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Thread: Something Something

  1. #21
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    Fred kept a very keen eye on Tim because he did not believe the old man was telling the whole truth. He actually wanted to test the assertion that Tim did not know martial arts, but if Tim was as good as Frank then there was no way Fred could win. Barney, on the other hand, was slowly trying to figure out what Tim was about. He felt that Tim was being honest but that there was more to the story than what Tim had said, but how to get the information out of him. Fred became impatient and said, “Sir, are you trying to tell us that you are Frank’s teacher, but you do not know any martial arts?” Tim said, “I am not Frank’s teacher, and I do not know how to fight.” “Then, where may we find his teacher who taught him to fight?” asked Frank. “You will not find him unless you know where to look,” said Tim. Fred asked, “Do you know where to look? Can you please tell us?” Tim said, “Yes. But I cannot tell you.” Fred asked, “Why?” His voice was less calm than it had been before, showing his degree of agitation. Tim calmly said, “Because you already know where to look. You would not believe me if I told you anyway.” Fred yelled, “Just tell us what you know!” By now Fred had just about had it, and was prepared to draw his sword, but Barney quickly stepped in. “Everybody please calm down. We are just having a friendly conversation. There is no need to get violent.” Barney knew he had to defuse the situation, and he was starting to understand the double-talk that Tim seemed to be uttering. Barney said, “Sir, if you could just answer these questions truthfully and directly, we would greatly appreciate it.” Tim nodded in acceptance. “Very well,” said Barney, “Are you Frank’s teacher?” “No,” said Tim. “Did you use to be his teacher?” asked Barney. Tim hesitated a moment before answering “Yes.” “Did you teach him how to fight?” asked Barney. “No,” said Tim emphatically. “Did you teach him about martial arts?” asked Barney. “A little bit,” said Tim, his head hanging a little low when answering. “Did you create the martial arts that Frank has studied?” asked Barney. “Yes,” said Tim with a sigh, “But I did not train him in combat.” “Can you teach us the same martial arts,” asked Barney. “No,” said Tim. “Why not?” asked Fred, wanting a more detailed answer. But Tim would not answer that question. Barney quickly asked, “Do you know what Frank has been up to?” “No good, I guess,” answered Tim. “Then you know that we need to stop him,” said Fred, “Can you help us?” “Maybe,” said Tim, “But not today.” “Then when?” asked Fred, not wanting to run around in circles again. “Soon,” said Tim. “May we stay until then?” asked Barney. “Yes,” said Tim, “But you will have to stay in the shed in the back, and you will have to make yourself useful.” Fred was skeptical that Tim would keep his promise, but what choice did they have. “Very well,” said Barney, “Thank you for your hospitality, sir.” Daylight was beginning to disappear and Fred and Barney were a little tired from all the hiking. But they were also hungry and did not carry any food with them. So Barney turned to Tim sheepishly and asked, “Please excuse us one more time, but would you happen to have anything to eat, sir?” Tim turned around and walked toward the kitchen. He said, “I have some food, but it is mostly just for me. If you eat it, you will have to get some more tomorrow. Is that understood?” “Yes,” said Barney. “Then you may eat today and keep your promise tomorrow,” said Tim, walking back toward his bedroom. Fred and Barney ate some of the vegetables that they found in the kitchen, and then went outside and in the back where the shed was. It was a fairly large wooden structure with one door and no windows, filled inside with wood, tools, and some herbs. They went to sleep on the floor, and woke up bright and early the next morning, hoping for a better answer from Tim. They tiptoed into the house, expecting Tim to still be asleep, only to find him wide awake waiting for them. “So, you are finally awake,” said Tim, “Then it is time for you to complete your chores.” Fred and Barney both looked at each other, but they figured it was a necessary comprise, and they were already use to doing chores at Shaolin. But these chores were a little different. Tim had them gather food, water, wood, and herbs, all seemingly normal activities, except that the locations to collect these items were scattered throughout the vast region, and not always in the most hospitable places. They had to travel many kilometers, over rolling hills, up steep cliffs, down treacherous ravines, through dense forest, and under some adverse weather conditions. It took them almost all day to complete the chores, and when they asked Tim again about his help he said, “Not today, perhaps tomorrow.” This cycle went on for some sixty days, with Fred nearly at his breaking point after the first thirty, but Barney seemed a lot more patient, and was ultimately able to convince Fred to continue persevering. Now Tim did not really need all these chores done because he lived a fairly simple life and had simple needs. He ate and drank what he could gather, but he also bought goods from the small village in the valley from time to time, and they even delivered. He made his income from selling hand crafted sculptured wood, which he also placed throughout the cabin as well as completely tiling the outside of the shed with them. So there must have been another reason why Fred and Barney were running around doing unnecessary tasks. This became apparent to Barney around the twentieth day. You see, it was taking them less and less time to complete the tasks, and they were getting a lot better at it. They were becoming faster, stronger, more agile, and had more stamina. By the sixtieth day they were ten times more athletic than they had ever been, and the improvement showed in the martial arts as well. That day Tim said, “Today is the day. I can help you now.” Fred asked, “Can you teach us the martial arts that Frank knows?” “Sure,” said Tim, “Do you have the book that contains the instructions?” “No,” said Fred, who was a little confused. “Then how do you expect me to teach you it. I did not memorize it. How do you expect me to remember over a thousand words I wrote over thirty years ago? Sometimes I have a hard time remembering my own name,” said Tim. Barney then asked, “Can you teach us something to stop him?” Tim stood there for a moment seeming to contemplate the problem. In actuality he was battling the guilt he had for letting his former student become such a menace, and how he was going to betray the student/teacher relationship by teaching others to defeat him. But it had to be done. Tim walked over to a wall and said, “Do you see these picture scrolls?” He was pointing to four scrolls hanging side-by-side depicting one scene - a tiger and a dragon fighting a demon. “Do you know the story of The Tiger and the Dragon?” Tim asked. Fred and Barney both shook their heads. “Then I will tell you,” said Tim. “A long time ago, before Man was civilized and cultured, the realm under the heavens was ruled by the tigers and the dragons. The tigers ruled the land, including the mountains, valleys, and islands. The dragons ruled the water, including the seas, lakes, and rivers. Beneath the land and water lay the caves of the underworld, ruled by demons. The leader of the tigers was the Golden Tiger, whose mighty claws could shake the ground, split the earth, and turn mountains into valleys. The leader of the dragons was the White Dragon, whose powerful jaws could raise the waters, cause the rains, and blow the winds. Now, the Golden Tiger and the White Dragon were good friends, so they never used their immense powers to fight each other, only do their duties under heaven. But the lord of demons was unhappy with this arrangement. He had been relegated to ruling the dark holes and tunnels running throughout the underworld, but was not allowed to encroach on the territory above. This made him jealous, so he came up with a plan. He told his demons to spread a rumor to the creatures that inhabited both the recesses of the earth as well as the world above that the two friends, the Golden Tiger and the White Dragon, were trying to take over each other’s domain. As an example he would say that the floods every year were an attempt to increase the domain of water, whereas the landslides into the sea were an attempt to increase the domain of land. The Golden Tiger and the White Dragon fell into the demon lord’s trap and started a war with each other. This devastated the land under the heavens and made it ripe for the demons to slowly gain control. Seeing all the trouble being caused, the gods sent down a messenger to tell the Golden Tiger and the White Dragon that they had been tricked, and that the demons had consolidated a great deal of power now and were ready to take over both their domains. The two then united together and went to war with the demons. They managed to defeat the demon lord in combat and send him back to the underworld, flooding the tunnels and sealing the entrance. But both the Golden Tiger and the White Dragon were ashamed of what had happened and how they behaved, so they made an eternal promise. From that day forward, the tigers became the mortal protectors of the land, living in the shadows of the forest, while the dragons became the invisible protectors of the sea, never to be seen by any living being.” Fred said, “That is a wonderful story and all, but how does that help us? We are not tigers or dragons.” Tim smiled and slowly turned around each scroll to reveal a great deal of writing on the backside of each scroll. A careful examination revealed that it was martial arts writing, which Barney could tell was incredibly deep. Tim then said, “You will each learn half of this complete set, representing the dance of the tiger and the dragon.” He made a motion with both hands to form two tiger’s claws, and then a dragon’s mouth. “Why only half,” asked Fred. “Because it would take twenty years to properly master the entire set, so if you each take half then it would only take ten years,” said Tim. “Ten years?” said Fred in a disappointing tone. Tim said, “With my assistance, since I am very knowledgeable on the subject, it should only take five years. And if you practice combat together, since a lot of it overlaps, then it might take a little more than two years. Plus I have some techniques to increase your learning potential, which should leave about a year. But I have one condition before we start.” “What condition?” asked Barney. “That you shall not call me teacher, and I shall not call you student. Is that understood?” Fred and Barney did not know what to say to such a request, so they both just nodded. Training would start immediately.

  2. #22
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    Fred and Barney had been training with Tim for six months now. Although the two did not know it, their individual skills had already exceeded those of Master Tom or Master Po, but they were still no match for Frank, yet. Every afternoon, after completing their chores, which now took them just a few short hours to do, they would practice together in the open field around the cabin. Tim was usually on hand to observe and give them feedback, no matter how critical it was. Today was no different. Fred and Barney faced off on the top of the hill, standing ten meters apart. Fred formed his hands into the proverbial tiger’s claws, while Barney formed his into the dragon’s mouth, and both were poised to strike. It took them a split second to halve the distance and make contact, their palms meeting with a load bang. Their movements generated a gust of wind that seemed to emanate from where their bodies stood and radiated outward like the ripple of a stone cast in the water. The blades of grass appeared to bend outwards at first, and then to dance violently as the two actually started to fight. Fred and Barney forced their palms forward, causing their bodies to react by moving backward, and then each began to engage the other in combat using their respective skills. Fred attacked with both tiger’s claws in combination, moving his palms independently and swiftly to try and grab Barney by the limbs or vital spots like the face, neck, or stomach. Barney attacked with the dragon’s mouth in unison, fending off Fred’s attacks with the opening and closing of his palms and countering with the thrusts and rolls of his arms. The difference in their techniques had to do with the possible positions of their palms, which formed a tiger’s claws and a dragon’s mouth. With the tiger claw a fighter could strike the opponent in any position that he could with the palm, only the curled fingers also gave the fighter the ability to grab the opponent by closing the fingers, or scratch the opponent by moving the palm away. With the dragon mouth a fighter would have to keep both palms close together, and strike the opponent as a single attack, which would seem to be more difficult and less effective to do, except that there were some advantages. Using the dragon mouth and striking the opponent with the edges of the curled fingers of both hands would effectively double the amount of damage for each hit, making up for possibly fewer successful hits. Also, keeping the palms together tended to reduce the vulnerable areas of the chest and stomach, making it easier to defend, while the opening and closing of the palms, as well as the twisting of the wrists to rotate both palms clockwise or counter-clockwise, could be used to counter an attack. In essence, the tiger claw technique was primarily offensive, thus making it better to be used that way, whereas the dragon mouth technique was primarily defensive, though its offensive moves were more than adequate in a fight. Tim sat on a large rock thirty meters away observing the match between Fred and Barney, yelling his critique at them. The two competing martial artists moved with great speed and confidence, jumping high while twisting their bodies in midair, fighting with their hands as well as their feet, and blocking each other’s attacks like it was nothing, though a direct hit from either of them now would kill most normal fighters. The air was constantly reverberating with the sound of their impacts as they attacked and counter-attacked, palms striking palms, elbows, knees, legs, feet, and the occasional shoulder, hip, or back. The fight was not to be taken lightly, and had gone on for hours, with Tim’s intermittent comments like, “Fred, you are not being smart in your attacks. You cannot constantly repeat the same moves that failed to work the first time,” or, “Barney, you need to be more aggressive. You pass up too many opportunities to go on the offensive.” The practice session ended as the sun was just about to reach the tree line in the horizon. Fred and Barney both stopped fighting, looking rather exhausted but none the worse for wear. They both walked over to Tim, who gave them a few last words of advice before all three went into the cabin for dinner. After they had eaten, they decided to engage in some conversation before turning in. Fred said, “I think we have improved a lot since we came here, and we are almost finished with the instructions on the scrolls. Perhaps we can both learn the entire set instead of just half?” “I think we need to stay focused on the original plan,” said Barney. “It is true that your skills have improved tremendously, but do not confuse learning a skill with mastering it. It will still take some time for both of you to master your skills, and then you will need to learn how to use them together effectively. I am not sure even you will be able to do that in time,” said Tim. “We can use some of the shortcuts you have developed,” said Fred. “We cannot depend on shortcuts to help us win all the time,” said Barney. “Indeed. Shortcuts are fine for helping you learn the breadth of your martial arts, but not the depth. Therefore, it would be unwise to rely on these shortcuts to become truly great martial artists,” said Tim. Fred and Barney did not completely understand what Tim meant, so Fred asked, “Breadth and depth of martial arts?” Tim knew that Fred and Barney were naïve, so he said, “The level of a martial artist can be defined by their strength and their skill, both of which have breadth and depth. Imagine the surface of a lake as the breadth of martial arts. It represents the complete knowledge and strength that a person can attain with his skills; the larger the surface, the greater the martial artist. But just because the surface may be large does not mean that the lake is deep. The depth of martial arts represents how deep the lake is, and can only be cultivated with time. The longer a person trains and the more experience they gain, the greater their strength and better their skills.” Barney thought a moment and blurted out, “You mean that years of experience helps martial artists increase stamina, thus being able to fight longer with more strength, and improves the use and understanding of their skills to be able to fight more efficiently, effectively, and compensate for shortcomings.” “Exactly,” said Tim, “You are quite astute about these matters.” “So just because we can master our martial arts in a short time does not mean we can truly be its master?” asked Fred. “That is the most profound thing I have heard you say,” said Tim, “And you are absolutely right. So work hard to complete your training, but be aware that it may not be enough.” Both Fred and Barney were pretty happy with themselves for having understood the situation, but they had one other burning question they wanted to ask Tim. So Barney said, “These past six months you have come to know us a little better. We have told you our stories, about our past, our family and friends, and why we are here. But we still know so little about you. Would you be able to speak to us about that now?” Tim sat there quietly for a while, and just when Fred and Barney thought that he had chosen to ignore them he said, “I guess I owe you some sort of explanation. I was born into a fairly wealthy family to the far east of this place. I grew up and became a scholar. Unfortunately, those were turbulent times, and I was drafted into the military. Luckily, they only needed me as a literary scribe to archive the military campaigns that took place. My studies in literature and history helped a great deal. After my tour ended, I thought I could pursue my education once again, but the emperor had another project for me and others like me. You see, the emperor was interested in collecting all the literature of the entire empire, especially those dealing with combat and enlightenment. I was assigned to the northwestern borders of the empire, where I spent ten years traveling around, listening to people, and writing down what I heard, compiling quite a significant collection. Well, not to bore you with details, I eventually escaped that mundane duty and settled out here over thirty years ago. That was when I wrote the book of martial arts that Frank learned.” Fred nodded his head and asked, “Did you give the book a name?” Tim said, “No, I did not. It was just a summarized collection of palm forms,” he put an open palm forward, then changed it to an index and middle finger pointing forward, “and balanced energy cultivation. Since I never practiced it, I did not think it needed a name.” “How did Frank get it,” asked Barney, even though he knew it might be a sensitive topic. Tim sighed and continued, “I had four students at one point. The oldest, David, was a lot like me; more interested in the intellectual than the practical. The next two, Adam and Lily, were the two lovebirds, even though they tried to hide it from me. Adam was a good boy, but Lily was the smart one of the pair. She had a knack for swordsmanship. And of course, the last student was Frank. He was a former soldier who one day gave up all the fighting, or so I had thought. Anyway, I had forbade any of my students from learning the book, and only taught them the theories of martial arts which I had come up with over the years. How foolish of me.” “Do you mean for trusting Frank?” asked Fred. Tim looked up and said, “No, for believing my theories at the time were correct. Frank was just a disappointment. He tricked me and stole my book. When I found out, I expelled him, and my other students, thus they are no longer my students.” Barney asked, “Do you think that was a little harsh?” to which Fred added, “Yes, you cannot punish others for the bad actions of an individual. That is not righteous.” Tim said, “It was not simply punishment. I had to protect them.” Barney thought about it while Fred just shook his head. “I do not expect you to understand. You do not know the responsibilities of being a teacher, and a father figure.” Barney asked, “So Frank was able to learn the book all by himself?” “Not completely. He came by every once in a while and asked for my help,” said Tim. “And you helped him?” asked Fred with a shocked expression, “Did he force you?” “He did not have to. I helped him as little as possible, but there were some things he had trouble understanding,” said Tim. Fred appeared outraged and said, “You could have told him the wrong thing.” Tim looked seriously at Fred and said, “Driving someone crazy does not necessarily make them less dangerous. Let me tell you from experience.” Barney could see Tim was upset and said, “Besides, Frank used to be your student, and you have to honor the teacher/student relationship to some degree.” That seemed to shut Fred up and appease Tim. “But what about The Tiger and the Dragon? How, and why, did you come up with that?” said Barney. “I realized some time afterward that my theories on martial arts were flawed. So I created the Tiger and the Dragon to correct those errors. Unfortunately, this was after Frank took the book and I could not remember most of the palm moves, which is why your skills appear lacking. But do not worry, your energy cultivation is more sound, and you have a distinct advantage over Frank,” said Tim. “What kind of advantage,” asked Fred? Tim said, “I used to think that the ultimate form of energy cultivation was to control your chi with equal parts of yin and yang, thus achieving a balance.” “That seems logical,” said Barney. “It is,” said Tim, “and helps the user build up a great deal of energy very rapidly, making him a great fighter. But, it does not represent a true balance of chi. I have come to believe now that a true balance lies in the constant changes of yin and yang, as it increases and decreases. Think of it like a person trying to balance two buckets of water on a pole. One bucket represents yin, and the other yang. Even if the buckets are perfectly equal, as the person walks he will begin to lose balance. If he tries to remain rigid he will lose his balance even quicker. The best way to maintain balance is to allow his body to move in relation to the buckets, thus countering the imbalance. In essence, the constant rise and fall of yin and yang in your body, properly controlled, will lead to perfect balance and the ultimate energy cultivation.” “So you want to try to be neutral,” said Barney, who had often pondered about these ideas. “You could say that,” said Tim. “So our energy is more balanced,” said Fred, “but how does that give us an advantage?” “Because Frank’s martial arts cannot maintain balance,” said Tim. He could see Fred was confused, and even Barney looked lost, so he continued, “Frank’s energy is very high indeed, but if you can disturb it enough, like shaking the buckets of water, he will quickly lose his balance. Once Frank’s chi is sufficiently disturbed he will be seriously injured, and will not be able to recover for some time. He has been lucky not to become seriously injured so far, but I believe your skills may eventually be high enough to do it.” Fred nodded his head in agreement, while Barney was still pondering the ideas Tim had presented. “My only regret is that I did not get a chance to share my new theories on martial arts with my other students. I hope nothing bad has become of them,” said Tim, staring now out the window at the night sky. Another day had gone and the prospects for the future still seemed uncertain, but for now they had accomplished a great deal. But more work would still be needed.

  3. #23
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    Mona and her servant walked along one of the corridors of the magistrate’s mansion, discussing the details of the morning. It had been over a year since they had last seen Fred and Barney, and they did not have much luck in gathering any pertinent information about Frank’s plans. “Did you find out anything today?” asked Mona. The servant shook her head. “Neither did I,” said Mona. “There does not seem to be anything specific going on with Frank. It is all business as usual. At least the wanted posters for Fred and Barney have been removed. It should be okay if they return now. I guess we should keep our eyes and ears open.” All of a sudden they were startled by a figure appearing before them. It was John from the village. “Good morning. How are you ladies doing?” said John, with a smug look on his face. “What are you doing here?” asked a surprised Mona. “If you must know,” said John, “I will be clerking for the town magistrate. I might even become the magistrate some day.” “Let me guess,” said Mona, “your father helped you get the position.” John knew that Mona was trying to put him down, but he had always felt superior to her so he just let his anger pass. “My father has a lot of friends in high places. In fact, he knows some of the lords at the royal court who will be approving the new magistrate I will be clerking for.” Mona had a curious look on her face. “What new magistrate?” she asked. “Oh,” said John, “you did not know. Frank is being promoted to a member of the royal court. He should be leaving in two months, hence his replacement.” “I did not hear about this,” said Mona, trying to be coy now so she could get more information from John, “What other important matters have you been privy to.” John smiled and said, “I have heard a lot of things. Frank has not told anyone yet because his final post at the royal court has not been decided yet. My father’s friends say he has a good chance at becoming regent for this entire county, all the way to the border with Dali. Who knows how high Frank could go. He is a very ambitious and cunning man, as my father would say.” “And what about the new magistrate,” said Mona, “Do you know anything about him?” “Only that Frank nominated him,” said John, “and he is a local businessman from town. In the meantime, Frank just has to keep the peace.” “That sounds very interesting,” said Mona, “but I just remembered that I am late for an appointment. If you would excuse me.” Mona left promptly, her servant quickly following, leaving a bewildered John standing alone in the corridor. “Did you hear that?” asked Mona to her servant. “This is just the kind of news that we need to report. Make preparations. We need to find Fred and Barney.” As the two girls passed through the corridor on their way to another part of the mansion, they did not realize they were being watched, and followed. It was John, who had become suspicious and was now tailing them. Seven days later, Mona and her servant had traveled over the northern mountains and past the valley beyond in search of Fred and Barney. Unbeknownst to them, John was always just a short distance behind; far back enough not to be noticed, but close enough not to lose sight of the girls. Just as Fred and Barney had done before them, the two girls were now wandering the hillsides looking for the mysterious cabin, and had gone up the tallest hill to look down over the expanse. They saw the cabin beyond, just like the boys had seen over a year earlier, and started down the hill towards it. Fred and Barney were busy practicing in front of the shed. They were attempting a new technique that Tim had come up with a few days earlier, in the hopes of increasing their skills as a team. Fred and Barney formed their respective tiger’s claws and dragon’s mouth and came at each other with full force. As the power of their attacks came closer they did not actually make physical contact, but instead formed a graceful dance with their arms, moving in circular patterns that never caused them to hit each other. Although this did not produce a loud bang sound as when they would actually strike, there was an ominous whoosh noise heard as their movements became quicker and stronger. At a critical point, the two broke off their assault and aimed their attacks in the same direction, toward the wall of the shed. The shear force that had been generated by their movements produced an awesome rush of air, like a cyclone that was spinning out of control, shaking the wooden shed so violently that the ornate tiles on the outside began to fly off in all directions. The shed nearly collapse, but luckily they ended the attack immediately to prevent that from happening. At this time the girls had nearly come upon Fred and Barney, who were too busy practicing to notice. Mona called out, “Hello. Fred. Barney. That display of martial arts was great. You have improved so much in the last year.” Unfortunately, John had snuck up on top of the tallest hill by the time Fred and Barney were displaying their new skills, and he was shocked by it. He recognized Fred and Barney, even from such a great distance, and was truly frightened by what he saw. John could not hear what they were saying, and could barely see what was going on, but he did not dare get any closer. Instead, he turned around and left. He had seen enough, and now wanted to report back with his suspicions. Fred looked at Mona and smiled at her for the first time. It was not that he was glad to see her; it was just that he finally felt happy about himself. It had taken him a long time to make his peace, almost. On the other hand, Barney was very glad to see Mona and said, “Mona, we are so happy to see you. We were afraid something bad may have happened. How is everything going? Did you bring us any news?” Staring at Fred, it had almost slipped her mind. Mona said, “Yes. That is why I am here. I just found out that Frank will be moving to the capital city soon. He has been promoted to the royal court.” “How long do we have?” asked Fred. “Less than two months,” said Mona. “It would be much more difficult to stop him if he becomes a member of the royal court. He would have the power of the military then,” said Barney. “Yes,” said Fred, “and the power to make more trouble. His unrighteousness has no end. We must act soon.” “Agreed,” said Barney, “We need a plan.” Just then Tim came out of the cabin and walked over. Mona looked over the old man and asked Barney, “Is that the teacher you were looking for?” “Yes. Do not let his looks deceive you. He is quite intelligent at martial arts,” said Barney. “Well who do we have here?” asked Tim. Barney quickly explained who Mona was and why she had come here. “I see,” said Tim, “then it seems we have very little time.” “We should head on back to the town as soon as possible and stop Frank,” said Fred frantically. “Do not be hasty,” said Tim, “The two of you are still not ready to face Frank. You should focus on what you can control for now.” “So we should continue practicing,” said Barney, “but will we be able to stop Frank in time?” “Again, you are worrying about things beyond your control. You can fight him when you are ready,” said Tim. “And as for you,” Tim turned to Mona and continued speaking, “be very careful around Frank. He is quite cunning, and cruel. It is probably best that you return as soon as possible so as not to arouse suspicion.” Barney said, “He is right, you should leave now if there is nothing else. We have practice to continue and you need to take care of yourself.” Mona understood and turned to leave, but not before taking one last glance at Fred, who appeared to be fuming now. Back at the magistrate’s mansion, John ran into the study where Frank was busy reading a document. John said, “Excuse me, your Excellency. There is a very important matter I must discuss with you.” John was out of breath, having rushed back in only three days; he rode a horse he had purchased day and night until the poor animal collapsed, and ran the rest of the way. Frank put down the document and asked, “So, what is this matter you wish to discuss.” “I do not know how to say this,” John started, “but I followed Mona to a meeting she had with two criminals.” “Criminals you say,” said Frank, “and who might they be?” “Remember those posters a while back, for the Shaolin and Taoist who are wanted for treason and murder. Those two,” said John. Frank’s expression turned dead serious and he asked, “Where did she meet these men?” John told Frank how he had gone over the northern mountains and past the valley to find a cabin along the rolling hills, which Frank immediately knew. “I see,” said Frank, “well I am glad you told me. You did the right thing. I need you to do something for me now.” “Anything,” said John. “Go back to your village and stay there. Do not speak to anyone about this. These men are very dangerous and I would feel especially guilty if something were to happen to you.” “Of course,” said John, “I will leave immediately.” As soon as John left the room, Frank’s expression completely changed. He clenched his fists and began to look around. He thrust his palm towards the wall some five meters away, knocking down books and documents from the shelves without touching them. Then he began to scheme his next move. Mona and her servant returned to town four days after John. They were walking along the streets toward the magistrate’s mansion when four guards came up and stopped them. “Please excuse us,” said the servant. “I am sorry, but you will have to come with us,” said one of the guards. “There must be some mistake,” said Mona, “My name is Mona and the magistrate knows us. We are on our way back there now.” “Our orders come from the magistrate,” said the guard, “Please come with us before anyone gets hurt.” Mona and her servant complied, not knowing what else to do. They were taken to the local jail and imprisoned. Shortly afterward Frank came to see them. “What is the meaning of this?” asked Mona. Frank signaled for the guards to leave. “I should ask you the same thing,” said Frank, “Where have you been for the last two weeks?” Mona paused to think for a moment and said, “If you must know, I was visiting a sick friend. Why have we been arrested.” “For treason,” said Frank, “and conspiracy. I know you met up with two criminals that have been wanted for treason and murder for over a year. Which is grounds enough to have you arrested.” “My father will hear about this,” said Mona, “and he will not be pleased.” Frank’s face turned a cold expression and he said, “I do not think it is nice to speak badly of the dead.” Mona’s face turned a ghostly pale and she stuttered, “What are you talking about?” “We went looking for you in the village,” said Frank, “and when we could not find you we went to your father’s residence. Unfortunately, when we got there it appeared that he had already committed suicide. He hung himself, possibly out of guilt for your treasonous actions. I am sorry for your loss. I thought you knew already.” Mona collapsed on the ground, crying, as the servant tried to soothe her anguish. “You lie,” yelled Mona through her tears, “my father would never kill himself. You monster, you murdered him.” “Watch what you are saying,” scolded Frank, “and who you are saying it to. I am not the one running around associating with known criminals. Fortunately for you, I am more interested in the two criminals, so I have a proposition. If you get them to turn themselves in, all will be forgiven and you will be free to leave. Otherwise, I cannot guarantee your future.” “You must be crazy,” said Mona, “I would never agree to such a thing. Do you think I am stupid enough to believe you would let me go talk to them.” “You are right,” said Frank, “which is why your servant here is going to go.” Frank took a key out and opened the jail door, stepping inside while blocking the doorway. He reached out and grabbed the servant with one hand and pushed Mona away with the other. The next moment he had the servant outside of the jail cell and had closed and locked the door again. Frank looked at the servant and said, “I want you to take a message to the two criminals in question. Tell them I want to meet them at the abandoned military outpost in fifteen days. If they do not show up, Mona will be reunited with her father. If you do not come back, posters will be issued for your arrest, preferably dead. Do you understand?” The servant nodded feverishly out of fear, but Mona kept yelling, “Do not do it. I order you not to do it. Leave and do not come back for me. Go.” All the while, Frank was forcefully escorting the servant to the exit of the jailhouse. She took off after Frank let her go. The reason Frank wanted the servant to go alone was because he did not want any more people involved with this affair. He had spent a great deal of time hiding who he was and how he had gotten here, especially with regards to his martial arts skills, and did not want anyone else to know. Seven days later and fairly late at night, Fred and Barney were in the cabin with Tim when they heard a loud knocking at the door. Fred went over and opened the door to see a frantic girl babbling away incoherently. It was Mona’s servant. Fred said, “Calm down. What is wrong?” The servant slowly caught her breath and started to relate the story to the three men. Barney slammed his fist down at the table, nearly breaking it, and said, “That evil fiend. He has gone too far. We have to do something.” “You finally begin to see it my way,” said Fred, “We cannot just sit back and wait for justice to take care of the unrighteous. It is our duty and honor to fight, and never give in.” Tim looked away and said, “I guess I cannot stop you this time. Let me just say that you are still not ready, so be very careful.” Tim got up and went in the back to his bedroom. “What is wrong with him?” said Fred, “Does he not understand the seriousness of the situation?” Barney shook his head and said, “Tim is just concerned because he does not know what to do. He feels responsible for us as well as Mona and Frank. His guilt must be unbearable.” “We must do this on our own then,” said Fred. “Yes,” said Barney, “and I have a plan. Frank wants us to meet him at the abandoned military outpost in eight more days. It will take him two days to get there from town, so he will probably leave in six days. We can be back to town in six days. Assuming Mona is still at the jailhouse, we could break her out at that time and hopefully not run into Frank.” Fred seemed a little skeptical about the plan and asked, “Why do we not just fight him?” “First, it would be better to avoid a direct confrontation until we are ready,” said Barney, “And second, we would be at a disadvantage if he was to hold Mona captive while we fought. Who knows what could happen to her, even if we did win.” “I see,” said Fred, “I guess her safety is more important. We should get going as soon as possible if we want this plan to work.” Barney nodded. Since it was too late to do much, Fred, Barney and the servant started off early the next morning, before the sun came up. Hopefully, they were not too late.

