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GI JOE Season 3: episode 2

"Invincible Shield"

Ho Chi Minh City - May 1,1975

Chapter 8

A transient, dressed in rags, ducked into an alleyway as NVA soldiers walked the streets. He kept his back bent in order to hide his stature. His face remained hidden under a wide-brimmed straw hat as he stayed in the shadows. Although the transfer of power was peaceful, there was still an air of tension among the people of the reborn city.

The transient walked into the graveyard. He maneuvered the maze of headstones until he reached two makers placed side-by-side, one of which was freshly dug.

My beloved wife and daughter.

He took two flowers from under his poncho and placed one on each headstone. He took out a bible from his pocket and turned to a bookmarked passage. After straining to read it aloud in vain, he threw the book on the ground in frustration – unable to say his goodbyes properly.

I'm so sorry, baby.

"You will find it quite impossible to speak."

Preacher snapped his head in the direction of the familiar voice. From behind one of the larger tombstones, Old-Man came into view and approached him.

"I saw it when I looked into your eyes on that rooftop. You hover between existence and non-existence, a spirit rooted to this earth by his grief forever unable to commune with the living or the dead until that grief is resolved." Old-Man stopped at the foot of the grave marker "I knew that you would have no choice coming here… DEFEND YOURSELF, DEMON!"

Preacher looked up too late to dodge a flying fist that Old-Man planted across his jaw. Preacher fell to the ground, wiping a trickle of blood from his lip.

"When I was younger I was an officer of the Manchu Imperial Guard chosen to protect the last emperor of China. We were of course trained to be the perfect warriors. In order to make us better protectors, we were taught the art of assassination, because it takes an assassin to defeat an assassin."

Preacher leapt to his feet and charged. Old-Man parried a punch, lifted his leg to shin-block a kick, and caught a haymaker aimed for his head. Both men locked eyes, fist and palm struggling in a tug-of-war.

"Shortly before the emperor's capture, I forsook my mandate for the love of a woman. We ran far away and made a life for ourselves. But, since I have betrayed my master, Karma has caught up to me with my wife, daughter and granddaughter have paid the price for my sins. As a result, I have abandoned my eldest daughter, lest she be met with the same fate. The only thing I have left to live for is revenge. And I have chosen you as my instrument of vengeance!"

Preacher pushed off and broke free from Old-Man's grasp. Old-Man threw a punch, which Preacher deftly parried, then followed it up with a kick to the head. However, Preacher brought his elbow down against the knee to jam the kick, and then connected with an uppercut that sent Old-Man flying backwards.

Old-Man rolled with the punch and recovered in a kneeling position. He grinned with approval and spat a tooth out onto the ground. "Out of all the disciplines that I have mastered, Ninjutsu was the least tolerable. There is nothing lower than a Ninja. They have no honor. They have no country. Greed is their master. Their Qi is poisoned. If you ever face a Ninja, know that he is your enemy!"

Both men charged. Old-Man entered low with a spinning leg sweep. Preacher leapt into the air to avoid the sweep, his foot raised high for an ax-kick. Old-Man launched himself, spinning as he flailed his arms with his hands clawed. The first claw swatted Preacher's kick aside; the follow-up came about and raked against his face, sending the soldier spiraling to the ground.

"That technique is called The Windmill Tiger. When performed correctly, there is no defense." He allowed Preacher to rise. "I lost against that Ninja because I am old and have allowed my skills to deteriorate. The Ninja defeated you, however, because you have honor; you fight for love. A ninja uses his enemies love in such a way that you cannot destroy him without destroying yourself. The only defense against this Invincible Shield technique is to love nothing; to feel nothing."

Enraged, Preacher rushed him. Old-Man kicked him in the chest as he charged, but Preacher muscled through it and tackled him to the ground. They rolled to their feet, where Preacher managed to get a hold of Old-Man's wrist. He cranked the wrist hard. Old-Man crouched into the stalking crane stance to relieve the pressure on his shoulder. As Preacher supinated the arm to it limit, Old-Man rolled with the crank and ended up on his feet. Before Preacher could react, he sunk two fingers into the nerve cluster between the trapezius and collarbone.

Preacher winced as that side of his body became numb. It felt like fire shooting down to his toes. He slumped to the ground, his body bucked involuntarily, struggling to breathe, as his nervous system was short-circuited.

"The Crane Hides the Cobra: if I had struck with full Qi, you would be truly dead now."

He left the prostrated youth, content to allow him to writhe on the floor, and returned to the headstones. He knelt over the markers, regarding them for the first time, and allowed a single tear to express his grief. He spoke softly, lest his voice crack when he spake:

"For the part that you played in the deaths of my daughter and granddaughter, I curse you. You will walk the Earth as a shadow – a wraith. And you will kill every single ninja that crosses your path until there are no more ninja left to kill."

He turned Preacher over on his side and massaged two pressure points along the spine. Preacher stopped convulsing and his breathing returned to normal. Old-Man helped Preacher to his feet.

"Your training begins in three weeks when you are fully healed. You will meet me here at the next full moon."

Preacher bowed.

"Do not bow to me like some Japanese dog. I am not your Sensei."