Reborn
Chapter IV
Happy Birthday, My Old Friend
Zhēnlǐ grimaced at the grisly scene in front of him. Before the crowd of city guardsman sat the corpse of one of Shen's right-hand men, on the wall behind it a crude picture of a bird painted in blood.
His friend and fellow patrolman, Huǎngyán, walked over to him, and clapped him on the shoulder. "So, what would you say the cause of death is, dear friend?"
"Very funny, Huǎngyán," Zhēnlǐ said, glancing at his jovial friend. "Now can we get a little serious? If this is that so-called resistance movement, it means they've got a lot more to back them up than a few old men and some idealists. They're taking out the big dogs."
"Oh, that's nonsense, and you know it," Huǎngyán said dismissively. "He probably palmed the wrong girl's ass, and she went at him with a knife as a result. See? I just solved your grand mystery."
"You see any knife wounds there?" Zhēnlǐ derided. "Someone stabbed his eyes out, and beat him to death with his own chain. That's not exactly heat-of-the-moment."
"Doesn't exactly mean it was that group of whiny old men, does it?" Huǎngyán said, rolling his eyes. "And what's your problem with them anyway? So they don't like how things are run around here, big deal. You don't like Shen's policies either."
"Maybe, but there're other ways than vigilanteism and terrorism," Zhēnlǐ whispered harshly, trying not to be overheard by some of the more fanatical guardsmen.
Huǎngyán started to say something, but was cut off by his rumbling stomach. "...Tell you what. Why don't we continue this argument over a bowl of soup? I know this great noodle shop nearby!"
Zhēnlǐ rolled his eyes. "Sure, why not? It's not like we've got anything excessively important to worry about, like, say, dead government officials."
Huǎngyán laughed. "That's the spirit. Let's go!"
Zhēnlǐ sighed, and turned to follow his friend, but he stopped, and looked at the bloody drawing. He couldn't help but feel that it was important.
"What do you mean," he's dead"?" Wolf Boss thundered, his voice echoing throughout the throne room.
The sheep courier's legs shook, but he stood his ground. "Just that, sir. He's passed on. He has ceased to be. He's expired and gone to meet his maker. He's a stiff. Bereft of life, he rests in peace. His metabolic processes are now history. He's kicked the bucket; he's shuffled off his mortal coil, run down the curtain and joined the choir invisible. He is an ex-wolf."
"That was meant to be rhetorical, and you know it, you smarmy little-"
"Now, now, Wolf Boss, old friend," Shen said, looking rather bored with the whole affair. "Smarmy he may be, but he has brought us important information, and should be rewarded thus. Does...thirty pieces of silver sound appropriate to you?"
The sheep was stunned. Thirty pieces of silver would supply he and his family for the remainder of the month. "Yes, milord. Thank you, milord."
"Regardless of what you hear on the streets, I am not a cruel ruler," Shen said, his eyes betraying his apathy. "Now go."
"Yes, milord," the sheep said, hurrying out.
Wolf Boss turned to his commander-in-chief and looked at him questioningly.
"Good public reputation, my friend," Shen said, smiling. "He will tell his friends, who will tell their friends, and it will spread like wild-fire that loyalty to me is rewarded, while rebellion is eliminated with extreme prejudice."
"I...see," Wolf Boss said, beginning to understand. "But, what do we do about Zhu's killer?"
"It was probably an unfortunate turn of events," Shen said. "We will simply have to wait and see if anymore comes of it."
This did not satisfy Wolf Boss, but he knew better than to disagree with his employer. So, he simply nodded. "I suppose we will."
Tigress sat, leaning against the wall of the cell that had once held Masters Croc and Ox, lost inside memories that seemed as old as time. She leaned her head against the wall, her eyes closed, and watched as they played out behind her eyelids.
The clanking of iron chains filled her ears, and the swaying of the raft making her nauseous. The smell of gunpowder was thick in the air. There was the sound of rapid snaps and crackles amid the crashing waves, and a choking, blinding smoke, all leading up to a sudden flash of blinding light, and unimaginable heat, followed by a hellish chill. And all the while, Shen's demented, soulless laugh echoed in the distance.