  4. #24
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    Mona sat in a small jail cell waiting for the inevitable. Her spirit had been crushed by the loss of her father. All that kept her going now was the thought of revenge. She sobbed uncontrollably into her hands, not knowing what to do. Suddenly she heard a ruckus coming from outside. Since it was close to dinnertime, there was only one guard in the room with her, the others having gone to the dining hall. The confused guard quickly ran to the barred door and opened up a little viewing hatch at eye level. He looked around toward the outside but could not see anything unusual, so he closed the hatch and started to return to his post. Before he got back a knock was heard at the door. The guard yelled, “Who is it?” to which there was a loud reply, “This is a guard change. You can go eat now.” The guard inside the jailhouse recognized the voice as one of his fellow guards, so he ran up and opened the door without looking again. To his surprise, Fred was standing right in front, with Barney just behind, holding a guard hostage by twisting his arm. Although the guard inside had a sword, he was not nearly fast enough to defend against Fred’s attack, which knocked him back three meters, unconscious. Fred and Barney went inside the jailhouse, forcing their hostage with them, and closing the door afterward. They went over to Mona’s jail cell and Barney whispered, “Are you alright?” Mona did not respond and kept crying. She knew they were here to rescue her, but she did not see the point. Fred looked at the door of her jail cell and seeing a padded lock turned to the hostage and said, “Where is the key?” The nervous guard slowly muttered, “I do not have it. It is at the main building. I could go get it.” Barney looked at Fred, who knew that was not an option. Fred said angrily, “Forget it,” and with a powerful motion grabbed the chain holding the jail cell door with both hands and pulled it fiercely. To Mona’s surprise, the chain broke at the weakest link and the rest of the chain fell to the ground momentarily, and Fred opened the door. Mona had begun to look up when she heard Fred speak, and seeing him accomplish such an amazing feat, she stopped crying and her jaw dropped open. Something stirred inside her and she felt a ray of hope now. The guard trembled in front of Fred, and Barney could see that he was going to faint. A rather light tap by Barney and the guard fell down unconscious. Barney was a little hesitant to do it, but he was also afraid of what Fred might do instead. Mona got up, stepped out of her cell, and said, “We have to be very careful, in case we run into Frank.” Barney responded, “Do not worry. Frank left this afternoon to go to the abandoned military outpost. We watched to make sure he left before we came to rescue you. We should leave now and plan on dealing with Frank later.” Mona shook her head in agreement. She wanted to take revenge on Frank very much, but she knew that she was in no position to even try. The three of them quickly escaped the jailhouse and headed in the opposite direction to where the abandoned military outpost was, just to make sure they would not run into Frank. At the edge of the forest they met up with Mona’s servant who was waiting nervously. The four of them now headed deep into the forest, away from town. It was getting pretty dark and there was hardly any moonlight, which helped them evade notice but slowed down their progress through the forest. A few kilometers in and Fred and Barney became apprehensive, although Mona and her servant did not suspect anything. The guys felt that something was wrong and could sense the danger out of the corner of their eyes. Things were amiss in the forest and there seemed to be hidden movement behind the dense undergrowth. Fred and Barney could not take the chance to stop and investigate, leaving Mona and her servant vulnerable to an attack, so they kept pushing forward. They finally arrived at what seemed like a large open area in the middle of the forest and Fred and Barney stopped immediately. Mona asked, “What is wrong? Why did you stop?” But before she could get an answer, a gaggle of men emerged from behind the trees ahead, with Frank leading them. “I see you have decided not to honor my request,” said Frank, “What a shame. It is a good thing that I suspected your treasonous motives and gathered a party to apprehend you fugitives.” Looking around they could see about fifty men forming a semi-circle, a large number of them holding torches to illuminate the area, and almost all of them dressed in nice attire without hiding their faces. Mona focused hard on their faces and began to realize who these men were. They were the business and political leaders of the community; these men ran the town and a majority of its outlying jurisdictions. “So, these are your co-conspirators,” said Mona, “I see now who benefited from that massacre so many years ago.” Indeed it was true. The death of so many of the rich and powerful at that time left a void that was eventually filled by Frank and his murderous bunch. “Please refrain from your ludicrous accusations,” said Frank, “I have known these men for many years, and though they may have attained their status at other people’s expenses that is the way the world works. Your father knew that all too well.” Mona snapped back, “Do not talk about my father that way! He was nothing like them!” The servant quickly grabbed Mona to keep her from doing something irrational. “Let us stop this arguing,” said Barney to Frank, “It is not helping matters. I beg of you to let the two women go and we can work things out as honorable men.” “What honor does he have?” quipped Fred, who then said to Frank, “Let the women go. We are the ones you wished to deal with then. We are the ones you have to deal with now. Your unrighteous ways end today.” Frank laughed haughtily and said, “You two are a very funny pair. You seem to think that you are in a position to request something. The women will stay. You will surrender or die.” “Liar,” yelled Mona, “You are going to kill us anyway. Do you think we have a choice?” Frank made a sinister grin and said, “Your father thought so.” Mona’s blood began to boil and her servant could not hold her back any longer. Just as Mona broke free and started to run towards Frank, Barney stretched out his arm and said “Stop!” With a swift shake of his arm, a rush of wind knocked Mona back and she was caught by her servant. The force in that one motion surprised even Frank, who secretly admired Barney’s skill. Mona was left speechless and thought, “How strong have these two become. One can break chains with his bare hands and the other can knock down people without touching them. Are they a match for Frank?” “We will take care of this,” said Fred as he stepped up to make the challenge for the four of them. Barney had actually thought about escaping back the way they came, but upon further contemplation he believed that Frank’s group had not completely surrounded them because they had set a trap that way, so it was probably best to press forward. “We cannot surrender,” said Barney, preparing to fight as well. “Very well,” said Frank, raising his palms slowly to build up his strength for an attack. A moment of silence fell upon everyone before it was broken by the loudest bang sound that any of them had ever heard. In an instance, Frank’s two palms had made contact with one palm each from Fred and Barney. The surprising thing was that the resultant impact had ended in a standstill. Fred and Barney pressed forward with all their might, their arms aching at the impeding counter force. Frank was completely shocked that the other two had not been thrown back by the force of his attack, and struggled to try and gain the upper hand. He increased the power of his attack as rapidly as possible, reaching his limit in a short time. This surge of strength began to push on Fred and Barney as their feet began to slide backward even as they dug in to the ground. They had no choice but to retreat by using their other palm to break the contact and move to either side. Now the battle turned to hand-to-hand combat as Frank traded blows with Fred and Barney. Frank knew that he could not underestimate them now, so he fought with all his strength, moving as fast and striking as hard as he could. Fred and Barney also fought at their limit individually, though it was significantly lower than Frank, but they had the advantage of two against one. Unfortunately, they had not learned to fight together efficiently and effectively, like a single entity, so they were not able to utilize their combined skills to its limit. As they fought, it looked like they were taking turns attacking Frank, and whenever one of them got into trouble, the other responded just a little too slow to be of much help; this lead to Frank being able to land a few minor blows early on in the fight. However, their combined skills were still formidable, which helped them eventually land a few blows of their own. The fight went on for over an hour, with neither side clearly winning, but certain things were abundantly clear. Frank was stronger and faster than Fred and Barney, and he showed no signs of slowing down, whereas Fred and Barney had already reached there limit and began to demonstrate diminishing returns. They had no choice but to try something different, which they did. Fred and Barney launched both palms simultaneously at Frank, covering four points on the body; head, left and right chest, and stomach. Frank expected the attack to be strong and easily dodged it by stepping back a couple of meters. To his surprise the attack was weak and was immediately broken off. Fred and Barney had tricked Frank to give them time to perform their latest technique. Moving apart a considerable distance, Fred formed the tiger’s claws and Barney formed the dragon’s mouth and immediately came at each other with full force. Again, they did not make physical contact but combined their attacks into a graceful dance with their arms, quickly building up the chaotic force that would be unleashed. Frank could sense the intense power of the attack being built up and could not help but worry about what to do. At that moment, Fred and Barney broke off and aimed their combined attack at Frank, who crossed his arms and braced for the impact. Frank drew all his strength into his forearms, similar to what he did to stop Mimi’s sword from penetrating, but he could still feel the force of the attack wracking his body. In a last minute effort he pushed both arms forward with all his might, temporarily disrupting the onslaught, and jumped up in the air. His level of skill allowed him to twist his body and change direction in midair, and his downward attack came squarely in between Fred and Barney. They had to separate quickly, stopping their attack, which gave Frank the opportunity to counter immediately. Fred and Barney had used so much of their strength launching the last attack that they were now fighting well below their limit. Barney was struck in the back by Frank’s palm, and fell to the ground in great pain. Fred tried to strike with his claw, which Frank deflected with his middle and index finger combination and pushed it into Fred’s sternum. Frank kept his finger attack in its place for several minutes, as Fred tried to free himself. Unfortunately, Frank was pushing energy into Fred with his fingers, disrupting the flow of chi, and weakening Fred every second that he could not break free. Fred’s attacks were becoming useless the longer he was exposed. Barney was finally able to stand up after a few minutes and saw what was happening to Fred. He lunged forward to stop Frank, who pushed Fred backward with his fingers, causing Fred to land on the ground with a thud. Barney was in no condition to fight Frank now, especially by himself, so Frank landed two more palm strikes, and a kick, all of which imparted a great deal of energy as well. Frank had chosen to push energy into them instead of killing them right away because it was a much more slow and painful death, which suited his sadistic personality. Barney landed next to Fred, and they both lied there between Frank and the group of henchmen surrounding that part of the forest. Fred looked over at Barney and painfully began to get up out of stubborn willpower. He was not going to give up to this scoundrel. Barney continued to lay on the ground and stare at the sky, then the trees, then the men carrying torches. He said to Fred, “Today we may be saved by fire. Do you have the strength to try it?” Fred looked at Barney blankly at first, but nodded once he understood. “Can you get up?” asked Fred to Barney. “I guess I have to,” said Barney. They both got up ever so slowly, drawing on the last of their strength. Frank’s body was aching all over, though he refused to admit it. His internal energy was not exhausted but he felt extremely uncomfortable, and did not know why. The truth was that the attack he withstood from Fred and Barney had disrupted the balance of chi in his system, and he was unable to compensate correctly. But he was not seriously injured, unlike Fred and Barney, so he did not feel threatened as they began to stand up, their bodies swaying mildly. Fred and Barney were prepared for what could be their final moments as they charged into the group of henchmen, heading in different directions, and targeting the men with torches. Even though they were seriously injured, they were still more than a match for any of the henchmen, who had lived primarily as legitimate citizens over the years. In a little more than a minute they had injured over a dozen men each and captured fifteen torches, casting them in all directions of the forest. The trees surrounding the open area were quickly becoming a roaring blaze, trapping those inside. Frank was about to intervene when Fred and Barney began their assault, but they had anticipated that. Fred and Barney literally threw the henchmen they fought at Frank, forcing him to strike his own men down. As panic quickly spread through the ranks, the henchmen began to break up and run in all directions, only to realize that they were trapped in the ring of fire. Fred and Barney took advantage of the chaos and ran over to Mona and her servant, picked them up, and flew up over the towering, fiery trees in the direction away from town. Frank was just about to follow when he felt someone grab a hold of his leg. It was one of the henchmen begging to be saved. Frank quickly dispatched him only to be accosted by another, and then another. He was busy fighting off his own men to chase after Fred and Barney. A few minutes later noises could be heard coming from town. The townsfolk had seen the fire and were coming to put it out. Frank knew it would look bad if he were caught in the middle of this and decided not to pursue Fred and Barney. Instead he flew over the trees in the direction back to town, careful to avoid the incoming crowd. That night a great many of the most rich and powerful men in town died surrounded by a fire, which was eerily reminiscent of the massacre so many years ago.

  5. #25
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    Morning broke as four people rested near the edge of the forest. Fred and Barney lay still on their backs, still unconscious, while Mona and her servant were asleep nearby, sitting upright with their backs against the trees. Fred and Barney had rescued the girls from the fire, but shortly after the boys collapsed from their injuries, leaving Mona and her servant to drag them all the way here. The smell of burnt wood still permeated the area, even though the fire had been put out hours ago. Fred began to stir a moment, groaning quietly, but did not open his eyes. Barney also made some movement, shivering uncontrollably. Mona’s servant woke up first and rushed over to them, looking them over to try and find out what was wrong. She called out, “Miss Mona. Please wake up. Fred and Barney are terribly ill.” Mona opened her eyes with a startle and quickly came over. She put her hand on Fred’s forehead and noticed that he was running a fever. She then put her hand on Barney’s forehead and noticed that it was ice cold. The two had completely opposite symptoms. Mona was worried that they would continue to get worse, and her servant was now in a panic repeatedly asking, “What do we do?” They had actually arrived close to the edge of the forest and nearby was a road that was frequently traveled by folks coming in and going out of town. Mona said, “Come quickly. We have to go get some help to move them.” The girls ran out of the forest and onto the dirt road, looking in both directions. At first they could not see anything, but in a short while they noticed some folks coming up from the direction leading into town. It was a tricky situation since they were technically wanted criminals now, but the predicament called for taking a chance. Mona turned to her servant and said, “Let me do the talking, and do not look so nervous. We do not want them to be suspicious.” The servant tried to calm down and put on her best fake smile, an overly exaggerated grin showing all her teeth. Mona took a deep breath and exhaled, trying to keep her composure together. As the folks got closure Mona could see it was three young men pushing a wagon barrel, probably to transport farm goods. The three men stopped in front of Mona and her servant, who stood in the middle of the road. Mona looked as congenial as she could and said, “Good day gentlemen. Would you be able to help a couple of women in distress? We would be ever so grateful.” The two men in front began to get flustered from the apparent flirtatious nature of her words, but the one standing in back just smiled and said, “Hello Miss Mona. It is good to see you. I hope everything is okay.” Mona was taken aback by the man’s remark and asked, “I am sorry. Do I know you?” The man laughed gently, put his hands together and said, “Buddha be with you.” Mona jumped up in excitement and said, “You are Shaolin?” The man answered, “We were, but now we are just simple farmers. I remember you from the Royal Sabre Contest. I was there that day. I guess I look completely different now.” In fact they did, dressed in plain farmers clothes now and having their hair grown out. Mona quickly exclaimed, “You must help us. Fred and Barney are back their and they are very sick. Can you help us with them?” All three men grew anxious and bade her to show them. Being from Shaolin, all the men were familiar with Fred and Barney and thought of them as martial brothers. Of course they would help if they could. Mona turned to lead them, and upon seeing her servant’s expression said, “Wipe that ridiculous smile off your face.” The five of them went over to where Fred and Barney lay and Mona explained what had transpired in the last couple of weeks. One of the men said, “This does not look good. We need to bring them to Master Po. He will know what to do.” The others nodded in agreement and Mona said, “Please, we need to hurry.” The men gently carried Fred and Barney to their wagon, laid them down, and covered them with a straw thatch cover used to protect items from the rain. They then gave the girls a set of clothes to change so as to hide their appearance. This had to be a secret mission so all seven of them now traveled incognito toward the Shaolin temple. They arrived four days later and were ushered into the main hall where Master Po was waiting for them. He quickly examined Fred and Barney, taking their pulse and tapping several of their acupoints, and attempted to push his internal energy into Fred’s body. Unfortunately, Fred’s strength was now too high for Master Po to be of any help. The more energy Master Po used, the more resistance he felt from Fred’s internal energy pushing back, and he could not raise his energy high enough to overcome it. Master Po was amazed at how strong Fred had become, and wondered how he got that way. He said, “Miss Mona, do you know what martial arts Fred and Barney learned?” Mona said, “No. I think it was from the same man who taught Frank. Can you do anything to help them?” Master Po got a serious expression on his face and started to pace back and forth. Elder Lu was also on hand, having been one of the few Shaolin to stay behind when the school closed, and said, “Unfortunately, it may not be safe for you to remain here long. A group of town guards arrived here yesterday looking for you. They searched the entire grounds and left after not finding anything. I am afraid they may return soon.” One of the men who helped bring them here said, “You cannot just turn them away. What would you do if the guards came back right now?” Master Po immediately said, “We would protect them at all cost. This tragedy has gone on long enough. It is about time we face our demons, but first we must help Fred and Barney.” Mona asked, “Is there anything I can do to help?” Master Po stopped pacing and said, “It may be best if you did not get involved, for your own safety. You do not need to risk your life.” Mona yelled back, “Not involved? Frank killed my father and put me in jail. I would say I am already involved, and I am not going to give up until he is dead.” Tears began to well up in her eyes and her servant came over to comfort her. Master Po said apologetically, “Please forgive my inconsiderate remarks. I did not realize your commitment toward this cause. Why do we not do this? I will treat Fred and Barney. You can come up with a plan to bring Frank to justice without starting a war.” Master Po did not want to argue with Mona and he thought that by giving her such a vague assignment it would keep her out of trouble. Mona and her servant went into another room to think it over. Elder Lu turned to Master Po and said, “Do you know how to save Fred and Barney?” Master Po looked at him seriously and said, “No. But I have an idea. Do you remember the mystic yoga teachings that were passed down to Shaolin hundreds of years ago?” “Yes, but I thought all the copies were lost,” said Lu. “That is true, but a few stances have been passed down over the years and they may yet prove useful now,” said Master Po. “Master, may I ask what you speak of?” said one of the men. “Of course,” said Master Po, “I will try to explain it. Hundreds of years ago Shaolin was graced with a great and wonderful disciple who brought the teachings of mystic yoga to our fold. The book he created contained profound techniques to hone the body and channel its amazing potential energy. It is said that with proper training the body could be taught to heal itself and develop superhuman abilities. This book was originally taught to all the disciples, who gained much power from it. Unfortunately, the irresponsible behavior of some Shaolin brought much shame upon us, and the book was banned from general practice. Only the Shaolin masters were allowed to learn it, and all but a few copies were destroyed. Over the years, masters would pass away without teaching their successors, or copies would become lost, and eventually the skill would be lost to obscurity. The head master of this temple hid a copy over a hundred years ago, but passed away without revealing its location, which is why we do not know the techniques today. However, a few techniques had been memorized by his disciples before his passing, and they were written down in our history books. I have practiced them and know of their potential.” “Do you think it will work?” asked Lu. “We can only try,” said Master Po, “I have sealed some of their acupoints so they should be able to rest for now, and regain consciousness by tomorrow. With some luck, they will be able to start practice then.” Just then, Mona came in and said, “I have got it, but I will need help. Can the three of you come with me?” She was speaking to the men who had helped them get here, but Elder Lu interjected and said, “Shaolin cannot help you with commit any crimes.” He was suspicious of the kind of help she needed, but one of the men said, “Yes, but we are not Shaolin right now.” The other men nodded in agreement and Mona said, “Very well. Please come with me.” Mona, her servant, and the three men left the room, on their way out of the temple. Elder Lu huffed angrily while Master Po just sighed. They could do nothing for the moment so they focused on treating Fred and Barney. A couple of hours later, in a large mansion in the middle of the village, Mona and her group had broken in and taken John hostage. John was no match for a trained Shaolin student, let alone three former ones. John’s father was away on business, and John was now trapped in the study. Mona said, “John, I hear your father knows many people in high places, including the royal council.” John began to babble, “Please, do not hurt me. I had no idea anything bad would happen to your father. I just thought…” Mona slapped him across the face and said, “Do not speak about my father ever again. You have no right. Just tell me what I want to know.” “Anything,” said John, cowering in the corner of his own home. “Where is your father’s official seal?” asked Mona. John looked a little confused, but fumbled along the wall until he got to a large bookcase in the room. He reached into the third shelf and pulled out an object wrapped in silk. Mona took it from him and said, “Now sit down and take down this message.” John sat down at the desk, got a piece of parchment, an ink stylus, and prepared to write. Mona dictated a long and official message indicating that Frank was a murderer and that a government official should meet with them to get the evidence. She then stamped the letter with the official seal and rolled it up to be delivered. “Can you take this letter to the capital?” said Mona to one of the men. He nodded, took the letter, and left. She turned to one of the other men and said, “Can you inform Master Tom of our plan, and gather as many of the former Shaolin and Taoist students as you can to meet us at the designated location?” He nodded and left as well. She turned to the last man and said, “Please help me escort John back to the Shaolin temple.” The three of them left the study and proceeded out of the mansion where Mona’s servant was waiting as a lookout. They made their way back to the temple and told Master Po what they did. “So in twenty days we are to meet at the abandoned military outpost to deal with Frank,” said Master Po, “I hope Fred and Barney are well enough by then.” “We have the utmost confidence in you,” said Mona. “I guess it cannot be helped,” said Master Po, and went about what he was doing. Fred and Barney were up and about the next day, though in a severely weakened state and still in immediate danger. They started to practice the mystical yoga techniques that Master Po had spoken of, and after three days were completely healed. As news began to spread quietly about the gathering, more of the former Shaolin and Taoist students began to show up at the schools. They also actively went out and sought other former students who had had been gone for over a year, spreading news of what was going on. Back in town, Frank was hearing rumors about this conspiracy, but did not have time to deal with it. The aftermath after the fire that had killed so many of the rich and powerful men in town, his henchmen, was wreaking havoc on the community, and many people were turning to him for leadership. He was inundated with requests and questions, most of which he did not have an answer for. But there was one thing he knew he wanted to do, so one day he slipped away and headed over the northern mountains and past the valley beyond, right to the cabin on the hill. Tim was inside making his lunch when he heard a knock at the door. He opened it to find Frank standing there with a scowl on his face. “I see you have finally come,” said Tim, “Please make yourself at home.” Tim’s face did not show any fear or excitement, and he walked back to the kitchen in his slow and methodical way. Frank stepped inside and followed Tim, and said, “What tricks have you been up to, old man?” Tim did not say anything. “I thought I told you not to teach anyone else,” said Frank. “I am nobody’s teacher anymore,” said Tim calmly. “Then who taught Fred and Barney?” asked Frank. “They had some questions and I gave them some answers,” replied Tim, “Are you going to kill me?” “You will not die by my martial arts,” said Frank. He grabbed one of the pieces of wood on fire for cooking and threw it in a corner. The cabin caught on fire and was slowly burning away. “Let us see what you will do,” said Frank as he walked out of the kitchen and out of the cabin. He stood outside until the cabin was completely ablaze, and then left. Tim never reappeared.

