Drax stood on the fire escape in the early morning. There was a thick morning fog in the alleyway concealing the city streets below. He took a deep breath of the cool morning air looking into the grey. His hand held the rail of the rusted fire escape, the cold helped him wake up. Today was an important day. Someone had placed a heavy price on his boss' life. This simply could not be tolerated. He was tasked with the protection of transporting a shipment of gold bullion. It was enough to pay the hit off, worth well over two hundred million dollars. He turned to look through the window behind him. 

There were 6 massive wooden crates holding the gold. It was surrounded by guards and workers. As he stared at the crates knowing how much gold was just within his reach a loud pounding was heard on the door. A guard opened the door and a young man, Henry, entered the room. Henry was well known around town as a delivery driver. He would drive groceries around for the entire city. He was above suspicion and perfect for this mission. He would drive the gold to the buyer. Drax smiled and gave the young boy a nod. He would be compensated dearly for his part to play.

The workers lifted the crates and walked them down to the ally below. Drax could barely make out the truck due to the fog, but he could hear the six crate get loaded, them moving other grocery crates to conceal them, and the tailgate slamming shut. The truck began to pull away, two large black trucks followed behind with a fair distance as to not attract attention. Each truck had six of Drax's best men, each loaded with the best weaponry money could buy. He lit a cigarette and took a long drag thankful that his convoy was now mobile and the deal would be done in a matter of ten minutes. He exhaled his smoke slowly.

BOOM! CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!

A massive explosion and the cracking of gunshots sent Drax's cigarette to the ground, and him sprinting down the fire escape. He hit the ground sprinting toward the sound of the shots. He turned the corner and to his dismay the lead truck was in flames, shrapnel and his men burning inside. The rear vehicle was peppered with bullet holes, those men died in moments. Drax drew his 1911 and ran further ahead. His eyes went wide, his face enraged. Henry was on the ground, blood coming from the corners of his mouth. He took a knee next to the boy, holding back his rage he spoke.

"Henry, what happened...? I've got help coming buddy. Just stay with me."

Drax did not want the young man to see the dread in Drax's eyes. The boy was a goner, he was fatally wounded and there was no coming back. Now Drax needed information, to get revenge for whoever did this. Henry looked up and struggled to speak.

"I.. I heard an explosion.. and then shooting, but not at me. A lady stood in front of my truck pointing a gun at me.. She smiled at me. I thought.. I thought she just wanted the gold. She pulled the truck door open, shot me and pulled me out. Then she jumped inside and drove off. It was all so fast.. I'm sorry Drax.."

His eyes were now full of fury.

"Who was she Henry? What did she look like!?"

Henry was fading at this point, but his final words would echo through Drax's mind forever.

"She was a pretty asian lady.. A kind face.. and a red dragon tattoo on her neck.. Please.. Drax help me. I don't feel.."

The boys eyes went blank and Drax picked the boy's body up. He looked at his blank eyes gazing into the sky. Whoever had a hand in this knew not how fierce revenge would be. Drax had a dragon to slay. He would not rest until he tore her limb from limb, retrieved his stolen treasure, and avenged the dead laying before him. He arranged for the scene to be cleared of bodies and all evidence, by the time the police arrived the street appeared as though it were just any other day. Drax walked to a phone and dialed. He spoke calmly.

"There's been an issue, the shipment has been hijacked." "I understand." "Yes sir." "I understand." "I will end this, I promise."

His buyers were angry, understandably, but they knew how these things go. Such a massive transaction came with risks. It was now on Drax to retrieve the gold and make things right. There was something else, however, the buyers insisted that a woman would find him and aid him in his task. They only said that she may have knowledge of who the red dragon was, and how to track the bitch.

As Alessandra stood idly by her kitchen counter mixing a teaspoon in her chocolate drink with the most minimal effort ever, she felt a sinking feeling in her stomach. Her pancakes near the stove were getting cold. But her appetite for food was getting crushed by the terrible feeling that something or someone was out for a rampage. Her personal driver suddenly appeared at the entrance way of the kitchen. He was waving his hands around in a crazy manner, his face as pale as a ghost. "She's returned," he whispered in horror. Her eyes widened at his out-of-the-blue announcement as she figured out why she had not been feeling well that whole morning.

Her mind snapped back to reality and she narrowed her eyes at her personal driver. She fought hard not to show any signs of fear but her slightly raised eyebrows displayed serious concern. "How did you get this news?" There was a long pause before he pointed outside, "I was driving to come get you for your appointment with a client this morning when I suddenly saw her in the drivers seat of a truck - driving like there's no tomorrow." A few things ran through her mind. Why did she come back? Alessandra was furious as she thought about the first time she had met this girl with a dragon tattoo.

