breath, and looked at him seriously, his hand settling on top of Xiao Zhan’s head, gently petting his hair. “Long before humans existed, magical beings occupied this world. They were put here by the creator to protect his secret project, which was hidden away in the stars far from his own origins. Do you remember the stories I used to tell you when you were younger? About the Four Guardians?”
Little Xiao Zhan nodded his head, eager for more of the story.
“What are they?” His father asked.
“The dragon, the bird, the tiger, and the tortoise,” Xiao Zhan quickly answered. They had been the featured characters in his favorite bedtime stories, so it was easy for him to remember them.
“That’s right, baobei,” His father said. “They were very different, and they did not always get along. So the creator sent them all in different directions, to guard the four corners of the Earth.”
“But where did people come from?” Xiao Zhan questioned his father.
“You probably haven’t learned about it in school yet, ZhanZhan,” His father said. “But the Four Guardians weren’t the only creatures that were made. There were other, more simple animals that grew out of the creator’s experiments. Humans came much later, evolving from primates that the Guardians became attached to. They helped them to learn and survive, teaching them tools and technology that made their brains larger and expanded their capabilities. Over time, it’s said, the Guardians shared their magic with some of their most favored humans. Those gifts were so firmly embedded in the people that it attached to their genes, to the tiniest cells that make up people. That’s why it is still there inside us today.”
Xiao Zhan tilted his head in confusion. “But what happened to the Guardians? Where did they go?”
“Legend says that the creator wasn’t happy that they were interfering so much with the world he had made. He worried the humans were getting too strong, that they would dominate and ruin the careful balance he had built. He sent the Guardians to the sky, among the stars, where they could watch over the world without influencing it.”
“But if the creator didn’t like humans, why didn’t he just get rid of them?” Xiao Zhan asked. It had seemed very simple to his five-year-old mind — just like in the dishes his mother made, when he picked out the eggplant but ate everything else.
His father let out a soft laugh. “We should be glad the creator is a builder and does not destroy, or else we wouldn’t be here, little one. I don’t think the creator disliked people. After all, we grew from his world just like everything else. I think he was worried about what they might do to the world he’d made. And he was right — humans haven’t taken care of the world very well. But that’s why people like us are important now. We must use the gifts we’ve been given to help make the world better.”
Xiao Zhan had taken those words to heart. He’d learned to control his powers as he got older, and tried his best to be worthy of the gifts fate had given him. Xiao Zhan wasn’t perfect, and there were times as a teen that he resented the expectations that came with growing into his powers. But at some point, he had decided that his life would be much easier — and more fulfilling — if he tried his best to live by the key virtues of his presumed benefactor, the Zhuque, or Vermillion Bird of the South: benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and sincerity.
Recently though, his principles are being sorely tested by the other crime fighter he can’t seem to stop running into. For the last several weeks, every time Xiao Zhan is out canvassing for what has essentially become his second job, the Jade Dragon has made an appearance. It wouldn’t be a problem — Xiao Zhan knows he’s only there to help keep the city safe, but he’s been making Xiao Zhan’s task a lot more difficult. And it’s really beginning to wear on him.
After catching a car thief — by slipping into the door once it was picked open and essentially scaring the living crap out of the guy when he sat in the driver’s seat and found himself on Xiao Zhan’s lap — he’d taken the guy to the local police station and introduced himself to the chief. Once they had finished the initial interview, which felt much more like an interrogation, it was clear that the warning the Jade Dragon had given him about the local authorities was legitimate.
Regardless of his record in Chongqing, the Beijing officers aren’t sure of his merits. And if they can’t use him, they don’t want him in the city — a position they made very clear. Xiao Zhan can’t risk being forced to give up his new (paying) job, so he has to prove himself to the local police in order to earn their trust.
Because of his unique gifts, they’ve given Xiao Zhan the job of doing recon on what they believe may be a local drug ring. It’s pretty simple intelligence gathering — he follows and does surveillance on the people the police assign him, and reports back with information and activities that he observes.
The problem is that every time he tracks down the target, the Jade Dragon shows up and busts the guy for selling before Xiao Zhan has a chance to get any decent intel. It’s making him look bad with the local officials, and he’s going to lose his job if they chase him out of Beijing. As much as he can’t help but appreciate the Jade Dragon’s work — his athleticism and the way his body moves combined with his magical abilities is really a marvel to watch — he’s beginning to lose patience with the interference.
Talented or not, the guy is really getting on Xiao Zhan’s nerves.
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“Yibo-laoshi,” a soft, timid voice says from behind him.
A quick glance around the studio tells Yibo that everyone else in his last class of the day has left as he was cleaning up and packing away the stereo equipment. He makes a point not to look at any of the mirrors around them and narrowly resists the urge to run his hand over his face in frustration.