  6. #26
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    Frank had snuck back into his mansion, unaware that somebody very important had arrived looking for him. His assistant rushed to the main hall when he got back and said, “Sir, the honorable Lord Andy is here to see you. He got here several hours ago, but we could not find you. What should I do?” “Bring him in immediately,” said Frank. His assistant quickly complied, leaving Frank to wonder, “What is this all about?” The assistant returned shortly after with five guests. One was Lord Andy, the appointed protectorate of this district, and the others were his personal guards. Frank cupped his hands and bowed in respect and said, “Lord Andy, we are honored by your presence. To what do we owe the visit?” Andy glanced at the assistant and Frank motioned for him to leave. As soon as the assistant left the room, Andy said, “I have been hearing some rather disturbing news about you.” “You must mean the deadly fire,” said Frank, “A tragedy indeed, but I believe that everything is under control now.” “That is not what I meant,” said Andy, “though I did hear about your town’s loss, and extend my deepest condolences.” “Thank you,” said Frank, “Then what do you mean?” trying to feign surprise. “Some important members of the royal council received a letter claiming some very damming things about you,” said Andy, “Of course I told them it was untrue, but they have a lot of clout. Therefore, an investigation is under way.” “May I ask what the letter claimed?” said Frank. Andy looked a little apprehensive and said, “Technically I am not suppose to tell you, but we have known each other for some time, and it would be wrong of me not to treat my friends well. The letter asserts that a number of very prominent citizens in town were directly involved with the massacre that occurred around town over seventeen years ago, and that you were the leader. Now you know what that means?” “Of course,” said Frank, “May I ask who wrote the letter?” “I do not know,” said Andy, “but the crime mentioned in the letter has an important bearing on your current position.” Andy slowly walked around Frank and continued, “I sponsored your nomination to become town magistrate after the massacre and ensuing rise in violent deaths. You quickly brought the situation under control and settled town matters. I supported you these many years because you got the job done. Now I hear that you may have been the culprit in the first place. That is truly devastating news. Do you understand?” Frank said, “Yes. I appreciate your continued support.” “Unfortunately, I am not here to support you,” said Andy, “I requested that I be the one to handle matters in this case, because of our friendship.” Andy put out his hand and one of the guards brought over an official royal scroll. As Andy opened, everyone in the room except him knelt down, as if the emperor was present. Andy read the scroll, “By royal decree of the emperor, the magistrate Frank is to be placed under house arrest pending an official investigation into the matters involving murder and acts of treason. He shall be afforded all the rights to due process, but shall be subject to the treatment of a potential criminal.” Andy finished with a royal declaration and rolled up the scroll. Everybody rose to their feet, and Frank said, “What will happen now?” “You will be placed under house arrest,” said Andy, “A temporary magistrate has already been dispatched and should be here by tomorrow with a military contingent. He will preside over the investigation.” Frank nodded in apparent agreement and asked, “How will the investigation proceed?” “The letter stated that evidence would be presented at the abandoned military outpost in four days,” said Andy, “and we will go from there. Please tell me that the letter is incorrect.” Frank lowered his head a moment and said, “Unfortunately, that would be a lie.” Andy was shocked by that response, and Frank raised his head and said, “But you will not be able to tell anybody that if you are dead.” The guards immediately drew their swords, but Frank struck the closest one in the forehead with his palm, killing him, took his sword, and slew the other guards in quick succession. Andy started to back up and said, “You will never get away with this,” but was run threw with Frank’s sword. Frank’s assistant had actually been eavesdropping from a nearby room, and did not see what was going on but heard the entire conversation. He was frightened senseless and ran away, eventually out of the mansion completely. Frank grinned at the gruesome sight of the five dead men around him, and hatched up his next evil plan. Meanwhile, back at the Shaolin temple, Fred and Barney had completely recovered from their injuries and were practicing their martial arts on the training grounds. They had already been informed about the meeting in a couple of days and wanted to be ready for their next encounter with Frank. Master Po came out of the temple, along with Master Tom who had arrived a day earlier to discuss matters with Master Po before the meeting. They watched Fred and Barney practice and both secretly admired the tremendous improvement the two now showed. Master Tom said, “Their martial arts are incredibly high now. They should be strong enough to take on Frank.” Master Po said, “Yes, but they lost the last time out. The problem is that they still exhibit the shortcomings of their combined efforts. Remember the first time we saw them fight Frank.” Master Tom knew what Master Po meant; how the first time Fred and Barney fought Frank they failed to fight effectively as a team, and were easily defeated. “I have an idea,” said Master Tom, “Fred. Barney. Please come here a moment.” They immediately stopped practicing and came over. “I see you are now great martial artists,” said Master Tom, “but you are still lacking something. Did you know that Shaolin Master Hung and Taoist Master Jerry were not the best martial artists of their day?” Fred and Barney were a little surprised, considering the reputation of both schools. “It is true,” said Master Po. “Yes,” said Master Tom, “But it was also said that no one under heaven at the time could beat their combined talents. Do you know why?” Barney quickly answered, “Because their combined talents exceeded the sum of their individual skills?” “Precisely,” said Master Tom, “And that is what the two of you must learn. You are great individually, but hardly unbeatable as a team. Master Po and I will show you. We will have a team contest, the two of you versus the two of us.” Fred and Barney were reluctant at first, the idea of fighting their teachers was a little unsettling, but Master Tom said, “Do you want to be able to defeat Frank?” They nodded and all four walked into the training grounds and squared off. Master Tom drew his sword, Master Po put his hands together, Fred made the tigers’ claws, and Barney made the dragon’s mouth. As the fight started, Master Po and Master Tom had the advantage of years of experience, while Fred and Barney were stronger than either of their teachers. Fred and Barney held back on using their full strength out of fear of hurting their teachers, but used the full extent of their skills. Even so, Master Po and Master Tom were clearly winning the contest; they worked as a team, usually attacking one opponent at a time while keeping an eye out on the other, and were always there to assist the other one in defense or offense. Fred and Barney, on the other hand, looked like they were taking turns again, and rarely put together a joint effort during battle. The reason Fred and Barney did not fully understand about unified mutual combat was that all their training had been one-on-one, and never did they have to think about combining their efforts. Now, seeing Master Tom and Master Po demonstrate the awesome benefits of teamwork fighting, and getting a chance to put it into practice against them, Fred and Barney were slowly beginning to understand and embrace their own potential. Soon, they would be even better than they were now; better than they ever thought possible, and hopefully strong enough to meet the new challenge a couple of days from now. Four days later, on clear morning, Fred and Barney approached the abandoned military outpost and saw a number of people waiting for them. The most prominent person was Frank, along with about fifty more henchmen, different from the others who had died in the fire and probably representing all the men he had left. Fred and Barney stopped thirty meters from the enemy, and Frank came forward to greet them. “I see you came as you promised,” said Frank, “You know you have caused me a lot of trouble. I should thank you, though, for giving me an opportunity to end this the only way it could possibly end, with your deaths.” “I would not be so sure,” said Fred, “I wish to thank you for giving me an opportunity to seek justice with your downfall.” “You still want to talk tough, though I have defeated you two times already,” said Frank, “And you were stupid enough to come alone. Your deaths shall be quick; I will not make the same mistake twice.” “We shall see who is defeated today,” said Barney, “And, just to let you know, we did not come alone.” Just then, over the horizon, a crowd of people approached. As they got closer Frank could see it was Master Po and Master Tom as well as a number of other men he did not recognize. Mona and her servant were also in the crowd, but remained in the back for their own safety. Master Tom said, “Frank, your unrighteous ways end today. We will not bow to you now, or ever again.” Frank’s facial expression became intense and he said, “So you brought a bunch of farmers to help you fight. You must be desperate.” “These are not farmers,” said Master Po, “They are the sons of Shaolin and Taoist who were exiled for their own protection, and have returned to bring new light into your dark soul.” Frank laughed maniacally and said, “Then I am glad I brought some help.” With those words six men stepped forward. Master Tom immediately recognized one of the men as Master Gary, while Fred and Barney recognized the other five swordsmen as his students. Master Tom said, “Master Gary, I see you are up to your old tricks. Have you taken up with this scoundrel? It would not surprise me.” Master Gary faked a laugh and said, “Yes. What may surprise you though is how much stronger I have become.” Master Tom did not look impressed but Master Po said, “Master Gary, I hope that you are an honorable person. Has Frank taught you martial arts? He is a deceiver and a liar. Please do not listen to him.” Master Gary drew his sword, which prompted the other swordsmen follow, and said, “Do not speak about my teacher that way.” Frank quickly stepped up and said, “No more idle conversation. We have all come here for a reason. Let us get down to business.” With a wave of his hand everybody on Frank’s side charged forward. As the two large groups collided in combat, distinct battles clearly developed. Aside from the fighting between the Shaolin and Taoist students and Frank’s henchmen, Master Tom was drawn out by Master Gary and one of the swordsmen, while the other four swordsmen surrounded Master Po, and Fred and Barney forced Frank to the side to battle. Mona and her servant ran to the side and hid behind the ruble of a fallen watchtower. The fighting was intense and deadly serious, with only one clear rule; kill or be killed.

  7. #27
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    Default the end - part 1

    Master Po was surrounded by the four swordsmen on all sides, their swords drawn less than a meter away from his body prepared to attack. He made a dash to the left, but the four of them followed in unison, not letting him escape. He dashed to the right with similar results. The four swordsmen kept him squarely trapped in their sights. Suddenly two of them attacked from opposite sides. Master Po countered both simultaneously with his two palms and launched a kick at one of the swordsmen, only to see them retreat. As that was happening the other two swordsmen launched their attacks, causing Master Po to twist his body to avoid a hit and repel them with a spin kick. Master Po was considerably stronger and more skilled than any one of the swordsmen. But their combined attack was made much more difficult for a number of reasons. First, they had swords while he was unarmed. Second, they had learned a couple of things from Frank that made them stronger. Third, they used the four corners position technique to contain his movements while putting him in the most vulnerable position. Finally, their combined skills seemed to complement each other in mutual combat. Master Po knew it would not be easy to defeat them without serious injury, which he had wished to avoid. He leapt into the air several meters, hoping to break their technique, only to find all of them leaping in the same direction. Though they managed to follow him, he was a little faster so it took them a moment to catch up once he had stopped. He leapt again, this time even farther away, which took them even longer to catch up. He thought he had found their weakness when they began to alter their technique. They began to move in a circular pattern around him, their swords swinging side to side, up and down. Again, two of them from opposite sides launched an attack, followed by the other two, only to be deflected by Master Po’s hands and feet. Master Po leapt once again, but when the four swordsmen followed this time, two of them jumped on the shoulders of the other two and pushed off further, thus catching up to Master Po’s position in time. Then the swordsmen began to circle in a double pattern; two of them right to left closer to Master Po, and two of them left to right farther out. A quick attack again and Master Po had to block with his hands and squat down to dodge some very fast moving blades that cut a portion of his robe. Master Po decided to go on the offensive and went after one of the swordsmen, only to find that all four of them immediately launched an attack, forcing him to go on the defensive and return to his spot in the middle of the corners position. Now the swordsmen began to circle in an erratic pattern, sometimes moving right to left, sometimes left to right, sometimes getting closer, and sometimes moving farther. This technique was designed to confuse the opponent and lead to unpredictability. Fearing another attack, Master Po leapt higher and farther than he believed any of the swordsmen could, and thought he had finally escaped their stance. But when he looked around he noticed that the swordsmen were again at four corners surrounding him, only much farther apart than before. What had happened was that the moment he leapt, three swordsmen used their combined energy to propel the fourth in the same direction, and then two of them jumped in a “V” formation, thus completing the four corners. They launched another attack, jumping at Master Po from four sides. To their surprise, Master Po closed his eyes and did not move. As one of the swords came toward Master Po’s chest, he jumped in the air and grab it with his feet, then leaned completely backward in midair, narrowly avoiding another sword that was coming toward his back, and hit that swordsman with a powerful palm strike, knocking him down and causing him to lose his sword. Master Po then spun his body in midair with such force that the sword he had caught with his feet was wrenched from the hand of the swordsman, causing him to fly to the ground. Master Po immediately grabbed the other two swords coming at him from both sides and guided them past his body to bring the swordsmen close enough for him to strike both with his palms. He gently glided down as the four swordsmen lay on the ground, wounded from his attack. Although he was able to defeat them in a relatively short time, it had taken all his strength and skill, and a small drop of blood fell from his hands where the swords had inflicted superficial damage. Seeing that the four were unable to continue the fight, Master Po put his hands together and asked for forgiveness for his acts of violence. Then he went to help the other Shaolin and Taoists subdue Frank’s henchmen.

  8. #28
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    Default the end - part 2

    Master Tom was busy with Master Gary and the fifth swordsman. The three were heavily engaged in swordplay while frenzied fighting broke out all around them. Eventually they fought to the edge of the battlefield where they were relatively undisturbed. Master Tom was still much better at sword combat than Master Gary and his student, but found it difficult to use that to his advantage this time. Master Gary’s sword skills had improved somewhat, but it was his strength that had increased dramatically. His sword movements were much faster now, and the power of his attacks was unrelenting, so that Master Tom could not control the sword action like he had done in their first encounter. In fact, when Master Tom tried to repeat the move he had used to disarm Master Gary the first time, whereby the tip of his sword landed right next to the handle of Master Gary’s sword, Master Gary used the force in his palm to spin the handle and deflect the strike. Master Tom was still able to counter anything Master Gary could come up with, but the fight had already dragged on ten times longer than their first one and neither fighter appeared to tire. What made it worst for Master Tom was the other swordsman, who was not so much a threat as he was a distraction. Master Tom could easily have defeated the other swordsman, but the swordsman had a tactic that he was using in conjunction with Master Gary. Whenever Master Tom was pushing aggressively at Master Gary, the other swordsman would dash in and try to make a sneak attack. When Master Tom turned his attention toward the swordsman, he would immediately retreat to a safe distance, therefore avoiding a direct confrontation. At the same time, Master Gary would go on the offensive as soon as Master Tom started to pursue the other swordsman, thus forcing Master Tom to go on the defensive. It was annoying but also highly affective in causing Master Tom to lose his concentration, making it harder to find and wait for a weakness or opportunity to exploit, which was one of the keys of the Divine Saint Swordplay. After a while, Master Tom realized he was getting stuck in a pattern and decided to bide his time to come up with an answer by switching to defense only. He spun his sword around, swiveling the handle in all directions while following the path of the other swords. Master Tom was able to calm down and think more rationally this way. He did not chase the other swordsman who would make a sneak attack, and did not aggressively pursue Master Gary, just protecting himself with his superior swordplay. In a little while an idea came to him. He launched a fierce attack at Master Gary, focusing on scaring him as much as possible. Just then the other swordsman tried a sneak attack, which Master Tom parried and returned with his sword only to see the swordsman leap back a safe distance. Master Tom then leapt away in another direction, surprising Master Gary who thought he was trying to run away. Master Gary leapt after Master Tom, only to see Master Tom leap towards the other swordsman, who foolishly leapt away again. The other swordsman had fallen into Master Tom’s trap by moving even farther away from Master Gary, an error probably due to his inexperience. The art of mutual combat tells that teammates should never wander too far away from each other, unless they wish to engage an opponent single-handedly. Master Tom immediately leapt back toward Master Gary, who did not understand this concept and prepared to attack. Master Tom knew he had a small lead time before the other swordsman could catch up and began to push his advantage. He launched into the fastest and most severe attacks he had ever performed, moving way too fast for Master Gary to properly deflect and causing him to continuously back up very quickly. This put even more distance between Master Gary and the other swordsman, allowing more time for Master Tom to engage Master Gary one-on-one. Master Tom was beginning to tire a little because of the intense effort he had to put forth, but knew he could not let up just yet. The clash of their swords could be heard even over the other battles, and in a moment it was over. Master Gary had become so frantic that he mistakenly jabbed when he should have parried, and Master Tom cut his arm off with a single stroke. Master Gary fell to the ground and screamed in pain, his severed arm still holding the sword next to him. Master Tom spun around to see the other swordsman coming at him, not yet knowing what had happened to his teacher. Master Tom, with a masterful stroke, was able to knock his sword away and cause a gash from behind his right ear to his chin. Master Tom breathed heavily a moment, and then turned to Master Gary, tapping him lightly on several acupoints to seal the blood flow and ease the pain. With Master Gary’s life no longer in danger from the bleeding, Master Tom went over to check on the other swordsman. The cut was superficial, but Master Tom could see that the swordsman did not want to fight anymore, so he went off to help the other Taoist and Shaolin students.

  9. #29
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    Default the end - part 3

    Fred and Barney had taken on Frank at the start of the battle, knowing full well that they were the only ones who could. Frank was confident he would win, after having defeated them twice already, but he was in for quite a surprise. Fred and Barney immediately began to fight differently together; more as a team. They stayed close to each other in combat, defending each others weaknesses, combining their attacks, and assisting each other in tight spots. They also used their unique skills more competently, with Fred’s tiger claws on the offensive and Barney’s dragon mouth on the defensive, the best form for each. Frank could tell right away that this fight was different than before, and became ruthless with his attacks, aiming for lethal spots like the head, neck, heart, and spine. But the rapid movements of four hands and four feet working closely together prevented him from landing any direct hits. After several hundred movements Frank had failed to hit either of them, yet Fred and Barney had managed to hit him several times, albeit in non-vital spots like the shoulder and the hip. Frank was more frustrated than worried about how the fight was going, and decided to use his internal energy as an advantage. His movements slowed down and his strikes began to lose their strength, but the moment Fred and Barney hit him they could feel a surge of energy forcing their palms back. This went on for several hundred more movements as Frank endured many more hits, which did not appear to affect him. At the same time, his slow and cautious movements lent a level of grace to his fighting that allowed him to get awfully close to them. Inevitably, Fred was hit in the arm and Barney was hit in the chest, and even though Frank’s attacks had limited strength, Fred and Barney did not have the same depth of internal energy so they could feel the pain. They were hit five more times before the next hundred movements had passed, and the pain was intensifying with each hit, but they were not seriously injured. Frank was a little perplexed by their apparent lack of harm as he had thought his strikes, which still transferred a considerable amount of energy, would have eventually overwhelmed them. What he did not count on was the mysterious yoga training that Fred and Barney had undergone, which not only saved them from the life threatening energy Frank had imparted before, but actually strengthened their pathways for the flow of chi, making future attacks of that nature less effective. Eventually, over a thousand movements had passed, and both Frank and Fred and Barney had successfully hit each other many times. Fred and Barney were in great pain, but their burning desire for justice or revenge, along with the stubbornness of youth, kept them fighting on. Frank, on the other hand, did not show any signs of pain, but in reality his mind was masking the extreme damage that his body had been inflicted. His balance of chi was beginning to roll around inside him like the tempest of a storm on the surface of a calm sea, and he was beginning to feel numb in certain places. He did not understand what was happening to him, having ignored all the signs and never having been told by Tim of the flaws of his martial arts. All three continued to fight, but shortly after Frank began to feel uncomfortable again. His body started to ache all over and he seemed a little short of breath, nauseous, and blurry vision. He definitely knew something was wrong now and broke off his current strategy of attacks, fighting with all his strength to get Fred and Barney to back off. A fierce contact of palms between Frank and Fred and Barney pushed them away ten meters. Fred and Barney quickly regained their composure but held off on immediately attacking. They knew Frank’s last attack was the most powerful one yet, and wondered what he was up to now. Frank was trying to control his erratic energy, breathing deeply and channeling it inward. This actually made it worse, like trying to catch a typhoon wind with a sail. Frank realized he could not fight much longer, having trouble even moving now, and looked around for a possible escape plan. In the far corner he spotted Mona and her servant crouched behind a large rock trying to avoid any sort of fighting. He immediately jumped toward them thinking he could catch them and use them as hostages to escape. He was still in the air when a sword flashed in front of him, then a pair of feet came at him; Master Tom and Master Po realized what he was up to and were close enough to stop him. Frank countered both attacks but had to cut his jump short, landing twenty meters before Mona and her servant. He was going to try again when he felt something coming from behind and turned around, only to be struck by Fred and Barney’s special technique, the Dance of the Tiger and the Dragon. Fred and Barney were too far away to stop Frank when he made the first jump, but they closed the distance very quickly and had started their technique. When Frank turned around they unleashed it directly at his exposed chest and abdomen. The effect was devastating and relentless. Frank seemed to be able to withstand it for a few seconds, but his body looked like it was fighting against a typhoon wind and before long he flew backwards in the air and landed face down some thirty meters away. He immediately struggled to get back on his feet, but could not even raise his chest with his arms, eventually collapsing on the ground, conscious but unable to fight. Fred and Barney were exhausted, having just about reached the limit of their abilities, and started to look around at the other fights going on that they might be able to help. Meanwhile, Mona stared at Frank, who lay just ten meters away, with malevolent intentions. She quickly glanced around and saw a fallen sword nearby. Her servant suddenly realized what she was up to and tried to grab her, but it was too late. Mona ran over and picked up the sword, then ran over to Frank and plunged it into his back. To everyone’s surprise, Frank let out a chilling scream and bolted to his feet. The power he suddenly exerted struck Mona who was thrown back over thirty meters. Fred and Barney noticed the terrible scene too late. Their anger rose at seeing Mona hurt that way, and both jumped at Frank, who had expended most of his energy already and was really just flailing around blindly at that point. Fred landed his tiger claw on the top of Frank’s skull, puncturing it with his fingers. Barney landed his dragon mouth at Frank’s chest, shattering his ribs and rupturing his heart and lungs. Either attack would have been fatal, so Frank was dead before his body had hit the ground. Fred and Barney quickly ran over to Mona, whose body was being cradled by her servant. Barney grabbed her hand and asked, “Miss Mona, are you alright?” Fred was too embarrassed to say or do anything and just simply stared. Mona said weakly, “Is Frank dead?” “Yes,” said Barney, “You can rest easy now.” “I can tell my father now when I meet him,” said Mona. “Do not say such things,” said Barney. Mona looked up at Fred and said, “You have both been true friends. I thank you for that. But I wonder, Fred, if there could have been anything more.” This time Barney was embarrassed, but Mona had found the courage in dying to say what was in her heart. “Did you ever have feelings for me the way that I had for you?” she asked bluntly. Everybody was quiet, waiting for Fred to answer. Finally he said, “It would not be right to share my feelings when I am unsure of what they are.” Mona smiled faintly and said, “Very well, I shall wait for your answer in the next life.” She closed her eyes and tears started to come out. Barney started to cry and mumbled to Fred, “Just tell her how you feel. Please.” Fred’s eyes also started to get red, but tears did not fall as he gazed gently at Mona’s sweet face. She passed away a moment later, leaving behind an uncontrollably weeping servant, a broken hearted Shaolin, and an unrequited Taoist.

  10. #30
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    Default The End - Part 4

    The battle drew to a close as the sun was getting lower in the late afternoon. Frank, Mona, and a handful of henchmen and Shaolin and Taoists lay dead, while most of the others were injured to some degree, and the remaining henchmen had been justly subdued. It was a costly but necessary outcome. Master Tom and Master Po had the students gather the bodies of their fallen comrades to be properly buried, and forced the henchmen to do the same for their dead. Then they gathered up all the belongings, including what Frank’s group had brought, to be properly stored. One of the Shaolin found a satchel with a strange and unmarked book, and brought it to Master Po. After opening it up and looking at a few pages, Master Po knew it was Frank’s martial arts manual. He called Fred and Barney over and presented them with the book, saying, “It is only fitting that the ones who defeated Frank should decide the fate of his skills.” Barney looked unsure, but Fred took it anyway. They took Mona’s body back to the village to be buried alongside her father and mother. Frank’s assistant, who had escaped harm, had met with the new magistrate when he arrived and told him everything that had happened. Fred and Barney, along with all the Shaolin and Taoists, were exonerated of any wrongdoing. The remaining henchmen were placed under arrest, along with John as a favor for Fred and Barney. After they paid their respects to Mona, Fred and Barney left to see Tim and possibly return the book. They were dumbstruck at what they discovered; the charred remains of what use to be a cabin, with no sign of life anywhere. They made a makeshift headstone out of a piece of wood, and paid their respects. As the sun arose high in the sky on the hilltop, Fred and Barney looked at each other seriously. Fred held the book in his hand and said, “What shall we do with this book?” “We could destroy it,” said Barney. “What good would that do,” said Fred, “It should be preserved for future generations.” Barney asked curiously, “Do you want to keep it?” Fred feigned interest and said, “It would not be right for me to keep such a valuable item. We must find an honorable way to determine what to do.” “I will not fight you for it,” said Barney. “It does us no good to fight now,” said Fred, “We already know it will end in a draw. We will think of something else.” Fred and Barney both thought long and hard, but could not come up with anything. Finally, Barney grabbed the book and said, “We should both memorize it then.” In actuality Barney was just testing how Fred would react, hoping to understand his intentions. Fred refused to let go of the book, and both men held onto it tightly. Just then, someone quickly flew into the scene and took the book away from both their hands. Fred and Barney were shocked and immediately made an attack stance toward the stranger. It was not an easy task to sneak up unnoticed, let alone steal the book from two great martial artists. Whoever did this must have been a great martial artist himself. The stranger raised his hand and said, “Stop. I do not wish to fight.” He the cupped his fists in respect and said, “My name is David and I came to pay my respects to my former teacher, Tim.” Fred and Barney recognized the name and introduced themselves as friends of Tim. David explained that he had heard rumors about Frank’s evil deeds recently, and came to investigate. Unfortunately he arrived too late and the tragic events had already unfolded. Fred and Barney explained what had transpired, leading to Frank’s death. “My unfortunate little martial brother,” said David, “He caused so much trouble that heaven itself sent the tiger and the dragon to stop him.” David paid his respects to Tim, kneeling and kowtowing several times before his headstone. Then he got up and said, “My benevolent teacher could never bring himself to destroy this book, but he was always afraid someone would learn it and misuse its gift. We must honor his memory by keeping true to his wishes.” David opened the book to the approximate middle and ripped it, creating two halves. He then handed one half to Fred and the other half to Barney. “This way,” said David, “the book shall live on, and there will always be someone to balance the possibility of misuse.” He bowed in respect one more time, then took off, and was gone in a matter of seconds. Fred and Barney could not argue with that logic, but Fred said in a friendly way, “Why do we not make a contest of our halves. We could compete in twenty years, and whoever wins can have the other half.” Barney really disliked that idea, but did not want to argue with Fred right now, so he said, “Very well. We can discuss this at a later time.” Two men walked down the hill together, a Shaolin and a Taoist, both masters of their destiny and secure in the knowledge that they had found some justice, and possibly even a little greatness.

