A brief but intense running gunfight later finds our protagonists in the alleyway behind the Jade Pool. Abutting another of Kowloon's large and rather nasty old brick buildings, the alley is high, narrow, and practically barricaded with garbage cans, debris, and effluvia of varying degrees of foulness. The assassins seem to have picked up a tail, however... someone is banging their way over a dumpster as they go. Chou raises an eyebrow, glancing over her shoulder, then to her companion. "Here or out of the alley?"
Qiang-Wei Long finishes reloading both of his guns, keeping them at the ready. "I have no contacts in Kowloon," he says softly. "I am discomfited by being trapped on this side of the lagoon." He nods. "Let's make our way from here and reconsider our options." Chou nods, her fans closed and laid back against each forearm as she picks her way swiftly and silently through the alleyway. She pauses, glancing carefully both ways -- and up as well -- for potential ambush before leaving the alleyway.
Just about the time they find their way clear from the alley, their tail manages to catch up to them. A flustered-looking (and somewhat damp and funky for the trip through the alley) Kid all but collapses onto the sidewalk behind them. "Wait...!" he pants, "Hey, wait a sec! I wanna ask you something!"
Chou whirls lightly, flicking one fan open... but waits, even though she's still prepared for ambush. To her companion she murmurs, "Get the car, please."
Qiang-Wei feels a need to have a lot more lead available, and the Desert Eagle and MK5 in the car seem to be appropriate. At the call he whirls, one of his guns coming to bear -- and just as suddenly not aiming at the kid -- at least, not directly. He nods and moves to get the car, hoping it hasn't been trashed.
Kid gets to his feet, dusting himself off, and says, "Yeah... whew. Okay. You guys are here about Tsung, right?" Chou nods once, watching the Kid gravely. He's not going to like her answer, she suspects, if he keeps asking questions. Kid says, "I knew it. Jie ba, I knew that guy was dirty, but that was seriously fucked, right there. Look, I don't think I'm gonna be workin' here anymore, especially if word gets out about that stunt I pulled. Even if Kazama gets out of the hospital alive, it's probably my ass. So, uh, look, I can help you guys! See, we can help each other out here; if you get rid of Tsung I won't have to move to Manchuria." He grins a little.
Chou murmurs in her usual smoky tones, "I'm sure you'll see Kazama again... but I doubt he'll be alive."
Kid says, "Like I care? Hey, my grandmother lived in Nanking."
Chou doesn't shift out of her ready stance, but the fan closes slowly, "What do you offer?" She nods slowly once at the Kid's news. She knows of the Rape of Nanking... and this tells her the Kid doesn't know about the dead things.
Kid says, "My uncle Chen, he knows about this kinda stuff. He used to be a priest. I can take you to him!"
Chou tilts her head thoughtfully. The Kid's actions were seen by several security guards. Hm... it could be an ambush... but they could certainly use more mystical help. Her knowledge of the darker arts extends only to philosophical questions, after all. She doesn't think Qiang-Wei knows anything about it at all. Qiang-Wei's car purrs softly to the edge of the alley, and from within it Chou can see Long looking curiously at the two briefly before taking another scan of the area for any more security guards or zombies. Chou straightens as the car comes around the corner and nods, "Front seat."
Kid says, "Shotgun. Sweet." He grins, waving the empty scattergun from the bar. "See? It's a joke, you know? You laugh?"
Chou heads for the back seat, giving the Kid an elegantly raised eyebrow. If the Kid tries anything... well, it would be a mistake. She murmurs to Qiang-Wei, "Follow his directions to his uncle Chen's place. He used to be a priest," as she settles, rearranging her damaged cheongsam and wiping off blood as best she can.
Qiang-Wei Long nods, picking the MP5 off of the passenger seat and tucking it next to his own on the floor. "All right. What's your name, anyway?" he asks the kid.
Chou also asks the Kid for her small bag, and shortly thereafter she looks her usual elegant self. How she got another cheongsam into that dinky bag is a mystery, as is how she changed in the back seat... but she doesn't look like she's in an explaining mood.
Kid's uncle Chen lives in an altogether cleaner part of town, although his location is pretty much variable, apparently. The Kid has led the assassins to what appears to be a noodle stand. He grins, "My name? Davis Lam, but you can just call me Kid. So, you hungry?"