Almost subconsciously, she drew a claw down the length of her forearm, drawing her from her memories. Like her other self-inflicted wounds, they healed, but it left a scar. The momentary pain brought her a small modicum of comfort. It grounded her in reality, bringing her back to the here and now, and keeping her out of her memories.
She contemplated the previous night, almost puzzled. She had expected that the retribution she had wrought would relieve some of her rage, and sooth her guilt. But it hadn't; if anything, it had made her anger worse, and had done nothing for her guilt.
"Don't you have some bad guys to ice?" a voice asked, echoing from outside the cell.
Tigress, still gazing blankly at the floor, replied in a tired voice, "Yesterday upon the stair I met a man who wasn't there. He wasn't there again today. I wish that man would go away."
"You wound me, dear," Shinu said, entering the cell, arms crossed. "So, one down, five to go, eh?"
"Yes," Tigress replied, before pausing, and asking, "Can I ask you a question?"
"Just did," the masked woman replied. "But sure, fire away."
"It's about Po..." Tigress started, before pausing awkwardly.
"Oh, this should be good," Shinu said, inspecting her fingernails. "What about the late great fuzz ball has your curiosity piqued?"
"I-I've seen things, since my resurrection," Tigress said, thinking back to the memories, and feelings of adoration and hope she had felt when she had touched the jade ring, and the wall of the prison. "And I was wondering...how did he feel? About me?"
Shinu sighed. "I can't tell you that."
"Can't, or won't?" Tigress said, eyebrow raised.
"Can't," Shinu replied sternly, before returning to her typically jovial mood. "Besides, even if I did know, it's more fun for you to find these things out on your own."
Tigress' response was a frustrated growl.
"Oh, stop that," Shinu admonished. "Just because I can't tell doesn't mean he can't."
"And how do you propose I go about that?" Tigress snapped. "He's dead, and I'm stuck here, in this horrible place, getting my arm twisted around by a damn bird that loves dirty pool, ranting to some gods know what you are-"
"What I am is not important," Shinu interjected icily. "What's important is that you balance the scales, set the wrong things right. You do that, and you get a reunion with your buddies. Then you can ask him all the questions you want."
"So I'm not getting any slack until I play my part as a cog in your grand design, then?" Tigress sighed, calming down a little.
"Not really, no," the veiled woman said, leaning up against the wall.
"And there's no way I could convince you to give me a little wriggle room?" Tigress asked, knowing the answer.
"You want the prize, you play the game," Shinu said, shrugging.
Tigress watched at the light from the cell's window dimmed, and the shadows deepened. Deciding that now was as good a time as any, she stood, and brushed past Shinu, heading for the exit. It was time to hunt; it was time to avenge.
Shinu watched as the kung fu master stalked past her. "And where do you think you're going?"
"I've got things to do," the tiger said.
"Don't forget why you were brought back, kid," Shinu said. "You weren't brought back for romance."
Tigress stopped, and leaned on the doorway of the cell. Not looking at Shinu, she replied, "I know."
Watching Tigress stride out of the prison, Shinu sighed.
"I hope so, Slabbie," she whispered.
It was dark. If Xuě lì's mother hadn't been dosed up on the black lotus flowers that Lu brought with him every time he came by, she would have been irate, given how dangerous the southern quarter was at night. Xuě lì shivered in the cold. Normally, she would have returned to her home, but when Lu and her mother were inhaling the smoke of burned lotus flowers, they did strange, nasty things to each other, that frightened her, and on occassion, Lu would want to do those things to her. No, it was better on the streets. It was safer.
Xuě lì heard the distinct sound of sandals on cobblestone, and sank back into wall as much as she could, hoping she wouldn't be seen.
She saw a woman, a tiger, dressed in blue and black, the right side of her face monochrome, the left orange and black, stop in front of the tenement building. She had a bird on her shoulder, which was odd to Xuě lì, for she had never seen a bird quite like that. She stared, mystified by the stranger, when the crow cawed. Startled, she jumped, kicking a stone on accident. The tiger turned, spotting her. Both were silent, for a time.
"Shouldn't you be home?" Tigress asked quietly. "It's not safe out here."
"Safer than home," Xuě lì said, still not taking her eyes off the stranger.