    The End

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    Default

    Sorry for posting more stuff, especially if it is unintelligible, but I still have a few ideas, and I am too lazy or schizo to patiently write them all coherently. So I am going to post what I have, starting with a little description of the martial arts world I am trying to create. Except for part of "The White Dragon", everything is just a synopsis. My hope is to get these ideas out of my head so hopefully I will never have to think about them again. Thanks.

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    Schools:

    Flower Maiden Society – Founded by Eve, the society originally existed as a sort of school to teach young girls how to be ladies, but later became a secret society of female only fighters.

    Bamboo Gentleman Society – Founded by Adam, the society originally existed as a sort of school to teach young boys how to be gentlemen, but was later destroyed by the Huns.

    Brotherhood of Tao – Founded by Jack in respect of his master, who never became the leader of the Taoist.

    Secret Sword Society – Founded by a student of the Legendary Demonic Swordsman, the society taught swordsmanship as a way of life, but was almost destroyed by rival clans.

    Sword Masters Guild – Founded by sword masters who wanted to form a coalition for the purpose of improving their skills, the guild was almost destroyed by rival clans.

    Demon Cult – Founded by Jeff, the cult was a mysterious collection of great fighters who sometimes did not follow social norms, thus making them outcasts.

    Beggar Clan – Founded by the beggars, the clan exists to help others in need.

    Shaolin – Founded by Buddhist followers, exists in multiple locations with varying disciplines.

    Taoist – Founded by Taoist followers, exists in multiple locations with varying disciplines.

    Dragon Island – Founded by Jim, the islanders live in relative seclusion.

    Fighting Styles:

    Yin-Yang Convergence (11) – Created by David, it allows the user to maximize both yin and yang equally within the body, making you incredibly strong, but internally unstable.

    Four Ways of the Dragon (11-) – Created by Jim, it is a combination of hundreds of different styles distilled into four distinct fighting techniques:
    Sharp Weapon – use of sword and other bladed weapons
    Blunt Weapon – use of staff and other blunted weapons
    Upper Body Attack – palm and upper body movements for attacking
    Lower Body Attack – feet and lower body movements for attacking

    Heart of Shaolin (10/11) – The user possesses a great deal of internal energy to make the body impervious to attack, and heal the self.

    Spirit of Tao (10/11) – The user possesses a great deal of external energy to make attacks more powerful, and heal others.

    Heart of the Warrior (10/11) – The user has a complete set of deadly attacks in a military style combat to inflict maximum damage with minimum effort.

    Demon Magic (10) – Created by Jeff, the user to channels the opponent’s incoming energy in different directions, negating an attack.

    Sword Palm (10) – Created by Adam, the user fights with the hand like a sword, chopping and slashing.

    Demonic Swordplay (9/10) – Created by the Legendary Demonic Swordsman, the user has a complete set of sword skills to counter most attacks.

    Eight Styles Swordplay (9/10) – Created by the Sword Masters Guild as a collection of eight different blade types and their corresponding fighting styles:
    Double-edge Straight Sword – mainly lethal, arms length combat
    Single-edge Straight Sword – both lethal and non-lethal, arms length combat
    Saber – both lethal and non-lethal, varying range combat
    Short Sword – mainly non-lethal, close range combat
    Long Sword – mainly lethal, beyond arms length combat
    Curved Sword – mainly lethal, close range combat
    Flexible Sword – mainly lethal, varying range combat
    Blunt Sword – mainly non-lethal, arms length combat

    Dragon Subduing Palms (9/10) – The user can create endless variation with the powerful set of palm strikes.

    Divine Fingers (9/10) – The user fights with the fingers, which have the strength of metal.

    Heavenly Palms (9/10) – The user attacks with the palms in quick succession, and can look like a thousand hands if performed fast enough.

    Empty Wind (9/10) – Created by Carl, it is an enhancement of the Sword of Wind that the user seems to float effortlessly while striking with gusts of wind.

    Tiger Claws (9/10) – The user’s hands form claws that can grab, puncture and scrape.

    Dragon Mouth (9/10) – The user’s hands form a kind of mouth that can grab and push.

    Iron Palm – Created by Phil, the user’s palm becomes hard as iron.

    Iron Body (9/10) – The user’s body becomes hard as iron.

    Double Arrow (9/10) – Created by Quinn, it is a combination of the Yin-Yang Convergence and Heavenly Palms that a single, deadly strike is launched with both hands as the user leaps at the opponent.

    Golden Dragon Fist (9/10) – Created by Ray, it is a combination of the Double Palm and Golden Fist that the user can break through multiple targets with one blow.

    Sword of Wind (9) – Created by Zack, it is a combination of Sword of War and Divine Wind that can use the sword attacks to create gusts of wind.

    Double Palm (9) – Created by Ben, the user can attack with both palms in a special combo that increases the power of the attack significantly.

    Divine Wind (9) – Created by Tibetan monks, the user can create gusts of wind with each attack.

    Iron Hand (9) – Created by Bobby, the user’s hand becomes as hard as iron.

    Ice Palm (9) – The user can cause things to freeze with the palm, as well as inflict great external cold damage.

    Fire Palm (9) – The user can cause things to catch on fire with the palm, as well as inflict great internal heat damage.

    Flower Maiden Dance (9) – Created by the Flower Maiden Society as a need to be able to fight without a sword, it consists of a series of graceful body movements to counter an opponent.

    Flower Maiden Magic (9) – Created by Jill, it is a combination of the Flower Maiden Dance, Sword of Wind, and other styles creating a variation of strikes.

    Black Jade Body (9) – The user’s body becomes as hard as black jade.

    Buddha Palm (9) – The user builds up energy and uses it all in a single, powerful attack.

    Monkey Feet (9) – The user can use the feet like hands.

    Monkey Staff (8/9) – The user can use the staff as a full or half weapon.

    Golden Fist (8/9) – The user’s fist can break wood, bone, and even stone.

    Divine Saint Swordplay (8/9) – The user’s sword movements are wild and varied to confuse the opponent.

    Flower Maiden Swordplay (8/9) – Created by Eve, consists of four separate styles:
    Summer Flower Stance – slowest, most precise, least deadly, most graceful
    Winter Flower Stance – fastest, least precise, most deadly, least graceful
    Autumn Flower Stance – fast, less precise, more deadly, not graceful
    Spring Flower Stance – slow, more precise, less deadly, graceful

    Sword of War (8/9) – The user’s sword movements represent the ultimate military styles.

    Iron Grip (8/9) – The user has a grip like iron.

    Ghost Magic (*) – Created by Jeff, the user can learn other martial arts quicker, and incorporate compatible styles to improve skill.

    Dragon Mirror (*) – Created by Jim, the user can quickly duplicate the movements of an opponent, thus like fighting oneself in a mirror.

    Explanation:

    The ability of a martial art is dependent on strength and skill, which need not be equal. The style listing above represents the highest level ever achieved, but not every martial artist can achieve it, which is why the characters have their own level as well. The numbering represents fighting levels whereby the difference of one whole number indicate a strength increase of x4 and a skill increase of x2 and the probability of victory of x10. For example:

    Level 9 is 4 times stronger Level 8
    Level 9 is 2 times more skillful than Level 8
    Level 9 is 10 times more likely to win against Level 8

    Numbering also includes + and -, like in grade scale, and two numbers together (like 8/9) means on the cusp between the highest Level 8 and lowest level 9 possible.

    Fighting Level:
    (Level – type of person, likelihood, example)
    0 – dead
    1 – ordinary, most people, me
    2 – athlete, sporty people, Michael Jordan
    3 – acrobat, dedicated athlete, Jackie Chan
    4 – seasoned fighter, professional competitors, Chuck Norris
    5 – prize fighter, real contenders, Tony Jaa
    6 – top fighter, number 1 in field, Jet Li
    7 – true master, best of the best, Bruce Lee
    8 – master among masters, top one percent, Wong Fei Hung
    9 – legend, once in a generation, Darth Vader
    10 – mythical hero, once in a lifetime, Yoda
    11 – god-like, once in an era, Goku

  13. #33
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    May 2006
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    The White Dragon

    Characters
    David (11) – father of Alex, Yin-Yang Convergence (11)
    Alex (11-) – son of David, Yin-Yang Convergence (11-)
    Greg (10/11) – Hun leader, Heart of the Warrior (10/11)
    Tony – follower of David
    Adam (10) – martial brother of David, Sword Palm (10)
    Eve (8/9) – martial sister of David, Flower Maiden Swordplay (8/9)
    Amy – student of Greg, Heart of the Warrior (8)

