Stepping up from the secret entrance, Ch'ien closed the door and went into the main body of the restaurant, setting down his staff and grabbing a walking stick he had previously left in the kitchen. Apparently he had done so just in time, as the men in suits entered the dining area.
"Hey old man, who's in charge of this place?"
"And what's with your eyes?" Another intruder wanted to know.
Taking a moment, Sensei removed the wrap around his eyes & set aside his staff, then he grabbed a pair of black glasses from his pocket.
"In order, the one in charge here would be me, young man…" said Sensei faking a frail voice as he hunched over a little giving the appearance of a blind, weak old man. "And 'what's with my eyes' as you put it should be obvious I would hope."
The three men look at Sensei angrily, thinking this old man isn't worth their time.
"You expect us to believe that you are in charge?" Said one of the men.
"yes, I apologize for my restaurant's appearance, but we are not ready to open."
"We didn't come here to eat; we came here for business," said the second man
"oh, business you say? Alright then, please let us talk business."
"Look, we represent a man known as Willy; he is a vendor for certain products." Said the third man.
"I see & what is it that your employer sells that my restaurant needs?"
"that's none of your-" said the second one.
"what my associate meant was…our boss is a supplier of so many things that it would take too long to list them all." Said the first one
"I see. But could you give me an example of something you think I need?" Sensei tested, keeping up the act.
"That's the thing. You see, last night a rather large shipment of his products was unfortunately destroyed, costing him a lot of money." Said the third man
"How unfortunate." Said Sensei, faking concern
"yes, well, as per his order, we are going from store to store collecting donations… $10,000 should help."
"Oh, so instead of coming here to sell me something, you came here asking me to give you money?" Sensei asked.
"We didn't say we came here to talk about YOUR business." said the second man.
"I see, while your employer's recent hardship is most unfortunate, but I cannot help."
"excuse me!?" said the second one
"as you gentlemen can see, my shop requires renovations. Which means I do not have the funds to donate as I must focus on my own needs." He said, turning away
"Listen, you blind bat!" said the second man but was stopped by the third.
"Look old man, this donation is not optional. It's mandatory for you & the rest of the people who run businesses on Willy's turf." Said the first.
"Oh, I see, you weren't asking for money, you were demanding it."
"That's right, we must talk with the rest of the shop owners here, but we'll be back at midnight to collect from everyone including you." Said the second.
"So we suggest you pull some money together before then, or you & this dump might have a worse unfortunate accident." Threatened the second one as they left
Once they were gone, Sensei returned to the dojo, greeted by a pair of very angry twins who saw & heard everything.
"those bastards. we should have-" said Jimmy
"no!" replied Sensei
"With our powers, we could-" Said Billy.
"that is why I told you not to come. If you were to attack now, our enemies would know you are connected to this place & they will concentrate their attacks here. So to keep the people safe as much as we can, we can not be revealed."
Before realizing that Sensei was right, the twins thought for a second, bowing to him in apology.
"Okay, people, it's obvious you left something out…now I want to know how you made that circle thing & what Billy meant by powers?" Marian brought up.
Sensei took a deep breath to look stern at Marian before explaining things.
"Fine, I will tell you a story." Said Sensei.
