Ch. 3: Daddy Dearest?
The teens, Jade, Jackie, and Shendu all went to Ice's room to talk about what happened as he ranted about the "worst weekend ever" starting.
"This is what I need for my weekend: two of the worst family members of my life getting in my way!" he yelled as he paced around the room.
"I can't believe Valmont is your dad, Ice," Jade stated.
"Well I try to forget him!" Ice scolded, "He never wanted to spend any time with me, but he seems to make time with Princess Brattina! Now she's gonna manipulate him into thinking Chrissie's a bad kid!"
Chrissie takes Ice by the arm and out of the room.
"Maybe a nice walk with me will cool you off and get your mind off your dad," Chrissie suggested.
"Okay, Chrissie," Ice agreed as they both left.
While Chrissie takes Ice out, Shendu became downtrodden.
"Dad, did you know all along that Valmont has kids?" Drago asks.
"Just Iggy and Stacey, Son," Shendu replied, "But it's been five years since I last saw them, and it looks like Ig-…or Ice is still mad at him. Back when they were growing up, Ice was ignored by him a lot…
As Shendu tells the story, he flashes back to when Ice was about Jade's age. Ice looked the same as a kid but shorter. Stacey is a typical ten-year-old queen bee with latest clothes and hair accessories, like pink barrettes and a magenta dress. Little Ice was playing with his toy motorcycle when his dad came in. He tried to show him his toy, but his dad just pats him on the head and took Stacey by the hand. Ice becomes sad about his dad ignoring.
"Valmont had a hard time connecting with Iggy," Shendu explained, "Neither of them share any interests, and Valmont was too busy trying to track my talismans, but Valmont always made time for Stacey and got her everything she wanted. He wound up spoiling her rotten. Tori was the only who paid Iggy any mind…"
Tori kneels down and plays with Iggy.
"When Tori found out the Dark Hand was a crime syndicate, she divorced him in order to keep their kids from following his criminal path. During their proceedings, Iggy told furiously of how his father treated him and never spent time with him like he did with his sister…"
In Family Court, Ice points at his dad furiously. Valmont looks very sad and guilty.
"Valmont felt awful knowing his son hated him for not noticing him more than his sister. It would not matter because with Iggy's testimony along with feds putting his operation under investigation, Tori got custody of him and his sister, while he was granted supervised visits once a month. The courts thought it was best since Valmont made many enemies during his career."
Tori and Ice pack up the car while an angry Stacey is in the back seat pouting. They get into the car and drive as Valmont sadly watches them leave, ending the flashback.
"And I take it that Stacey wasn't too happy about moving from the penthouse to the townhouse in downtown San Fran," Jade said.
"Obviously, Jade," Shendu said, "Stacey was use to getting the best of everything."
"I'll say," Colleen said, "Chrissie and I have seen some gifts he sends to Stacey every occasion. All of them extravagant. She even bought her a red sports car on her birthday."
"What's so extravagant about that?" Cody asks.
"Did I forget to mention it was her 13th birthday?"
They all had their eyes wide opened in shock.
"And I thought Bai Tza was a brat," Hsi Wu snickered.
"We better follow Ice and make sure this doesn't turn into a deadly sib rivalry," Drago suggested.
They all leave the room. Jade tugs Jackie.
"Jackie, for my thirteenth birthday, I'll have a martial art DVD that's not too extravagant," Jade said.
Jackie just chuckled.