    Story: First Part
    It was a cold and wet morning and the field was slowly being illuminated by the rising sun. Two very auspicious men stood a great distance from each other, not saying a word. Their eyes spoke for them. The older of the two men made a menacing posture, preparing to engage the other in combat. The other man, though younger, was still in his fifties, and did not make a move. Suddenly, the older man rushed forward and launched his attack, throwing two palm strikes and a kick in rapid succession. An ordinary person might think his attack was weak, but a learned martial artist could tell it was quite ferocious. The strikes were clean, fluid, accurate, and extremely powerful. The younger man dodged all three and moved back with incredible speed. The older man pressed forward and increased his attack, launching six more strikes in the same timeframe. This time, the younger man blocked two strikes with his arms and countered the others with his speed and reflexes. The older man seemed undaunted and launched twelve further strikes, his speed now increasing to the point were the normal eye could barely see his movement. The younger man quickly avoided the attack, though it was becoming more difficult every time, and launched a counterattack. His strikes were just as fast, and even more powerful, but lacked some of the skill that the older man displayed. Eventually their palms met, and the older man was pushed backward with a resounding blow, to his utter amazement. “I see that your master has taught you well, David,” said the older man, “I am glad his death was not meaningless.” “Greg,” said David, “you are horribly mistaken. I keep telling you that Tim is not my master. Your desire for revenge is sadly misplaced. Please stop before anyone gets hurt.” “Begging for your feeble life is useless,” said Greg, “Fight for it instead.” Greg launched twenty four strikes this time, causing David to jump away while trying to avoid them. A thud sound was heard as Greg’s palm struck David on the back momentarily, but nothing seemed to happen. Greg took back his palm as if it had hit a hard and was in pain, while David looked unfazed. “Can we please stop this silly fighting,” said David confidently now, “and sit down and discuss this like civilized gentlemen?” Greg’s eyes flashed back in hatred and one could see a bit of insanity as well. He jumped forward and launched forty eight strikes now, faster than the eye could see. Luckily, David ducked, bobbed, and weaved fast enough to keep from being seriously injured, striking out with his own hands and feet in defense. The battle seemed a little one sided as Greg was on the offense while David concentrated on defense. The truth was that both men had their advantages and disadvantages in martial arts. David was considerably stronger than Greg, but his fighting skills were not as profound, making the outcome of a direct confrontation hard to determine. Greg increased the speed and intensity of his attacks, while David used his superior strength to counter time and again. Unfortunately, David’s vastly inferior skills eventually caught up to him and he was struck two more times, once in the shoulder and once in the stomach. He showed no signs of injury and kept on fighting. Greg was beginning to understand the difference in their strengths, but refused to give up. Soon, the sun was high overhead as the two continued their assaults. David had been hit more than thirty times by then, seemingly unaffected every time, whereas Greg had been knocked back several times as well when their strikes collided. The fight went on like that until the sun was ready to set, when something strange happened. David started to feel uncomfortable inside. His body was becoming a little numb, and his vision blurred, yet his quiet expression had not changed. Truth be told, he was expecting these symptoms, just not so soon. In an instant, he had changed his tactic and was going on the offensive. David launched a multitude of strikes, none of which were as complicated or fast as Greg’s, but more powerful. Greg tried to defend himself, but found that the strikes were just too strong to block with ordinary means. Greg was getting pushed around after awhile, and finally got hit in the chest with a tremendous palm strike. He staggered backwards, and nearly dropped to his knees, but managed to stay standing, breathing heavily. David had strained himself with his attacks, and exerted more energy than he should have. He was now feeling nauseous and his body ached like it had been badly battered. “Hopefully,” thought David, “Greg is too injured to continue to fight.” Looking at Greg, it would appear that this was true. Greg’s body went limp and his head fell forward, but when it came up David could see the cruel expression of a madman on Greg’s face. Greg pounced without hesitating, launching over a hundred strikes. David was unable to react fast enough, especially in his condition, and was hit many times before the attack had ended, the last of which sent him flying back quite a distance. Greg could tell that the hits this time had made a significant impact and grinned proudly. David struggled to get up, which he eventually did, but kept his composure so as not to give away his condition. He knew that another attack and it would be over, so he just stood there, gathering the rest of his energy for one final attack. Greg took his time, staring at David for awhile to assess the damage. After seeing David remain standing, Greg rushed forward with another attack, only David was expecting this. Greg hit David right in the chest with his first couple of strikes, which surprised him, only to have David knock his arms away and strike him in the chest as well. David’s hit, though, contained all the strength he had left, and Greg’s body flew backward fifty meters. A hit like that would kill just about anyone, but not Greg. Greg crawled on the ground for awhile, spitting up blood along the way, and eventually got up, though he was hunched over and staggering. “I must admit that you are better than I expected,” said Greg, “so I will let you go this time. But do not expect such mercy next time.” The expression on David’s face did not change, which made Greg angry again. “Since you do not have anything to say,” said Greg, “I will be off.” Greg raised his hand in the air and eight people descended from the hill behind him, two of whom held him up and lead him away. A man also came down from the hill behind David, and stood just behind him for now. All of these spectators had been instructed not to interfere when the fight began. After Greg had left, the man behind David said, “Congratulations, boss. It was a close fight, but you really beat him.” David did not say anything, but threw up a mouthful of blood all of a sudden. “Take me home quickly,” said David in a weak voice. His follower grabbed him and immediately did as he was told. The next day back at the mansion where David was recuperating, a small group of men gathered in the meeting hall to discuss matters. One of them was Alex, David’s young son and the heir to his estate and martial arts. “I cannot believe you let this happen,” said Alex. “It was your father’s wish,” said Tony, the man who had helped David back after the battle. “There is no need to be so upset,” said one of the other men, “your father did win the fight after all.” “My father could have been killed,” yelled Alex angrily. “The rest of us probably would have been instead if he had not accepted the challenge,” said Tony, “Your father did what he thought was best and we all respect him for that, which is why he is our leader.” All the other men nodded in agreement except for Alex, who turned away in disapproval. “Listen young master,” said another man, “I have known your father a long time and only wish him health and happiness, but he has responsibilities far greater than any of us. We serve and protect him, and honor his requests. This fight may have been a mistake, but it is not for us to judge. We are just grateful he is alright.” Alex sighed in capitulation and said, “You are right. I am just so upset that I could not be strong enough to help him. Why will father not teach me the rest of the Yin-Yang Convergence himself?” “Be patient,” said Tony, “you will learn it all in due time. Just follow your training, and your heart. What more could the boss want.” The group dispersed as everyone went in different directions. The mansion was quite large, and decorated with all sorts of fancy and expensive things. David had made his fortune in transportation; mainly the protection of trade routes that ran through the north and west, where the nomadic Huns threatened many a traveler. The surrounding towns paid him a handsome sum to keep the roads safe and clear, and guarantee continued business. He had over fifty men working for him, in subordinate rolls, most of who were posted throughout the territories. All of them knew how to fight, but only Alex was trained in the Yin-Yang Convergence because David never believed in creating a school to pass on his skills. They had never faced a martial arts showdown like what was going on now. Alex slowly opened a door and peered in on his father, lying asleep in bed. David had come back from the fight completely exhausted, and looking gravely ill. His condition did not seem to improve much with rest, which worried Alex a great deal. The best doctors had seen him but were at a loss to explain what was ailing him. Rest and herbal medication were the only prescription they could come up with. Alex made a depressing sigh as he closed the door quietly. Two months later, David was up and about, though still in a weakened state. Tony was walking with him slowly around the indoor garden, trying to show a smiling face. “You look a lot better, boss,” said Tony. “No I do not,” said David, “but thank you for being polite. Unfortunately, I am not going to get better anytime soon.” “You should not say such things,” said Tony, “You will be back to your old self soon enough.” “I wish I could believe you,” said David, “but I know better. I know what is wrong with me. I was told about it many years ago.” Tony looked surprised and said, “What are you saying? Who told you?” David sat down on a bench and said, “My sickness has to do with the balance of yin and yang in my body. The martial arts that I developed, the Yin-Yang Convergence, owes a great deal to my former teacher, Tim. He taught us that bringing equal parts of yin and yang to your training would make you stronger, as it has done for me. I built my martial arts around that principle. However, there is a serious flaw to that principle. Tim did realize this until much later in life, and that information was passed on to me by a Taoist and a Shaolin many years ago. The delicate balance of such enormous internal energy is untenable under such rigid circumstances, that the potential disruption by another powerful force could render the source chaotic and uncontrollable.” Tony had a confused look on his face. “It means that I cannot control my chi anymore,” said David, “and it will eventually kill me.” Tony gasped and said, “That cannot be true. Is there anything we can do about it?” “I appreciate your concern,” said David, “but you are not talented enough, and neither am I.” “What about the Taoist and the Shaolin?” asked Tony. David thought a moment and began to smile. “You are absolutely right,” said David, “maybe they can help. I want you to get a message to them right away. Their names are Fred and Barney. Help me up so I can compose the letters.” Tony gently grabbed David’s elbow and escorted him to the study. Ten days passed without incident. On the eleventh day, a commotion was heard in the northern gate of the mansion. A number of armed men gathered to investigate and found before them a small group of foreigners, probably Huns. The leader appeared to be a beautiful young woman with a devilish look on her face, and a whip to match. “Who are you people?” asked one of the men. “Who we are is not important,” said the woman, “What we are here for is the real question. My name is Amy, and I come with a message from my master, Greg. I will only speak with your master, David.” “David is not our master,” said another man, “and you cannot see him unless you tell us what this is about.” “Step aside,” said Amy, “or you will be sorry.” The men looked at each other, but before they could decide Amy had uncoiled her whip and lashed out. The first man struck was knocked away several meters, and then the whip recoiled in the opposite direction. After a couple of passes, more than six men had been struck away, clearing a pass to the mansion. As she walked along the pass more men came forward to try and stop her, some with swords and others with staffs, but her martial arts was too high and she knocked them away with each pass of her whip. The rest of her group still remained far behind as she approached the entrance to the mansion, but just when she was about to step in a figure jumped out at her. She launched her whip with a loud CRACK, only to hear it silenced immediately. Alex had grabbed her whip with his hand, and held it firmly in check. Amy tried to pull the whip back, but it would not budge, so she quickly ran up and attacked Alex with her free hand. His skills were limited so he released the whip and struck out with his other hand, and when their palms met she was knocked all the way back to where she had started. Shocked by what had happened Amy secretly admired his martial arts and said, “I see that you are the true student of David. Please, give your master this message.” She took out a letter and tossed it at him, using her unique skills. The letter flew straight at Alex with great precision, and seemed to slow down and almost hover when it got close enough for him to grab it, which he did. “We will meet again,” said Amy. With those words, she and her group promptly left. Alex signaled to the men and said, “Take the injured inside to be treated and station some men to watch this entrance.” He turned and re-entered the mansion, heading to the main hall. Once there by himself he opened the letter and read it. It was a challenge from Greg to duel with David again in three days. Just then, Tony entered the room and said, “I just heard that there was some trouble at the north gate. Is everything alright? The men said there was a message for David.” Alex was hesitant to inform Tony about the matter, as he did not want his father to fight, but he knew he could not keep this to himself, seeing as how the consequences could be dire in either case. He handed the letter to Tony and said, “Read this.” Tony quickly read it and said, “This is crazy. The boss cannot fight in his condition. What do we do?” “We do not tell him,” said Alex. “You mean turn down the challenge?” asked Tony, “I do not thing Greg will like that answer.” “Then we do not give him that answer,” said Alex, “and we will not accept his challenge.” Tony did not understand and said, “Then what will happen?” “Hopefully nothing,” said Alex, “but let me worry about that. Now I want you to promise me that you will not tell my father about this.” Tony looked reluctant at first, but nodded in agreement as he desperately wanted to protect David. “Very well,” said Alex, “then dispose of this letter and make sure my father does not hear anything suspicious from the other men.” Tony took the letter and left. Alex walked into the study, sat down, and wrote two letters of his own. Then he called for someone and said, “Take these two letters and have them delivered immediately. Get our best men on it.” After the man left with the letters, Alex stood alone in the study for a long time, contemplating the future outcome of his decisions. Three days passed without incident. On the fourth day there was another commotion at the north gate. An even larger and more heavily armed number of men gathered there from throughout the mansion, expecting the worse. Before them stood the same group of Huns, with the exception of an elderly man that appeared to be leading them this time. It was Greg. “Where is David,” yelled Greg, “Does he not have the courage to come out and confront me, even after ignoring my challenge? He is no warrior and has no honor. All of you should abandon his side, lest you be an accomplice to his cowardice.” “Shut up you crazy old fool,” yelled one of the men back, “David is the bravest and most respected man in these parts, and it is you who should leave before others learn of your treachery.” Quicker than anyone could react, Greg rushed forward and grabbed the man by the throat and brought him back to where Greg had originally been standing. “What a sharp tongue you have,” said Greg, “You should consider joining my side, unless you want to die right here. As for the rest of you; find David and bring him out here, or all of you will suffer my wrath.” The other men began to mumble amongst themselves, not sure of what to do. Alex finally stepped forward from within the mansion and said, “Honorable Greg, please forgive the rash welcome. We have not been good hosts so far. Please, come in and we can discuss the matter.” Greg looked over the young man and said, “Who are you?” Alex laughed and said, “I must apologize; I completely forgot to introduce myself. My name is Alex, and my father is David.” Greg could see the resemblance now and said, “I see. Has your father sent you out here because he is afraid to come himself? What manner of deceit is this?” Alex’s face became serious and he said, “This is no trick. My father will not be seeing you today. He is in dispose and there is nothing you can do to change that fact. If you wish to discuss it, please join us inside, otherwise I will have to ask you to leave.” Greg tossed his hostage aside like a rag doll and laughed, and then he said, “At least someone in this household has the guts to stand up to me like a man. But tell me boy, do you have the heart of a warrior to back it up?” Greg made an attack posture and the rest of his group began to back up to give him room. Alex turned to his men and said, “Clear the area. Whatever happens, do not interfere, but do not let anyone get into mansion regardless.” Alex turned back to Greg and said, “Whatever happens today, you cannot see my father, and you must never come back again. Do you agree?” Greg smiled and said, “Fight me first, and then we will find out.” Alex made a few slow motions to gather up his internal strength. When he finished, Greg immediately launched an attack. Instead of dodging, Alex countered with a series of attacks himself; nothing complicated but incredibly quick and powerful. When their palms collided, both men were sent back a few steps. Greg had attacked with his full strength, having experienced the force of the Yin-Yang Convergence and not knowing what to expect. How could he suspect that Alex was now as strong as him. In fact, Alex had been training non-stop the last three days to prepare for this, and his strength had nearly doubled in that short time. This was made possible because of the secret chamber that he had used to train the Yin-Yang Convergence. A most closely guarded secret, the chamber itself was a cave hidden high along the mountain overlooking the mansion. Its location was a mystery known only to David and Alex. Inside the cave was the manual for the Yin-Yang Convergence, as well as an open area in which to train. The shortcut afforded anyone who studied martial arts in there lay within the walls of the cave, which were lined with a deposit of cosmic material. It was believed that a long time ago a falling star crashed into the mountainside, creating a large hole that eventually closed up to form the cave. The cosmic material had a special property; mainly it seemed to enhance the internal energy of anyone who was within close proximity, allowing them to maximize the study of the part of a martial arts dealing with internal energy. Of course there were limits to the enhancement, based on the limits of the human body and the level of person’s endurance; because the increased energy was internal only, coming from that which the person could muster, fatigue would easily set in, followed by exhaustion, and eventually death if the person was not careful. Alex had taken advantage of the last three days there to concentrate on improving his skills. Prior to this, he had rarely used the chamber because his father always disapproved of its use and he was never serious about practicing the Yin-Yang Convergence. The only reason he was any good at it to begin with was because he had spent several months practicing in the chamber after his mother passed away, and his father let him work out his grief that way. Now, with the potential harm to his father, he had found the desire and discipline to study hard once again, and had reached a new milestone. Greg was pleasantly surprised at this young kid’s abilities, but he knew he had the advantage. Just like David, Alex lacked a great deal of depth in his martial arts skills, instead relying predominantly on his strength. This would prove a huge handicap, especially in a prolonged battle. Greg took the initiative and launched another attack, this time mixing up his strikes. He came from the left, suddenly switched to the right, from the top, and then the bottom, never pushing the attack too hard and slowly wearing away Alex’s defenses. Alex tried to counter with an offensive move of his own, but his lack of experience made the effort unsuccessful. After a hundred moves, Alex was hit in the shoulder. He quickly recovered, but not before taking three more hits. By that time he began to feel queasy and his movements slowed considerably. Another twenty movements and he was hit nine more times, causing him to spit up blood. Greg launched a flying kick that knocked Alex all the way to the northern gate entrance. During this time, David was in his room resting. Tony had kept watch outside the door, but when all the commotion started he came in to make sure David would stay put. “Tony, what is going on?” asked David in a quiet voice. “Nothing, boss,” said Tony. When the fighting started, more men scurried throughout the mansion to go and watch, which prompted David to ask, “Tony, what is that raucous?” “Nothing, boss,” said Tony again. David slowly got out of bed and said, “I do not believe you. I am going to check it out myself.” Tony came forward to try and stop David, only to be brushed aside with a strong force. Although David was ill, he was still much too strong for Tony to stop. David opened the door and stepped out, only to be bumped by one of the men rushing to the north gate. “What is going on?” asked David. The startled man said, “Sir, I am sorry for running into you. There is a fight at the north gate. I hear Alex is involved.” David was shocked by the news and turned to Tony, “Did you know about this?” Tony nodded ashamedly and David said, “We will discuss this later. We need to get to the north gate.” David and Tony quickly headed there. Alex was sitting on the ground struggling to regain his composure. Greg smiled deviously and launched what he believed would be his final attack. Just when his palm was a meter away from Alex’s body it made contact with David’s palm, and the force repelled Greg’s attack but also pushed David back hard. Tony caught David before he fell down. Greg looked over to see both David and Alex in serious condition, and he could not help but gloat. “So the mighty David has decided to show himself,” said Greg, “This is the best that you could do? No wonder you were scared to face me again.” “The boss did not even know about your second challenge,” yelled Tony in defense. “No matter,” said Greg, “This ends now. I knew you were no warrior. I shall have my revenge.” Greg started his next move but something caught his attention out of the corner of his eye. A person moving incredibly fast flew out of the sky and came right at Greg, who stepped aside quickly to avoid a collision. When the person landed Greg yelled, “Who dares to interfere?” “Please excuse the interruption,” said the person, “My name is Fred and I was invited to come and help out a sick friend. I did not mean to get in your way. May I ask your name.” “My name is Greg,” grumbled Greg, “What business does a Taoist have so far north?” Fred smiled congenially and went over to David. He could see that David was injured, and so was Alex. “Did I arrive in time?” asked Fred. “Just in time,” said David. “Step aside,” yelled Greg, “David and I have some unfinished business.” Fred turned to Greg and said, “I am sorry. I cannot do that. He is the sick friend I came to help, and it would be unrighteous for me to let any more harm come to him. I hope an honorable man such as you might understand.” “Understand this,” said Greg, “anybody who stands between me and my mission is an enemy, and shall be treated as such.” “I see,” said Fred, “then I guess we have a slight problem because I cannot let you continue this fight.” Greg snarled and said, “Then die along with the others,” and came at Fred. Fred countered left and then moved right, his arms and legs making graceful movements. Fifty movements passed without either man getting hit, and it became clear what was happening. Greg was stronger than Fred, but Fred’s martial arts skills were so impressive, much better than David or Alex, that he was able to hold his own against Greg. David kept alternating his gaze between the fight and at Alex, who was in pretty bad shape. He was extremely nervous because he knew how dangerous Greg was, and was worried about his son’s condition. Amy had been paying attention to her master for most of the event, but now turned her attention to David and Alex. She knew that with both of them injured it was the perfect opportunity to deal a fatal blow, and possibly get some recognition. She released her whip and flew straight toward the father and son, lashing out as she went. A number of men jumped forward and tried to stop her, but her skills were too great and all of them were knocked aside. Tony stood in front of her way and tried to grab the whip, like Alex had done, but his skills were so inferior that he only managed to take hold after the end of the whip had wrapped around his neck. Amy pulled back hard on the whip handle, but Tony refused to be moved. Although Tony was not a great fighter, he was quite physically strong, and used his strength to stubbornly resist being moved. Unfortunately, he was slowly being choked by the whip. Amy kept pulling harder, expecting Tony to move or die, when all of a sudden a hand came out and grabbed her whip, locking it in place. It was a Shaolin monk, and with one hand he held the whip firm, and with the other he unraveled it from around Tony’s neck. Tony fell to the ground, gasping for air. The monk let go of the whip unexpectedly, causing Amy to nearly fall down backwards. “I am sorry if I have mistreated you, miss,” said the monk while putting his hands together, “My name is Barney and I could not help but rescue this man. Even if he has done some wrong, I would ask Buddha for forgiveness.” Amy could see she was no match for Barney and said, “First a Taoist shows up, then a Shaolin. Who will be next?” She walked back to her party. Barney turned to David and said, “Honorable David, I apologize for being late. I hope you can forgive me.” “You are always late,” said a voice from the side. It was Fred, still fighting with Greg. “At least I do not start fights,” said Barney, “You should really stop for David’s sake.” “I would if I could,” said Fred, “but you might want to tell my opponent, Greg.” Barney could see the intensity of the battle, and that Fred was at a disadvantage. David yelled, “Be careful, Greg is a little mad. It would be best not to let your guard down.” Barney was worried at those words because he knew David was a great martial artist, and to have him warn you was no laughing matter. Barney jumped into the battle, which was not his usual behavior. Just like old times, Fred and Barney began to combine their skills perfectly. This teamwork was too much for Greg, who was getting overwhelmed. He was probably as strong as Fred and Barney combined, but their skills now far exceeded his own, and he knew it was only a matter of time before he lost. Wanting to save face, he broke off the attack and jumped back to his party. “This fight has become grossly unfair,” said Greg, “but I did not lose to anybody today. I will return to finish this another time.” Greg promptly left, taking the Huns with him. Fred and Barney went over to David. “Here, let us help you,” said Barney. “No,” said David, “Please help my son, Alex. Whatever favors I may have, I only ask that you save him.” “Ridiculous,” said Fred, “We will help both of you. But we will start with Alex if you insist. They helped carry Alex into the mansion and sat him down cross-legged in one of the studies. Fred sat down behind him, tapped some acupoints on his back, and then touched his back with the index finger, pushing chi into his body. Barney sat in front facing him, tapped some acupoints on his chest and stomach, and then raised his palms and made contact with them, pushing chi into his body. The purpose of this exercise was to slowly force the chi in Alex’s body back into equilibrium, thus healing him. The task was made much more difficult because of his high level of strength combined with the severe damage his body had taken. It would be awhile before they could guarantee his recovery. In the meantime, Tony persuaded David to go back to his room and rest. Fred and Barney worked diligently all night to care for Alex, leaving little time to look after David. In the early morning a couple of young men ran into the room looking for someone in charge. “May we help you?” asked Fred without moving from his position. “There is someone coming toward the east gate,” said one of the men nervously, “We have to find David or Tony.” “What do you think?” said Fred. “David is in no condition to deal with anyone,” said Barney, “but I am not sure it would be wise for us to continue interfering.” “Do you wish for me to handle it,” said Fred sarcastically. “No,” said Barney, “I can take care of it. You have done enough already.” Barney withdrew his palms and got up. “I humbly request that you please show me to the east gate,” said Barney, “and then you may look for Tony.” The men did as they were told. As Barney stepped out of the entrance to the east gate he could see a tall figure approaching casually. “Buddha is with you,” said Barney, “As your humble servant, may I be of assistance.” The man looked curiously at Barney and thought, “Am I in the right place?” He cupped his fists together and said, “I am here to see Alex. I was invited.” “May I know who is calling for him?” asked Barney. The man seemed a little suspicious and said, “No, you may not. I will, however, be happy to tell you once I get a chance to see Alex.” “Forgive me,” said Barney, “but Alex is not available at this moment, and I do not have the authority to invite you in.” “I do not need your invitation,” said the man angrily, “I was invited by the master of the house.” He began to approach the entrance, but Barney would not move and blocked his way. He laid a hand on Barney’s shoulder and tried to force Barney to move, with no success. However, his hand remained and the strength of his force was increasing rapidly. At the peak, it seemed that he and Barney were evenly matched as both had to exert all their power to stay in their respective positions. Barney was a little concerned that he would be at a disadvantage if the man launched an attack now, with limited space to maneuver, so he knocked the man’s arm away with his palm and took several steps forward, forcing the man to back up. Barney did not assume an aggressive posture, though, but the man was ready to fight now. Barney blocked a swift hand attack, and then dodged two more open palm swings. The man’s attacks were fast and strong, but also strange in that they appeared to be similar to sword movements, but without the sword. His hand made chops like a hatchet, and lunges like a dagger, and large slices like a blade. Barney’s skill set was obviously more complete and he was able to counter the attacks without having to return any. The fight was getting more intense, but not really more dangerous. As it turns out, the man also seemed to refrain from the more deadly attacks, which kept the battle from getting out of hand. Tony stepped onto the scene and immediately yelled, “Please stop it. This is a terrible mistake.” Barney and the man stopped fighting and stared at Tony. “I am so sorry about this,” said Tony, “We were not expecting you.” “Really?” said the man, “I am sorry for causing trouble but I received this distressing message two days ago and I rushed over.” He handed the letter to Tony who promptly read it. Barney was a little confused and said, “I am sorry for the misunderstanding. I hope I may still get your name.” “Of course,” said the man, “My name is Adam.” Barney recognized the name and said, “You were one of Tim’s students. David is your martial brother.” “You seem to know who I am,” said Adam, “may I ask who you are.” Barney quickly recapped on himself and the current situation. Tony looked up after he finished reading the letter and said, “I see. Alex asked you to come to help stop Greg. Unfortunately, your timing was a little off. Please, come in and help if you can.” All three men went into the mansion. Adam went to see Alex first, but upon seeing that there was nothing he could do he went to see David. Barney returned to his position treating Alex. David was still lying in bed, but tried to get up when he saw David. “Please,” said Adam, “do not get up. I just wanted to see if you were okay. I am sorry for not getting here in time.” “Nonsense,” said David, “This is not your fight. I am very glad to see you, but there may be nothing you can do now.” David’s face looked pale and dreary, and all this morbid talk made Tony really distraught. “Do not say such disheartening things,” said Tony, “you will get better soon. I know it.” Adam put on a brave smile but inside he was thinking the worst. David looked sicker than anyone he had ever seen before, and although his medical knowledge was simplistic, even he could see that David looked like he was dying. Tony and Adam left the room to give David a chance to rest some more. The morning dragged on to the late afternoon, whereby Fred and Barney finally finished treating Alex and put him to bed to rest. Both men were tired, but they were not done yet. Tony kindly forced them to eat something first and rest a little before taking a look at David. A short while later a young man ran into the room where Tony and Adam were busy chatting and said, “Tony, sir. Six people are approaching the west gate now. What should we do?” Tony was alarmed, but Adam said, “Do not worry. I will take care of this. That is why I am here.” Adam walked away with the young man, but Tony was still apprehensive so he went to seek the advice of Fred and Barney. When Adam got to the west gate he immediately recognized the people. Six women of varying ages, lead by a beautiful woman about Adam’s age. “Adam,” said the leader, “What are you doing here?” “Eve,” said Adam, “It is so nice to see you. I was invited. Let me guess, so were you.” Eve huffed and said, “If I knew you would be here, I might not have come.” “Now, now,” said Adam, “I know you are still upset with me, but you care too much about David and Alex to let your silly grudge stop you from helping.” One of the older women stepped forward and said, “How dare you talk to the mistress that way. I should take away your manhood right now.” The young man standing behind Adam crossed his legs a bit, but Adam just laughed. “For a woman of the Flower Maiden Society,” said Adam, “you sure are crude.” “And what does that say of the Bamboo Gentleman Society,” said Eve, “producing a scoundrel such as you.” The bickering continued for a long time. Indeed, the Bamboo Gentleman Society and the Flower Maiden Society were similar organizations that sought to teach boys and girls the proper ways of being a gentleman and lady, respectively. These skills included fine arts, etiquette, grooming, and martial arts. Many upstanding families sent their sons and daughters to these two schools, for a nominal fee, and it was the primary source of income for Adam and Eve. But the societies also took in runaways and troubled youths over the years, which helped polarize their gender bias. Eventually, the confrontation turned physical when one of the women drew her hand to slap Adam in the face for his insults. Adam grabbed her wrist before she could hit him, but refused to let it go unless she apologized for being so hotheaded. The other women took offense to his brazen handling of a lady, and drew their swords. Eve did not really want to start a fight, but when her own ladies advanced on Adam she had no choice but to lead them. Adam used his strength to push the woman whose wrist he held back toward the approaching women, which only seemed to incense them more. Four of them launched an attack, their swords swinging in all directions. Adam jumped clear only to see Eve and the other woman come toward him in mid-air. He threw his hands forward, blocking their swords, and changed direction to land a safe distance away from the swarm. “You know you cannot defeat me,” said Adam, “I know the Spring Flower Stance and Winter Flower Stance, and you lost the last time we fought.” “That was over six years ago,” said Eve, “A lot has changed since then. Let us show you.” The four women changed their fighting style, becoming incredibly slow but with greater control of their sword movements. “This is called the Summer Flower Stance,” said Eve. Although Adam could easily avoid one sword because the movement was so slow, the combination of all four in an ever changing pattern made it impossible for him not to come into contact with a blade, which he managed to block relatively easy. “Now let me show you the Autumn Flower Stance,” said Eve. She jumped in and attacked, her style showing more speed than the Spring Flower Stance and more accuracy than the Winter Flower Stance. The sixth woman jumped in afterward, performing the Winter Flower Stance. Now, Adam was fighting four women whose sword style was perfect for defense, while Eve and her partner were on the offense. He was secretly impressed at how she had come up with this strategy, and worried that he would lose. As a matter of fact, he was at a terrible disadvantage and it plainly showed. After a hundred moves, his clothing had been cut several times, and he had yet been able to ascertain a weakness. At this time, Tony had come out of the west gate entrance with Fred and Barney behind. When they saw what was happening Tony said, “What a relief. I thought it was more trouble.” Fred and Barney looked confused and Fred asked, “Who are the women?” “The one leading them is Eve,” said Tony, “and the others are members of the Flower Maiden Society.” Barney immediately recognized the names and said, “Eve was also Tim’s student. But why are they fighting. I thought Adam and Eve loved each other?” “Perhaps that is how a married martial arts couple behaves,” said Fred jokingly. Neither Fred nor Barney had any real interpersonal relationships so they were completely unaware of the pitfalls. “You are mistaken,” said Tony, “they are not married. Adam and Eve went their separate ways many years ago, and unfortunately a failed love can sometimes lead to bitterness.” “Perhaps we should do something to stop them,” said Barney. “No,” said Tony, “it is probably best for them to work this out. They will not harm each other.” Fred and Barney watched the battle and could tell right away how it was going. Adam was much stronger than Eve or any of the other women, but their combined skills far outmatched his. He would lose soon, but they could see that both sides were not engaged in deadly combat, so it was not critical for them to interfere. After another four hundred moves Eve made a whistle sound and all the women retreated to one side, leaving Adam and his somewhat tattered clothes on the other side. “You have now seen what the Flower Maiden Society can do,” said Eve, “Do you have anything to say?” “Yes,” said Adam, “I admit defeat. I guess six against one is a fair fight when it comes to ladies.” Eve laughed and said, “Your fighting skills have not improved much, even if you have gotten stronger. I guess brains and brawn are two mutually exclusive traits when it comes to gentlemen.” “Please stop this,” interrupted Tony, “We have other guests here. Do not be rude.” Eve looked over and said, “Hello, Tony. It is good to see you again. I believe you know why we are here.” “Alex asked you to come,” said Tony, “Please follow me inside and we will discuss the matter in detail.” Everyone went inside and got caught up on the situation. “So you are Fred,” said Eve, “Mimi spoke a lot about you. She was a good woman. I was saddened to hear of her death.” “Thank you,” said Fred, “My mother was very lucky to have been a member of the Flower Maiden Society. Your skills are most impressive.” “Yes,” said Barney, “If I may be so bold, Miss Eve, did you create all your own sword skills?” “Yes,” answered one of the other women, “besides being a true lady, the mistress is a martial arts genius.” Everyone except Adam looked impressed, because he already knew how talented she was. Tony came out with David, who seemed to be unable to stand on his own. As soon as David was seated, Barney went over and put his fingers on David’s wrist to measure his pulse. Barney had become quite adept at checking a person’s health that way. The grave expression on his face caused everyone great anxiety. “What is it,” said Fred. “I am truly sorry,” said Barney, “I fear we are too late. The damage is too severe and is now irreversible. Buddha blesses him.” Everyone was shocked and Eve yelled, “What kind trickery is this? Are we to believe there is nothing that can be done?” Adam quickly countered, “Get a hold of your emotions. This Shaolin helped save Alex. I regret that I do not have the experience to treat David, but I believe that everyone is doing the best they can.” One of the women stood up and said, “I am a medical practitioner. Perhaps I can have a look.” Barney quickly stepped aside and let the woman examine David. After a thorough checkup the woman shook her head and said, “Mistress Eve, he was not lying. This man’s condition is terminal. There is nothing my medical knowledge can do. I am sorry.” Tears started to well up in Eve’s eyes and the other women tried to comfort her. Adam looked distraught and wanted to go over and hold Eve, but he knew his place in this matter would not allow it. Tony fell down in his chair and mumbled, “If only we had treated David first. This is my entire fault.” David said, “No one is to blame for this. Fate has decreed this to happen. My only regret is leaving all of you in this dangerous situation. Please, help Alex and the others.” Fred turned to Barney and said, “Can we not fix his condition like we did Alex?” “First,” said Barney, “David’s internal energy is much stronger than Alex’s. Both of us together would not be strong enough to treat him.” “How about with Adam’s help,” said Fred. “Adam is strong,” said Barney, “but he does not have necessary skills to control it, and there is no time to teach him. It would be even worse to have Adam help treat him. Second, David’s condition has progressed beyond the critical point, making treatment not an option.” “If only we had come earlier,” said Fred. “It would not have done any good,” said Barney, “David seems to have suffered this illness far longer than we suspected.” Tony shook his head and said, “It is true. The boss has hidden his condition for years. He had undergone herbal treatment for the last three years, and it looked like it was helping.” “I see,” said Barney, “Then his first encounter with Greg was the turning point. The second one only made things worse.” Everybody was silent for a long time. Finally, Adam said, “Who is this Greg person anyway? I would like to know before I take my revenge.” “No revenge,” said David, “You must all promise me that. No one else must die.” Adam was about to reply when Eve said, “We promise no revenge. You may be at peace knowing this.” Adam did not have the heart to argue. “Then who is Greg, and why is he so unrighteous?” asked Fred. David sat up as straight as he could and said, “Greg is a ghost from the past. As most of you may know, Tim used to serve in the military compiling literature for the emperor, mostly the fighting type. What you may not know is that before he had completed his tour he was forced by a very powerful general to do one last thing. That general was Greg, and what he wanted was an abridged version of all the martial arts that Tim had collected over the years. Tim did as he was told, but never felt comfortable with the end result. When Greg began to practice the manual, his personality and thoughts became more erratic and sinister. After a while, Greg began to talk of building an army to overthrow the emperor. Tim believed that the manual he had written was the root cause, and begged Greg to stop. Unfortunately, in his insane state, Greg thought that Tim was trying to betray him, and had Tim thrown in jail. Meanwhile, the emperor and his military advisors found out about Greg’s plans and labeled him a traitor. The emperor’s forces went to capture him, and those soldiers who did not desert were either killed or imprisoned. Tim was freed after the raid, and he abandoned his military assignments. Greg escaped with a small band of loyal followers and headed north, toward the badlands of the Huns.” “I never knew this,” said Adam. “Tim never felt it necessary to tell anybody about his past,” said David, “but he did reveal this information to me when he took me on as his first student.” “How did Greg find you?” asked Barney. David said, “Greg found out about Tim’s whereabouts the same way I found out about Frank’s, through rumors passed along by travelers. He must have been waiting patiently because I ran into him when I visited Tim’s grave almost a year ago. He wanted to fight Tim because he still believed that Tim had betrayed him, keeping some of the martial arts for himself. Seeing as how Tim was dead, he challenged me instead. At first I refused, but his ongoing threats of killing everyone I knew made him difficult to ignore. So we set a location and date, which was our first battle.” David sighed and Adam said, “If Greg really wishes to test Tim’s martial arts, then he would have to fight all of us. After all, we owe our skills to Tim.” Everyone shook their head in agreement, but Barney said, “We cannot let Greg’s delusional pursuits cause us to lose our perspective. The goal must be to end this, quickly and peacefully.” “That is precisely what we need to do,” said David, “After I am gone, I want you to offer a truce. The fighting should end with my death.” Everyone was surprised and heartbroken by David’s words, but they could think of no greater honor than to fulfill his last wishes. The only thing left to do now was to tell Alex. The next day, Alex regained full consciousness and immediately went to check on David. Tony caught him the moment he came in David’s room, having sat up with David the entire time, and rushed into another room. “How is my father,” asked Alex anxiously. “He is resting now,” said Tony, “You can talk to him when he wakes up. You should also be resting.” “How can I relax now,” said Alex, “when Greg could be back any minute. Once my father is better, Greg will get what he deserves.” Tony struggled to hold back his emotions. “What is wrong?” asked Alex. “Nothing,” said Tony, “Adam and Eve have come as you requested. You should go see them when you have time.” Alex returned to his room and Tony went to talk to Fred and Barney. A short time later there was a knock on Alex’s door. When he opened it, Fred and Barney greeted him and he bade them to come in. “How are you feeling?” asked Fred. “Better,” said Alex, “Thank you for saving my life.” Alex began to kneel but Barney grabbed his arm and told him to rise. “We are just happy that you are feeling better,” said Barney, “There is no need to show undue appreciation for our humble actions. But we do have some important matters to discuss.” Barney helped Alex to a seat and Fred said, “Tony has asked that we tell you of your condition.” Alex had a confused look but said, “Is their still something wrong with me?” “Not exactly,” said Fred, “but there could be if you continue to use your martial arts.” Fred and Barney had solemn looks on their faces and Barney said, “There is no easy way to say this. Your physical condition is no longer critical, but the cause is still there. The Yin-Yang Convergence is flawed, which has lead to a severe imbalance in your internal energy. The more you practice it, and the more damage your body takes, the worse it will become. At this point, you cannot practice it and you cannot fight, otherwise you may die. There is no cure right now because you have achieved such a high level of martial arts. The only choice is to stop using the Yin-Yang Convergence.” Alex was shocked at the implication, but he was not that upset. Although he had practiced the Yin-Yang Convergence with great conviction, he had never really wanted to use his martial arts to fight. The only reason he did was because desperate times called for desperate measures. But another thought came into his mind. Alex thought, “If I cannot fight anymore, then who will defend the household? My father is unable to, even though he is much better at the Yin-Yang Convergence. But he should suffer the same fate.” It suddenly dawned on Alex and he quickly asked, “What is my father’s condition right now.” Fred and Barney looked at each other, not knowing what to say, until Fred finally said, “It is best if you hear it from him. It would not be right for us to discuss your personal family matters. David should be up soon. Please be patient.” Alex was worried but did not know what to say, so he just nodded. Fred and Barney left the room. Alex decided to find Adam and Eve. Perhaps they knew more of David’s condition. Adam ran into Alex in the corridor and said, “Alex, you are finally up. I was worried about you. How do you feel?” “Uncle Adam,” said Alex, “I feel fine. I am glad you got my message. Thank you for coming.” “Think nothing of it,” said Adam, “I am just sorry I came too late to prevent your injury. Luckily the Toaist and Shaolin monks were here. Your father must have asked for their help. He was always a smart man.” “Of course,” said Alex, “Speaking of which, do you know how my father is doing? The monks will not tell me.” Adam hesitated to say anything, not wanting to upset Alex, but eventually said, “You should talk to David. What I know is not very clear, and your father has always been better at explaining things than me. I do not want to give you the wrong idea.” Adam put on a brave smile, but Alex knew there was more to the matter. However, pressing Adam for information was not a good option because what he lacked in intelligent conversation he more than made up for in double-talk. Alex spoke of other things for awhile, then bid Adam goodbye and went looking for Eve. He found her in the garden, having tea with her ladies in waiting. “Auntie Eve,” said Alex, “I am so happy to see you.” “Alex,” said Eve, “It is good to see you up and about. How have you been?” “Good,” said Alex, “I just spoke with Uncle Adam a moment ago. I hope it is okay that he is here as well? I did not have much time to consider every aspect of the situation.” “No,” said Eve, “everything is fine. Adam is a good man to have around when you need him. You have certainly turned into a fine young man. Smart like your father.” Eve’s compliment of Adam took most of the women by surprise, but it was the truth. Eve did not truly hate Adam; she just did not respect his behavior, and felt betrayed by something that happened a long time ago. Of course, she would never say such nice things to his face. Alex said, “You may be able to help me. I need to know how my father is doing, but no one will tell me honestly. Do you know, and can you please tell me?” Eve looked very sad when Alex asked, and it looked like she might start crying. Alex wanted to say something, but before he could get the chance one of the other women stood up and said, “Please excuse your auntie, she is working through some personal matters. As ladies, we should not speak of other people behind their backs so I would say that you should ask your father that question. We will take care of the mistress now.” The women all got up to leave, two of them escorting Eve. Alex was stunned at how everyone he spoke with was avoiding the question. He had to know so he went back to David’s room. He slowly opened the door and peered inside. Tony was not there, so he quickly came in and closed the door. He came over and sat next to David’s bed, examining David briefly. David opened his eyes and turned to look at Alex. Both men knew what the other was thinking. David spoke with Alex; the way only a father can speak with his son, and told him the whole unadulterated tragedy. As Tony got closer to David’s room he could hear loud crying and rushed in to see David cradling Alex who was crying uncontrollably. Tony understood and went out again, leaving the two to mourn respectfully. Three long days later, David passed away, leaving behind many grieving loved ones. There was a respectful ceremony to honor his passing. Three days after that, the central figures were gathered in the main hall to discuss the details of dealing with Greg. “What shall we do?” asked Tony. Alex was silent; his head lowered with a melancholic expression. “We must do as David requested,” said Barney. “How do you propose that?” asked Adam apprehensively. “We must extract a truce from Greg,” said Fred. “And if he is not receptive to that idea?” asked Eve. “We force it from him,” said Adam. Fred was nodding in agreement while Barney shook his head slightly. “Let us focus on the small steps first,” said Barney, “How should we meet with Greg? Who should meet with him?” Fred said, “Since we do not want him to cause any more trouble for the household, we should meet him at his place.” Both Adam and Eve agreed, so Barney went along with it. “Does anyone know where his residence is?” asked Barney. Tony came forward and said, “Before David’s first fight with Greg, he invited us to his home. I know where it is.” “Very well,” said Barney, “then who should go meet with Greg?” Fred said, “Barney and I should go, because we know that we can handle him.” “Are you saying that I cannot?” asked Adam. “That is typical,” said Eve, “You cannot accept the fact that you are not up to the challenge.” “And I guess you are,” said Adam sarcastically, “I do not see you volunteering, or do you already know how inept you would be.” The argument was getting fairly heated so Fred yelled, “Stop it. Is this how David would want you to act? Nobody is questioning either of your abilities, but we need to chose someone.” “I humbly believe that both Adam and Eve should go,” said Barney. Everyone turned to Barney for an explanation. “If Fred and I go,” continued Barney, “Greg may feel threatened and think we are looking for a fight. Also, we will be returning home soon, which happens to be far away. Whoever negotiates this truce should live nearby, and be well acquainted with the household.” Fred walked over and said, “Will it be safe for them to go. Perhaps we should all go?” “No,” said Barney, “They will be just fine. After seeing their skills, I am more than confident that they can handle Greg. But in case there is trouble, you should return here immediately.” Fred disagreed with the assessment, but he trusted Barney’s judgment. “Then it is settled,” said Adam, “Eve, I am sure this will be a successful mission.” “Of course,” said Eve, “my ladies have never failed me yet.” “I see,” said Adam, “we should prepare to leave soon.” Everyone dispersed to take care of things. Tony escorted Alex away. Alex had hardly spoken since David’s death, and had not paid any attention to the conversation that had transpired. Six days later, Adam, Eve and her ladies arrived at a large estate on top of a mountain deep in the heart of Hun territory. It was Greg’s residence.