Fuck, he thinks. Not again .
Schooling his expression into something neutral, he turns and finds one of his newest students looking at him with a nervous but determined expression.
Fuck.
“Did you need something, Zhao Ling?” Yibo asks, already afraid of the answer.
“I was just wondering… if you might want to… get a drink sometime?” Her left hand is twirling the end of her long, dark ponytail, either from nerves or in an effort to look cute. If he remembers correctly from her paperwork, she’s older than he is, a college graduate who’s taking dance in the evenings as a hobby to stay fit. She definitely has too much going for herself to feel awkward about asking him out. But then again, maybe word has gotten around.
“I don’t date students,” he says. It’s easier than saying I don’t date, which is the truth, but usually just leads to more questions. He hopes it comes out apologetic instead of the blunt, harsh tone he’s been told he too often has.
“Oh, well… I was thinking about changing to a different class on a different night…” she suggests with a hopeful look in her big brown eyes.
“I don’t think that will make a difference,” he says flatly.
“Why not?”
“I’m not interested,” he answers, quickly adding, “I’m sorry.”
He’s not sorry, but he’s found that saying it usually softens the blow.
“Oh,” she says. Her face drops into a crestfallen expression for a moment before a wry smile emerges. “Ah, you’ve already got a girl, right? I should have known.”
She waits for a second, and he wonders if she’s expecting him to break into a conversation about his non-existent girlfriend with someone who’s essentially a complete stranger.
Go away already! Yibo shouts at her in his head, as if he could make her follow his command by sheer force of will. It would be nice if his powers worked that way. Instead, he attempts a small smile and says aloud, “Have a good night.”
She’s gone before he can fully turn his back, and he’s glad she recognized the dismissal. It could have gone worse.
Sometimes they cry.
Yibo wishes he could feel badly about the people he’s rejected, but it’s not his fault, not really. It’s not like he wants to be disinterested — or alone.
As the youngest dancer on staff, he’s stuck teaching the late classes on Friday evening, so he’s the last one in the building tonight. As he double checks everything and locks up, his mind jumps back to something his mother used to say.
Hard and fast, Yibo. You’ll fall hard and fast.
He’d been in middle school, a regular kid with no powers — just an inability to sit still and stay out of trouble in school. His friends had all started crushing on the cutest girls in their classes, but none of them seemed like anything special to Yibo.
That didn’t stop the girls from passing him notes or giving him little trinkets, which somehow landed him in hot water with the teacher.
When he’d tried to explain to his mother that this time it really wasn’t his fault, she’d looked at him curiously.
“You don’t have any interest in any of the others in your classes?” she had asked.
He shook his head and asked, “Does that make me weird? Is there something wrong with me?”
A couple of his friends said he was weird because he didn’t like girls, and he was starting to worry that they were right.
His mother reached over and ran her hand through his hair. “There’s nothing wrong with you. You know, I never had anyone that I liked before I met your father. Sometimes in our family, that’s the way it goes, baobao. Your heart just knows there’s somebody out there for you, and until you meet them, it won’t skip a beat for anyone else.”
Soon after that, Yibo had turned fourteen, and his powers manifested. He’d felt volatile, like there was something inside of him too big for his body to contain. It had been both scary and exhilarating at the same time.
No one knew where it came from or how many people in their family had the gift, only that usually every generation or so it would pop up. His grandmother had been a big help, and though her own magic was weak, she taught him a little about how to use it. When his parents found a special school in Korea, where people with powers similar to Yibo’s could learn and train with masters of the craft, his grandmother encouraged them to send him there.
“Maybe if we had known about it when I was young, I could have done more than a few healing charms,” she explained. “Let the boy achieve his potential.”
So he had gone to Korea for the next few years, learning to control and use his magic along with other skills he’d never dreamed of. He was told that his powers came from an ancient, powerful dragon and, as the “children” of the dragon god, they had to honor the gift by becoming strong in body, mind and soul.
They had grouped Yibo with four other boys, all of them different ages but similar in their magical abilities. He had been relieved at first to have two roommates who also spoke Chinese, though they were required to learn Korean, but the two natives in their group helped them and made the process more fun. They trained for long hours, in the classroom for standard subjects and magical theory, and then in the practice rooms to perfect their techniques.
The summer he turned seventeen, the oldest member of their group started dating a girl who lived near the school. His sneaking out to meet her led to the others in his group following suit, as teenage boys living away from home were bound to experiment and push boundaries. Yibo tried to fit in, letting his friends set him up with girls and encouraging him to find someone to show off his (both magical and sexual) charms to.
But no one truly interested him, not the way his friends were with their secret girlfriends, starry-eyed with sappy grins when they’d get a message or picture from them on their phone.