"Why not?" Tigress asked, dropping to one knee, so as to look the child in the eye.
"My mother's boyfriend," Xuě lì said, spitting the phrase like it was poison. "He deals in those black lotus flowers, and my mom's hooked. They do weird, awful things when they've inhaled a lot of the smoke."
Tigress' brow furrowed. "What's his name?"
"Lu," the girl said.
Tigress cocked her head, and smiled. "What if I told you that I could fix it? Get rid of Lu, and help your mother?"
"Can you?" Xuě lì asked, almost hopefully, almost crying with relief when she recieved a slow nod in return.
"I can," Tigress said, before rising. "Now, I have something I need to take care of. When I'm done, we'll both be better off."
Lu inhaled deeply, enjoying the smell of the smoke, and the warmth of the woman beneath him. Not a bad birthday, he thought to himself.
"I do hope I'm not interrupting anything," a voice from just inside the front door said in a superior tone.
Lu turned, to see a tigress dressed in blue, with a bird on her shoulder, staring at him contemptuously.
The woman beneath him, a mountain cat by the name of Mei Ling, squirmed out from underneath him, and looked at Tigress with glazed eyed. "wh-who the fuck are you?"
Mei Ling turned to Lu. "Who is she?"
"Oh, can it," Tigress said. "My business is with him, not you. For now."
Mei Ling, startled by the tone of Tigress' voice, shut up.
Lu, refusing to be intimidated, stood up, stark naked, and took a throwing knife from the set on the table to his left, and held it up so Tigress could clearly see it. "I think it's time you took your bird and left, freako."
Tigress, smiling, held her arms out wide. "Go ahead, Lu. I'm right in front of you."
Lu needed no further encouragement. He cocked his wrist back, and threw the knife, as hard as he could. It landed with a satisfying, wet, thump in Tigress's throat.
Tigress, feeling the need to put on a show, thrashed about, clutching at her throat, a horrified look on her face.
Lu, drugged out and sadistic, started laughing, joined by Mei Ling. "He shoots, he scores!"
Tigress turned to face, her horrified look turning into a sadistic smile of her own, as she plucked the knife out, and ran her fingers over where the knife had once been.
"Guess you aren't as good as you think you are," Tigress said, echoing what he had said to Monkey once, long ago.
"H-holy shit," Lu breathed, unable to think of anything else to say. Mei Ling, drugged out as she was, didn't say anything, but tried to work out what she had just seen using the dust motes floating around in the air.
"Now, what I was thinking," Tigress said, walking towards Lu slowly. "Was that you would apologize, for killing my friend and the-"
Lu threw another knife, this one landing in her chest.
"Ow," Tigress growled, plucking the knife out and tossing it to the floor before continuing. "Then we'd see to killing you, followed by-"
Lu hurled yet another knife, panicking. "Don't you ever fucking die?"
"Your eternal punishment in whatever godforsaken hell you go to," Tigress said, grabbing a knife from the table, and rammed it into his thigh.
"How...how did you..." Lu said, somewhat dazed.
Tigress grabbed Lu, and dragged him into the bedroom, where he kept the lotus flowers.
"Remember Monkey?" she snarled, holding a black lotus flower in front of Lu's face. "You got him hooked on these. You tried to use him as an arena fighter. When he refused, you cut him off, and let the withdrawals kill him. For two, long, painful months he suffered because of you."
"That's what you're here for?" Lu said, a little unimpressed. "You lost a fucking colleague, and now you're pissy, so you're taking it out on me?"
"He was family!" Tigress shouted, slamming him into the wall, before calming down somewhat, and throwing Lu to the floor. She grabbed the bowl of black lotus, and knelt down beside him, holding one of the flowers in front of his face.
"You know," she said. "I recall you saying the only way to get a good high off of these is to burn them and inhale the smoke. Ingesting them kills you. Be a sweetheart and open your mouth, would you?"
Lu blanched, and shook his head vigorously.
"I said," Tigress reiterated, gripping his jaw tightly. "Open your fucking mouth."
Tigress tore his mouth open, tearing his cheeks to allow for his jaw to open wider. She dropped the lotus flower in her hand into his mouth, before grabbing another handful and forcing him to swallow them. She repeated this, over and over again, until the bowl was empty, in a seemingly endless rhythm: grab, shove, grab.