Chou nods gravely to the Kid, in her usual graceful-but-expressionless manner. "Food would be nice, thank you."
Kid says, "Alright, c'mon. Hey, Uncle Chen! You got customers!" He grins, shouldering the curtain aside as he steps into the noodle stand.
Qiang-Wei Long says, "'Kid.' All right..." He glances outside and grimaces. Too warm out to wear the trench, which would be good for keeping the MP5 hidden. He'll have to leave it behind. He blinks at the mention of food. "Uh... sure..."
The stand is actually quite well kept. Behind the counter is a man who redefines the term 'grizzled.' Skin like leather, and a shock of white hair that apparently does all by itself what Kid's hair can only do with the aid of spray. "What the hell do you want, ya little punk?"
Qiang-Wei Long decides that he'd rather sweat a little than be without the rest of his arms. He doesn't want to take chances with zombies or whatever they are. Underneath the leather trench coat he carries both the MP5 and the DEagle. Nothing wrong with carrying the whole lot. He might even need them all at some point. The old man's greeting of the kid, however, is less than hopeful. Chou straightens after she gracefully ducks into the noodle stand, and looks around, removing her shades. She nods politely to the older man who comes out, then continues studying the noodle stand's environs.
Chen glowers, "More gangster friends of yours? Get the hell out of my establishment, the lot of you. I don't want anything to do with you." Kid stammers, "N-no, wait, hey! Uncle Chen, it's not like that! I'm not working at the Pool anymore, honest!" He looks at Long, "Hey, tell him about the shotgun and the dead guys!"
Chou settles gracefully onto a stool, expressionlessly waiting for the man to decide if he'll help or not. Qiang-Wei Long glances to Chou and gives a slight shrug before explaining in brief the zombies they ran into at the Pool, and the shotgun. Chen frowns. His face is like a closed fist. Kid says, "See? I'm out of that business, Uncle. I brought these guys here so you could help them... that guy Tsung, he's... you know... a freak."
Chen growls, "A monster, you mean." He sighs, "All right. You three wait here." He disappears into the back, coming back with something cupped in his palms. He starts to cast a handful of small objects onto the countertop. Chou folds her fingers gracefully together, leans her chin on them, and watches. Her legs are crossed as she leans her upper torso against the bar, making the cheongsam ride up a bit interestingly. Qiang-Wei Long looks outside cautiously. The zombies had found them at the pawnshop quickly enough. He'd really rather notice them coming here as soon as possible.
Chen frowns a bit, stroking his chin as he examines the trigrams. "Mmm. So... this Tsung. That's who you're looking for, mm? Well, this is quite a story."
Chou smiles slightly, tilting the shades down a bit so her emerald eyes are visible as she studies the trigrams. She waits for the uncle to tell the story. Until he makes some indication, she won't insult the former priest by offering cash first. Qiang-Wei Long arches his brow. "You can tell that just by looking at...." He looks at the counter. He can't make heads or tails out of them. "By looking at them?"
Chen snaps at Long, "Of course I can, boy, that's why you're here!" He growls a bit, "Kids these days." He clears his throat and continues, "Rumors frequently contain some small truth. In this case, however, the truth is not so small. Tsung Chi Lung is a half-breed, a bastard born of an ancient evil. One hundred-fifty years ago, a monastery on the mainland was destroyed by a creature of terrible power, a dragon given over to evil."
Qiang-Wei Long takes the rebuke with as much aplomb as he can, not rolling his eyes too much. He listens intently; after seeing Fast Eddie blow away concrete around him, he's willing to accept that Tsung isn't a typical gangster. Chou's smile broadens slightly as she glances sideways at her companion, but when Chen starts telling the story she's completely focused on him again.
Chen says, "This dragon had his way with the nuns of the monastery, and destroyed the refuge. A single nun survived, and from her was born the Dragon Son, Tsung Chi Lung. This man is closer to his father than his appearance would imply... the man you seek is a dragon in the skin of a man."
Chou nods, unsurprised. Kid says, "Holy shit." Chen snaps, "Quiet, boy, I'm not finished." He continues, "But his power restricts him as it strengthens him. I can tell you where he can be found."
Chou murmurs throatily, "How does it restrict him, please? How might he be... put to rest?"