“You haven’t met someone over there, have you?” his mother asked, as they talked during a video call a few months before he was scheduled to return home. “Your grandmother is fretting that you’ve met a pretty girl that will convince you to stay in Korea forever.”
“No, Ma,” Yibo assured her.
But his voice or expression must have made her concerned, because her light joking voice turned serious. “My sweet boy… Still no one that makes your heart light up?”
Yibo shook his head, and his mother went quiet, waiting for him to look at her on the screen again.
“It will happen, baobao,” she promised, a light of conviction shining in her eyes. “Hard and fast. One day, you’ll meet someone just as special as you are, and you’ll fall hard and fast, Yibo. It will feel like a lightning strike, like finding a piece that makes your entire world complete.”
He didn’t believe her, but it was a nice sentiment. He was glad that she felt that way about his father, even after so many years together.
Now Yibo is twenty, and nothing has really changed. He’s more self aware about his preferences, but there have been only a handful of people he’s even wanted to experiment with. He knows that he’s more likely to notice a handsome guy rather than agree with his friends about how a girl they’ve spotted is more beautiful than words.
Luckily, Yibo isn’t the type to dwell on what-ifs. Instead, he focuses on doing the things he likes and improving his skills. At least being perpetually single gives him plenty of time to patrol the neighborhood and keep his magic sharp.
After closing up the dance studio, Yibo realizes the only thing waiting for him at home is a cup of microwave noodles and the thumping of the bass from his roommate’s speakers, which does nothing to hide the thumping of the bed against his roommate’s wall when his girlfriend stays over. He decides to stop by a club before heading home — he’d gotten a tip from a hero acquaintance that there might be some shady activities going down this weekend.
The line for the club snakes around the corner of the building, and he’s not really in the mood to wait. He figures he may as well see who’s working the door before he has to find a better way to get inside. Luckily, there’s a familiar face at the head of the line, though Yibo can barely see him around the tall man he’s talking to.
The man is long and lean, wearing some kind of cropped, baggy red sweater that stops just at the top of his tight, black pants. It draws attention to his waistline, which looks tiny enough that Yibo’s hands could fit around it. Even more distracting is the perfect curve of the man’s ass in those jeans. It’s not something Yibo usually notices, so it’s a testament to how amazing it is to draw his eye.
The bouncer steps to the side, still staring at the tall man as he walks past him into the club with an awestruck look.
“Kai-ge!” Yibo shouts just loud enough to get the bouncer’s attention.
He turns to Yibo, lighting up with a smile when he sees him. He and Yang Kai had been through a few scraps together in the last few years, and finding themselves in challenging situations had formed the tenuous bonds of a working relationship. At some point they’d graduated to friends, mostly through social media since they ran in different circles. But it was always good to have someone with powers that was willing to help out in dangerous situations and that could be trusted to watch his back.
“Yibo!” Yang Kai greets him, holding out a hand for Yibo to shake before being pulled into a one-armed hug. When they separate, he glances back over his shoulder. “Did you see that guy?”
“What? The tall one?” Yibo clarifies, making a point to not let his mouth run away and blurt out The one with the nice ass? “Only from the back.”
“I’ll never admit it to my wife, but wow… That guy was crazy handsome,” Yang Kai says. “I think he must be a model or something.”
“Mn,” Yibo acknowledges. He nods his head at the building. “I didn’t realize you were working here now.”
“Yeah, side hustle, mostly,” Yang Kai says. He leans in closer to Yibo, who bends down to listen so they aren’t overheard. “I think there might be some bad shit going down. I got a job here hoping to be inside, but they keep putting me out here on the door. Watch yourself, ok? And come get me if you need me.”
“Sure thing, Ge,” Yibo says, grabbing Yang Kai’s shoulder to give it a reassuring squeeze.
“I mean it, didi. Be careful,” Yang Kai warns him once more before Yibo heads into the club.
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Xiao Zhan hasn’t been at the club very long before he finds what he’s looking for.
Since stepping into the club, he’s been approached by a number of women and two very handsy men. He’s regretting his outfit choice, wondering if he should have gone with something more subdued, but he thought getting dressed up would make it easier to get into the club.
Of course, he could have used his power to slip inside unseen, but Xiao Zhan doesn’t enjoy using his powers like that. It feels wrong not to pay to get in like everyone else, even if he is there on police business.
Plus, using his invisibility can be draining, and he’d much rather save it in case it’s needed. Still, he wishes he could disappear into the background, because the people asking him to dance aren’t making it easy for him to gather the intel he needs.