"Now," she said, upon emptying the bowl. "You just sit here, and die. I've got things to do."
She patted his cheek, and stood, stalking out of the room, to find Mei Ling, curled up in the corner, scared out of her mind.
"Now," Tigress said, approaching Mei Ling. "You and I are going to have a little discussion."
"You stay away from me," Mei Ling whispered, shivering.
Tigress crouched down in front of her. When Mei Ling, panicking, went to hit her, Tigress grabbed her hand, looking at her with pity in her eyes.
"You don't remember me, do you?" Tigress asked, sadly.
"Why should I remember you?" she snarled, struggling against Tigress' vice-like grip.
"Do you remember Crane?" Tigress said quietly, barely meeting Mei Ling's eyes. Mei ling went limp, and glared at Tigress, her expression pained.
"Crane's dead, been dead for two years," she said, looking away. "I've moved on."
"You're right," Tigress said, gently gripping her jaw, making Mei Ling look her in the eye. "He's dead. But you're alive, and so is your daughter."
As Tigress spoke, an inky black liquid beaded upon Mei Ling's skin like sweat, staining her fur, and dripped off of her. It poured from her tear ducts in rivulets, leaving trails. Soon, the spectacle ended, the black mess covering the floor.
As she watched, Tigress said, "Mother is the name for God on the lips and hearts of all children. Your daughter is on the streets, waiting for you to sober up, and be the mother that she needs you to be.
"How did you do that?" Mei Ling asked, frightened and mystified.
"Magic," Tigress replied. She got up to leave, but as she passed the door way that led to the bedroom, Lu came barreling out, shrieking like a banshee, and tackled her to the ground. Blood dripping from his eyes, nostrils, and mouth, he scrambled for the knife that lay just a few feet away.
Tigress promptly shoved him off of her, leaping to her feet. "You just don't know when to stay down, do you?"
Lu didn't answer, and instead charged towards her, knife at the ready.
Tigress deftly wrapped her arm around his, locking his attacking arm in place, and pulled back, taking the knife from his grasp, and landed a strong kick to his stomach, knocking him back.
Lu stumbled, but for the most part, wasn't fazed; a result of the black lotus smokes nerve-numbing qualities. Not quite willing to lie down and accept the end just yet, he came at her again, attempting to grab and restrain her.
Tigress knocked his hands away, taking a step to the side, and grabbed his throat. Placing her heel at his ankle, she knocked his feet out from under him, and pushed, sending him crashing to the floor. Taking the knife in hand, she slammed it down through his skull, ending him.
"Those..." Mei Ling started, stunned. "Those were defensive techniques. Tiger style. Who are you?"
Tigress opened her mouth to respond, but the crow flapped its wings and cawed anxiously. The message was clear: not now. Tigress knew the bird was right. She had much work to do before the night was through.
"I don't have the time to explain it to you now," she said instead. "Look for my sign tomorrow night, and follow it. But for now, I have business to attend to."
Mei Ling began to protest, to say that she had the right to an explanation now, but by the time she had uttered the first syllable of her would-be tirade, Tigress had taken Lu's corpse, tossed it out the window, and followed after it.
Author's Note: ...What? Did you expect a "warm fuzzies" moment? After what you've seen so far? Really? Ok, I might throw you a bone next chapter...or I might break someone's pretty little skull with it. You never know with me.
Anyway, you'll notice, I introduced Mei Ling, and two boobs that are essentially part of Gongmen's police department. They are entirely inconsequential, pay no attention to them.
I'd also like to thank Emily Dickinson for the rhyme that Tigress tossed at Shinu, earlier in this chapter. And Monty Python for the goat courier's line. Because, as we know, a truly good fanfic is made of Emily Dickinson, Edgar Allen Poe, and Monty Python references! This we know to be true.
The initial interaction between Lu and Tigress ("take yoiur bird and leave, freako") is a nod to the original Crow, making Lu essentially analogous to Funboy.
Oh, and the thirty pieces of silver is a reference in and of itself. Can you guess as to what?
I had another Monty Python reference lined up, but that's gonna have to wait 'till next chapter.