The old man says, "As a dragon, Tsung must reside in the hills. He is bound there and to the strong feng shui of the wilds. Furthermore... his indelible link to the chi of the world means that only one of the five pure elements may sever him from it. If you mean to kill him, I suspect that only a weapon made of wood will do."
Qiang-Wei grimaces. Well, that lets him out; he doesn't know where he can get wooden bullets anytime soon. Chou frowns, producing a fan with a small flourish of one hand, and studying it thoughtfully. Ivory won't do it... but she has more than one set of fans. She looks up at the former priest, "Will ebony do? If he is bound to the hills, how does he manage to come into town to do his slaying?"
Chen peers down at the fan on the counter. "Oh... that's your game, is it? Hrm, I don't truck with those weird foreign woods much... but I suppose that'll do."
Chou smiles faintly, nodding only once. She's not so rude as to correct a priest, even if he is a former priest. She glances at her companion, then adds to the priest, "Do you know where wooden bullets might be found?" Qiang-Wei Long perks up, looking hopefully at the priest.
Chen shrugs, "I'm a holy man, not a gunsmith. Why's it matter? You don't think an evil warlord shacks up all by himself, do you? I'm sure yer friend won't be bored." Chou tilts her shades down to study the man in grave amusement. She's starting to see why he's a former priest... she just nods. The old man adds, "They can't all be dragons, after all."
Qiang-Wei Long deadpans, "Believe me, I'd much rather be bored..." His cell phone rings.
Chou curls lazily back on the stool, murmuring to Qiang-Wei, "We'll need to stop off for another set of fans, it seems." To the Kid she says, "You've been very helpful; thank you."
Kid says, "Hey, I got another idea, actually. Give me your cell phone number."
Qiang-Wei Long grimaces at the ringing of his phone, and takes a step back politely to answer it. He half expects it to be Tsung. A moment later he comes back. "It's our employer," he says to Chou. "He's sending a car around for us so he can get an update. It would be discourteous to ignore him, I think, no matter at what stage we were at short of facing Tsung himself." He looks to the Kid, "Cell phone number? Why for?"
Kid says, "Those guys back there, they were dead, right? They have to have been buried somewhere before they got dug up. I'll go down to Central and check out city records. Maybe he's getting all his dudes from the same place. Where there's smoke, there's a dragon, right?"
Qiang-Wei Long can't argue against that logic or the offer of help, and he glances to Chou to confirm her own approval. Chou nods once, then glances at Chen, "Do you have anything protective you can give him? An amulet, maybe?" She tilts her head at the energetic and enthusiastic -- and not terribly cautious -- Kid.
Qiang-Wei Long nods and gives the Kid his cell phone number. He starts thinking of where in Kowloon he might be able to get wooden bullets. "Don't the riot police use wooden rounds now and then?"
Kid says, "Not since gel and rubber came on the market. Hey, if I hear anything about it I'll let you know. I'll call you guys as soon as I find something out." He waves, "Thanks, Uncle. I owe you one." Chen glowers, "I'll put it on yer tab." Chou watches this charming display of family piety with silent amusement, as she waits calmly and comfortably for the car.
The limousine pulls up shortly. A Triad guard steps out and holds the door for the assassins. Inside, Tony himself is waiting, looking as if he must be sweating his body weight hourly. "R-r-report, Long. Wh-what the hell is going on?"
Chou retrieves her bag from their car, then steps gracefully into the limo. She wrinkles her nose slightly, hiding it by smoothing her cheongsam along her thighs. She wishes Tony weren't quite so... aromatically nervous. The car pulls out, and is soon lost amid the flow of Hong Kong evening traffic.
Qiang-Wei Long grimaces a little. Tony Lau is not exactly being professional, but as employees of Mister Lau, it is not their place to return abruptness for abruptness. Still, there are forms to keep. "Tsung is indeed far more than just a mere tong lord. He had Fast Eddie Lo come after us." He wonders if Tony will get the import of this. Chou idly studies the various Triad guards as her companion speaks, wondering if they're all loyal... or even alive, for that matter.
Tony shakes his head, "Are you n-nuts? Fast Eddie died months ago. Wh-what the hell's going on, Long? Everywhere you go, explosions seem to be f-f-following! I don't know wh-what your last employer was like, b-but as long as I'm p-p-paying you that astron-n-nomical sum, I expect-" It's just then that something catches Tony's eye, and he looks out the side window, trailing off. He squeaks, "-oh my god...!"
