by Dan Lee
‘Good old Catarina!’ said Shawn.
‘Yes, she’s amazing!’ said Matt. He felt a rush of exhilaration as he raced down the wet, slippery grass towards the lake.
He could see Chang and Ryan on the bridge ahead. They were only a few paces apart now. No other people were in view; evidently the heavy rain had driven the tourists away. Looking back, Matt saw that Catarina had given the guard the slip and was running fast to join them. The guard pursued her for a few paces, then gave up.
The Tangshan Tigers ran on to the bridge together. Chang and Ryan had stopped still and were eyeballing one another.
‘Sifu,’ said Matt. ‘Is – is everything all right?’
Chang Sifu stood with his back to them. Without turning round, he said: ‘Stay back.’
‘Yes, get out of it, kids!’ snapped Ryan. ‘This is none of your business. Go back to school.’
‘No!’ said Matt. ‘Not before we know what’s going on.’
‘Then I’ll tell you,’ said Ryan. ‘I’m going to fight your teacher. And I’m going to win. It’s not going to be pretty, so if you’re determined to stay you better cover your eyes.’
‘But why?’ burst out Matt. ‘Why would you want to fight Master Chang?’
For a moment Ryan seemed to lose something of his self-assurance. His eyes flicked to one side, not meeting Matt’s, as if he felt guilty. He didn’t reply, but Matt saw Ryan’s face and neck turning red and blotchy, as if he was uncomfortable.
‘You may intend to fight,’ said Chang, ‘but I will not. I come here to meet and talk. I do not wish to fight.’
‘Scared, are you?’ sneered Ryan. He was back to his arrogant self.
‘I have no reason to fight you.’
‘You’ll have a reason in a minute or two. You’ll be fighting for everything you stand for.’
‘I do not think so.’
Ryan began to circle Chang menacingly. Chang moved with him, keeping his adversary face-on.
‘There’s no getting out of this, old man. My client has paid me good money to fight you and win, so that’s exactly what I’m going to do.’
So I was right! thought Matt. He’s being paid to do this – and it must be Drago that’s paying him!
‘Do not be tempted by money,’ said Chang. ‘Let honour be your guide.’
Ryan’s cheeks flushed an angry red. ‘Enough!’ He unleashed a karate kick that connected with a stone lion on the side of the bridge. The kick landed with such force that the lion’s head snapped clean off and fell into the lake below.
Matt felt stunned. If that was what Ryan could do to a stone statue, what could he do to flesh and bone?
‘Let’s fight!’ snarled Ryan.
He stopped circling and advanced straight towards Chang.
Matt saw Chang’s body shift. Shoulders square, feet apart, weight on back leg, toes, knees, hips and elbows pointing in the same direction. The centre line.
Chang was going to fight.
A flash of lightning lit up the sky. Almost immediately there was a crack of thunder as though the sky had split in two.
Ryan came forward fast. He launched a high, side-on kick aimed directly at Chang’s jaw. With the slightest, most graceful of movements, Chang turned his body forty-five degrees. Ryan’s kick met empty air. Chang was maintaining the centre line, Matt saw, controlling Ryan’s line of attack. He pushed Ryan back a step.
Ryan spun round and tried again, this time with a fast flurry of kicks, aimed at Chang’s head, chest, stomach and groin. Chang avoided them all, stepping back, slightly turning left and then right, fading away from the point of impact with millimetres to spare. Ryan was super-fast, but Chang made his movements look crude and clumsy.
Several times Ryan seemed to have left himself open to a counter-strike. Go on, Matt silently urged Chang, hit him; counter-attack! Y e t their teacher did not strike back. His hands hung by his sides.
Ryan changed his tactics. Giving up on the kicks, he came in close and threw a series of chops and punches. Now Chang had to use his hands. He blocked Ryan’s attacks deftly, without wasted effort, taking all the sting out of the blows. Ryan was grunting and snorting with the effort; Chang was perfectly silent.
‘You can’t keep this up much longer!’ said Ryan. ‘You know I’ll get you in the end – and it’s gonna hurt!’
He launched a sudden flurry of blows, driving forward.
Chang neutralized with a swift, double-handed block that left Ryan reeling and off-balance. Chang could easily have landed a counter-punch or kick. Instead he pushed Ryan’s shoulder, half-turning him round and making him stumble.
‘Why don’t you fight properly?’ snarled Ryan. ‘You’re fighting like a girl!’
Matt saw Catarina’s lips tighten.
‘Well?’ said Ryan. ‘Afraid if you go for it you’ll leave yourself open? I thought you were supposed to be a warrior!’
‘You do not know what it means to be a warrior,’ said Chang quietly.
Matt saw Ryan’s eyes widen in rage. He rushed to the attack again, putting together a combination of furious kicks and spear-hand thrusts. Surely Chang couldn’t evade his attacks forever?
‘We’ve got to do something,’ said Shawn. ‘I can’t watch this!’ He began to run forward to go to Chang’s aid.
Matt caught him by the arm. ‘No! Chang told us to stay back.’