    Synopsis: Second Part
    Adam and Eve confront Greg and tell him that David has passed away. That does not satisfy Greg, who demands a rematch. Adam and Eve give him a rematch right there. Neither of them was a match for Greg individually, but combined and with the help of her four ladies they were able to show Greg that it would not be easy for him to win, even if he could. Greg reluctantly agreed to cease his aggression and Adam and Eve leave. After they are gone, Greg instructs Amy to get close to Adam. He could see that Adam had a wandering eye for women, and seemed to take a liking to Amy. In reality, he wanted Amy to spy on Adam and find out what she could on their martial arts, which were much better than he expected. Adam and Eve return to let the others know. Tom and Barney must take their leave, and Adam and Eve left soon after. Back at the Bamboo Gentlemen Society, Amy unexpectedly shows up. She claims that she had a falling out with Greg and did not have anywhere to go now. Adam was suspicious, but he agreed to let her stay. He was careful not to reveal too much to her. Meanwhile, back at the Flower Maiden Society, a young girl had come in which caused a bit of a disturbance. Her name was Sally, and her mother turned out to be the one that caused Adam and Eve to breakup. As it turned out, Sally’s mother was an old acquaintance of Adam, and she had gotten pregnant out of wedlock, which could prove to be deadly in those days. The father ran away out of fear, so Adam agreed to pretend that it was his child because his reputation and skills were formidable. Unfortunately, rumors got out and Eve confronted Adam. Adam had always been faithful to Eve, but his charming ways and penchant for appreciating beauty was a source of constant arguments with her, to the point now where he did not feel like he needed to defend himself. Her short temper and his stubbornness eventually lead to their breakup. Sally’s mother eventually found a wealthy man to take her, on the condition that Sally be raised separately from his household, which is how Sally ended up at the Flower Maiden Society now. Although Sally was upset, she blamed Adam for the whole mess, so Sally was accepted. Sally’s mother had never told her who her father was, but at the society she heard the rumors circulating. Sally began to believe that Adam was her father, since her mother never really spoke about her father. Sally ran away and went to see Adam. Since Sally was under their care, the Flower Maiden Society pursued her. There was a tense confrontation at the Bamboo Gentleman Society, further stirred by Amy. But in the end, the situation was diffused. Eve found out that Sally was not Adam’s daughter, and Sally returned to the Flower Maiden Society. Eve felt guilty about blaming Adam all this time, but she was too embarrassed to communicate it. Amy could see that the nature of Adam and Eve’s relationship would probably prevent them from ever seriously becoming enemies, which meant she had to find another way to stop them from working together. Meanwhile, Greg visited Alex, supposedly to pay his respects. Greg was gracious enough, but his motive was less than admirable. Greg was able to talk to Tony alone, and convinced him that the best way to save the household was to give him the Yin-Yang Convergence manual. But Alex was the only person who knew where it was now. So Tony spent some time trying to find out. Amy came up with a sneaky plan. Amy went to see Eve and encouraged her to make up with Adam. Amy knew that, although Eve might have good feelings toward Adam, the other ladies still detested him. She was trying to drive a wedge between Eve and her ladies, which worked. Eve left the Flower Maiden Society to be with Adam, who happily took her in because he still loved her. Now, with everything set, Amy went back to Greg to report. Greg and the Huns went to the Flower Maiden Society and destroyed the compound, catching and killing as many ladies as they could. Those that escaped would later reform the society in secret. He then took as many hostages as he could and went to the Bamboo Gentleman Society, demanding their surrender. Eve desperately wanted to help her ladies, but she did not know what to do. Adam ordered the society to surrender, but when he was about to give himself up, Eve attacked Greg. Eve could not stand to be the reason for the destruction of the society, so she made one last attempt to stop Greg. Greg was able to mortally wound her almost immediately, which drove Adam to attack, but he was no match for Greg by himself. Fighting completely broke out at the compound as the Huns were killing everyone. Eve died in Adam’s arms, and Adam just waited for Greg to kill him, but it did not happen. Greg seriously injured Adam, but took him as hostage. During this time, Tony had finally convinced Alex to reveal the location of the cave containing the Yin-Yang Convergence manual on stone tablets, just in case Alex was unable to pass it on. Tony sent word of his success to Greg, who promptly showed up with Adam in tow. Alex was stunned, and so was Tony after he found out all the bad things Greg had just done. Tony revealed that he had been tricked by Greg, and refused to show them the cave now, but Alex agreed to show them to spare Adam’s life. Greg ordered the Huns to capture Alex’s household, and only Greg, Amy, Tony, Adam and Alex went to the cave because Greg did not want the others to know the location. When they got there, Greg was ecstatic, and demanded that Alex teach him the Yin-Yang Convergence so that it would not take years. Adam was too weak to break free of Amy, who was the one holding him hostage, but he could still muster a bit of strength. Adam made a small gesture to Tony, who got the idea. All of a sudden Tony grabbed Amy with both arms, freeing Adam momentarily. Although Tony could not hold her long, and she struck him a mortal blow, Adam was able to strike her down as well. Of course, Greg struck down Adam on the spot. After seeing everyone die, Alex could not stand it any longer and used all his strength to launch a series of strikes. He destroyed three of the six stone tablets, and when he tried to destroy the fourth, Greg got in the way and was seriously injured. Alex was also dieing now because he had used the Yin-Yang Convergence, which was now destroying his body. With his last act, he struck Greg multiple times in the chest and head, killing Greg, and then died himself. The Huns who were left behind eventually plundered the mansion, killing everyone, and left. Since no one else knew the location of the cave, it went undisturbed for many years.

  14. #34
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    The Silver Sword

    Characters
    Paul (10) – member of Secret Sword Society, Demonic Swordplay (5), Sword of War (8/9), Yin-Yang Convergence (10)
    Leon (8/9) – student of Gary, Eight Styles Swordplay (8/9)
    four martial brothers (7/8) – students of Gary, Eight Styles Swordplay (7/8)
    Victor – Lord of rebellious kingdom
    Jerry (9) – leader of Sword Masters Guild, Eight Styles Swordplay (9)
    Bill (8) – leader of Sword Masters Guild, Eight Styles Swordplay (8)
    Sam (4) – friend of Paul, Eight Styles Swordplay (4)
    Sally (5) – friend of Paul, Flower Maiden Swordplay (5)
    Roy (9) – leader of Secret Sword Society, Demonic Swordplay (9)
    Charles (8/9) – teacher of Paul, Sword of War (8/9)
    Barney (10) – head of Shaolin, Heavenly Palms (9/10), Iron Body (9/10)

    Synopsis
    Roy and Jerry were long-time competitors, but they were also good friends. The two masters had mutual respect and admiration for each other’s skills, personalities, and organizations. Jerry was more than twenty years older than Roy, and in time Jerry passed away, leaving his favorite student, Bill, in charge of the Sword Masters Guild. Bill was well trained in two of the eight sword styles, but had not yet mastered either, so it was a bit disconcerting when he was passed the honor instead of some of the more experienced members. However, Bill was also one of the most honorable men you could meet, and disliked violence, much like Jerry, which was a big reason why he was chosen. Gary had been one of the best students that Jerry ever had, but his cruel behavior and arrogant attitude eventually caused him to be expelled, and his sword arm cut off. Gary’s legacy faded into obscurity, but now Leon sought to take control of the Guild. With the help of his four martial brothers, Leon plotted to eliminate Bill. He found further support for his conspiracy from Victor, who claimed that the Guild was a threat because they strongly supported the existing dynasty. A large military contingent invaded the Guild and killed or captured everyone there. Bill was able to escape with six of the eight Legendary Swords that the Guild was known for. Leon took the last Legendary Sword, the double-edged straight sword. After Leon took over he then plotted to destroy the Secret Sword Society, a rival organization that now stood in the way. Roy was killed while trying to defend the Secret Sword Society, but his student Paul managed to escape. Paul eventually met up with Charles, someone who was apparently familiar with both Jerry and Roy and harbored a secret of their deaths. Charles quickly agreed to teach Paul his martial arts, the Sword of War, in order to seek revenge. The two men eventually met up with Sam, a low level member of the Guild who had eluded capture. Sam was being pursued because Leon thought that Sam knew where Bill had gone. The three of them, Paul, Charles and Sam, fled north and found themselves in the territory of the Flower Maiden Society, a secret organization of women whose presence was hidden out of fear from the outside. The three were captured and incarcerated for trespassing. There they met and befriend Sally, one of the more restless members of the Flower Maiden Society. After awhile, Sally agreed to help them escape in exchange for helping her find her mother, whom she had not seen in almost ten years. Along the way there, Leon and his four martial brothers ambushed them. Charles, Paul, Sam and Sally were no match for the five swordsmen. Charles was mortally wounded, but they managed to escape for now. Charles then told Paul the secret of the Sword of War, which was really why Victor was after him, and ultimately why Roy had been killed. A long time ago, in the eastern plains, two great generals fought a long-standing war. Neither side won, so when their respective governments made peace, the generals were naturally upset. They wanted to finish their war and decide a victor. So the two retired to the top of a mysterious mountain where they planned battle scenarios, pitting their skills of strategy and swordplay. Eventually, the generals decided that neither man was better, and came up with a book depicting their best strategies called the Book of War, as well as the Sword of War martial arts. They had a unique, and very strong, silver sword made to commemorate their success. Unfortunately, the two died on the mountain before they could tell anyone, and their legacies faded from memory. However, during the time they were on the mountain they did have one servant who would get them supplies and make sure that they could had whatever they needed. That servant learned the Sword of War and left the mountain, but did not take the book with him. That servant was Charles’s master. Although the generals were forgotten, rumors spread through their descendents, and Victor had figured out that Charles was the key. Since Charles had been a friend of Jerry and Roy, Victor may have thought that they knew where the book was. Charles then died after revealing the truth. Paul made up his mind to go to the mysterious mountain and find the Book of War. Sam and Sally decided to lead the enemy away, to give Paul a better chance at reaching the mountain. Paul got up the mountain to the place that Charles indicated, and eventually found the book, though the title of the book he found included the word ‘Attack’ at the end. On his way back, Paul was attacked by some soldiers and fell down the cliff. He awoke to find himself on a ledge, next to a cave opening. Inside the cave he discovered the standing stone tablets that contained the Yin-Yang Convergence manual. He managed to study the Yin-Yang Convergence, at least the part that he could decipher, and left almost a year later. In the meantime, Roy and Sally had found Sally’s mother, and she was able to resolve some family issues. But they were soon captured by the enemy and taken prisoner. Paul emerged to find that his friends were in trouble, and to save them he had to give up the book. Leon coordinated the tradeoff, but he really wanted to kill Paul as well. After Paul gave up the book to Victor, who promptly left, Leon refused to turn over Roy and Sally without a fight. Paul rescued them by beating Leon unconditionally with his new skills, scaring Leon who runs away. At this point, Victor felt that he no longer needed Leon and refused to help him, so Leon and his martial brothers sought sanctuary with Shaolin, who reluctantly agree. Paul had to do something about the book so he took Roy and Sally back to the mountain to look for clues that might help. There they found another Book of War with the word ‘Defend’ at the end. The three delivered this other book to the government officials who were trying to stop the rebellion. Now that the situation was safe, Paul wanted to take his revenge on Leon. But the Shaolin had to honor their word and refused to give Leon up. Paul had to duel with Barney, which ended in a sort of draw. Paul was thus forced to abandon his pursuit for now. However, some time after squashing the rebellion, the government labeleled Leon a traitor and asked Shaolin to turn him over for prosecution. Since the original intent of the sanctuary was to prevent Paul from killing Leon, and not for Leon to avoid justice, the Shaolin eventually agreed. However, Leon’s martial brothers freed him while he was being transported back to the capital, but they could not go back to Shaolin. Paul found out about the escape and decided to go after Leon. Leon located a famous blacksmith and forced him to forge five very strong swords for them, hoping to be able to stop Paul when the time came. Paul had to fight Leon and his martial brothers, but he soundly defeated them, breaking all their swords. But when Paul tried to kill Leon, Barney came out and intervened again. Barney begged for Leon’s life, and Paul tenuously agreed not to kill him if Barney took them in as monks and guaranteed they would not leave. Barney accepted the offer. Sam received the legendary double-edged straight sword and became a wandering swordsman. Paul and Sally were eventually married.

  15. #35
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    The Revenge of the Silver Sword

    Characters
    Ken (11) – Sword of War (8/9), Yin-Yang Convergence (11-)
    Paul (10) – teacher of Ken, Sword of War (8/9), Yin-Yang Convergence (10)
    Sally (8/9) – leader of Flower Maiden Society, Flower Maiden Swordplay (8/9)
    Gina (6) – daughter of Paul and Sally, Flower Maiden Swordplay (6)
    Richard – friend of Ken
    Henry (10/11) – evil nobleman, Heavenly Palms (9/10), Heart of Shaolin (10/11)
    Edward (10+) – student of Henry, Heart of Shaolin (10+), Flower Maiden Swordplay (8/9)
    Oliver (8) – student of Henry, Heavenly Palms (8)
    Fiona (10+) – student of Flower Maiden Society, Flower Maiden Swordplay (8/9), Heart of Shaolin (10+)
    Tom (10) – leader of Taoist, Tiger Claw (9/10), Divine Fingers (9/10)
    Barney (9/10) – leader of Shaolin, Heart of Shaolin (9/10)
    Barbie – daughter of the emperor
    Ned – Shaolin monk scholar

    Synopsis
    Henry was a nobleman who was always tempted by power. He had a previous encounter with Leon while visiting Shaolin. Henry liked to associate himself with powerful people, and the martial arts of Shaolin were legendary. Although both men were selfish, they seemed to get along, especially since each found something that they desired in the other. Leon told Henry about the incredible martial arts that the abbot Barney had come up with, namely the Heart of Shaolin. Henry really wanted it, and offered to take Leon out of Shaolin and reward him handsomely, which is what Leon really wanted. They planned to trick Barney. Leon regularly dropped off food for Barney while he practiced in seclusion. Henry was confident he could get an audience with Barney at the same time. Leon delivered some food, including a bowl of unknown white powder and a gourd of water. When Henry met Barney he talked about ordinary things, and then produced a shiny object wrapped in cloth, which he claimed was the legendary Silver Sword. When Barney handled it directly he was unknowingly poisoned. The poison took a few minutes to react, but when Barney felt it he immediately sat down and started to counter the poison with his internal energy. Barney did not have time to get angry with Henry, who he knew had poisoned him, but this short period of distraction helped Henry complete his plan. He grabbed the bowl of white powder and threw it on Barney, who did not have the strength to avoid it. Henry then grabbed the gourd and threw it at Barney. The gourd shattered and water spilled all over Barney. Immediately there was a reaction with the white powder as flames started to sprout all over Barney’s body. Within seconds, he was completely on fire. His flaming body stood up and stumbled forward, but there was no way Barney could see or feel anything other than the fire engulfing him. Henry grabbed the Heavenly Palms and Heart of Shaolin manuals and put them in his shirt. He then pulled out a mask, which he promptly put on, took the handle of his silver sword with the cloth and ran Barney through with it. Just then, Leon burst in the room with a couple of other monks, just in time to see a person with a silver sword, like Paul, kill the abbot. A flash of light and the assassin escaped, leaving Leon and the others to cry that Paul had killed Barney. A few days later, Leon managed to sneak out of Shaolin. Normally he would be hesitant to do something like that, but with all the confusion and Henry’s promise to take care of him, Leon took the chance. However, when he met up with Henry again he realized that was not the case. Henry double-crossed Leon, and killed him immediately. The Shaolin were in an uproar and demanded justice. They sought Paul for answers, but he was already on bad terms with them, and refused to cooperate. Although they resorted to force, the Shaolin realized that they were not strong enough to capture Paul, so they enlisted the help of Tom. At first Tom was a little reluctant to get involved, but his friendship with Barney and the pleas of the monks changed his mind. Tom challenged Paul to a duel, which ended in pretty much a draw. Paul commended Tom on his skills and agreed to submit to Shaolin if Tom could demonstrate his martial art superiority, but Tom refused to continue fighting. Tom returned to Shaolin and told them that he could not take part in anything action against Paul except to protect someone from him. The monks were stunned. The reason that Tom decided this was he realized that Paul’s skills were formidable, and that Barney’s death was part of a cowardly trap, something that Paul did not need to resort to. So it would stand to reason that Paul did not kill Barney, but Tom refrained from telling Shaolin, knowing all too well that they would most definitely not listen, and might even accuse him of being involved. Undaunted, Shaolin gathered a group of righteous martial artists and pursued Paul relentlessy. At this time, Paul had a wife and child, Sally and Gina. The posse went so far as to catch them in order to force Paul to give up. They chased him to the edge of a cliff overlooking the ocean. He refused to fight them out of fear for his loved ones, but instead of surrendering and being captured he decided to jump into the ocean. His incredible strength allowed him to jump farther out into the open water, away from the jagged rocks below, but his body could not be found for days afterward, so everyone assumed he was dead. Years went by. Ken was the son of a wealthy family. The other noble households accused his father of treason, and the entire family was systematically killed, except for Ken. Ken had escaped secretly by boat and happened to land on what appeared to be a deserted island. However, upon further exploration he ran into a wild man living there. It turned out to be Paul. Paul had been slowly recovering from his injuries, both from the battle years ago as well as having spent weeks out at sea before being washed up on the island. Neither man was keen on returning to the mainland anytime soon, but the two found something in each other that stirred hope. Both wanted revenge for their injustices, but while Ken was able his martial art skills were mediocre, while Paul’s body was not up to the task. So Paul taught Ken everything he knew about the Yin-Yang Convergence. A couple of years later, they went back to the mainland as two unknown strangers, and Ken began to put their plans for revenge into motion. Ken attacked members of the noble households that had contributed to his families demise. Although he injured them, Ken refused to kill anybody because he was not cruel in nature. Instead, he chose to take some of their more prized belongings, mainly valuable goods, and gave them to the poor. All this time he was dressed in the attire and wielded the sword of the legendary Silver Swordsman, and was quickly labeled an outlaw by the government. They put a great price on his head, though no one was brave enough to try and collect it. In the meantime, Paul secretly went and visited his wife Sally, who had formally become the leader of the Flower Maiden Society in his absence. He also reunited with his daughter, Gina. Ken happened to run into Richard, a son of one of the nobleman who apparently supported his cause. He also came across a poor girl who was quite nice to him, if not a little simple-minded. The three quickly became friends. Upon Paul’s return, he wanted Ken to do two things for him. One was to exact revenge on Shaolin, his most loathed enemy at this point. The other was to marry his daughter, Gina. Ken reluctantly acquiesced to the first, but could not agree to the second. He was somehow smitten with Barbie. To try and appease Paul, though, Ken decided to find out who framed him back then. Ken asked Richard to help. At about this time, though, another masked stranger claiming to be the Silver Swordsman popped up, dressed similarly with a silver sword, except he was going around actually killing people, mainly very rich and powerful. Of course Ken was getting blamed for it, and the law was beginning to come down pretty hard. Ken ran into the imposter at one point and they dueled. To his surprise, Ken lost unconditionally, though was not hurt too badly. After hearing of this, Paul decided that the only way to beat this imposter was to master the rest of the Yin-Yang Convergence. Unfortunately, the remaining tablets in the cave in pretty bad shape, and it would take an expert to figure them out. Luckily, Richard told them of a monk named Ned who was really good at deciphering archaeological mysteries like that. Ned had helped Richard’s family before. Paul, who was well enough now to be a formidable opponent, kidnapped Ned while Ken caused a bit of mayhem at the Shaolin monastery. They brought Ned to the cave, whereby the intact stone tablets had been covered up by black cloth so as to hide those instructions, and Paul demanded that Ned decipher the rest of the Yin-Yang Convergence from the shattered tablets. At first Ned refused, being an honorable man who could not assist killers. Seeing his nature, Ken persuaded Ned to give them a chance to prove that they were not the bad guys. Ken had an idea of where the imposter would show up next, and they waited for him. When he did appear, both Paul and Ken confronted him, leaving Ned hiding in the brush. After the exchange of some words, a battle ensued. Ken was still no match for the masked imposter, and even with Paul’s help they could not defeat him. But their combined skills managed to cut a part of his shirt in the back, exposing a small patch of skin with a tattoo. The imposter injured both men, and was about to kill at least one of them when Ned ran out swinging a burning bush. Ned had pulled out a large bush and lit it on fire, and ran out to create a distraction. Paul quickly grabbed the flaming plant and, using his internal energy, sent the burning debris at the imposter. This gave the three men time to escape. Ned was now convinced and agreed to help them. But he also had a surprising revelation. Ned recognized the imposter as Henry by the tattoo. Ned had helped Henry long ago to decipher something because, in all appearance, Henry was a righteous person and friend of Shaolin. Little did Ned know that what he had worked on was actually part of the Heart of Shaolin. Ned immediately returned to the cave and began meticulously reconstructing what he could from the broken tablets. Unfortunately, some parts were so damaged that there was no way to decipher it all, and after several months he had revealed a little more than eighty percent of the remaining instructions. Meanwhile, Barbie had run into some predicaments as well. Some town guards had tried to catch her because they believed she was helping the Silver Swordsman. Luckily, Gina and Richard were on hand to help. In fact, Gina and Richard had started to see a lot of each other, and their feelings were becoming quite known. One of the royal palace eunuchs also seemed to take an interest in Barbie for some reason. He ordered the guards to kidnap her, and she thought they were trying to kill her. Ken came out to the rescue her this time, after hearing about it from Richard. He was surprised by this atrocious act and wanted to protect Barbie, but with everything going on he was not sure what to do. Richard came to the conclusion that they needed to investigate before pursuing action against the government, a most serious proposition. After some basic detective work, they decided to interrogate the eunuch that had ordered the kidnapping. What they found was most startling. It turned out that Barbie was the emperor’s daughter. Meanwhile, in the hopes of tricking the Silver Swordsman into revealing himself, the government had sponsored a martial arts tournament to decide who was the best in the land. But Ken and the others had different plans. Richard planned a meeting with Henry that day, to make sure he would be at home. Paul entered the tournament, but nobody recognized him. However, after his profound display of martial arts, especially with the sword, the government officials were pretty sure he was the Silver Swordsman. However, just as the government was about to close in on Paul, Ken came out dressed as the Silver Swordsman and claimed that Paul was an imposter. Ken and Paul fought briefly, only to have Ken escape with Paul in pursuit. The crowd followed as the two lead them to Henry’s mansion. Ken ducked into one of the rooms and took off garments, leaving them in a hidden drawer, and ran off. Paul broke into the room, and after tearing up the place for a while, happens upon the garments, prompting the ensuing crowd to speculate that Henry is the Silver Swordsman. Henry vehemently denied this and tried to explain that he was not at the tournament because he had a meeting with Richard, who had mysteriously disappeared by then. But before Henry had a chance to argue his point, Paul attacked Him and the fight briefly got out of control. Henry soundly beat Paul, and with the rest of the martial arts spectators watching they realized that Henry was a very dangerous person. In fact, the Shaolin realized that he was using the Heavenly Palms, a technique only Shaolin knew that was stolen years ago. They confronted Henry, who decided he had had enough with trying to placate the masses. Henry admitted his involvement with everything, and dared them to do something about it. Though a number of people tried, nobody was able to prevent Henry from escaping that day. Paul finally revealed himself to the crowd, who now know that he was not the murderer they believed he was. Although their apologies made Paul feel better, he still wanted revenge for all the things that had happened to him, especially on Shaolin. Everyone then agreed to a real official tournament in a month, and Shaolin promised to take care of Ken and Paul to make up for their misdeeds. During this time, Henry gathered his legion of followers and stormed the Shaolin mountaintop sanctuary, where Ken and Paul were housed. After a heated battle, they manage to trap Henry in the secret underground tunnels beneath the sanctuary, which had no apparent way out. The remaining attackers ran away, including Edward, Henry’s student. Paul was injured and so upset at this point that he left unexpectedly to join his wife and child. Paul’s stay at the Flower Maiden Society upset some of its more conservative members, especially a bitter Fiona. Unfortunately, Henry managed to free himself just as the tournament was underway. He arrived to see that Ken had been able to defeat almost everybody. Paul was also there, but refused to participate. Henry jumped in just before the winner could be announced, and claimed the title for himself. Everyone was shocked by this turn of events, and a few people attacked Henry, only to be promptly beat. So now it was up to Ken. At first Ken was able to him Henry off, but he began to lose after a prolonged battle. The people around were not sure whether they should interfere or not because the contest was still going on. Some of the top martial artists, though, began to recognize some of the movements that Ken was performing, but said that he was doing it wrong or strangely. Ned then understood that parts of the Yin-Yang Convergence might be found in other martial arts, and that the crowd may hold the key to filling in the missing pieces. Ned asked the crowd to yell out when they noticed something they recognized but appeared wrong. At first Ken did not understand why they were yelling things apparently at him, but once he realized the significance he was able to take advantage of it. His skills literally began to improve while he is fighting, and Henry found himself unable to win. In the end, Ken defeated Henry, but he refused to lose quietly. Henry turned his anger towards Paul, and tried to kill Gina just then. Paul was ready to sacrifice himself to save his daughter, but the Shaolin abbot jumped in front instead and was mortally wounded. Ken immediately pinned Henry down in one swift move, and out of uncontrolled rage Paul killed Henry with a powerful palm to the head. Everyone was saddened by the loss of life but relieved that the danger had passed. Paul was so grateful of Shaolin for saving his daughter that his desire for revenge melted away. Seeing as how almost everyone was injured, the most prominent figures in the crowd agreed to meet one year later to determine a winner of the tournament. During that time the emperor came to Barbie and revealed everything. He loved Barbie’s mother, a palace servant, but the emperor’s mother would not allow him to marry a girl so beneath him. Instead, Barbie’s mother was forced to leave the palace, though she was already pregnant, and the emperor married a woman of high status. His wife pretended to be pregnant and bought the baby boy of a poor urchin as her own, making him the current heir to the throne. However, the wife was afraid of Barbie because she was initially misinformed that the emperor’s real child was a boy. As it turns out, the eunuch knew about the matter and was actually trying to save Barbie, while some of the other government elements were trying to kill her. The emperor’s adopted son was not a bad person. Although the boy’s mother was paid quite well not to say anything, she squandered the fortune and ended up working for Ken’s family. After she started asking for more money, the empress feared that she might have told someone there, which was ultimately why Ken’s family was killed. The emperor had put his wife under house arrest for mental instability after the eunuch told him everything. Barbie was happy to finally meet her father, but she did not want any royal title. In the passing year, Sally left the Flower Maiden Society to be with her husband. Richard and Gina were finally married. Fiona had saved Edward shortly after the tournament because he had something she really wanted. Fiona had always been bitter about Sally’s leadership, and she really wanted to take the top martial arts title. Edward wanted revenge for his master and himself, after the destruction of his household. Together they secretly usurped control of the Flower Maiden Society. Edward had been given the Heart of Shaolin by Henry, and together the couple practiced it, along with the Flower Maiden Swordplay. Although mastering such an advanced martial art would normally take years, the society had the special mineral that enhanced a practitioner’s abilities, as well as a secret chamber, which helped them achieve great things in such a short time. At the onset of the next tournament, everybody was already willing to make Ken the winner. However, Fiona and Edward came up to challenge him. They were quite formidable, as Ken quickly learned. He was not able to counter some of their attacks, and worst, they were really trying to kill him. As the battle progressed, it looked like Ken would lose, to everyone’s surprise. Sally was a little more than disappointed at Fiona’s decision to take up with Edward, and she had an idea. She instructed Ken to use the secret technique that belonged to the Flower Maiden Society, of which Fiona and Edward seemed to be using now. It was actually just a way to channel all your internal energy into your sword, giving it more power. Of course, there was a drawback to this. You could lose all your internal energy if you were seriously injured. In the end, a mighty clash caused the three to be knocked out temporarily. When they came to, it appeared that they had all lost their internal energy. Without any way to defend themselves, the two were quickly brought into custody for trying to cause trouble at the tournament. Shaolin took Edward away to question him about the Heavenly Palms and Heart of Shaolin manuals. Ken was finally declared the winner, even though he could no longer fight. They gave him the title White Dragon. Ken and Barbie left together to explore the realm. Later on, it is speculated that Ken may not have really lost his ability, but that he pretended to so that he would not have to fight anymore.