Chou shakes her head slightly. Panicky employers... what a disgusting turn of events. She glances out the window, hoping it's something that will allow her and her companion to kill something. That'd be a pleasant distraction.
Another limousine has pulled up alongside, as Tony's limo makes its way down the tunnel back to Hong Kong proper. The window is rolling down. Inside is a small passel of thugs carrying automatic weapons. On the other side of them... is Tsung Chi Lung. He smiles, and his lips move. He's saying, "Nihao, baby."
And then the thugs open up.
Qiang-Wei Long starts to hear the irritation grow in Tony's voice and sets his mouth in a firm line. He makes a mental note to more stringently review any further offers of contract work from the Lau Syndicate. Some people have no respect for skill in the face of adversity. He has no idea what it is that caught Tony's attention, and as he looks over... he's glad he brought the MP5K. "Duck," he says simply, doing so and hoping that Tony Lau had the good sense to armor plate his limo.
Chou reflexively snaps a hand out, yanking their paycheck by the collar to throw him down to the floor. She looks relieved as she reaches for the controls on her door to the windows and sunroof. Gunfire explodes through the car, catching several of Lung's thugs and sending them to the floor. The windows and sunroof still seem unharmed thus far, and open as quickly as possible under the circumstances. Tony just squeaks, "Oh my god, oh my god!"
Qiang-Wei Long grimaces as one of the torpedoes falls to the floor. So, Tony did not armor plate his limo. He better not take that out of our paycheck. He already has the MP5K out, waiting for Tsung's thugs to have to reload before popping up to cause some severe cases of terminal kinetic-lead poisoning in the thugs.
Chou pulls herself with lithe agility out of the sunroof, absolutely uncaring of the astonishing view she's giving the others in the car -- she doubts anyone's looking anyway. A moment later she leans and sends a fan spinning viciously through the front seat of the attacking limo. It won't drive quite so well with a decapitated driver, she suspects. There is a satisfying crack as the passenger-side window shatters; there's a splat of blood but the limo remains steady. The gunman in the passenger seat, however, is down for good. Chou shouts back into her limo, to be heard over the gunfire and thunder of wind in the tunnel, "Qiang-Wei -- driver!"
Qiang-Wei Long hears Chou's call, and immediately gets up to spray a nice stream of bullets at the other limo's driver, al nice and textbook. "Let's see how well you guys drive with no driver!"
Amid the hail of Long's bullets, something comes shooting out of the open sunroof of Tsung's limo. Whirling as he rises, Tsung Chi Lung sails high into the air, then stops as he lands, feet on either side of the open sunroof. In either hand he brandishes a viciously hooked sword. "It's been a long time since I've met anyone like you!" The limo swerves crazily as the gunfire rips it apart, but the Dragon Son remains steady as a rock. The limo begins to swerve wildly out to the left, headed toward the median in the center. As the car strikes the concrete barrier, Lung takes to the air with a truly impossible leap... legs raised beneath him, arms and swords outstretched to either side in some parody of a striking bird of prey as he comes sailing down toward Tony's limo. "Let's dance!"
Chou studies the sitrep... then coils up lithely in a crouch on the still-speeding limo. She murmurs calmly, "Let's not."
Qiang-Wei Long glances up, makes a quick calculation... and whips out the Desert Eagle, aiming it right at the point through the roof where he's certain Tsung will be. The obscenely large, Freudian handgun makes an ear-shattering roar as it punches a .357 magnum round through the thin sheet steel of the roof. Tony shrieks.
Tsung roars, staggered as the massive bullet slashes across his face, his shades exploding and showering Chou with plastic shards as they disintegrate. Chou doesn't move, still poised for her attack. She's patient... she needs the perfect attack point for this to work.
Tsung tumbles backward in the air, the velocity of the bullet flipping him over as he descends. Lashing out with one hook sword, he catches the frame of the limo on the rear quarter panel and swings himself about, coming inches from the pavement as it whizzes dangerously past, and up, landing on the trunk of the limo. He smiles, his face streaked with blood, his pale green eyes ghoulish under the staccato orange light of the tunnel. "My turn!"
Qiang-Wei Long smiles grimly as he hears Tsung's outraged roar, and roll-falls onto his back, holding the DEagle in both hands and aimed out through the back window. "Hundan!" he spits out, and fires, starring the back window.