‘Going to let a bunch of kids protect you, are you?’ sneered Ryan.
‘I’ve got an idea!’ said Matt. ‘Someone go and look for Li-Lian. We might need all the help we can get if things get any worse here.’ ‘I’ll go!’ said Catarina. She turned and ran through the driving rain.
Another flash of lightning; another crack of thunder. Chang and Ryan’s tunics were sodden and clinging.
Still Ryan came on, and at last managed to get through Chang’s guard with a two-fingered jab at the eyes. Chang turned a fraction too late; one finger only grazed its target, but the other struck him hard in the eye.
‘No!’ cried out Matt.
Chang moved backwards, one hand clutching his eye, the other held out in front of him to try and ward Ryan off.
A grim smile appeared on Ryan’s lips. He had the upper hand now, and he knew it.
‘This has gone too far!’ said Olivier. ‘We must do something. Can’t we call the cops?’
‘Sure thing,’ said Shawn. He took out his phone. ‘I’ve got all the emergency numbers for Beijing stored.’ He spoke into the phone in Mandarin.
‘No need for police,’ said Chang, still trying to ward Ryan off one-handed.
‘It’ll be too late by the time they get here!’ said Ryan grimly. ‘You’d better call an ambulance instead.’
He knocked Chang’s arm aside and landed a kick into Chang’s ribs. Chang grunted. Ryan kicked again, this time aiming for the groin. Though half-blinded, Chang saw it in time and managed to turn aside. He took the force of the kick on the hip. He staggered, giving ground. And still Ryan came on.
Ryan had driven Chang perilously close to the edge of the bridge. The parapet was low, and one more determined assault would knock Chang clean over it. The lake was far below and the water was not deep – serious injury was the very least Chang could expect.
Ryan launched another kick on Chang’s blind side. It hit him in the chest and slammed him back against the parapet. How can he fight when he can hardly see? thought Matt desperately.
Chang took his hand away from his face – Matt glimpsed the red, puffy, closed eye beneath – and as Ryan threw himself forward for a final, decisive strike, Chang widened his stance to give himself better balance and deftly blocked the strike, knocking Ryan’s arm up. He moved in and above and trapped Ryan in a tight neck-grip.
At once Matt saw the cleverness of Chang’s strategy. Half-blinded, he couldn’t match Ryan strike for strike; in a stand-up fight he would surely lose. But at close quarters, Ryan’s advantage was neutralized.
Ryan was taken by surprise. He struggled, trying to br
eak the grip, trying to throw Chang off-balance; but Chang, with his lower centre of gravity and wide-legged stance was the better balanced of the two. All his strength, all his energy was focused on the centre line, the area directly in front of him occupied by Ryan’s body – and though Ryan was the bigger man, Chang was driving him backwards.
With his one free hand Ryan thudded punches into Chang’s side. Chang seemed unaffected. He hooked his leg behind Ryan’s and threw him. As Ryan fell, Chang shifted his grip so that Ryan twisted in mid-air and hit the ground face-first, with sickening force. Chang landed on top of him.
Ryan continued to struggle, attempting to throw Chang off. Chang got him in an armlock, securing Ryan’s arm in the crook of his elbow, bending it across his back. Ryan yelped in pain.
‘I do not wish to break your arm,’ said Chang. ‘Do not oblige me to do so.’
Ryan stopped struggling.
Matt let out a shaky sigh of relief. The fight was over.
He and the other Tigers approached the two men.
‘Sifu – are you OK?’ asked Shawn.
Chang looked at the Tangshan Tigers. ‘I will be fine.’
Matt gazed down at Sensei Ryan, still lying face-down, his arm held in Chang’s vice-like grip. ‘Well?’ he said. ‘How much did Drago pay you for this?’
‘Drago?’ mumbled Ryan. ‘It was nothing to do with Drago.’
‘Oh, come on!’ said Matt. ‘We’re not idiots, we know it was Drago –’
‘You are idiots,’ Ryan said. ‘Do you honestly think I’d take money or orders from a kid like Drago? I wish now I’d never… I was paid to challenge Master Chang in combat by –’
A ray of blue light hit Ryan in the chest. It was like a lightning strike. Chang released Ryan immediately but it was too late. Ripples of blue light shimmered over Ryan’s body. His mouth opened; his body twitched convulsively. Matt watched in horror as the twitching stopped and Ryan slumped lifelessly to the ground.
THE FIGHT IN THE BOAT
‘What the –’ began Shawn.
‘Has he been struck by lightning?’ said Olivier.
‘Not lightning. Get down!’ said Chang sharply.
Their teacher was hit by another ray of blue light. His body stiffened and convulsed. Then he collapsed.
The Tangshan Tigers hit the deck. Fast.
Matt cautiously raised his head and looked in the direction the rays had come from. At the far end of the bridge stood three men. They were dressed in black. One held a peculiar-looking weapon, like a cross between a gun and a movie camera. They had appeared as secretly and silently as snakes.
As snakes! Matt remembered Chang’s mysterious warning about the sinister snake that could be deadly. Was this the threat he had meant? But who were these men?