Until a woman in a tight purple dress approaches him. She’s pretty, and her sleeveless dress leaves little to the imagination, showing off her curves and cleavage in all the right ways. She gives him a sultry smile of interest, and if he wasn’t working…
“You look like you could use something to relax, gege,” she says, looking up at him and running a hand down his arm, leaning in until her chest just barely presses against his ribcage.
Something about her gaze is almost hypnotizing, making it difficult to look away. Maybe he’ll just forget whatever he came here to do and take her home instead…
“Oh really?” Xiao Zhan says with a wry smile. She’s much shorter than he is, and he leans down further into her space. “And how do you want to relax me?”
She smiles like she knows a secret, and reaches into a tiny hidden pocket at the waist of her dress. She pulls out a tiny green pill.
It is glowing in the palm of her hand.
The odd sight snaps Xiao Zhan out of his distracted thoughts, reminding him why he’d come to the club in the first place. He avoids the woman’s eyes, careful not to get pulled back in by her allure now that he realizes it could be unnatural.
Casually, he asks, “What’s this?”
He runs one finger sensually around the curve of her palm and along her wrist, keeping up the game.
“Something to make the night more fun,” she says, lifting it up in her fingers toward him.
Xiao Zhan is not stupid enough to put anything unknown in his mouth in the middle of a club, and definitely not something that is glowing and clearly imbued with some kind of magic. Disappearing now, when she’s so close to him, would give him away completely. He can think of only one other way to distract her.
He plucks the pill from her hand before it reaches his mouth, and quickly leans in to press his lips to hers.
She hadn’t expected him to be so bold, and tries to pull back from the kiss for a moment but gives in as he runs a hand around to her lower back to pull her closer. Thankfully, he’s skilled enough at this to keep her busy with his mouth as he surreptitiously pockets the pill.
She tastes of mint and something vaguely metallic, and Xiao Zhan teases her with his teeth and tongue as he wonders frantically how he’ll get out of the situation he’s fallen into. The idea of taking the woman home flits through his mind again briefly, but there’s no way he can trust her not to be dangerous.
He’s saved by an interruption, a cough and deep unhappy voice from too close to them saying loudly, “My apologies!”
The woman pulls away from Xiao Zhan with a gasp, wiping at the side of her mouth as she turns to look at the burly man behind her.
“The Dark Mistress won’t like this,” he tells her, but Xiao Zhan can see a hint of fear in his eyes. He was obviously right to be leery of this woman.
She gives the man a cold look.
“Then don’t tell her,” she says lightly, throwing her hand up as if she’s flicking the idea away like a bug in the air. The man looks as if he might argue, and she cuts him off. “I’m allowed to want a taste of pretty things, don’t you think?”
The man looks over at Xiao Zhan with an indecipherable expression, then narrows his eyes. “You. Go.”
It’s clearly not a command to be argued with, so with an embarrassed smile and quick bow to the woman, Xiao Zhan makes a hasty exit.
He doesn’t go far, though.
The woman with the drugs is working for the boss, whoever that is. But he’s sure that if he follows them, it will lead to the people the police are after. He watches from a dark corner as the two of them head toward the side of the room, then make their way up a barely noticeable stairway. There’s another large man standing at the bottom, posing as floor security for the club, but most likely assigned to guard the entrance to the upper floor.
Xiao Zhan steps farther back into the shadows and lets his power flow over him, covering him like an invisible cloak, disappearing from view.
* 🐉 * 🐲 * 🐉 * 🐲* 🐉 * 🐲 *
It doesn’t take a genius to recognize that the little green pills Yibo has seen being passed around the club are magical. The damn things glow like a beacon in the dark club, passed around like candy to a crowd of willing customers.
They don’t even appear to be paying, which is even more concerning to Yibo. Anyone who’s gone to the trouble of concocting the drug must have a motive, and if it’s not money, it’s definitely something more nefarious. He’s afraid to find out what that might be.
From his vantage point at the bar, he watches the entire room, observing the flow of traffic around the different spaces. Most of the people move between the bar and the dance floor, a river that ebbs and flows like a tide as the music changes. He notes a few people that he’d seen taking the green drug earlier — they don’t seem to be having any kind of dangerous reaction, just loose-limbed and dazed. Yibo wonders what it feels like to be so comfortable and mellow, but not enough to risk whatever the side effects are to test it out.
He really wants to know where the drugs are coming from inside the club. The easiest way to find the distributor would be to get one of the green pills, easy enough with the way they’re being passed around, and use a spell to track the magic back to its origin. But it’s too risky. Yibo is afraid that if he touches one, the magic in the pill may counteract his own, or worse, have some kind of protection embedded that rebounds on him.
It was too dangerous.
He watches the room again, ignoring the middle and focusing on the edges. A man and a small woman catch his eye, moving up a dark staircase to the side of the dance floor. They walk across a short landing before disappearing somewhere at the upper rear of the building. There are dark, shiny panels near the ceiling along the wall behind the DJ that he hadn’t noticed before. Probably one-way windows.