They had met at a fashion trade show in Bella Vista and she stood out the most from everyone else despite not being any of the models walking across the stage. She was in the middle row. Her eyes were on the models while Alessandra’s eyes were on her like a hawk. There was something about her beauty that deeply intrigued her. However, it all changed when their eyes locked. The girl with the dragon tattoo returned a smile that seemed to cause that same sinking feeling that Alessandra got that morning. She had done the mistake of inviting the lady over for dinner.

Without another word, she turned around and rushed to get into some comfortable clothes which consisted of grey trackpants and a sweater. Her personal driver dragged her feet behind her as he followed her out. He really didn’t want to be alive in that moment. The last thing he wanted was to deal with a woman that could... morph into a dragon anytime she wanted. Getting into the backseat, she gave a gentle tap on her personal driver’s shoulder. “Do you remember how long ago you saw her?”

“Not too long ago. Like just before I came into your house. So fifteen minutes ago?” His cold but sweaty hands were placed on the steering wheel and he couldn’t help but shiver from the thought of seeing that dragon lady again. But Alessandra was ready. She wanted to seek revenge for what she did to her former personal assistant. Some things were just better left unsaid. The only thing that the dragon lady left behind was the assistant’s pearl necklace.

Alessandra took a deep breath. She wasn’t going to back down this time. She had been working her ass off lately to get to where she was at now. All her training she had experienced would prepare her for the moments to come. And knowing HER, she was up to no good. Someone was in trouble and they needed help. In a situation as dangerous as this, she needed an accomplice. Someone that she could trust and has many connections to the underworld.

“Step on it. And send me to Drax.” She gave eye contact with her personal driver in the rear view mirror and gave a firm nod.

Drax had been shaking trees so to speak throughout the city. He made his rounds to everyone that who knew that could possibly know anything about this mysterious dragon woman. He was out for blood and the tone in his voice reflected that when he would ask his questions. This made things easier as the people he spoke to knew not to waste time and gave him what he needed. It wasn't much in the end, but he at least had an address now of a building that she was known to operate out of.

He looked at the scrap of paper with the address written onto it and at the sign posted on the building. He was in the right place and it was obvious. There were plenty of large men around the building, obviously guards. He made a quick call from a nearby convenience store a couple of blocks down the road and waited. He wanted nothing more than to storm that building and pull that bitch out by her hair. His plan was simple, get inside, capture the dragon lady, retrieve the gold, and then take out his revenge slowly by making her suffer at his hands. However, his buyers were clear, he was to wait for an associate to join him. He grit his teeth with each passing moment hoping this person would show up already.

As the thought came across his mind, a black car pulled up at the store. It had to be the associate, Drax thought. He walked over to the car and as he did a young woman stepped out from the back seat and told the driver to leave. He raised an eyebrow as the lady was not what he was expecting. She was remarkably pretty and petite. He was not certain if she'd be able to handle herself in the situation that was about to unfold, but he had been surprised many times before. Drax approached her and flashed a smile.

"I'm assuming you're who I'm waiting for?"

He motioned in the direction of the building as he continued to speak.

"I've narrowed her location down to being in a building a couple blocks that way. I scoped it out and it's pretty heavily guarded. They told me that you might have a past with this dragon lady? That you should be able to assist me? What can you tell me?"

The drive was unncessarily long due to the traffic jam. Luckily Alessandra Korkunova had employed one of the best drivers in the country that she was able to get to the destination quicker than if she had just gotten a taxi. When she finally arrived to the building where she had suspicions that the dragon lady might be hiding there, she suddenly found herself face to face with the man she had been looking for as well. Drax. He had a look of surprise on his face - one that she was not new to. Alot of people had that same face on their first impressions of her but she was used to it by now. 

She approached him respectfully and gave him a stern nod, but her eyes were still glowing sweetly. "Hi." She was then greeted by a smile and she returned a smile of her own. The building behind him signalled trouble and she couldn't wait to get inside. She nodded to what he was saying and told her driver to park the car from a safe distance in case they needed to get out of the building fast. Then she was asked about what history she shared with the mysterious dragon lady to which she answered with a mean scowl. Her face told all the answers. She gave a shrug pretending to be unbothered but truly she was raging inside. 

"Yeah. It's a long story. And I really want to tell you all the details but we could save that for another time. What I will say though is that - she killed my former personal assistant on the first day that I met her after a fashion trade show in Bella Vista. Ever since then I've wanted nothing more than to track her down and kill her. It will be a glorious sight to see her trembling seconds before her death in my hands, Drax. I hope you understand my deep rage." There was tension in her voice as she spoke and she felt like crying because of how angry she was in that moment. However she tried to brush it off and focus on the task at hand. 