Tsung leans to one side, his long mane of hair seeming to artistically split in the wind to let the massive bullet pass. "Ahhh, there you are!" He lunges, ignoring Chou for the moment to indulge his arrogant displeasure, and drives his hook sword through what's left of the back window, intent on catching Long with it. He jams the blade through the safety glass, grunting to punctuate his speech, "That wasn't very nice!"
Qiang-Wei Long grimaces as the round misses... then blinks as Tsung notices him. Ohshit. "It took you this long to notice, liehuo?" Somehow he manages to catch the hook of the Dragon Son's sword with his DEagle, yanking back on it. Even more to his surprise, the sword slips from the demon's hand. He blinks. "Chou, he's wide open!"
Chou remains utterly still, her scarlet braid and her short embroidered skirts whipping in the wind, baring her long, golden legs, as the monster lands. A slow, quiet smile crosses her lips as Tsung ignores her... then she goes expressionless again, focusing her chi. She draws a hand back -- then snaps it forward sharply, "KIAAAAI!" There's an explosion of chi and shattered metal as the trunk lid Tsung is standing on -- the entire trunk, in fact! -disintegrates away from the limo. Tsung also goes flying as Chou watches calmly, murmuring, "Dance with yourself, bastard son." She deliberately uses the inflection implying playing with oneself.
Tsung roars as he goes flying off the back of the car. He sails backward, striking the windshield of the car behind Tony's, shattering it, then flips up and over, vanishing from sight amid a chorus of screeches and honking horns.
Several moments pass.
Chou's long legs slide gracefully back in through the sunroof, followed a moment later by the rest of her. She settles comfortably back against the leather seats, idly dusting off a piece of shattered plastic or two, then looks down at the still squeaking Tony on the floor. Considerately she murmurs, "You were saying, honored employer?" She casually reaches for the hooked sword, examining it thoughtfully while Tony recovers.
Another roar, deafening in the tunnel, drowns out whatever Tony is trying to say from underneath Long. From the back window, a badly-bedraggled Lung can be seen hovering above the flow of traffic, his silks trashed, his body covered in blood and dirt, hair flying wild behind him. His eyes fairly glow with hate. "This is not over! Not until I say it is!"
Chou doesn't look back, contemptuously ignoring the furious man -- just as he ignored her seconds ago. Instead she murmurs, "A fan for a sword. I believe we made the better deal, don't you think, Qiang-Wei?"
Qiang-Wei Long looks back out the missing back window. "Some people just don't know when to let go," he says, reloading the MP5K. He grins to Chou. "I won't ask if you can use that. I know you can. Indeed, yes, a good deal..."
The Dragon Son shoots through the air, closing the distance rapidly, and streaks over the car just as the traffic breaks clear into the open sky. Then, strangely, he shoots straight up, hovering above the car at several stories up. He's not perfectly visible, being above the streetlights, but there appears to be an orange glow coming from up there that is definitely not a streetlamp. Qiang-Wei Long looks up. "I think we should vacate the car. Now."
Chou looks around the car thoughtfully. She'd guess Tony has a cane somewhere, considering his current physical condition. Is it wooden? Tony makes an inarticulate strangled squeaking noise. Chou hms. No cane... and from the abundance of metal that came out of the back of the car, that's where the wheelchair was. She murmurs to the remaining guard/driver, "You will carry Mr. Lau. We will delay the monster."
The driver says, "A-are you sure? What about the car?"
Qiang-Wei Long says, "I think the car is about to become moot."
Chou murmurs sweetly to Tony Lau, "It occurs to me we have been hired only to kill the Dragon Son for you. Would you care to hire us to defend you today? The price is quite reasonable, I think. You will desist in questioning our methods, you will leave us to do our job -- and you will guarantee payment regardless of whether you die or not tomorrow."
Tony makes something between a squeak and a gurgle. The driver obeys, pulling the car abruptly to the shoulder and running to the back to collect Tony. "If we survive this, I'll pay you myself if I have to." He looks rather scornfully at Tony, "It is a matter of the syndicate's honor." As if to explain himself, he says, "I was Sony Yen Rai Lau's driver."