Must be where the owner hangs out, Yibo thinks.
And there’s no way that anyone with a view overlooking the entire club can miss the glowing green dots blinking in and out of existence, like fireflies all over the room.
There’s a big guy standing at the foot of the stairs, obviously guarding the path to the upper floor. Yibo sneaks up behind him and whispers a dizzying spell into his hand before touching a hand to the man’s shoulder.
The guard glares at him and Yibo looks at him innocently. “Do you know where the bathroom is?”
The guy looks at him for a second before his eyes start to roll, and then he’s closing them as he reaches up to grab his head, as if he can stop the spinning inside with physical pressure. Yibo uses his window of confusion to slip up the stairs and into a dark corner along the wall, slipping his scarf mask and cap from his pocket and throwing them on.
If things go sideways, he’ll feel better with a disguise.
He slips quietly down the walkway, following the path of the others he’d seen. The security seems pretty lax for someone running a drug ring, but whoever is making the pills is using magic, and Yibo isn’t sure if the club owner and the drug creator are the same person. Cautiously, he reaches out with his magic as he moves, testing for hidden security measures or magical tripwires.
He finds one near a set of double doors just down the hallway. He can disable it, but it will take a minute, and he can’t tell if there’s a failsafe alert attached that will go off if he takes it down. Plus, he has no idea what or who is behind the doors. Before he can make a decision about what to do next, the doors swing open, revealing a small crowd of people. There’s the woman in purple that he’d followed earlier, and a handful of men that must be the muscle, along with another tall, attractive woman dressed all in black. And in front of her is a metal case, open and glowing bright green from all of the small glass containers within, full of the drugs being passed around the club.
The man who’d opened the door gapes at Yibo for a second, then glances back toward the woman in black. Immediately, there are shouts from inside the room.
Before Yibo can even blink, a strong arm wraps around him from behind, pinning his hands to his sides.
“Hey—” A hand covers his mouth, and Yibo doesn’t even get the protest out as he struggles. He barely has time to register the fact that he can’t see his attacker — and can no longer see his own feet — before he’s pulled back against a strong chest and slowly shuffled away from the open doorway that a bunch of the largest men are piling out of.
🐦* 🥷🏼 * 🐦 * 🥷🏼 * 🐦* 🥷🏼 * 🐦* 🥷🏼 * 🐦
Xiao Zhan has been standing outside the double doors of the office for at least fifteen minutes, with his ear pressed against the crack to listen in. He’d considered sneaking into the room directly, but it was way too risky — he’d tripped an alarm when he first got to the door, but the guy they’d sent out to check obviously couldn’t see Xiao Zhan and luckily didn’t have any ability to sense him either. The door muffled the conversation, but it wasn’t completely soundproof, and he’d already heard a few things that were highly concerning.
Movement from the corner of his eye makes Xiao Zhan turn away from the door — even though he’s invisible, there is magic involved in this drug ring somewhere, and no way to know what powers are held by the people behind it. The man who steps out of the shadows is unexpected, but given his track record for constantly blowing Xiao Zhan’s missions, it’s not surprising.
Xiao Zhan barely contains a frustrated growl as he watches the Jade Dragon carefully make his way down the hall. He seems to be using his powers to check for traps, but Xiao Zhan must not register as a threat, because he doesn’t even blink in his direction.
Hidden by his invisibility, Xiao Zhan watches the Jade Dragon get all the way to the doors, then stop.
What the hell is he doing? Xiao Zhan wonders. Did he not come here with a plan ?
He’s never had the desire to choke a man with his bare hands before, but the guy’s stupidity is making Xiao Zhan’s fingers twitch.
They’re only inches away from each other, and Xiao Zhan can’t go back to eavesdropping without knowing what the Jade Dragon is up to. Before Xiao Zhan can even consider his options, the doors to the room swing open, leaving the Jade Dragon completely exposed.
Xiao Zhan immediately grabs the man and pulls him away just as the criminals inside start shouting, using his power to expand his invisibility and cloak the Jade Dragon as well. The man struggles but Xiao Zhan holds tight, covering his mouth to quiet him. Hiding will do them no good if they make noise.
He presses his back to the wall of the hallway and the Jade Dragon against his chest, as if willing them both to melt into the wall. The goons have emptied from the room, looking around frantically, nearly brushing up against Xiao Zhan and the Jade Dragon in their search. The Jade Dragon must have some self-preservation instinct, because he’s gone still and placid in Xiao Zhan’s arms. Trusting him to stay quiet, Xiao Zhan removes his hand from the man’s mouth.
