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CHAPTER 3 – JING KING
TWO DIFFERENT PRISONS
It has been weeks since I was properly able to meditate.
It shouldn't be like this.
Not since he was defeated.
Not since I was freed from General Tsao by my father and the Cooper Gang…
That bastard chicken…
I hope that fox policewoman Sly mentioned pounded that monster into the ground.
After my father's defeat, he had been taken to prison. He was released on good behavior two years later, and came home to me.
A year before his release, mother died. Father had been distant and cold to me before, in the darker days when he worked for the demon Clockwerk. But with my mother, Fan King, gone, and his master dead at the hands of the warrior who defeated him, he had little left BUT me. His dignity, his honor, was gone, and he needed to redeem himself. We spent many a happy day together in his temple, sharing fond memories, meditating, playing in the snow and watching the stars. I even managed to convince him to set aside his Flame Fu. Sometimes, on special days, he would dig out his old fireworks and put on a show for me…
I wish those days could have lasted… I wish mother could have seen him then.
We were so happy…
But then he came…
That monster from the north, General Tsao…
Because he had not practiced Flame Fu for so long, he wasn't able to defeat Tsao or his guards when they came for me. I could only watch helplessly as Tsao beat him ruthlessly with fists, shield, and magic, 'convincing' him to stay in the temple and meditate forever on his failure. It was horrible…
I cannot help but think that it was my fault, that because I convinced him to abandon Flame Fu, he had become weak…
It is not your fault that your father became weak, child…
Who… Who said that?
…
Must have imagined it…
The memories of my five month imprisonment with Tsao… His endless attempts to woo me by saying how great our lineage would become once we united were sickening… He didn't value me for my love, he just wanted an ornament! He merely wished to have me breed for him!
Spirits help me, he was a monster. I am lucky he did not force himself on me.
I tried to escape, managing to appeal to the emotions of one of the tiger guards.
Nightmares of what Tsao did to both the guard that helped me and the guard that nearly crippled me as I ran will haunt me forever…
Luck favored me, though. Sly had come to my father to ask for his help in reclaiming his legacy from a traitor to his father's gang, and promised to save me in return. Sly defeated Tsao in combat, and then defeated the dragon he summoned as well. Guards, explosives, sorcery, nothing Tsao used could stop the Cooper Gang and my father. It was wonderful…
After I was rescued from Tsao, leaving him to the tender mercies of Inspector Fox… or 'lack of mercies,' as the turtle put it… I was sent to live with my aunt, my father's sister Xian, until his return.
I prayed every night for his safe return. I was too scared to go out. What if there were other men like Tsao out there?
What a fool I was back then…
I had so little experience with the world, living mainly in the temple my father and mother controlled. The only people I knew were my father, mother, and occasional visits from my aunt or father's associates in the Fiendish Five. I got along well enough with Muggshot, who would tell amusing tales of his favorite… oh, what's the word in English… gangsters, and with Miz Ruby, who seemed very grateful for the friendship I offered. But Sir Raleigh ignored me, ignored any attempts I made to try and be friendly. And the demonic machine Clockwerk frightened me. Every time he came to bring my father on a job, I wished and prayed that he would leave quickly.
He taught your father to be truly strong.
What? Who is saying that?
…
I am afraid. I am afraid for myself. The isolation is just as bad, if not worse, than when I was Tsao's prisoner. My damned overprotective father…
There is no need to blame him. He has simply forgotten.
Who is speaking, who is saying that?!
You know, child. You know in your heart who I am.
No… No! I am hearing things, I am…
You are finally coming into yourself for the first time, child. You are finally realizing your legacy.
What… What are you talking about?!
I am you, child. I am the strength of our family, the power that your father holds only a fleeting grasp on.
…No… My father is…
Hahahahaha! Your father? The man who holds you in a prison just as confining as the one Tsao held you in? You are deluding yourself, little one.
What… What do you mean?
I am the strength inside you. We are not called King out of pride. The blood of warriors, of CONQUERERS lives within us! Your father has forgotten his strength. Will you abandon yours?
I… I don't know…
Your father has been teaching you Flame Fu. You have been studying his equipment behind his back, as well as his other books on explosives and fireworks. The time has come, Jing King, for you to take your destiny into your own hands.
My father…
Your father's time has come and gone. Will you stay in this gilded cage? Or will you carry on the honor of the family line? Embrace who you are, Jing. Embrace the fire, the power, that Tsao saw in you. Embrace ME. And we shall become glorious.
I…
No, I should…
My father…
I…
…
I wonder if the Cooper Gang still needs a demolition specialist?