Chou looks relieved -- she hates negotiating. She nods once, politely, to the driver, recognizing his honorable response, then bounces lightly out of the car with her companion. The sword is in one hand, the fan in the other. Qiang-Wei Long nods to the driver. "You are a tribute and a testament to the honor of the syndicate." He steps from the car beside Chou, chambering a round in the MP5K. "What do you think he'll do to the car?" he asks Chou quietly, looking up at the glow in the sky.
Chou murmurs thoughtfully to Qiang-Wei, "Nothing. He wants Tony and us. Can you hit him at that distance?" She's quite well aware she's just cheerfully challenged her partner on a matter of honor... there's the slightest of mischievous quirks to the corner of her lips, although her face is still innocently expressionless.
Above, the orange glow appears to be moving... it's descending like a comet with a faint but distinctly growing roar. The driver shoulders Tony... he looks at the far side of the road, looks over the side of the guard next to him, looks up at the approaching Dragon... then decides to take his chances where he stands. He vaults over the guardrail, dropping about twenty feet and hitting a stack of water-filled DOT plastic barrels with a wet crash. The sound of moist footsteps echoing under the overpass trails his departure with Tony.
Chou laughs suddenly, springing up onto the roof of the car, her scarlet braid flying. She shouts contemptuously, "Did you forget your toy!?" She flips the hooked sword into the air, then catches it again, watching the stampeding monster with a mocking smile. Shefigures a furious Dragon Son is an incautious one... and that much easier to hit.
Qiang-Wei Long casts a look to Chou. He knows perfectly well she just brandished the sword at him, and he knows she knows he'll rise to it. "Let's find out," he says, pulling out Baoying -- arguably the most accurate of his weapons -- and in the same motion tucking the MP5K away. He braces the Sigma with both hands as he squeezes the trigger. Retribution...! he thinks.
The Dragon Son streaks over the two, and doesn't even break pace as yet another bullet pierces him through the left eye, a shower of burning ichor striking the pavement as he sails over them and the derelict car. Suddenly he sheds his nimbus of flame and demolishes the destroyed car with a truly unnecessary show of force, seemingly taking out all his anger on the devastated vehicle. He comes to a halt in midair, turning and declaring more softly, "Where... and when... I say, it's over. And not before. Keep the trinket, bat po. I'll fashion a replacement from your bones. And as for you," he says to Long, "We'll just have to find something of equal value, hey, boy?" With that he rises and sails off into the night, headed north.
Chou dives gracefully off the car moments before it explodes, rolling neatly to her feet nearby. She grins, her eyes cold, "Mouthy, isn't he?" Without a pause she flips over the guardrail, following the guard with Tony.
Qiang-Wei Long hefts the Sigma. "Well," he says, "that was imaginative of him. You get to have a sword made out of your bones, at least. Maybe he'll try to make new sunglasses out of my scapula." With that he goes over the guardrail himself, after Chou and the Lau gangsters.
Chou murmurs thoughtfully, "Dragon-bastard bones... might make decent fan ribs..." as she runs silently through the night with her companion.
The driver isn't hard to catch up with; there's a massive splash and wet footprints leading off under the overpass. He isn't moving too fast himself after the dive he took; he's sheltering by one of the overpass struts. A quick evaluation shows that he's not hurt badly, and Tony appears to be alive, if non compis mentis. He's phoning for a car to return to Wan Chai -- and at about that moment Long's cell phone rings again.
Chou steps to a position where she can keep an eye out in defense. At the shrill ring, she glances at her companion with a wry quirk, "What's wrong with vibrate, Qiang-Wei?"
Qiang-Wei Long glances to Chou. "Hard to hear it over the sound of the DEagle," he quips, as he pulls out the phone and answers it. Chou snorts amusedly, turning back to defense.
The phone buzzes with static for a moment before resolving, "Hey, this is Kid. I got something for you!"
Qiang-Wei Long says, "Ah, good news, then! Let's hear it, Kid, what've you got?" Chou shakes her head slightly, a faint smile crossing her face. Kid's cute. She hopes he survives.
The Kid says, "All those guys from the bar -- I recognized some of them so I checked out where they were supposed to be buried. They're all listed as being buried at Bright Mountain Temple outside of Kowloon, right in the hills like Uncle said. But it says here that Bright Mountain Temple has been de-consecrated for over fifty years! It's abandoned."