It’s a drain on his energy to conceal more than just himself, and Xiao Zhan knows they can’t stall too long before getting out of there. As the men move farther away from them, he spreads a hand across the Jade Dragon’s (very firm) chest and begins backing them slowly down a side hallway.
In all the commotion, he hadn’t noticed two women come out of the office, one of them his acquaintance from earlier. The other woman throws out her hand, sending a wave of light into the dark hallway. Her eyes widen suddenly, as if she can see them.
She can see them?
“Shit,” the Jade Dragon blurts, just as the woman starts moving toward them, her arm raised and pointing at them.
"There!” The woman shouts, causing all of her minions to turn back to what they thought was an empty hallway.
“Run!” Jade Dragon yells, and Xiao Zhan drops their invisibility as the man grabs his wrist and darts down the end of the hall.
There’s another stairway that leads down, hopefully to the club. They scramble down, and Xiao Zhan hopes that even two men wearing masks can get lost in the crowd.
At the bottom of the stairs, they find themselves by the bar, with a crowd of stomping feet coming behind them. They start to make their way to the exit, trying to blend in and not cause a stir, when another wave of harsh neon green light streams through the space.
It’s like a switch has been flipped.
The previously mellow, barely aware party-goers are suddenly highly alert, looking around like guard dogs on the prowl. In no time, there is a crowd of eyes all focused… directly on them.
“Holy fuck,” Jade Dragon breathes, grabbing Xiao Zhan’s sweater and moving like the wind. He mutters some incantations that somehow help them avoid the hands reaching out for them from everywhere. They dodge their way through the mass closing in on them.
Xiao Zhan can’t risk using his powers to cloak them both again — and he isn’t sure if it’s even worth it with the magic the crowd is being manipulated by. With his height, he can see a clear area just ahead. He doesn’t think they’re near the entrance to the club, but if they can just get everyone behind them…
The Jade Dragon must have seen the opening, too. If he was hoping for an exit, he was out of luck. There’s a dead end. And one door.
They scramble into what must be a utility closet, slamming the door behind them. Xiao Zhan locks it and leans on it, as if his sixty kilograms can possibly hold back anyone behind the door. The people from the club — or the hired muscle — are banging and pushing on the door against his back.
Jade Dragon does some kind of gymnastics with his hands, and a spinning circle of light opens up in front of them. The door gives way just as Jade Dragon grabs his hand and hauls them both through the portal.
Xiao Zhan tumbles backwards, and he sees a hand reaching through after them as the circle spins closed behind them. It slices like a laser, cutting off the hand, which drops to the ground with a thud just as Xiao Zhan falls on something much softer.
“Ooof!” Jade Dragon groans.
Xiao Zhan looks around, trying to get his bearings. They’re in a dark alley, and there’s not another soul around, save for a person in ragged layers of clothes who’s huddled into a ball near a trash can at the end of the buildings. He’s landed on Jade Dragon, who’s lying spread-eagle underneath him, cradled between the man’s legs along with a prominent bulge that he’s probably smashing. Xiao Zhan scrambles to get up, his hand pressing against the man’s shimmering green leotard — and the very apparent abs underneath — for leverage as he tries to put some distance between them.
“Damn, buy a guy dinner first,” Jade Dragon jokes, his voice gravelly and out of breath from their narrow escape.
Somehow, they’ve both managed to maintain their disguise through the ordeal, though Xiao Zhan has only his mask. He hadn’t been expecting to have a run-in with his target, but he always keeps his mask close, just in case. Jade Dragon looks just the same as always, though his baggy cargo pants have a large dark stain on one knee, probably someone’s drink that spilled as they rushed through the crowd. And there’s a rumpled white long-sleeve shirt that he doesn’t usually wear covering his tight scaled leotard, tucked in but unbuttoned and hanging open. The green dragon mouth on his neck gaiter hangs open in an intimidating snarl and the dark green skater beanie covers the rest of his head, leaving only his eyes exposed.
Eyes that are shining at him with humor.
Which immediately makes Xiao Zhan lose total control of his temper.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” he yells, glaring down at Jade Dragon even though he knows the man can’t see him through the dark eyes of his mask. “Are you stupid? Do you have a death wish?”
* 🐉 * 🐲 * 🐉 * 🐲* 🐉 * 🐲 *
Oh, this guy can fuck straight off, Yibo thinks. They’d just been through a whole thing and now he’s got to deal with this ungrateful idiot.
Yibo’s eyes narrow as he quickly stands up, his body bending in a graceful roll upright to his feet that he knows is impressive as hell. “Hey! I saved your ass!” he argues.
“I saved yours FIRST,” The Phoenix counters.
“I know,” Yibo says, drawing out the word sarcastically. “That’s why I rescued you.”