  16. #36
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    May 2006
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    The Sword of Wind

    Characters
    Zack (9) – former Taoist, Eight Styles Swordplay (8/9), Blessed Wind (9)
    Sam (8/9) – teacher of Zack, Eight Styles Swordplay (8/9), Blessed Wind (8)
    Tom (10) – leader of Taoist, Spirit of Tao (10)
    Oscar (9/10) – student of Taoist, Divine Fingers (9/10)
    Matt (6) – student of Oscar, Divine Fingers (6)

    Synopsis
    Zack was a young Taoist who had a bit of a temper problem and did not always agree with the Taoist philosophies, but he was generally a good guy. Oscar was also a Taoist, and Zack’s older martial brother. However, Oscar was a lot more methodical and strict, and felt that Tom had always favored Zack, which in some ways was true. Tom had actually thought about making Zack the next Taoist leader, because he felt that Zack embodied the ideals he wanted to leave behind. This further upset Oscar, not only because it hurt his feelings but also because he secretly wanted the power that came with the position. So being of dubious morality, Oscar came up with a plan to get what he wanted. Matt was an unsavory acquaintance that Oscar knew from his younger days, when Oscar used to run with some hoodlums. The plan was to set Zack up to save this young girl from being molested by a perverted nobleman. Being hotheaded like he was, Zack beat up the nobleman pretty bad, but left him alive. Unfortunately, the nobleman was found dead a short time later and Zack was accused of the murder. The young girl he saved seemed to disappear, and there were no eyewitnesses, so Zack was not arrested for lack of evidence. However, Zack was reprimanded for seriously tarnishing the Taoist reputation. A short time afterward, the Divine Fingers manual went missing and suspicion immediately fell on Zack. Again they could not prove anything with the evidence, but the other senior Taoists were furious, and blamed Zack regardless. Tom had no choice but to expel Zack, even though he believed Zack was innocent. Tom felt responsible for Zack, so he asked an old friend, Sam, to help out. Sam was a wandering swordsman, as best the term could fit him, and reluctantly agreed to take Zack in as a student. Zack refused at first, but Tom’s insistence wore him down. Eventually, Sam began to see the good person that Zack was, just as Tom had seen. In the meantime, Oscar was secretly practicing the Divine Fingers, which he had stolen. When he thought he had finished his training after several years, he donned a disguise and challenged Tom to a duel. Oscar lost completely and realized that Tom knew more martial arts than what was in the manual. Oscar was determined to get it from Tom, but how? Zack had been traveling with Sam all this time, learning the Eight Styles Swordplay and Blessed Wind from Sam, even though he was reluctant to use it. Zack was still a little angry at being kicked out of the Taoist sect, but in some ways he also felt that he might have deserved it. Zack began to hear rumors about bandits whose martial arts seemed a lot like the Divine Fingers. He decided to investigate, and with Sam’s help tracked down some of the bandits. From what they could gather, Zack got the impression that the bandits’ master was a Taoist, but he could not believe that Tom would be teaching them. In fact, Zack had only seen Tom perform the Divine Fingers martial art years ago, and Tom had never used it since, which was surprising. Of course Matt found out what Zack was up to and told Oscar, which gave Oscar a perfect excuse to kill Zack. Oscar donned a disguise and ambushed both Zack and Sam. The two were no match for Oscar, and Sam ended up sacrificing himself to save Zack. Zack escaped and ran off to the west, where Sam had originally been taught the Blessed Wind from Tibetan monks. The monks offered him sanctuary and Zack trained some more for nearly a year, refining his skills. Zack was still haunted by the events that had transpired and returned to seek the truth. During this time, Oscar was continually trying to find out what martial arts Tom was hiding, but he was not getting very far and quickly running out of patience. Oscar decided to trick Tom into giving him what he wanted. He drugged the senior Taoists including Tom, and pretended to also be drugged. Matt and the other bandits captured them and demanded that Tom give up the martial arts secrets. Matt acted under the false pretense that he wanted to sell the information, not to learn it, hoping to throw off any suspicion. Matt threatened to start killing Taoist members if his demand was not met. Meanwhile, Zack had begun to put the pieces together and believed that the bandits were conspiring with one of the Taoists, though he did not have a definitive name. Zack learned about the Taoists being held hostage and broke them free. He led them to an open field where he confronted Oscar with the truth. Zack had already captured Matt, who he hung high overhead in a net, and made Matt confess about Oscar’s involvement. Unable to deny this, Oscar promptly killed Matt and turned on the other Taoists, demanding that Tom give him what he wanted. The combined efforts of all the Taoists were not enough to defeat Oscar, especially since they were poison. So Zack stepped in. Oscar was cocky and underestimated his opponent allowing Zack to barely beat him, and ultimately killing him. Grateful for all he did, Tom offered to make Zack the next Taoist leader again, and all the senior Taoists concurred. But Zack turned down the offer, having realized that his fate lies elsewhere.

  17. #37
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    The Shaolin Hero

    Characters
    Will (10-) – leader of Shaolin, Heavenly Palms (9/10), Iron Body (9/10)
    Robin (9) – leader of Shaolin, Heavenly Palms (9)
    Quinn (9/10) – former Shaolin, Deadly Arrow Palms (9/10)
    Peter – son of Will
    Dale (9) – leader of the Beggar Clan, Dragon Subduing Palms (9)

    Synopsis
    Will had always wanted to be a Shaolin monk, ever since he was a little boy. However, things did not turn out that way. Will grew up, got married, and had a son named Peter. After his wife passed away, he became depressed but continued to be a good father. During this time, Quinn was an unhappy Shaolin student. Quinn came from a wealthy family, but his father had devoted his life to a lowly government job to help the people, and his older brother had joined the military to serve the country. Quinn wanted to be an aristocrat instead, which disappointed his family. Quinn’s father thought that enrolling him in Shaolin would help teach him humility, even if Quinn was not destined to remain a monk. Unfortunately, all it taught Quinn was that he could gain power through martial arts. Paul had passed on what he knew of the Yin-Yang Convergence manual to Shaolin as a gift, and it was broken up into two books. Quinn managed to steal one of the books, as well a few moves from the Heavenly Palms, though the Heavenly Palms manual itself had been lost years earlier. He planned to run away and become a great martial artist, but was caught before he could escape. They only knew that he had stolen from the Heavenly Palms manual, and not the Yin-Yang Convergence, so he was punished and expelled. Fortunately, Quinn had snuck out the Yin-Yang Convergence manual ahead of time, and he picked it up after he left. Quinn swore revenge against Shaolin for his humiliation. Ten years later, Quinn returned to challenge Shaolin. At the time, Robin had gone into town to see a physician because he was feeling sick. Some of the Shaolin students had come along as well, and they wandered off to check out the sights. Quinn, dressed in regal attire, encountered the students, but they did not recognize him. Quinn tried to pick a fight, though all he really wanted to do was show them up for now. Will happened upon the scene and tried to defend the monks, which eventually lead to a physical confrontation. The Shaolin students were no match for Quinn, but with Will’s help they were able to escape. Quinn chased after them. Will had Peter go get help from Robin. Will and the students were cornered, but Robin arrived to save them. Quinn fought Robin briefly, and it looked like a draw, so Quinn decided to let them go because he wanted to have a real fight at Shaolin. Unbeknownst to all, Robin had been mortally wounded. In his dieing state, Robin named Will as his successor, a peculiar move under any circumstance. Will and Peter went back with the others to Shaolin. When the senior Shaolin heard what had happened, they were dismayed and reluctant to accept Will. But the overwhelming respect they had for Robin made it difficult for them to challenge his decision. Will was quickly indoctrinated into Shaolin and began his formal training. Unfortunately, Quinn arrived at that time to challenge Shaolin. When Quinn found out that Robin had died, he agreed not to fight them that day, but his bitterness still got the better of him and he swore he would return in one year. The senior Shaolin tried to convince Quinn to give up his plans, but to no avail, so they asked for more time because Will, the new leader, did not know any martial arts. Quinn agreed to give them a second year if they could find someone who was a worthy opponent come the first year. Will practiced very hard that first year, but the seniors realized that he would still lose. They needed some more time. Luckily, Will was a friend of the beggars in the village, having given many of them food and shelter. This brought the Shaolin plight to the attention of Dale. The Beggar Clan was also on friendly terms with Shaolin, so Dale agreed to help, though he was uncertain of his chances because he had not mastered all of the Dragon Subduing Palms. When Dale fought Quinn, Quinn clearly had the upper hand and was winning. But Dale outsmarted Quinn by playing on his ego, convincing Quinn to allow the beggars to join in the battle. With their special staff techniques and the Dragon Subduing Palms, the fight ended with both Dale and Quinn being seriously injured. Quinn had to give Shaolin some more time now. Meanwhile, one of the Shaolin monks in his travels had run across a little village far away where the best fighters seemed to know techniques from the Heavenly Palms. Will had to take a chance and traveled there. He found that indeed the villagers were practicing the Heavenly Palms. Will befriended them, but when he tried to ask them for the manual, which was a village treasure, they became angry, especially the younger men. The village leader, though, was more rational and wanted Will to prove that the manual belonged to Shaolin. In order to do that, Will demonstrated what he had learned at Shaolin by competing against the others in the village. Although Will won, some of the villagers were still upset, especially the descendents of the person who brought the Heavenly Palms manual to the village. The disgruntled villagers caught Will, and anyone else who supported him, and tried to take over the village. Luckily, the village elders knew that Will was telling the truth, and decided to reveal it to the rest of the village. The man who had brought them the manual long ago had written a secret letter detailing how the manual was stolen from Shaolin, and to return it if they Shaolin wanted it back. Only the elders knew of the letter, and were sworn to secrecy until such time that a true Shaolin person would come forward. The rebel villagers had lost any claim and so they gave up, allowing Will to take the manual. The villagers even helped Will master it, though time was short. Will headed back to Shaolin as soon as he could. However, Quinn had arrived at Shaolin a little early for the second challenge, and not seeing Will proceeded to beat up on the other monks. Luckily, Will arrived just in time to stop Quinn from making more trouble. The challenge was to beat Quinn at three contests: armed combat, musical instruments, and unarmed combat. For the first contest, Quinn used a sword and Will used a staff. Will barely won because his staff had a much longer reach. For the second contest, Quinn used a zither and Will used a large drum. Will won again by resorting to his palms to strike the drum, and eventually strike a large iron bell, but both men were injured in the process. For the third contest, Quinn used his best technique, the Deadly Arrow Palms, while Will decided to use the Iron Body, which was a defensive martial art. Quinn struck Will five times, but Will kept standing. Will had chosen not to fight back because even if he won, he knew he could not kill Quinn, so the rivalry would continue. Will wanted to show Quinn that Shaolin did not bear him any ill will, after which Quinn graciously admitted defeat. Will was actually injured seriously, but hid this from Quinn. Quinn returned the Yin-Yang Convergence book he had stolen, and swore to never bother Shaolin again. Peter had been a guest of Shaolin all this time, but Will knew that forcing him to stay would not be the right thing to do as a father. So Will sent Peter to live with his sister-in-law, and he became the official Shaolin leader.

  18. #38
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    The Final Four

    Characters
    Ben (9) – friend of Jeff and Bobby, Yin-Yang Convergence (9)
    Jeff (9) – friend and rival of Bobby, Yin-Yang Convergence (9)
    Bobby (9) – friend and rival of Jeff, Yin-Yang Convergence (9)
    Jack (9) – student of Zack, Sword of Wind (9)
    Ned – Shaolin monk
    Ivan (10) – leader of defunct clan, Yin-Yang Convergence (10)
    Ingrid (10) – prostitute, Yin-Yang Convergence (10)
    Zack (9) – teacher of Jeff, Sword of Wind (9)

    Synopsis
    Ivan was a young man who belonged to an old martial arts clan that had been disbanded long ago for its disloyalty to the emperor. He was very angry that other people looked down on him for this, but had great ambitions which he wrote down in what he thought would be his memoirs. One day, he hooked up with Ingrid, a new prostitute who had arrived in town with her own agenda. One of her previous clients was a perverted Shaolin monk who told her a secret about the Yin-Yang Convergence manual, which the monastery was apparently in possession of. She told this to Ivan, who was very interested, and they came up with a plan. Ingrid seduced the lusty monk into getting the manual for her, just to take a look. Unfortunately, she turned it over to Ivan, and the monk was forced to abandon Shaolin and follow them for his treachery. Ivan quickly learned the manual and took revenge on the other clans that had mocked him by systematically killing their leaders and absorbing their followers. After gaining all the power and wealth of the surrounding villages, Ivan was eager to increase his power. The monk eventually revealed that the book he gave Ivan was only one of two, and that the other book was at a different monastery. But the Shaolin leader there was very strong, and even Ivan would not be able to defeat him. However, both books together would reveal the hidden location of a secret cave where the entire Yin-Yang Convergence instructions had been written. Although Ivan only had one book, he had sizeable number of followers now for which to look for the cave. Using the information from his book, Ivan gathered his men and searched for six months, though he did never told his men what they were looking for. Finally, one of the search parties found the cave, and Ivan killed them and called off the search to prevent anyone else from knowing. Now, only he and Ingrid knew. In the meantime, Ben, Jeff, and Bobby were friends whose fathers knew each other quite well and were friends with Zack. Their fathers represented the richest families in the entire province, with enough wealth to fund an army, which caught Ivan’s attention. Ivan mastered what he could from the cave, since some of the stone tablets had been destroyed, and decided to take all three families hostage. He killed Zack, who was the most experienced fighter among them, in battle, but Jack managed to escape. Jack left to master the Sword of Wind. Jeff and Bobby were quite competitive with each other, as were their fathers. Ben and his father were a lot more easygoing. Ivan made a proposition to all three men; he brought them out to an open field, put down two swords, and said that whoever killed the other two would be allowed to live, and would even be rewarded. Ben’s father was a just man with high morals, so he immediately took one of the swords and attacked Ivan with it, even though he did not know how to fight. Ivan broke the sword and killed him with. The other two men were not as brave, but they were honorable and could not bring themselves to kill each other in cold blood. With only one sword left, they both tried to get it, though in actuality what each wanted to do was to commit suicide and let the other person live. In the end, one of them succeeded in stabbing himself, but since the other one also had his hand on the sword it looked like a murder. The surviving man then committed suicide. Unfortunately, to a bystander it looked like they had tried to kill each other, which was bad because Jeff, Bobby, and Ben had managed to sneak away to watch the gruesome scene. Jeff and Bobby became increasingly bitter with each other over the misunderstanding. The three of ran away afterward. Then along came Ned, an old Shaolin monk who was looking for the stolen book. When he discovered what had happened, Ned realized that in order to stop Ivan he would have to teach the three boys what he knew about the Yin-Yang Convergence. Although he was a scholar, Ned had never practiced martial arts, and what he remembered of the Yin-Yang Convergence was limited, so he decided to teach each of them everything, hoping that their combined skills would be enough. The ensuing feud between Jeff and Bobby made the process more difficult, but eventually the three boys learned it all. Meanwhile, Ivan had already started to secretly build his army, and was almost ready to make a move on expanding his empire. Jeff, Bobby, and Ben challenged Ivan. At first they were unsuccessful at beating Ivan. Luckily, before he could kill them, Jack arrived to help out. The four of them then managed to kill Ivan. Before the fight even started, Ivan had revealed the truth about how their fathers had died, but Jeff and Bobby were still not on friendly terms afterward. Jack returned to the Taoist camp with Zack’s remains, which was his last wish. The Taoists honored Zack as one of their fallen leaders, and the leader even offered to make Jack his successor if he wanted to join the Taoists, but Jack wanted to honor his teacher in other ways. Ned returned with the manual to Shaolin. Some time after this, Bobby took up with Ingrid, who had kept her involvement with Ivan hidden. She encouraged Bobby to distance himself from the Ben and Jeff. However, she was also secretly learning the Yin-Yang Convergence from the writings in the cave, being the only other person to know its location. Ben and Jeff became increasingly suspicious of Ingrid, but when they brought it up with Bobby he got really upset, so they backed off. But through careful observations they eventually discovered her secret. Ingrid realized that she would be found out soon, and decided to return to the cave, destroy the evidence, and run away. However, Ben and Jeff had already brought Bobby there, and Ingrid was caught in the act. She fought with Ben and Jeff, but Bobby abstained because of his emotional attachment. Ingrid was winning, and she thought that she had Bobby fooled, but he unexpectedly joined in the fight, and the three of them were able to beat her. The reason Bobby fought was because he found Ivan’s memoirs among her possessions nearby, and reading through it briefly he discovered her involvement with Ivan, and that it was actually her idea to have their fathers killed that way. In her rage at being beaten, Ingrid used all her strength to bring down the whole cave, destroying what was left of the Yin-Yang Convergence instructions. Bobby was utterly disillusioned by now and vowed to achieve his goal of becoming a great man, and not letting friendship get in the way.

  19. #39
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    The Return of the Final Four

    Characters
    Mike (9) – leader of Demon Cult, Demon Magic (7/8), Ghost Magic (*), Sword Palm (8/9)
    Jill (9) – student of Jeff, Demon Magic (6/7), Ghost Magic (*), Flower Maiden Dance (8/9)
    Drake (9/10) – assassin, Sword Palm (9/10)
    Ben (9) – friend of Jeff, Double Palm (9)
    Jeff (10-) – teacher of Mike and Jill, Demon Magic (10-), Ghost Magic (*)
    Bobby (9) – rival of Jeff, Iron Hand (9)
    Jack (9) – friend of Ben, Sword of Wind (9)
    Peter (9/10) – leader of Beggar Clan, Dragon Subduing Palms (9), Heavenly Palms (8/9)
    Will (10-) – leader of Shaolin, Heavenly Palms (9/10), Iron Body (9/10)
    Pearl (9) – leader of Flower Maiden Society, Flower Maiden Dance (8/9), Flower Maiden Swordplay (8/9)

    Synopsis
    Many years later, Jeff developed two new martial arts that seemed to put him ahead of the other Final Four. This made Bobby jealous. Jeff was the leader of a mysterious group that was notoriously secretive, leaving many to call them the Demon Cult. Because of this, Jeff had called his martial arts Demon Magic and Ghost Magic, to confuse people. In order to build up his base of power, Bobby had sided with the new dynasty, which was overwhelmingly corrupt. Jeff was not fond of the new dynasty, and was actually working on a way to reform it. Bobby conspired with Jill, Jeff’s overly ambitious student, to have her steal his martial arts in return for money and power. Bobby attacked the Demon Cult with the help of the military, creating a diversion. Jill then managed to get the Ghost Magic manual, but Mike stopped her from getting the Demon Magic manual. Unfortunately, Jill did not know that Bobby’s goal was to actually destroy the Demon Cult, and kill Jeff. A large part of the estate was destroyed in a fire and it was believed that the Demon Magic manual was destroyed as well. Upon hearing of Jeff’s death, Jill felt guilty, but she was also afraid of what would happen to her. She quickly made a copy of the manual, which she planned on giving her co-conspirators, but with their sudden arrival she accidentally gave them the original. In the meantime, Mike had escaped to the secret safe house deep in the forest. There he awaited any other survivors. Not long after, a stranger arrived. Mike was wary at first, but the stranger eventually identified himself as a descendent of the legitimate emperor who was now trying to regain the throne. Jeff had promised to help him, so Mike now made the same promise. Unfortunately, the current emperor had hired Drake, a much-feared assassin, to stop them. Mike decided the first place they should go was to Shaolin, because his family had left a very important object with Shaolin a long time ago. They met Will there, and it turned out that the object was part of the Sword Palm manual. Mike’s family had been nomads, and long ago a dieing man came to their camp with the Sword Palm manual. The man had apparently escaped a raid with it, and now left it in their care. While on one of their journeys, they ran into another man who traveled with them a short way. That man recognized the significance of the manual, and tried to steal it one night. While he was able to get most of it, the family was able to save a small piece. Since they were near a monastery at the time, they decided to entrust the object to the monks for safekeeping. Mike was able to learn the piece of the Sword Palm fairly quickly, though he did not know that Drake knew the rest of it. Will told Mike to seek the help of the Beggar Clan, who already wanted to overthrow the oppressive government. There they met and befriended Peter, the next chosen leader of the beggars. Drake discovered their whereabouts and proceeded to finish his job. The only thing standing in his way was the leader of the beggars. Unfortunately, the leader did not know enough of the Dragon Subduing Palms to win the fight, and Drake killed him. Peter managed to help Mike and the royal descendant escape, and they again sought refuge back at Shaolin. Although Will could offer them sanctuary, he could not side with them because of the tentative relationship that Shaolin currently had with the government. But Will was able to stop Drake from coming into Shaolin. Peter was now the leader of the beggars, but his skills were only about as good as the previous leader’s, which was certainly not enough. Will decided to teach Peter a few Heavenly Palms moves in the hopes of helping him master the Dragon Subduing Palms. Meanwhile, Mike went to see Ben, a Final Four member and friend of Jeff’s who was sympathetic and wanted to help. Bobby found out that Mike was there and went to catch him, but Ben was able to stop him. During all of this, Jack had met up with Jill in his travels, and they genuinely got along well. Jill did not want to reveal her dark past, which would have put Jack off. Jack then went to see Ben, a fellow Final Four, whereby Ben asked Jack to help Mike as well. Jill became worried when she found out. Mike eventually told Jack what Jill had done and he became livid. He confronted her, but could not bring himself to harm her, so instead he took her copy of the Ghost Magic manual and threw it far away, shunning her thereafter. Heartbroken, Jill found comfort with the Flower Maiden Society, where she learned the Flower Maiden Dance. After a while, she became bitter about the whole affair and decided to challenge Pearl for leadership of the Flower Maiden Society. Though the two were almost equal, Jill prevailed because she was not afraid to die, and it showed in her fighting. Pearl left the society. At this time, Drake and Bobby formed an alliance to stop Ben and Mike from achieving their goal. Peter left Shaolin and joined up with the Beggar Clan once again, officially becoming the leader. Will could not join them, but agreed to support Peter and Mike if the need arose. The climactic battle occurred at Jeff’s estate, which had become the center of the growing resistance. Peter fought Drake, and was able to win, but was reluctant to finish him off. Drake tried a last minute sneak attack, but Mike intervened and ended up crippling him. Ben and Bobby fought once again, and it ended in a draw. Seeing as how he was outnumbered, Bobby chose to retreat. Meanwhile, Jack had infiltrated the nearby military compound, where Drake and Bobby had been using as a base, and stole a top-secret list of the entire military leadership, some of whom could be allies. The revolution was now underway. Eventually, Jack created the Brothers of Tao sect; Mike became the leader of the Demon Cult; and Jill had a daughter.

