So! Some context. A favorite movie of mine has always been Around the World in 80 Days (2004). The celebrity cameos and the overall movie is a true delight to watch mixing action and comedy.

A stand out for me in this film has always been Jackie Chan and the infamous group/family the Ten Tigers. A group of ancient Chinese warriors who each knew their own style of martial arts based on animals (Tiger, Crane, Monkey etc).

I have always been inspired with their story and wanted to create a new version of this warrior family. A 21st version of the legendary group. In this story I have included some descendants of the actual members of the Ten Tigers. Some members who will be added in later chapters and hopefully, this will be a good story overall for you to read.

Hope you enjoy.

Looking outside the window of his flight, Chen watched as his homeland was slowly fading off into the distance. This was the first time he had ever stepped outside of China. Something he thought he would never have to do, but situations had forced his hand. It was not until he saw a banana move up in front of his face and a small bump from the passenger beside him.

"You know they give you free fruit on this flight! You want a banana, Chen?" With a bright smile, Sheng did not wait for an answer. He simply began peeling his fifth banana and Chen offered him a small smile.

"No. I am fine thank you, Sheng." He could not help his chuckle at the banana peels all over Sheng's trey table as he bit into another one.

With a stuffed mouth, Sheng was given a slightly firmer nudge from the passenger beside him. "Sheng. You disrupted Chen! Would you try to eat in peace?"

Sheng looked over to his brother still with his stuffed mouth as Chao looked past him to Chen. "Sorry about him. I think the flight is making him antsy."

Chen just shook his head and smiled at his brothers in arms. "It is fine. I was just...aren't you two worried about this? Leaving China? Heading to America? I do not even know where to begin this search for my father."

Being the one without a mouthful of food, Chao gave it a minute before thinking about his answer. "I know leaving China is not something we had planned. New York City was never somewhere I thought I would go. However, when you insisted on going there was no way I was going to leave you two out in a big bad city alone to get into trouble without me."

Swallowing his mouthful of food, Sheng smiled and put his arms around both his brother and best friend turning his attention to Shu. "We are family! You needed help and you know I have had your back ever since we were kids! We got your back."

As the pair were unable to help both their smiles with the simple answer Sheng had offered, Chao was the first one to pull out of his grasp and wipe the banana off his sleeve. "Brother. Seriously. Wipe yourself off before we land. Please."

Letting out a small chuckle, Chen could not help but feel more at ease with these two by his side. "Would you two mind? I got to use the bathroom."

As he went to sit up, Chao moved out of his chair as Sheng followed allowing Chen to get up and head towards the plane's bathroom.

With the occupied sign up, Chen stood and waited for the person inside to finish. He heard the water running so he figured whoever was inside would be no much longer than a minute.

Sure enough, the door opened shortly after, and the girl looked up to Chen with a gasp as he could not believe his eyes.

Quick to move back into the bathroom and lock the door, Chen was not allowing this passenger to avoid him now. "Jia! Jia open the door!" Capturing the attention of a few passengers in the front row, the name travelled down the aisles and down to both Sheng and Chao looking over to see if it was really true.

As the door opened slowly, the young girl moved out of the bathroom with a dropped head as she peered up to her brother. "Chen. Hey. Fancy meeting you here."

As a wash of concern rushed over him, Chen grabbed his sister's hand and moved back to his seat as both Chao and Sheng looked up to the girl just as surprised. "Oh hey guys." Offering a small wave, Chen just crossed his arms unsure of how to deal with this situation.

"Jia what are you doing here?! I specifically told you to stay with mother while we go to bring our father back home."

Giving a nod, Jia was thinking of her best course of action here. "I know you did but...well I decided that you needed the help and you.."

Cutting her off, Chen was in shock. He raised his hand to silence her just as their father typically did. "Jia, I told you this was going to be dangerous and you deliberately disobeyed me."

That was when Jai picked her head up and decided to bite back. "You are not my father. He is in danger, and he needs help."

That stung more than he was letting on. Noticing the hurt on Chen's face, Sheng quickly got up and moved in between the siblings. "I think Chen is just surprised to see you, Jia. As we all are. He is not saying it is not good to see you. Right."

Giving his friend a nudge, Chen just dropped his disappointed demeanor and mentioned to the plane's seats. "Where are you sitting?"

To answer the question, Jia pointed down to the back of the plane. "Just a few rows down."

"A seat I will be taking." As Chao got to his feet to move past the three, he placed his hand on Jia's shoulder and smiled. "Sit. Stay with your brother. I will meet up with you three when we get off the plane." Giving Chen a nod which he returned, Chao headed off to his new seat as Chen mentioned to the three empty seats. "Stay here with Sheng. I will be back soon, and we can talk about this when I get back."

With a bright smile, Sheng just pulled out another banana to offer to Jia. "Can I interest you in a banana?"