“ Rescued me?” The Phoenix growls. He’s waving his hands in the air and really starting to get riled up now. “I would have been just fine if you hadn’t shown up! What the hell were you even doing? I swear, all you ever do is get in my way! You just show up! And stroll in and mess everything up and —”
“Hey, fuck off, Feathers!” Yibo cuts off his ranting. “I’ve only met you once!”
“Just because you don’t see me doesn’t mean I’m not there!” The Phoenix screams, his voice shrill.
Which, ok. Point taken.
Seeing that Yibo isn’t going to argue, he continues angrily, “You’ve been fucking up my intel collection for weeks now! Busting people before they can spill any decent information. Tonight was important! And I didn’t even get to hear the rest of what they were talking about.”
Putting the pieces together, Yibo figures he must be working for the police now, using his invisibility to act as their spy. Makes sense.
“But in fairness,” Yibo says, lifting a finger to make his point. “How was I supposed to know?”
The Phoenix doesn’t seem to have an argument for that and goes quiet, nervously fisting the ends of his red sweater around his hands.
It’s at that point that Yibo’s brain decides there may be nothing funnier than a guy in a bird mask with sweater paws, and he can’t stifle the loud croaking laugh that bursts from his mouth.
Wait, why does that sweater look familiar?
“What the hell are you laughing at?” The Phoenix yells.
The way he’s waving the sweater paws makes him look even more like a bird trying to take flight, and Yibo can’t help it — he breaks into a fit of giggles.
He knows it’s just his body dealing with the shock, working through the remains of the adrenaline that had been pouring through his veins as they got out of the club. But he can’t seem to get it under control.
The Phoenix doesn’t seem to be quite as understanding. His lips curl up into a sneer, baring his teeth, and his hands extend out of the sweater like claws that start to reach for him.
Yibo begins to back up, not wanting to fight with the guy, and then in a blink he’s gone. There’s a split second of panic where Yibo thinks he’s gone invisible in order to attack him, and his heart rate skyrockets as his defenses go up. Senses on alert, he can hear the clunk of footsteps through the alley, walking away from him.
Yibo’s panic shifts to anger. “Oh! VERY mature!” He shouts toward the invisible man.
The Phoenix reappears a few yards away near the end of the alley, still walking, with his right hand raised straight over his head and his pinky finger sticking up like a sword held aloft.
Yibo smirks. The man’s clever and he’s got balls. If not for the fact that they can’t stand each other, they’d probably be friends.
The thought makes him pause. He knows what he saw in that room and what happened to those people in the club. Whatever that drug is made of is serious stuff. The ability to influence all of those people like that… It’s a power that no one should have, let alone someone with bad intentions. He wonders what The Phoenix overheard. Is there more of it? A stockpile of glowing green pills that could be used to overtake the city? Or the whole country?
The thought sends an icy trickle of fear down his spine.
He wonders what The Phoenix overheard while he was lurking outside the office door. Does he know more about what’s going on?
Maybe he and The Phoenix needed to put their differences aside and work together on this. Regardless of whether the guy was a jerk, he was still one of the good guys. And if this drug ring was bigger than the police realized, they might need every hero they could find.
And Yibo and The Phoenix were already involved in it. Those people at the club had seen both of them. They were in disguise but there was magic involved, so Yibo knows it’s possible the criminals could have some way to track them. They could both be in danger. But why should he worry about this guy?
He watches The Phoenix get to the end of the alley, his figure bathed in light from the streetlamps on the main sidewalk. Red sweater, tight black pants, black boots… It hits him with a jolt — he’d seen The Phoenix on his way into the club.
The guy that was nice to Kai-ge with the round, perky butt. Yibo watches the curve of it disappear around the corner.
You can’t let a man with an ass that fine get killed, Wang Yibo, he thinks. It would be a tragedy for the whole human race.
He needs to follow him. At least to make sure he gets home safely. Maybe once he’s cooled off, they could talk things through, at least enough to work together on what’s going on.
Decision made, Yibo goes to follow, and his foot bumps against something. He looks down to see the severed hand, blood still oozing from the end and pooling on the concrete.
Oooh, somebody is very pissed about that! Yibo thinks.
He makes a mental note to watch out in the future for somebody missing a hand. That guy is definitely not going to sign up to be a member of his fan club any time soon.
He darts past it and out to the main street, pulling a few bills from his pocket to throw at the homeless guy sitting against the wall at the corner. Luckily, he sees The Phoenix stalking away down the street about a block and a half away, his red sweater acting as a beacon for Yibo to follow. He keeps as much distance as he dares to without taking the risk of losing the guy. They turn a corner and pass Yibo’s apartment building, and the urge to go inside, go to sleep and forget about this crazy night tugs at him. But his brain conjures a picture of those glowing green pills, and he keeps following, wondering if The Phoenix actually lives nearby. He doesn’t exactly seem like the type to live in Yibo’s rundown neighborhood, but anything is possible.