A young dragon named Shaolin protected all of Asia long ago. However, she was not trusted & was often mistreated by the same people she watched over. One day, after saving a child & returning him to his village in her human form, the other villagers accused her of kidnapping the child until he came to her defense. Though young, the child himself revealed himself to be a talented chi wizard in training & used his training to drive away those who threatened Shaolin, allowing her to escape. Sometime later, the child, a little older, found Shaolin's home in the mountains & began visiting her daily. At first wary of his visits, Shaolin grew to enjoy her time with him as he grew up & would often teach her what he learned about chi magic. Over time, their friendship grew into a mutual affection for each other & by the time he grew into a young man & fully realized chi wizard, they had fallen in love. Sadly this love was not fated to last long. One day a tengu made of shadow & wielding black flames appeared & began destroying everything in its path, killing all wielders of magic, consuming both their souls & magic to become stronger. Eventually, Shaolin & the wizard confronted the tengu. After a long battle, the two gained the upper hand as Shaolin delivered the killing blow. However, this was not the end, as seconds before the final blow, the tengu transferred his weakened soul into the body of the only other living thing too weak to resist or notice his presence within them, the wizard himself, thus leaving an empty body to be struck down. The tengu's soul slowly began corrupting the wizard's soul until, eventually, the two realized what was happening. Still, it was too late as the wizard's soul & powers were consumed from the inside, merging with the tengu's. Now calling himself the shadow master, the tengu continued his conquest; though Shaolin tried to stop him, she was defeated. Though the shadow master couldn't outright kill her due to the wizard's love preventing it, he was able to poison her so that she would die eventually. Shortly after her defeat, Shaolin discovered she was pregnant & soon gave birth to a boy named Yan. Shaolin raised her son & trained him when his powers awoke at the age of three, teaching him everything she knew & what his father taught her while using a potion to stave off the effects of the poison. When Yan reached adulthood, the elixir could no longer save Shaolin and so she died but not before passing the remainder of her power onto her son. Increasing his own & tasking him to stop the shadow master & his army of shadow warriors. Yan began his mission to end the shadow master freeing villages along the way until Yan confronted the shadow master. Yan won after a long battle, slaying the shadow master, but his father's spirit warned Yan before bursting into black flames.
"he will live on in those who will seek his power."
"Since then, every descendant of Yan is born with a dormant dragon seed. Upon our 3rd birthday the seed awakens, spreading itself throughout our body. Shaolin's inactive blood is activated to change our blood from red to golden." Said Billy.
"It enhances us both physically & mentally, allowing our bodies to better control our powers." Finished Jimmy
After hearing this story and learning a colossal secret, Marian had nothing but a shocking look.
"Look, I understand this is a bit hard to swallow, " Billy said.
"Are you kidding me? Of course, I believe you & it is amazing." Replied Marian.
"it is?" said Billy.
"don't you know with this means? With your help, the power corps will finally be able to challenge the Shadow Warriors & all the other gangs. We can finally-"
"NO!" said Sensei in an angry tone.
"What?" asked Marian.
"you & your power corps will no longer fight this battle; you will disband & leave this to us."
Hearing this enraged Marian; the thought of just giving up made her blood boil. "Hold it old man. My friends and I have poured our blood, sweat, and tears into what we believe in. We've risked our lives to protect this city because the people who were supposed to just sat on their butts looking the other way. And you expect me to stop just because you tell me to?"
"Your courage is commendable, but you have no idea how dangerous the shadows are. They've held back because they saw you as a minor annoyance, but soon they won't hold anything back. Are you willing to sacrifice your life as well as the lives of your friends on a battle you can't win?"
Now truly upset, Marian decided to leave, walking off while Jimmy indifferently watched along with Sensei; Billy was not happy about this as he chased after Marian.
"Marian, wait, please!"
"Go away, Billy; it's obvious you guys see me as nothing but dead weight."
"no, you're not…look, I know my grandfather came off harsh, but he meant well."
"by telling me to just give up? What was the point of telling me any of this only to cast me aside? That's like telling a kid how wonderful Disneyworld is then telling them that you have no intention of taking them there."
"I wanted to tell you,"
"What?"
"your mother helped my mother build all of this, so it was fair that you learn the truth."
"I see. So you just wanted to clear your conscience." Marian remarked, still not happy.
"Look, I know you're connected so you deserve to be informed. But I can be more effective than you so you'd be better off sitting this out."
Marian poked him in the chest. "What do you think I am, some distressed damsel that will get taken hostage needing you to save me?"
"Tell me what you would have done to get away from the crazy whip lady if Jimmy and I hadn't been there last night." Billy challenged.
"The only thing I could do, take us all down."
Billy crossed his arms. "And that's the problem Marian, that kind of move is a last resort, a trump card. You were forced to play it right away, which means you had already run out of other options. You went in with good intentions, but you didn't have anything other than a Plan A and the trump card now did you?"
Marian huffed. "My inside guy got caught, there was nothing I could do."
"You only got out of there because of luck, and luck is not something you should be dependent on."
"Easy to say when you've got powers. Some of us have to work with the basics."
"To be honest, I was hoping to wait sometime before to tell you that the whole powers thing. I figured you might be freaked out. After all, how would any normal woman react if a guy she once knew came up to her and said 'Hey I'm a super-powered demigod descendant'. Not exactly the kind of thing that makes the ladies swoon. Not unless they're drunk." He joked.