  20. #40
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    The Legend of the White Dragon

    Characters
    Rick (11) – White Dragon, Black Jade Body (9), Ice Palm (9), Golden Fist (8/9), Demon Magic (10-), Ghost Magic (*), Dragon Mirror (*)
    Jim (11-) – Ghost Magic (*), Four Ways of the Dragon (11-), Dragon Mirror (*)
    Ian (10) – member of Demon Cult, Yin-Yang Convergence (10)
    Herb (9) – teacher of Rick, Black Jade Body (9)
    Dan (9) – teacher of Rick, Ice Palm (9)
    Todd (9) – rival of Dan, Fire Palm (9)
    Brad (8/9) – teacher of Rick, Golden Fist (8/9)
    Steve (11) – bad guy, Ghost Magic (*), Fire Palm (9), Iron Hand (9), Demonic Swordplay (9), Four Palms (9), Yin-Yang Convergence (9), Four Ways of the Dragon (11-)
    Mike (9) – leader of the Demon Cult, Demon Magic (9)
    Bo (9) – Eight Styles Swordplay (9)
    Jenny (9) – leader of Flower Maiden Society, Flower Maiden Magic (9)
    Jessica – daughter of Jenny, Flower Maiden Magic (5)
    Ben (9) – teacher of Ray, Double Palm (9)
    Debra – daughter of Carey, granddaughter of Ben
    Ray (9) – friend of Rick, Double Palm (9)
    Toby (9) – student of Bobby, Iron Hand (9)
    Phil (7/8) – student of Toby, Iron Hand (7/8)
    Jack (9) – teacher of Carl, Sword of Wind (9)
    Carl (9) – friend of Rick, Sword of Wind (9)
    Warren – teacher of Carl
    Harry (10/11) – Taoist leader, Spirit of Tao (10/11)
    Peter (9/10) – leader of Beggar Clan, Dragon Subduing Palms (9/10)
    Will (10-) – leader of Shaolin, Heavenly Palms (9/10)
    Carey (9) – teacher of Lucy, Flower Maiden Swordplay (8/9), Flower Maiden Dance (9)
    Lucy (9) – friend of Rick, Flower Maiden Swordplay (8/9), Flower Maiden Dance (9)
    Kelly – princess
    Louis (10) – eunuch, Dance of the Virtuous (10)

    Synopsis
    Rick’s mother was the daughter of the emperor. There was a coop around this time and almost all of the emperor’s family line was killed. The emperor was smart enough to have an official genealogy tree drawn up and dispatched far away for safekeeping. It was supposedly delivered to a mysterious island that almost no one knew the location of, and had not been visited in twenty years. Rick’s father sent Rick to the Brotherhood of Tao as a precaution, and his mother gave him a royal keepsake to help identify him when the time came. Unfortunately, his parents did not survive the royal purge. As a child, Rick was not treated well at the brotherhood. The current leader, who was only temporarily in charge because the original leader had gone missing a long time ago, did not reveal Rick’s identity to anyone out of fear for his safety. Rick’s elder martial brother tricked him into stealing a martial arts manual from the brotherhood. When they were caught with it, the martial brother blamed it all on Rick, who ran away at that time. Rick came to town as a young orphan with no money or friends. In time he came to make a few friends. Ray was a rapscallion orphan who liked to play tricks and make up lies. He was very independent, but not as smart as he pretended to be, and often got into trouble. Carl was a meek little boy who always followed Ray around. What he lacked in confidence, he more than made up for in loyalty. Lucy was the daughter of a local concubine. Her mother always mistreated and abandoned her, so she liked to hang out with the street kids, including Rick now. Carl was always a little sickly, but he became deathly ill after being bitten by a poisonous insect. The four of them did not know what to do, so Lucy reluctantly went to ask her mother for help. Of course, her mother refused to get involved, but she did tell Lucy about an amazing doctor who could probably help, though he would never treat a nobody like Carl. They took Carl to the doctor, Warren, who was a grumpy old man who hated everyone, especially children. Warren said he could save Carl, but that it would take years of treatment, during which time Carl would have to be his slave. And if Carl was ever bad, then Warren would let him die, or worse, harm his friends. The children were beside themselves, but Carl agreed to the arrangement, as long as his friends were free to go. The others said their goodbyes and left. However, bad luck was about to split them up. Lucy went back only to find that her mother had sold her to some perverted old man, so she ran away as far as she could. She got lost along the way, but was saved by Carey who took her in as a student. Rick went along with Ray for some time, but they went their separate ways when Ray got into trouble for stealing from the town leader and had to escape. Rick decided to head into the mountains, where he was taken in by Herb, a lonely old hermit who sounded very mean, but actually treated Rick quite well. Herb grew to love Rick like a son and taught him his special martial arts, the Black Jade Body. Unfortunately, years later rumors had surfaced about the surviving prince and the bad guys were on the move. Four men and a regiment of soldiers went looking for Rick in the mountains, and came upon Herb. Although each one of them was no match for Herb, together they were formidable, and they liked to cheat. Herb was killed but Rick managed to escape. Rick then decided to go back to the brotherhood and retrieve his keepsake. He wanted to keep a low profile so he decided to travel with a small group of country folk heading that way. Harry and a small band of Taoists were also traveling with the group. Halfway there, robbers who appeared to belong to the Demon Sect ambushed the group. Harry, Rick, and the Taoists easily defeated the enemy, and they were impressed with Rick’s skills, especially Harry. After striking up a conversation, Harry discovered that Rick was heading to the same place he was, the Brotherhood of Tao, but did not know of Rick’s intentions. Wary of a potential troublemaker, Harry decided to test Rick’s skills. Rick did not want to fight, but having no choice he restrained from using any deadly attacks. Harry easily beat Rick, and seeing his good hearted nature told him that the brotherhood was good friends with the Taoists, and that as long as Rick did what he needed to do before Harry got there, the Taoists would not stop him. Hearing that, Rick hurried ahead to get to the brotherhood. When he got there, he disguised himself as a low level student and snuck in. Unfortunately, that day, someone had come to pick a fight and everyone had to be assembled in the main hall. After Jack, the original leader, had been missing for some time, the brotherhood was constantly being challenged for its martial arts. The challenger this time was better than they thought, and quickly dispatched the senior members, but then he unknowingly challenged Rick. At first Rick used the brotherhood’s martial arts, what little he could remember, but that was no good. He had to resort to the Black Jade Body, which was too good for the challenger who complained that he cheated because he did not use an orthodox method. Although the brotherhood had won, they were quite embarrassed by the presence of an outsider, and demanded to know who he was. Rick refused to answer, and a short battle ensued. After defeating most of them, he finally told them who he was, because he did not want anyone else to get hurt. Everyone was wary of his return, but the temporary leader knew what he wanted. Rick’s keepsake was returned, and Rick left more amicably than he did the first time. Rick then decided to go to town to try and look up his friends. To avoid trouble he took the long, mountainous route, and ran into Brad, a grumpy ex-soldier who did not like to let people cross his mountain pass. Brad would not let Rick go without a fight, though Rick was actually better. During the fight, Rick’s keepsake fell out, and Brad immediately recognized it. Brad had been a trusted lieutenant under the old emperor’s army, and was sent out to deal with unrest in the northern territories. Upon his return he found out what had happened to the royal family and wanted to overthrow the usurper, but his superiors, who were also his friends, convinced him not to do anything stupid. So he left the army in a bitter state and returned to the northern territories were he learned the Golden Fist. Brad vowed to stay by Rick’s side and even taught him the Golden Fist. As the two of them continued toward town, they ran into the bad guys again. Brad ordered Rick to escape while he engaged them. Brad was lucky not to get killed, but one of the four goons blinded him. Rick managed to get within sight of town when he was ambushed and captured, this time by members of the Demon Cult. As it turns out, they took him hostage because they wanted him to vie for the leadership of the Demon Cult. They prevented him from escaping by drugging him so that his strength was temporarily gone. The reason they wanted him to be the leader was not so much that they respected him, but that they did not like the current candidate for leader but could not defeat him. While they left him alone to contemplate, Ray snuck in, trying to escape his own pursuers for some reason. The two did not recognize each other at first, so Rick had to try and convince Ray to him to help him. When they finally realized they knew each other, Ray helped Rick get as far away as possible. Rick quickly regained his strength, and when they ran into the cult members again, Rick put a stop to their plans. Ray was impressed by Rick’s skills, and came up with a pretty sneaky plan. Ray had heard that the beggar clan, though poor, actually had a significant treasure donated by the wealthy for all the good deeds they had done, and that this purse belonged to their leader. The leader of the beggars had not been seen for many years now, because of his travels and mysterious ways, so anyone could pretend to be him. But that person would have to be highly skilled because the beggar’s martial arts were quite impressive. Ray wanted Rick to pretend to be the beggar leader, which eventually he agreed to. Everything was going smoothly, until Peter, the real beggar leader, showed up. Peter did not let on right away that he knew of the ruse, but went along with it for some time. Finally, Peter challenged Rick to a friendly duel, of which Peter won. When Ray and Rick found out who Peter was they thought they were in trouble, but it turns out that Peter was entertained by their antics and they became fast friends. The two decided to find Carl now, so they went back to Warren’s secluded abode. Warren was still the nasty old coot, but his affection for Carl was apparent. Warren had taught Carl everything he knew about medicine, even though Warren claimed it was a chore for his slave. Ray and Rick convinced Carl to go with them, to which Warren put up a stink but ultimately did not stand in the way. The three of them headed off to see if they could find Lucy. However, the bad guys showed up again and they were separated once again. Carl ran off and was caught by the Flower Maiden Society, who imprisoned him for trespassing. While in a small jail cell, Carl managed to dig his way to the adjacent cell, only to find a disheveled old handicapped man. It was Jack, who had been a prisoner for almost twenty years now. The society had caught him off guard those many years ago, and continually poisoned his food so that his arms and legs remained weak. Carl felt bad for Jack, and offered to cure him with a combination of herbs and acupuncture, as well as sharing what food was brought to him. In return, Jack decided to teach Carl the Sword of Wind, which Carl accepted only as a gesture of goodwill. After months of treatment, Jack regained strength in his arms, but his legs were still weak, but he convinced Carl that they should escape. Using his internal energy, Jack broke down the door and Carl carried him off on his back. There escape was noticed immediately as girls filled the courtyard, and a battle ensued. Even though Carl had mastered the finer points of the Sword of Wind, he had never tried to fight before, and he was quickly losing. Out of desperation, Jack transferred almost all his internal energy to Carl and commanded him to put Jack down and fight for real. Carl’s skills now proved too much for the girls and he won the battle, though no one was seriously injured. Instead of fleeing, Carl begged the girls to let them go now. Jenny, the leader, then tells them why Jack had been imprisoned for so long. Jenny’s mother, Jill, had told Jenny that Jack had killed her father. In reality, Jack was Jenny’s father, and Jill had said that because she was mad at Jack for leaving her. The truth was that Jack truly loved Jill, but he could not get past her heinous crimes back then, and regretted it ever since. Jack and Jenny are reunited. Meanwhile, Rick was chased deep into the forest and hid in a strange cave that was ice cold. He had inadvertently found Dan, who then challenged Rick to a duel. Dan won, primarily because of the setting, but took a liking to Rick. Dan had always wanted to pass on his Cold Palm martial arts, but never found right person to teach, until Rick came along. The cave itself was special because it enhanced the trainer’s ability to learn martial arts. Within a short time, Rick had learned all of the moves, though he would not be able to master them for some time. When the bad guys got to the cave they were reluctant to go in, especially given the warnings from Todd who was with them. It turned out that Todd and Dan had a history of bad blood, and both were cautious of what the other was up to. Dan helped Rick escape out the back while Dan kept the others occupied. After some time, Todd and the others stormed the cave, and Todd dealt a serious blow to Dan, retreated leaving them empty handed. Ray was almost caught by Toby but Lucy came by and led him to safety. She immediately recognized Ray, and the two of them decided to look for Rick and Carl. Before they had a chance, though, Toby found them and gave chase. Lucy was able to lead Toby away, and Ray ended up literally running into Debra. He was smitten by her, but it was not a good time to stop. More bad guys showed up and wanted to catch both of them. Ray managed to escape with Debra, but they were eventually cornered. Just when they thought it was over, her grandpa Ben came out to save her. Ben was grateful for Ray’s help that he granted him a request. Ray asked Ben to accept him as a student and teach him the Double Palm. Meanwhile, Lucy caught up with Rick, and as they were both being chased, Rick convinced her to hide out with the beggars. Jack returned to the Brotherhood of Tao and wanted Carl to become the next leader. But Carl declined out of humility, and because the celibate lifestyle was not for him. Carl embarrassingly revealed his interest in Jessica, Jack’s granddaughter, to which Jack overwhelmingly approves. At about this time, Steve appeared on the scene. An ambitious and crafty individual, he had actually found the copy of the Ghost Magic manual years before, and taught himself the entire thing. At first he approached Todd to lend his services. Although Todd accepted, Steve was never officially part of Todd’s household. Steve then tried to court Kelly, the evil princess who was leading the search for any remaining royal members, but she was not interested. Rick, Ray, and Carl finally met up again, and Ray was depressed because he was the weakest, but the others did not care. Toby had always hated Ben for thwarting his master’s plans, and challenged Ben to a duel. Seeing an opportunity to prove himself, Ray took the challenge instead. Ray practiced hard, but neither Ben, Rick, or Carl thought he could win. Ben did not care if Ray lost, but he was afraid Ray would get hurt. The day of the duel they invited Peter to attend as well, hoping with enough good fighters present any trap could be avoided. From the beginning, Ray was no match for Todd, and was knocked out of the ring, though Rick and Peter caught him before he hit the ground. They were able to secretly unlock some of Ray’s potential and he just barely knocked Todd out of the ring the second time. Todd landed on the ground, making him the loser, although through a technicality. With so many good martial artists present, Todd did not dare make more trouble, and left angrily. At this time Lucy returned with her master Carey, who seemed to have a great interest in Debra. Rick was trying to figure out why the government was so bent on catching him, besides the fact that he was related to the previous emperor. Ben told them about the brewing turmoil that existed outside of the major towns. Large portions of the old military had disbanded after the coup, and many soldiers had chosen to live in the countryside rather than serve the new government, but their disdain for the new emperor was beginning to show, and they were looking for any reason to rebel. Ben also told them about the rumors of the old emperor’s genealogy book, and the person who was supposed to have taken it away for safekeeping. This surprised Carey, who told them that she knew this person. He had secretly served the Demon Cult back then, just as her master had. Lucy then suggested that perhaps they should look for the book at the Demon Cult compound. But getting in would not be easy. Even though rising factions within the cult weakened it, the compound was still heavily guarded. In the end, Lucy and Rick decided to sneak in while Ray and Carl created a diversion. The diversion was a visit to challenge for leadership of the cult. While Ray and Carl fought with the cult members in front, Lucy and Rick were busy in the back looking for the book. They did not find the book, but upon entering an older section of the compound that looked like it might have been burned down at some point, they managed to find the Demon Magic manual. The cult had believed the manual was destroyed in the fire, which was why nobody looked for it. Lucy saw an opportunity and told Rick to take it. He refused out of honor, so she told him to learn it. He was reluctant at first, but she convinced him that the only way he could save himself and his friends was to become as strong as possible. With Lucy’s help, Rick learned the general core of the Demon Magic in a short time. But they had forgotten about Ray and Carl, and immediately went out to help them. At this point, Ray and Carl had defeated all the cult members except Mike. Ray decided to take on Mike himself, not knowing how good Mike was. The battle was getting heated, and it looked like someone might get hurt when Rick appeared and broke up the fight. This action showed that he was the strongest one there, and both sides stopped fighting. Rick apologized for what they had done and returned the Demon Magic manual that he had found. Mike, seeing such a honorable person with so much skill, could not help but think of his master, the previous leader. Mike convinced the other Demon Cult members that Rick should be their new leader. No one objects except Rick, who is not sure that is such a good idea. After all, he was a wanted man. But Lucy, Ray and Carl persuaded Rick to accept so that he could find a purpose to his life. During this time, Jack showed up to visit Ben, along with Jenny and Jessica. Carey was uneasy with members of the Flower Maiden Society, because her master had been forced out long ago. Luckily, Debra was able to diffuse the situation with her friendliness, especially towards Jessica. When they got back, Carey questioned Ray about his motives and intentions toward Debra. It seemed a little odd. Upon further revelation, Ray discovered that Debra was actually Carey’s daughter. Carey had fallen in love with Debra’s father, but her master would not allow them to be together unless Carey could defeat her. As it turned out, Carey was able to defeat her master eventually, but she changed her mind about leaving. However, she was already pregnant with Debra, and because of her master’s temper, she gave the baby to Debra’s father with specific instructions not reveal the secret. Debra’s father passed away some time later, and Ben had never known who the mother was. In another twist of fate, Jenny and Carey discovered that they had something else in common. Debra’s father was also Jessica’s father. It turned out that a long time ago Jenny had been intimate with him when she found him wandering delusional on the society’s grounds. At the time, Jenny was young and afraid that great harm would come to him, so she secretly nursed him back to health. Although they were intimate, the injured man believed that Jenny was actually Carey. When Jenny knew he was better, she left him, but left behind a piece of embroidered cloth to remind him. When he showed cloth to Carey and relayed the story, Carey knew he had unknowingly cheated on her, and she left him. Of course, Jenny got pregnant, and no matter how much her mother Jill threatened Jenny would not reveal who the father was. In actuality, Jenny did not really know who he was anyway, though she tried to find out for some time. The whole ordeal made her dislike men even more. Jenny and Carey decided to reconcile their differences, and together pick the next leader of the Flower Maiden Society. After much thought, Rick called together a gathering of some of the best martial artists around to show that the Demon Cult was not a bad group, and to try and settle their affairs. Kelly showed up with her band of fighters, including the four who killed Herb. Rick could not hold back his anger and challenged them. They agreed to fight Rick if he only used the Black Jade Body, figuring that they could win just like before. Rick agreed, which put him at a disadvantage, but the Demon Magic skills more than made up for it. Rick beat them handily. At this time, a blind man wandered in. It was Brad, who had heard about the gathering and wanted to meet up with Rick. Rick was shocked and saddened at Brad’s condition, and asked him who did this. Although Brad had lost his sight, his other senses had improved dramatically, and he was able to identify the culprit as one of the four men before. Rick was livid and demanded that he be taken into custody, but Brad had just one request, to duel him. Rick reluctantly agreed, but warned that if anything bad happened to Brad he would not forgive them. The cocky bad guy did not expect Brad to put up much of a fight, but he was wrong. In the end, Brad blinded the bad guy, and considered justice served. Everyone was satisfied with the results. But Todd wanted to make some trouble. He challenged one of the cult members who he claimed stole from him. When they fought, Todd’s Fire Palm strike severely injured his opponent. Luckily Dan appeared at that time and cured the injury with his Ice Palm. The rivalry between Todd and Dan went way back. Their masters were martial brothers under the same teacher, the head of the Fire and Ice Clan. Because both masters were fairly equal, neither one would concede the other as the clan’s successor. So they each took a student, and whichever student was better would decide the leadership. Unfortunately, Todd liked to cheat, and killed Dan’s master in an unfair duel. Todd’s master was so furious that he banished Todd from the clan. Although Dan was offered the leadership, he refused, and left the clan. Now, it was time for Dan to exact justice. But again Todd resorted to cheating. During the battle, Todd had his disciple prepare to make a surprise attack on Dan, injuring him, so Todd could finish him off. Luckily, Rick saw what was about to happen, and his high skill allowed him to stop the sneak attack. Without the cheat, Todd eventually lost and was struck by the Ice Palm, an equally severe wound. Everyone could see at this point that the Demon Cult had become a force to be reckoned with. Ian was a supposed friend of the Demon Cult, and his association with them through the years seemed to support it. However, Ian was actually manipulating them. Ian was actually responsible for the bad reputation that the cult had been stuck with, and he secretly wanted to destroy them. Ian’s father was a follower of Jeff, and after Jeff’s death he could have helped rebuild the cult and become its leader. The problem was that he sided with the wrong guys at the time and the other cult members rejected his proposals. However, the people he had conspired with to take control of the cult were dissatisfied with his results, and forced him to commit suicide. And Ian never stopped blaming the cult for his father’s untimely demise. Ian had secretly conspired with Kelly to destabilize the cult, who was always making trouble for the government. Although Kelly was willing to work with Ian, she never completely trusted him because he refused to openly support the new emperor. For problems like him, she depended on her number one assassin, Louis. Kelly initially wanted to kill Rick because of his bloodline, but soon she became fascinated with him and wanted to possess him. So when Ian decided that Rick needed to die, Kelly instructed Louis to kill Ian instead. Unfortunately, Ian was stronger and ended up killing Louis, which also ended Ian’s cooperation. This left Kelly in a bind because she did not have anyone strong enough to stop Ian, but she could not openly tell the other side about his treacherous ways. So she cooked up something with Steve. Steve had gotten close to the Demon Cult. He was also pretty close to Ian. Slowly, Steve gave the cult enough information to be wary of Ian and his activities. When they realized what Ian was up to, Rick, Ray and Carl confronted him. A battle ensued, and only together could they defeat him. In the meantime, Steve had snuck away to Ian’s hideout to snatch the Yin-Yang Convergence manual that Ian supposedly had. When Steve found it, he discovered that it was missing half the text. Steve took it and mastered what he could, and then he filled it with fake text proceeded to trade it with Toby for the Iron Hand manual. Although Toby did not trust Steve, he agreed to the trade because he did not believe anyone could learn the Yin-Yang Convergence or the Iron Hand in such a short time. Toby went crazy trying to practice what Steve wrote, and Rick and the others had to stop him, which was not easy. Afterward, Steve became the leader of Toby’s clan, which included Todd, three swordsmen who knew some of the Demonic Swordplay, and a couple with some strange skills. Steve forced them to teach him their martial arts, which made him even better. After a long time searching, Rick and the others stumbled onto the small fishing village where the messenger who carried the genealogy book had gone, thanks to Harry. Many years ago, there was a secret competition held on a mysterious island by an equally mysterious martial artist named Jim. The island itself had been a repository for a collection of martial arts books gathered by the emperor over a hundred years earlier. Jim discovered the island because he had possession of the original Ghost Magic manual, in which Jeff had hidden the location inside, wanting to travel there himself. Jim practiced for years and came up with the Four Ways of the Dragon, and built up quite a following thereafter. Now, at the competition, Jim was able to defeat all the other participants and gave himself the title of White Dragon. Harry was the only person left who had actually been to the competition so long ago. Carey remembered that her master had told her about the messenger’s desire to travel to the island, so they figured that must be where he went. Everyone descended on the small village where Harry had to attend the competition. The residents of the island, which they called Dragon Island, suddenly appeared in the village, as if expecting them. The island dwellers then proceeded to blindfold everyone and place groups of them onto separate boats. Inside the boats, a musician played very loudly and they burned much incense, masking the sounds and smells of the ocean. Halfway there, these boats were met with other boats, and the groups were transferred over, to be brought the rest of the way. This elaborate procedure was to ensure the secrecy of the island, which is why Harry did not know the actual location of the island, just the fishing village. The visitors were welcomed by a large collection of relatively young island dwellers in a large palace. One of them announced the commencement of a new competition to crown the next White Dragon. The rules were that everyone could participate, competitors would be paired up in duels, and a day of rest was allowed between each round. The winner of the competition would have a chance to challenge the Four Dragons, guardians of the ancient vault that contained the treasures of the island, including the Four Ways of the Dragon manual. The apparent leader of the island dwellers asked to speak with the Taoist leader in private. He told Harry that at the original competition years ago, Master Tom had competed with Jim, and out of all the participants Master Tom was the best. After Jim passed away, he asked that Master Tom’s successor be allowed to challenge the Four Dragons, who combined knew the Four Ways of the Dragon, to see who would be better now. With that said, they brought Harry to the room where the Four Dragons guarded the vault. Harry fought with the Four Dragons, but found that he could not beat them, and he really did not want to. But he did ask about the genealogy book, which they confirmed was in the vault. Harry informed Rick and the others of this. Eventually, Steve and Kelly found out. Steve decided to try and get in the vault himself, putting on a disguise, but he was defeated by the Four Dragons. He then decided to try and eliminate Rick ahead of time, thus reducing the competition and getting rid of the problem. Steve disguised himself, lured Rick out at night and fought with him next to a high cliff, knocking Rick off it. When Rick awoke the next morning he was in an underground chamber dug into the mountain. There he saw all the books that had been stored there long ago. In a separate cave Rick also found the original Ghost Magic manual. Since he did not know of a way out he decided to learn it, which took him all day. That night there was a full moon, and inside the cave he began to see writings on the wall. It turned out to be the Dragon Mirror instructions, a new martial art that Jim had come up with after the original competition. Rick learned that as well. Rick had done all his practicing in the cave where he had found the Ghost Magic manual, but instead of taking the manual with him he decided to put it back, out of respect for its owner. When he did that, he heard a rumbling, and when he left the cave he saw a new opening appear allowing him to escape the chamber. Rick hurried outside, as he knew the competition might be over. On his way back he ran into an apparent village on the island where the older and younger island dwellers must live. They were suspicious of outsiders, and challenged Rick. Everybody on the island knew martial arts. Rick did not want to hurt anyone, so he used the Dragon Mirror. The elders immediately recognized this skill and declared Rick to be Jim’s successor. Rick had to get back to the competition. The only two competitors left were Steve and Mike, who had to sub for Rick. Harry had deliberately thrown the match to Mike because he knew he could not defeat the Four Dragons. Rick came out just in time to compete instead. At first it looked like they were evenly matched, but Rick decided to let Steve win because he realized that Steve was the masked man who knocked him over the cliff, and he wondered what Steve was up to. As the winner, Steve was allowed to fight the Four Dragons, but he knew he would lose. Steve asked if he could enlist the help of Rick. After much debate, they agreed because they thought they knew who was better anyway. Rick and Steve were able to overcome the Four Dragons, and Steve opened the vault, but when Rick was about to enter Steve struck him away and ran in and closed the door. Rick remained outside recuperating from the injury while Steve was inside learning the Four Ways of the Dragon. Some of the others wanted to rush into the vault and stop Steve, but the island dwellers were not about to let that happen. When Steve emerged, the islanders proclaimed Steve as their new leader. Thinking that he was unstoppable now, Steve ordered that everybody be either killed or captured. Although the request seemed questionable, the islanders started to fight the others anyway. Rick and Steve engaged each other again. Steve appeared to be winning at first, using the Four Ways of the Dragon, until Rick used the Dragon Mirror. Rick was able to fight Steve to a standstill, no matter how hard Steve tried. Steve was shocked by this and ran off. The islanders stopped fighting shortly after when the island elders appeared and threw their support behind Rick. Everyone then went after Steve. Steve could not understand how he had lost, but he knew that Rick had gotten a lot better after falling off the cliff, so he jumped off as well, and wound up in the underground chamber. Steve saw all the books, and wondered if Rick could have read all of them in such a short time. Meanwhile, Rick led the others into the chamber from the secret passageway. When they found Steve, he completely ignored them and was babbling on and on, like he had gone a little crazy. When Steve went into the cave and saw the Ghost Magic manual he grabbed it with glee. Everyone was trying to calm Steve down. Steve took the manual out of the cave, which set off the trap. The chamber began to collapse. Everyone ran out through the secret passageway, and they tried to get Steve to come with them, but he refused. In the end Steve was killed in the rockslide and access to the chamber was blocked. Later on, Rick was given the title of White Dragon and asked to stay on Dragon Island as leader, but he turned it down. The islanders did give him the Silver Sword, which had somehow become one of the treasures of the island. Rick chose to travel the world with Lucy, whom he finally revealed his love for. The genealogy book was used to eventually find a new and legitimate emperor.

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