TOP ROOF URBAN GARDENS
Kowloon Walled City, Hong Kong
Late December, 1967The great cycles of upheaval in the Celestial Empire always begin with conquest.
It began with Yu The Great succeeding the last of the Five Emperors and taming the great riverways. It began with the Xiongnu staging a grand invasion from infertile soil that only bred the strongest of warriors. It began with Mengde betraying the world, fracturing the Middle Kingdom in three. It began as bloodshed watered the steppes and cultivated Temüjin, who built a castle of skulls from those who did not yield. It began
twice with the northern frontiers of inhospitable rock and ice uniting The Eight Banners of they who would become Jin and Qing. It began with the men of Rìběn showing that those same Manchu emperors have always been weak. Soon, it will begin again with the Red Chairman and his cronies thinking that we too are weak.
Yet, after all these cycles have end and started anew, we still stand. Men of The Persistent Way, it is time we strike first! No longer shall we be passive and suffer humiliation! For we shall let the dragon howl and bring the mortal realm to its knees. Behold, our secret weapon...
But first, how about we teach our unexpected guest that it's rude to eavesdrop?
THE AMERICANA HOTEL
New York City, New York
8:32PM, December 31st, 1967"That concludes... recording sent with severed... cut off scream... informant gone missing." Surprisingly, it was only now on its fifth rerun that the audio tape started to wear out. Not exactly as good as the Reds with their recording bugs but he'll take cheaper equipment if it means he gets to keep on staying in first class accommodations. After all, what was the point in being an international saboteur if you didn't get to see the world in the style he was already accustomed to: a fine tuxedo that he could actually fight in, a luxury watched that doubled as a communicator, a cummerbund made out of bulletproof synthetically enhanced spidersilk, and a sturdy pair of non-slip dress shoes. He was dressed to impress and was heading out of his room to catch an elevator down to the bustling ballroom.
As he entered the lift, the young operating attendant was left mouth agape.
"Y-you're..!" the bespectacled teen in an ill-fitting uniform one size larger than it ought have been struggled to push the words out of his mouth.
"Dragon. Richard Dragon." Luckily for the attendant, the actor-turned-agent has already been in many similar situations before and took out a white handkerchief in order to sign it with an ink pen that doubled as a laser. Though, come to think of it, it has been awhile for someone to be as star struck as this boy. While it was a brief ride, the experience must have been quite the thrill for the attendant as he took off running once they reached the ground floor, yelling
"I've gotta tell my friends!" For Richard though, the New Year's eve party he was attending was unfortunately not for pleasure. Across the hotel lobby and past the double doors guarded by private security goons was a verifiable party of elites that just so happens to include an elusive target that he had been tracking for quite some time. Suspected of supplying stolen armaments to Communist-linked terror cells, the Dragon's mark was high up on the Interpol list.
As he entered into the room, an audible wave of jazz from the big band ensemble gave off a great party vibe but this would immediately be interrupted an all too familiar ally.
"Dragon, come in. Do you read me?" a muffled voice would state via the audio receiver ringing in Richard's right ear. How it could possibly drown out and overwhelm live music from a band no more than twenty feet away from him was the real mystery Richard needed to solve. Instead of verbally replying back, he would simply turn on his watch's outgoing frequency and
*tap* *Tap* *TAP*"Agh! Alright, I get it. Anyways, our field agents are sure that Guano Cravat's gonna show. If you see a pudgy fella' with a dame he shouldn't be with and a cadre of jamoke bodyguards wearing sunglasses indoors, that's your man. Ling out." Exactly as Barney described, a rotund businessman with a scraggly beard and a receding hairline was at the center table surrounded by women, men, Champagne, and lobsters. It was quite the sight, enough to make Richard smirk at the blatant audacity of the display. For a man that was quite hard for MI6 to track, Cravat sure did party without a care in the world. Specifically for the suit he wore which was now covered in butter and seafood juice.
His objectives were simple enough. Get close to the illegal arms dealer, plant a small tracking device on him, find out where his hideout is, and report him to the Feds for extradition. He would observe from afar at first and try to gauge how many bodyguards he had posted. Based on the information he got from Barney, he counted five at most. As the clock struck nine, he would make his move.
The plan basically wrote itself, he thought as he started to swagger his way to the heart of the party while grabbing a glass of bubbling liqueur from a passing server with a two-bit moustache and thinning comb-over. As Richard approached, the crowd took notice of the karate celebrity.
"Hey, that's Richard Dragon! I loved him in the Temple of the Red Lotus remake!"
"Bah! The '28 version was far superior. Dragon's cameo was the only saving grace of that bastardization by the Shaw Brothers company."
"Richard Dragon? I thought that guy died and they had his stunt double finish his last movie for him."
"I read on Starrstruck magazine that he caught a bullet with his bare hands on The Ed Sullivan show but the FCC wouldn't allow them to show it."
"You're going to overplay your hand, Dragon. Or should I call you Byakko?"
A chill rolled down his spine. Immediately losing his cool, Richard immediately snapped into a fighting stance and clenched his fists before turning around to see who had just whispered to him. The glass in his hand was crushed like it was paper, embedding shards unto his palm. Yet, he felt no pain for he knew that worse was just around the corner as she stood in front of him once more. Just like all those years ago on Lantau, the fighter who bested him on that faithful night was right in front of him. Fierce, tiger-like eyes. Hands adorned with black, bearskin gloves. Lips touched by onyx-coloured gloss. A silkvelvet cheongsam dress with the mark of twin, dark dragons entwined at the center.
"Lady Shiva... You haven't aged a day." Now, it was him who was awestruck. Moments passed that seemed like eternities. Richard did not know what exactly was going to happen next. However, without a doubt, no one in the room could have possibly expected that a martial arts melee was about to happen... In the particular way it was going to unfold.
A ruckus from outside the ballroom entrance had spilled over as a crowd of ruffians dressed in karate gi flooded on to the dance floor, causing panic among the crowd. Some of them were notably roughed up, most likely from fighting the security staff, but one of them stood out for he dressed in a black gi and had a red headband along with a red belt. His sideburns would put many a man's to shame, even Ringo's. Yet perhaps what was most outlandish were the obviously fake, prosthetic fangs that he had on.
"Rithard Dragon! My thtudent informed me of your prethenthe! How dare you encroath on the territory of the Poithon Fitht dojo! I, Marquith D'Maq, thhall punithh your intholenthe!"Stunned. Completely and utterly dumbfounded. What even was this. But yet again history repeats itself as Lady Shiva strikes the Marquis square in the jaw with an open palm strike before Richard could even react. The foolish fighter's fangs flew for fifteen feet, a ferocious feat! As the Marquis dropped to the floor, the lift attendant from earlier immediately rushed to his aid and started fanning him with the same handkerchief Richard had handed him earlier in the night. So that's wh-
Wait, focus. Guano! The chaos and commotion had scared off the wanted criminal he was originally after who was now being escorted out through a fire exit.
"Your target is getting away." Shiva would state, fending off the third rate karate chumps who decided to attack her one by one. She wasn't breaking a sweat as she gracefully dodged and countered their oafish attempts at taking her down with lightning quick kicks and strikes.
With a simple nod of acknowledgement, the Dragon would leave his former ally behind once again as he chased his goal once more.
mickilennial
Simple Unicycle
Half Pint
rocketrobie2
Izurich
OwO
GubGar