Marian didn't look amused. "Billy, tell me something; how long have you been back here?"
"Well, we've only been back for a couple of days."
"Have you explored this city?"
"aside from last night, no."
"then maybe if you see just how bad Metro City has gotten, then you'll understand me better. Now follow me."
Later
As Marian led Billy around parts of the city for hours, he started to see how terrible the city was for the people & how fearful they were. Despite it being daytime, everyone outside acted like they were expecting a gunshot or malakov cocktail to come out of nowhere.
"I never noticed just how miserable they all are. Their misery is just oozing out of them… this is way worse than I thought," He mumbled.
"you okay? you started mumbling?" asked Marian
"Yeah, sorry, I tend to do that when I'm around a lot of people."
"Okay, I don't remember you being socially awkward."
"We were little. Besides, when you grow up with mostly just your brother & grandfather and spend your time learning to fight, you tend to be a little overwhelmed by being outnumbered." Billy joked.
"you want to go somewhere to relax?"
"a rooftop would be nice."
"uh, that might be a little difficult seeing that there is no possible way to climb up one." Marian pointed out, showing no visible fire escape stairways.
"oh really? follow me."
Leading Marian away from the crowds, they found an alleyway, looking around to ensure no one could see. And like before, there was still no fire escape stairway.
"okay safe, time to go up top. you ready?"
"What are you-? Hey!"
Before Marian could finish that question, Billy scooped her up, holding her bridal style, and suddenly leaping into the air. Marian hung on like any panicked person in her position, Billy turned his body around so that his back would meet the wall. His back & feet touched the wall before he propelled himself off the wall to another, repeating the same process until they were at the top of the building. Taking a few moments to catch her breath, Marian managed to say something in between.
"next…time…warn me…when you're going…to…do that!" she said between breaths while he let her down.
"sorry…I usually do that by myself." He said
Finally regaining her composure, she turned to look at Billy with a look of intrigue from what had just happened.
"so you basically can wall jump like the Super Mario Bros.? Can Jimmy do that too?"
"yea, we basically can do the same things; the only real difference between our skills is he's stronger & more durable, but I'm faster & more agile."
"I see…so that makes you the Luigi of the duo?" Marian joked.
Billy mockingly looked hurt. "I prefer to think of it as I'm Sonic and he's Knuckles."
"Sure you do. Anyway, now that you've seen the city in the light of day, what did you think?"
Billy's expression turned grave & sad as he looked over the ledge watching the people walk along with Marian.
"there's so much fear, misery, & pain here I can feel it. I haven't even been through the whole city. Fear, despair & hopelessness, every person here is oozing with it. Like a sheep surrounded by wolves it can't see but knows are out there."
"Yeah, it's worse in other parts of the city; it's been like this for years."
"ever since the Shadow Warriors took over?" Asked Billy
"Yeah, it's been hell here."
"I don't understand why the police didn't at least try to protect the city."
"It's all because of Victor Guisman."
"Who?"
"he's this rich mogul that lives in the city."
"oh…then I take it that big ugly building that you can see from here is his." Billy pointed off towards the horizon, more specifically towards a skyscraper. From this angle he could see a big G on it, and if he didn't know any better it was designed to resemble a fist rising above the rest of the buildings in a show of strength. Either that or someone wanted to fist the sky and that was just eww.
"yeah…he owns a lot of businesses in & outside of the city. Most outside businesses will only work with him since he has his security force. The money he makes helps keep the city running; most lesser businesses have to get their supplies through him. He's become known as "Metro City's Savior"."
"Really? How did he receive that name?"
"when gang violence started rising, he met with the boss who was running the show,"
"he met with the Shadow Master?"
Marian shrugged. "I don't know, but he brokered a truce on behalf of the city that allowed people to live peacefully during the day in exchange for letting the gangs do whatever they wanted at night, Thus he became the man who 'saved' Metro City."
Billy blinked. "That's 'saving' the city? That's like... cleaning a wound but not treating it."
Marian nodded. "I phrased it as putting gas in a car that didn't have wheels."
Billy smirked. "I like yours more. But still, everyone just went along with this? Even your dad?"
