The dark streets of Halifax.
A couple of prostitutes stand underneath a flickering street light, the amount of skin on display scandalous for the area. A limo pulls up to the pair, the rearmost window rolling down to reveal Esmeralda von Krauss. The pair of hookers walk up to the open window with winning smiles.
Esmeralda von Krauss: Before you ask, dahlings. Of course I’m looking for a good time. Get in. Both of you.
Hooker 1: We each charge a hundred dollars, honey. You still game?
Esmeralda laughs, waving a stack of hundreds at the girls.
Esmeralda von Krauss: You play your cards right, dahlings. You’ll make enough to retire for a year.
The hookers get excited at seeing the cash and get into the back of the limo with Esmeralda von Krauss and Minerva.
Esmeralda von Krauss: Before we get down to business, dahlings. What are your names? Ich würde gerne die Namen der Leute wissen, die ich ficken soll.
Hooker 1: I’m Rain and this is Madison.
Madison giggles nervously as Esmeralda places a hand on her thigh.
Esmeralda von Krauss: Now this could go easy or this could be most difficult.
Rain starts taking her top off with a grin.
Rain: Ohh, honey. If you got the cash, we got the gash. What would make it difficult?
Minerva stops Rain from undressing before she can uncover her boobs.
Minerva: That service will not be required.
Madison: Not required? What are you wanting from us then?
Esmeralda brings out a color photograph taken of the Valkyries in a group photo. Madison’s eyes go wide and she reaches for the door handle to get out, but the doors lock and the limo begins to move.
Madison: You…you’re that crazy German chick that Leo warned us about! Look, miss, we don’t want to become fighters. We are lovers.
Esmeralda lets out a laugh, but her face does not share the mirth.
Esmeralda von Krauss: I do not want you to fight. I want you to tell me where my girls are. You might have it good, but they did not, dahling. I aim to transform them into Valkyries. Fierce women who fight, who kill, who love!
Rain looks out through the window and then back to Esmeralda and Minerva with more than a little fear.
Rain: Do you know what Leo would have done to us if we betrayed Madame Lussier?
Madison: He would make what happens to the girls at the Dirty Secret look like child’s play! We can’t tell you!
Minerva: Mistress, you want me to kill one of them?
The hookers huddle together in fright.
Madison: Please! We don’t get told info like that! Leo might know.
Rain: Yeah, Leo might know!
Esmeralda von Krauss: And this…Leo…is your pimp?
Rain: Yeah.
Esmeralda von Krauss: Then, where can I find this Leo?
Rain smiles a little, the wheels are turning.
Rain: What will you do to Leo if he doesn’t cooperate?
Minerva: He will beg for death.
Madison: He normally hangs out at the Lusty Stag where he rules over the place like a High Lord of the Court before his whore subjects.
Esmeralda smiles, passing out several hundred dollars to each of the girls.
Esmeralda von Krauss: This buys your silence, dahlings. Tell the driver where the Lusty Stag is and we will let you off back at your corner if you prefer to go there. Unless of course, you have another destination in mind?
Rain: Could you drop us off at the most expensive hotel in town? We’d like to celebrate our newfound wealth.
Esmeralda gives them both an odd look before handing them each a card.
Esmeralda von Krauss: I keep some prepaid bank cards on me for anonymous payments. That should come up to about two thousand each. If you’re going to have a lavish lifestyle for a few days, you may as well go all in, dahlings.
The hookers give directions to the driver to get to the Lusty Stag and then they are dropped off at the most expensive hotel in town. They each hug Esmeralda von Krauss in turn before getting out of the limo. Then, we are driving toward the Lusty Stag.
Minerva: So you know that Adrien has challenged you to bring him down in thirty seconds or less.
Esmeralda just smiles, lighting an Egyptian cigarette at the end of a crimson and gold foot long holder.
Esmeralda von Krauss: Of course he does, dahling. He knows that while I can do it with my fighting arts, I cannot. Or at least, that’s what my husband tells me. I am to engage with the Schwächling Kämpfer with their skills or else I lose by default when he dies in the ring. It is the only way that he could possibly defeat me if I were to fight him in the way I would prefer. Who is this Zoran Sainovic and what style did he engage in?
Minerva: He’s the one who would stab his opponents in order to weaken them with blood loss.
Esmeralda just chuckles, drawing up her dress on her leg to reveal a band where she stores upholstery needles.
Esmeralda von Krauss: Know this, Adrien. If these come out for some reason, then you know that I will feel that I have lost and the only course of action left to me is to kill you in the ring. I throw these to pin my victim down before the end. Of course there is also…
Esmeralda reveals on her other thigh, an ornate silver dagger. One given to every operative of Justice.
Esmeralda von Krauss: If death be your goal, Adrien. I’m sure we can make arrangements, but AFTER I defeat you in the ring, dahling.
Minerva: He claims that you overestimate him and that you are more concerned with the upkeep of a criminal empire and hanging out with D and Steve Awesome than you are the tournament.
Esmeralda’s eyes narrow as she flicks ashes onto the floor of the limo.
Esmeralda von Krauss: Criminal empire? I assure you that I am no mastermind of such exploits. I only seek to reclaim the poor girls that were taken from my care. They were beaten and abused at the Dirty Secret and had no say in the matter for they were stolen from their homes overseas and brought here to be sex slaves. If you want me to focus more upon you, I suppose that I can since D and my darling Steve are also out there looking for the girls.
Minerva: I think that’s all he asks. For you to take him seriously as a threat that might be able to defeat you. He claims that if he can bring down Subject #42 then he can defeat you as he can bring down monsters.
Esmeralda seems to consider this for a moment before responding.
Esmeralda von Krauss: Tell the driver to take us back to the hotel. I will change and go to a local gym to train. Call D and tell him to go talk to Leo and where he can be found. Is that what you want, Adrien? For me to train and allow my underlings to take care of things? I will do it. I will train to try to more familiarize myself with the Schwächling Kampfkünste. You say it should be easy with my skills to defeat you, but it is not. There is a difference in basics down to the punching. You punch to stun, to cause some damage. I would punch to kill or to shatter. I have to be able to pull my punches and inflict less damage in order to keep you alive.
Esmeralda frowns for a moment before it turns into a cold smile. She holds out a picture of her Valkyries for the camera to see.
Esmeralda von Krauss: You want me to take you seriously? Take my plight seriously. Madame Lussier is bound to do unspeakable things to these eight girls whose only crime is to want for a better life. Call me and I will give you the info needed to go talk to Leo at the Lusty Stag. Use whatever methods you like to get the info from him. If you need cash, also let me know and I will send you some via paypal. I will train harder than I have ever trained in my life to pick up the skills needed to keep you alive in the ring and defeat you in what people would call an “honorable way”. You help me find my Valkyries. Your reward? A good match and a honorable defeat. You won’t need the flak jacket. I will not harm you before the match. What Leo and his cronies do is another tale.
Esmeralda flicks her cigarette butt out through the open window as the limo changes course to go back to the hotel that Esmeralda has rented.
Esmeralda von Krauss: You better buckle up, Adrien. Once you go for this life, you may not want to go back. I always have openings for new Judges if you want to train in wahre Kampfkünste.