She started to walk ahead of him towards the direction of the bulding. More specifically - the back door. Then she looked back once and nodded. "And I know she has done you wrong too. We will find her, Drax. I promise. Also what weapons do you have on you right now? Because I assure you having a gun against a merciless dragon is a fight that she'll easily win. We have to take her down when she least expects it." 

Drax could tell that this woman had a dark past with whoever this lady was, Drax wanted revenge, but perhaps not quite as much as her. There had to be something more there than she was letting on, but he was not going to push the subject. He nodded as he listened and understood what she meant. He was eager to get to work, storm the building, but he would let her take the lead and use her experience as an advantage. He was not afraid of this woman, but at the same time, he would do whatever necessary to succeed.

"I haven't caught your name miss... Also, how is it that you know mine?"

He wasn't too concerned about the latter, but he did want to know her name. He felt that should they both walk away from this she would be an amazing woman to know and work alongside in the future. As he waited for her to respond he followed her to the back door of the building. There were no guards here, that we could tell at least. She stopped and asked about his weapons. Drax grinned and showed her two 1911's on his hips, but then he reached behind him onto his lower back and pulled two long, curved daggers from behind him. He flipped them in his hands and whispered.

"I can do a lot of damage with these.. They don't call me Drax the Destroyer for nothing."

She glanced at the weapons attached to him and she nodded slowly, easily impresssed with what she was seeing. Still doubtful though. Guns against a dragon? No way. But she kept her faith in him and found herself smiling when he called himself Drax the Destroyer. Her own gun was in her hand but was somewhat eager to fight the dragon with her bare hands. When she entered the building through the back door she suddenly remembered one of his questiosn that he asked earlier, which she forgot to answer. She suddenly felt like he might think she was a lurker for knowing his name before him knowing hers, but she answered anyway with a smug smile. 

"Let's just say I have done my own little research on you before. Do you want to split or should I just lead the way and hope for the best?" There was no set plan. But she did want to be very cautious about everything. She swiftly turned a corner, often whipping her head behind her to see if Drax was still there. Her heart was pumping with adrenaline as her eyes danced in every direction. She was trying to stay alert. With each step that Alessandra took she was beginning to find herself more and more anxious. Then suddenly it happened. A loud bomb went off further down the hallway. 

Drax was shocked that this lady was just willing to enter the back of the building without any hesitation, truly brave, but more shocking was that they had not encountered anyone once inside. It was not making any sense to him, as when he canvased the building from the front he could count a rather large number of guards. Something did not set well with him about their current situation. He shrugged these thoughts though and pushed on with her. As they made their way along he listened. Before he could tell her that it was best for them to stick together there was a loud explosion ahead. 

Something was off though. An explosion so loud and violent, however, there was no flash, nothing ahead seemed to be burning. Drax was unsure what to make of it so he leaned in close to her ear and spoke softly.

"What do you think that was? I did not see a flash. Strange."

Drax took the lead and proceeded down the hall. He eventually found a door cracked open. He looked inside and there she was. She was standing in a large open auditorium style room. Her tattoo could be made out clear as day, and before her was the gold shipment. However, there was no sign of what could have caused the explosion. Drax drew his knives out and clenched his teeth as he prepared to charge into the room. His plan was to leap from the floor they were on, down onto the stage and stab her as many times as he could. He began to grin slightly at the thought of his revenge just before him.

It was a large meeting room. Or a place used for conferences or special events. But none of that really mattered. What truly mattered was the fact that the dragon lady was there. Standing in the middle of the stage, her hands spread out in front of her with her eyes closed as she started to talk to herself. What the hell? Was she doing some sort of ritual? It all began to get creepy for Alessandra but she looked at Drax and saw that he wore a grin. He seemed excited to take her down. Meanwhile the confidence in Alessandra was starting to fade and wasn't sure how they should execute the attack. 

"Well what do we do now?" She looked down and saw that there was absoluely no safe place to land if they were to jump down from the floor they were on. She scratched her head and looked at Drax intensely. But it was the only way, honestly. To use the weapons they have and just go for the kill. So instead of trying to think of countless scenarios, Alessandra took initiative and pulled out her weapons. "I'm going down, Drax. Join the party when you're ready, I guess." Then she looked down and took a deep breath before jumping down from the floor using the auditorium curtains like a ninja with wings. She moved swiftly but quietly.

As she finally touched down on the ground, she looked up and almost panicked. But relief set in when she realized the dragon lady still had her eyes closed. Without another thought, she focused her weapons on the dragon lady. A gun in each hand. She wouldn't start shooting until Drax came down.