Marian frowned. "Yeah. So now people are on edge trying to finish anything before dark; it makes them reckless & breeds more hostility. No one is living peacefully this city it's a powderkeg. They said it was better than non-stop gang violence…all we have to do is be indoors at sundown."
"what about those who don't make it or those who can't be indoors like the homeless?"
"Exactly what you think, they're on their own."
"what? They don't even have shelters to protect them?"
Marian shook her head. "The shelters were destroyed over the years; no one ever bothered to build new ones stating that it would just get destroyed again."
"that's messed up."
Marian nodded. "It's just how it is here…after dark, you're on your own and may God have mercy on your soul."
"is that what happened to you & your mom?"
A sad expression took over her face as she looked out to the horizon, fearing he may have touched a nerve.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to-"
"No, it's fine… it was four years ago, my little sister Anna was just a few months old, anyway, we had a lot of errands to run, but things dragged on longer than we thought. We tried to get home fast, but the gangs started to run amok."
"What happened?"
"We were cornered by Linda Lash & her gang. We ran to get away, but we ended up in a dead-end; the only way out was a hole big enough for Anna & me."
"I see."
"I didn't want to leave her, Billy, but she told me to take my sister home & go get my dad, so that's what I did."
"then what happened?"
"All I could remember from that point was the sound of a whip & my mother's scream; by the time I realized anything else, I was home. I told my dad & he rushed to find my mom leaving me & my sister with our cousin Marc…but when he found her…she was gone."
"What did your father do?"
Marian grit her teeth. "Nothing!"
"Nothing?"
"I knew it was Lash who did it; we could have at least gotten justice for her, but he put me & my cousin in a group therapy program for grief & said we need to move on."
"unbelievable."
"It wasn't all bad, we met a lot of kids from all over the city whose lives were damaged by the gangs & we became close friends; then, my cousin & I decided that if the police weren't going to do anything about the gangs, then we should."
"I take it the rest of the kids from your group got on board too."
"We decided to take our power back ourselves…so we named ourselves the Power Corps."
"wow, and I thought what we told you was a lot to take in."
"Now do you see why we can't just stop? We've spent years trying to take back the city to bring hope & despite our little victories, my friends & I have managed to retain our hope through fighting."
"through fighting…" Billy repeated.
"It's what gives us hope,"
"forcing you to stop would take your hope away."
"yes…"
Billy sighed. "Look, I know the way my grandfather came off was harsh, but he's not a bad guy…he just doesn't want people getting caught up in the crossfire,"
"Maybe, but pushing away allies might cause more harm than good."
"well, we can't have that." Said Jimmy's voice coming from nowhere
To Marian's surprise, Jimmy appeared in a red flash, wearing what appeared to be metal bands on both his forearms & his upper arms.
"I was wondering when you were going to reveal yourself…you've been following us for hours." Billy noted.
"wait, he has? but how did you know?" Marian asked, not expecting that.
"It's a twin thing; we always know when the other is near." Explain to Jimmy.
"so, why'd you follow us?" Asked Billy
"sensei sent me to bring you back, also here." Said Jimmy as he tossed two pairs of bands to Billy
"Thanks, I forgot to grab these," he said as he put them on.
"what are those things?" asked Marian.
"they're inhibitor bands." Said Billy,
"they're for limiting the amount of power we can use." Said Jimmy.
Once the bands were on, Billy slammed them together before pulling them apart, revealing a chain made of fiery blue energy; after a few seconds, the chain disappeared, signaling the bands were active.
"Why would you need to do that? How does limiting your power benefit you?" Marian asked.
Billy and Jimmy looked at each other.
"Okay, our powers are, in a way, a double-edged sword." Explain Jimmy
"How so?"
"Okay, so we can harness the amount of power we can use from 10% to 100%; the more power we use, the more it exhausts us by draining our stamina; the most we can use without wearing ourselves out is 20%." Continued Billy
"The bands we wear lock us in at 20% in the heat of battle. It's hard to focus on fighting & maintaining that percentage, so the bands do half the work."
"just one of many relics we use." Said Billy.
"relics? You know what doesn't matter, take me back to the dojo." Marian asked.
"what for?" the twins asked.
"Look, you guys want to save the city. I want to save the city too. Obviously, we want the same thing, but I'm not going to sit on the sidelines, and neither will my friends, so maybe there's a way for both of us to help each other."
End Of Ch. 3
