The man in the white suit only smiled while Jason aimed the gun at him. “Please put the gun down.”
“Who are you and who are these thugs,” Jason demanded.
“I am the headmaster of the Hall of Dragons.” He inclined his head, “I am Xian Long.”
“And these thugs?”
“A test for you. Also my bodyguards.” Xian said something to them in Chinese, and the three men backed away from the elevator. “Will you come out of the elevator?”
Jason and Jules looked at each other. Jules nodded. He stepped off the elevator, and Jason followed, aiming the gun down. Xian held out his hand. “The gun, please.”
“I’ll keep it.”
Xian clenched his hand into a fist, and Jason felt a sudden pain around his hand, as if someone was crushing it. Holding back a cry, he let go of the gun, and it dropped to the floor. Xian held out his other hand and the gun flew to it. He turned on the safety and tucked it behind his back. “Gentlemen,” he said, “Please come with me.”
Jules followed first. Jason hoped Jules knew what he was doing.
“What exactly brings you here?” asked Xian, as he waited for Jules and Jason to catch up to him. They were walking down a pristine white hallway, with no doors or windows on either side of them. There was no where to run, no place to hide that Jason could see.
“Our boss sent us here to meet some of the kids,” said Jules. “An exchange of ideas.”
“I see. You do realize that you are entirely not allowed here.”
“We didn’t realize that,” said Jules. “If you want us to leave –”
“You will be leaving. But since you are here, we will exchange ideas.” He stopped, turned, and the wall itself parted. All along the hallway, it parted like a set of clinking dominoes, exposing the city before them. “You have Millennium City, we have Hong Kong.”
People were flying all around them, both with and without assistance or things strapped to their backs. Some people landed, others flew around. “You can fly, yes?”
Jules had stepped back from the edge of the hallway. Jason stood close by him. “No,” Jason said.
Jules said, “I left my jet boots at home.”
“Pity,” said Xian, and waved a hand. Jules jerked forward, and tried to dig his heels into the smooth floor, but was dragged forward, as the window slid up. Jules reached for and grabbed a hold of Jason. They both tumbled, screaming, out the window.
