Log:A Pickpocket in Chinatown, Scene 3

A Pickpocket in Chinatown 2010/11/04 	 Jian Trick Shaolin 3

Ming Street

Trying to get robbed turns out to be rather tedious work. Who'd have thought it? The day is getting on now and some stalls are closing. Other metas aren't much in evidence, but for the ubiquitous One Man Army.

Jian is getting tired and bored. She is getting lots of practice. Obviously being the same woman in the marketplace for hours on end if silly, so she appears as a different woman every thirty minutes or so.

Of course, that doesn't make looking at the same goods several times over less boring!

You feel a slight tug on your "purse", without having felt anything touch the "bag" at all. But by the time you close the "bag" the hand is already gone!

Jian reacts by dropping to a squatting starfish martial pose and spins a legs around the area close to her.

As Jian spins, she finds, rather to her surprise, that there's a scruffy boy of about 13 behind her fully visible - he matches the presumed description of the pickpocket.

Jian expands her nostrils to heighten her sense of smell.

Jian looks the boy over. Straightens up and looks him over again, "So you're what an invisible pickpocket looks like." she says with a smile. "Which brings me to the question, why aren't you invisible? I'm not intending to try and catch you right now. But I do want Lorelei's PDA back."

The boy grins and shakes his head. "But that's one of my best prizes!"

Jian says, "Mmm... What if you got a personalized signed photograph in exchange. Anyone can get a PDA and say it used to belong to Lorelei, or Titan, or Dr Destroyer. Having a personalized item is much better."

A strikingly graceful Tibetan-looking woman is walking through the market. You might not have noticed this had you not seen her twice before today.

The boy thinks. "But she must sign *lots* of autographs. Anyway, it's not like taking something by your own skill. And anyway, there are photos of her on the PDA!"

Jian makes a point of not looking overtly towards the woman. "Let's move somewhere quieter. You have people hunting you. Care for a pot of tea?" Jian says to the boy.

"I'm not really thirsty - but yeah, let's go somewhere else." He also doesn't look at the woman, but you get the sense he knows she's there by the way he doesn't look in that direction.

Jian starts walking towards the Golden Dragon teahouse, her favorite not just because the tea is excellent, but the name is awpicious.

The boy goes along with Jian. He remains visible, and doesn't seem to be looking about too carefully, though he does steer wide of the graceful woman.

Jian says, "So what would you take in exchange for Lorelei's PDA? Oh, I'm Jian. Do you have a name? Bestiary was looking for you yesterday. I don't like her much, and getting Lorelei's PDA back would prove I'm better at catching up with you than she is."

"Yeah, she's getting annoying! I hate people with good noses. I've been having to cross my trail all the time to make it harder for her to tell which way I went.... How come there are all these metas here? There weren't last time I was in town! Chinatown was a good place to work then....."

"At least that dinosaur doesn't seem to be around any more."

"I liked your trick with the bag though! That was clever. You almost got me!"

Jian says, "I'll tell you the short version. China had a civil war, which I missed. Anyway the rebels won, and are now the government. The old government lost, and a lot of the metas who were on the old government side decided to move elsewhere for their continued health. Now, in Chinatown here there's a slow war going on between Pride and Tim Lee over control of the Triads. Tim Lee offered about thirty of those metas a way to get out of China is they came here and worked for him."

The kid nods. "I guess that explains why there are so many! Maybe I should move on to another city soon...."

Jian nods, "Yesterday would be a good time. Seriously, person who still hasn't told me your name, some of the metas here are scary. It's time for you to find another city at least. Maybe another occupation too. Have you thought of working as a investigator? You'll be pretty good and finding out information is even better than stealing trinkets."

He shrugs. "I guess this is what I've always done - I'm good at it! You can call me Trick, though I'm not really Trick, more a trick of Trick." He grins to himself. "And I dunno. What's cooler than Lorelei's PDA?"

Jian thinks, remembers how she got killed by the biker because she was dreamy and not paying attention. She grins, "A kiss from her?" Jian suggests.

The boy almost seems to freeze up for a moment, then he asks, "You can arrange that?"

Jian says, "I can ask, and I think she'll agree. I can't promise it but I think she's really wanting all the data on her PDA back."

He grins. "Sure, that would be better -" Then he swears. "Here comes that creepy lady!"

Jian turns and this time makes no secret of looking at her.

Sure enough, the graceful, leggy Tibetan woman is coming this way. "I think she can see me - or something - somehow!"

Jian says, "There's always someone who can trump your ability. That's what my mother told me one time."

The woman meets Jian's gaze and keeps coming.

"Yeah, but not usually so many at once! I need to get out of here!"

"Tell you what I'll go get Lorelei's PDA - for the kiss - but you've got to help me get away from her!"

Jian says, "See if there's a back door. And get out of sight for a while. Unlike me, if you get killed you won't be coming back."

Jian steps up into the path of the woman. "Hello." Jian says flatly, "Going somewhere?"

The woman looks at Jian. "I am looking for a thief," she says, in a calm, even serene way. "Tell me where he is, or get out of my way."

The boy seems to have vanished when Jian stepped up to confront the woman.

Jian says, "Do you have a badge? If not you can go take a hike."

Jian leans forward getting into the woman's face.

"Step aside now, or you may be hurt," she says, still calmly. "This is your last warning."

Jian laughs, "You and which army?"

Suddenly one of the woman's long legs comes up almost too fast to see to kick Jian out of the way.

Jian tries to block the shove and slip out of the way but the woman is just too fast and she gets caught and shoved back hard overturning the table and slamming into a wall.

The woman moves through the building, now Jian is out of the way, not too fast, obviously looking for the pickpocket.

Jian shoulder-springs back onto her feet. Gliding forward in a martial stance Jian calls out, "Not so fast. I'm not finished yet." and launches a straight punch at the woman's head.

Jian scrowls as her punch misses.

The woman somehow manages to avoid Jian's punch. But Jian came close enough at least to attract her attention! She turns to Jian. "I have no fight with you," she says. But clearly now she's ready for one.

Jian shakes her head, "Putting me through a wall is enough to start a fight. You started this. I'm going to finish it." She says and punches again, low to the abdomen.

The woman's block actually is too fast to see. She follows up with a powerful kick.

Once the woman treats Jian as a serious opponent, the outcome is never in doubt. She blocks Jian's blows and wait for her opportunity to deliver her own sure kicks, till Jian can fight no more. But at least Jian has kept her busy for precious time while the boy gets away.

Jian comes to in the shop, to find that a cup of tea has been bought for her.

Jian is on the losing end of this fight, but never once does she waver from her determination, obviously not successful, to defeat the woman and she's still trying as the final kick by the woman turns out the lights for Jian.

Jian nods and sips on the tea, "Thank you. I'll pay for the damage to the table and wall." she tells the server. Then she can only wait to see if the boy contacts her again.

Jian phones Ernst while she's drinking the tea, "Ernst, I've briefly found and spoken with the pickpocket who took Lorelei's PDA. He'll return it in exchange for a kiss from her. Can you tell Lorelei and see what she says, and let me know? Thanks."