Qiang-Wei Long nods slowly. "Thanks, Kid. That helps us out a lot. We know where to go now. Keep your head down, Tsung is..." he considers his words, "Tsung is flying about the city here and there. Stay safe."
Kid says, "He's flying now? Diu. That's crazy. Well, keep your head up, Long, I'll contact you if I hear anything else." The driver stands up and brushes himself off. "If you know where you are headed, I will have a car sent for you. I hope you'll put an end to this soon. It makes me worry, this business of monsters. Heaven used to be in alignment with the Earth. This sort of thing didn't happen in my grandfather's time. Dai gut le si."
After he hangs up, Quiang-Wei lets the others know what the Kid told him, about the Bright Mountain Temple. As an afterthought, with Kid's promise of calling back, he sets the phone to vibrate. Just in case.
Chou looks pleased, "Excellent. Let's get To- er, Mr. Lau safely home, as promised... then go make life miserable for that bastard son." She nods quietly to the driver, "It is time for the Dragon's bastard to be dispersed. Do you know where we might find wooden bullets?"
The driver shakes his head. "If I did, I would let you know. This is the most I can do for you." After a few moments two more black cars arrive. The driver of the second gets out, helps the other collect Tony, then approaches Long. "If the cops haven't got your car, we'll find it and get it back to you after this is blown over. In the meantime, I'll at least get you where you're going."
Chou nods, sliding with her usual lithe grace into the car. Amazingly, she's managed to keep her small bag with her... although she frowns, studying the hooked sword. "Just doesn't balance right..." She sighs, setting it aside, and settles back, crossing her legs. "Our place first, Qiang-Wei, to pick up supplies, I think."
Qiang-Wei Long nods to Chou. "Yes. Supplies first. We should find a place that has wooden weapons, as well. At this point I'd settle for at least a stake."
Chou nods, then tchs at her companion as the car speeds smoothly off, handing him a diminutive first aid kit from her bag, "Tidy up, Qiang-Wei."
Qiang-Wei Long looks wryly to Chou as he pulls out a bandage. "All right, I'll put on a new suit as well." He grimaces as he looks at the slash in the jacket's shoulder. "Damn. And I was going to wear this to the Shadowdance club tomorrow night..."
Once they get back to their home base, Chou spends several pleasurable minutes athletically debating which weapons to take and what to wear. She finally turns up, ready to go, in a snug, matte-black leather body suit reinforced subtly and strategically with kevlar. As if the lithe silhouette and swaying walk weren't enough... she's also left the front zipper interestingly low. Her face is its usual expressionless calm, the dark shades hiding any emotion, as she slips into the car next to her companion. There's a deeply satisfied note to her voice, though, as she smokily murmurs, "The prey's afoot. Time to settle this."
Qiang-Wei Long is not unaffected by Chou's look. He's male, he's a mammal, and he's going into this with utterly no fear of death -- of course he's going to notice. Fortunately, he manages to gather most of his gear with only a few pauses in the occasional doorway. The driver is waiting on the curb, sitting on the hood of his car. He looks at Chou, then looks away, shaking his head, mumbling, "Diu lei no mo. Christ." He hops down off the car. "We ready to go?"
Chou raises a cool eyebrow at the driver, but doesn't press the issue. She simply takes a moment on the drive to check her weaponry one last time. Wooden Tiger Claws, no cracks or blemishes, check. Black fans with ebony struts, painted with scarlet and gold phoenixes and butterflies, check. She flips the fans lightly around once, then disappear them back onto her person, waiting with stoic calm for their arrival.
Qiang-Wei Long tries to get familiar with the crossbow and wooden quarrels he picked up. Since Chou is so much better with the claws she has, he's not expecting he'll have to use the crossbow -- but it's nice to have. Instead he makes sure he has all his guns in order, full clips and one in the chamber.
The drive to Kowloon takes longer than usual, the driver going by ferry rather than taking the tunnel, which is by now somewhat crowded with cops. However, traffic is nonexistent once one gets out into the hill country, and the countryside is very dark on the ascent into the rolling countryside. The Bright Mountain temple sits on the highest peak in the foothills, at the base of a grim-looking mountain. The once-meticulous temple grounds are overgrown and dry, the temple building dark and dilapidated. The driver pulls up at the steps to the walled compound, and says, "This is where I get off. Good luck... give a call if you live through this. Someone'll be along to get you."
Tune in to final episode for action conclusion!