The blocks blur by as he keeps up with the long-legged stride of The Phoenix, walking maybe a mile until they’ve left Yibo’s neighborhood and entered an area that seems to be a little better lit with newer buildings. The Phoenix heads straight for a high-rise covered with mirrored windows and goes inside.
Yibo speeds up to follow him into the building.
It’s a nice place — much nicer than the dive Yibo is staying in. He doesn’t mind having to take the couch, but living with three other guys in an apartment the size of a matchbox definitely leaves a lot to be desired. This guy’s place has a foyer and working elevators. From his hiding spot behind a fake plant near the door, he hears the elevator ding and slide open, but there’s no one else around in the entire lobby. He smiles to himself as one long, black-clad leg is visible for just the briefest moment before disappearing into the elevator.
As the doors close, Yibo realizes he’s made a critical error: he has no idea which apartment the guy lives in. And he doesn’t know his name.
Fuck.
He all but runs to the elevator, hoping it’s the type with lights that show the floors as it moves.
No luck.
When the elevator comes back down and opens, Yibo gets on anyway, wracking his brain for a way to track the guy down in a building this size. He stares at the numbered buttons, wondering if there’s a spell that would work. If only he had something that belongs to The Phoenix…
With a start, he reaches into the small hidden pocket of his leotard, pulling out the red feather that he’d plucked from the ground the first time they’d met. It’s crumpled and barely resembles a feather, having been forgotten and left to go through the wash. But maybe, if he’s lucky, there will be just enough of the man’s essence left for a quick, close-proximity tracking spell.
Laying what’s left of the feather in his left hand, Yibo circles his right above it, murmuring the necessary words. There’s no one else in the elevator, but it’s become a habit to be subtle with his spell work. The feather lights up, with just a bit of a yellow glow around the edges, and Yibo can’t help but give a little bounce in excitement.
This is all he needs.
But he’ll have to be quick — there’s not enough of a connection in the feather to last long. He quickly holds his hand up to the panel of buttons, hovering briefly near each number.The number “three” lights up with a green glow, and Yibo smashes it to get the elevator in motion.
When it comes to a stop, he hurries out, scanning the floor. There are a few apartments and nothing he can do except try them all. He hurries to number 1, holding the feather near the doorknob.
Nothing. Same with number two. The yellow glow around the feather is fading fast, and he hurries to the third apartment. He’s come too far now. If he has to knock on every door to find the tall stranger, he’ll do it. But he’s not even sure who he’s looking for. What if he has a roommate or a girlfriend, and someone else answers the door?
Before he can fully start to freak out, a pale green glows around the knob of apartment three for just a second, and then the feather goes dark.
Ok, Yibo thinks. It’s got to be this one.
He takes a deep breath and knocks on the door.
He waits a moment, but nothing happens, so he knocks again. This time there’s a shuffling sound on the other side.
The door finally swings open, but he was not at all prepared for what’s on the other side.
The Phoenix has on a long, tan trench coat, probably quickly thrown on to answer the door. And — for the first time since they’ve run into each other — no mask.
And he is HOT.
As in, the most handsome man Yibo has ever seen in his life.
Within the span of a second, he’s taken in the dark eyes, high cheekbones, and adorable nose. He blinks, focusing on the pale pink lips with the telltale mole tucked just beneath, still visible even as the man frowns at him.
Every word Yibo had planned to say flies out of his brain like bats fleeing a cave.
“Oh…” Yibo can feel his mouth hanging open, probably looking like a moron. He snaps it closed, swallowing quickly to counter the sudden dryness in his throat.
“Do I know you?” The gorgeous Phoenix man asks. It’s definitely him. Yibo recognizes the sexy-yet-irritated timber of it immediately.
He’s tilting his head slightly, like a confused puppy, and it’s suddenly the most adorable thing Yibo has ever seen in his life.
Holy shit, he thinks. Mom was right .
His heart is hammering like he’s just sprinted ten blocks, and there’s a compulsion he can barely contain, like a tingling under his skin making him want to reach out and touch. As if every cell in his body desperately needs a physical connection to this man in order to keep functioning.
The Phoenix stares, taking in his tousled hair and scarf, his gaze dropping down to Yibo’s hat hanging part way out of his pocket. His eyes widen, darting back up to Yibo’s wildly. Then, without a word, he grabs Yibo tightly by the arm and hauls him into the apartment with way more strength than he expected from the man’s thin frame.
Shock — and arousal — rolls through Yibo like a wave.
Oh, he is SO fucked.