‘What about Master Chang?’ asked Shawn. ‘Is he OK?’
Chang lay on his side, knees drawn up to his chest. His eyes were closed and his face was waxy and pale.
Matt felt Chang’s wrist. ‘His pulse is beating. He’s just unconscious.’
Olivier felt for Ryan’s pulse. ‘Ryan too,’ he said.
‘Must have been some sort of stun gun,’ said Shawn. ‘Zaps you with an electric shock strong enough to knock you out.’
‘What’s happened?’ called an anguished voice.
It was Li-Lian running towards them with Catarina. She knelt by her grandfather and cradled his head in her hands.
‘He’s all right,’ said Matt. ‘Just stunned.’
‘They knocked each other out?’ asked Catarina.
‘It’s those men,’ said Matt, pointing. The three men were walking purposefully along by the side of the lake now. ‘They shot him with some kind of ray.’
Behind the men, Matt could see security guards talking into their walkie-talkies. They were hiding behind one of the palace gates and Matt realized that they didn’t dare come near because of the stun guns. Some security guards! he thought.
‘I’ll call the police and an ambulance,’ said Shawn, taking out his phone.
‘And the men?’ asked Olivier. ‘I don’t fancy being stunned by one of those guns.’
‘ We can’t just let them get away,’ said Matt. ‘It’s four against three, after all. We’ll have to watch out for the stun gun, like you said – but if we can keep them busy here, it might be enough time for the police to get on the scene.’
‘Good call,’ said Catarina. ‘Let’s go!’
‘You’d better stay with your grandfather, Li-Lian,’ said Matt.
‘Don’t worry, Grandfather,’ said Li-Lian, stroking the unconscious Chang’s hair. ‘The ambulance will be here soon.’
The Tangshan Tigers set off at a run, over the bridge and down the path that led to the shore of the lake. All four were good runners, especially Catarina and Olivier who set the pace, and they were soon gaining on the men in black. As he ran, Matt could see that the men stood beside a long, narrow boat, moored to a jetty.
One of the men shouted something to the other two, who immediately piled into the boat. The first man still stood on the jetty, untying the mooring rope.
Twenty metres to go.
The boat’s engine started with a roar.
Ten metres to go.
The man on the jetty finished untying the rope. He jumped into the boat.
Five metres.
The boat began to move off, churning a creamy wake behind it.
‘They’ve got away!’ yelled Olivier.
‘No, they haven’t!’ shouted Matt.
He ran down the jetty and took a flying leap. He landed with a thud in the middle of the boat, causing it to rock dangerously. The men in the boat grabbed the sides, shouting in alarm.
A moment later and the other Tigers leapt aboard too.
Gradually, the boat steadied. The men looked triumphant now. Gloating. Cruel.
‘Thank you for dropping in,’ said one, a tall thin man with a scar on his cheek.
As Matt watched, a wooden hatch door leading below deck was flung open and two more men stepped up. To o late, Matt realized that he had led the Tigers into a dangerous situation. Now there were five men on the deck – four of them young, strong Chinese men, the fifth older and more thickset, wearing a black velvet mask. They surrounded the Tangshan Tigers.
There was a long pause, broken only by the strong breeze and the spatter of rain upon the lake’s surface. The water was getting choppier as the wind rose. The deck of the boat heaved beneath them.
‘What shall we do with them?’ said the man with a scar.
‘Let’s give them the same medicine we gave the martial arts teachers!’ said another. He was a broad-shouldered, athletic man with a goatee beard.
The man in the velvet mask nodded. ‘Good idea,’ he said with relish. ‘They are young, less strong than fully grown adults. It will be an interesting experiment.’
There was something familiar about his voice. Matt had heard it before, he was sure of that. But where? Who was behind that mask?
There was another flash of lightning and peal of thunder. The wind was wild, blowing ice-cold rain into their faces.
‘Which one should we do first, boss?’ said the man holding the stun gun.
‘Wait,’ said Matt. If he kept talking they might have a chance to think of a way out. ‘I don’t get it. What have we done to you?’
‘Ah, you do not know? Then perhaps this will refresh your memory.’
The man slowly peeled off his mask.
The Tangshan Tigers gasped.
‘Sang!’ said Matt.
The face behind the mask – a square, strong face, with cold eyes and a hint of cruelty about the mouth – belonged to the man who had once kidnapped Li-Lian and threatened her with death; who hated Chang Sifu for preventing him from getting rich from the oil deposits secretly buried under the Great Wall of China. He had tried to crush Li-Lian and her grandfather and the Tangshan Tigers beneath a million tons of rock.
Sang nodded. ‘Yes, it’s me. Last time you dera
iled my plans. This time I have you at my mercy.’
‘But there’s nothing you could gain by harming us!’ said Olivier.
‘You are wrong,’ said Sang with an icy smile. ‘I will gain my revenge.’
Keep him talking, thought Matt. ‘So it was you who paid Ryan to fight Chang?’ he asked. ‘Why did you do that?’
‘I wanted to see Chang beaten – humiliated – and for him to know it was all my doing. But Ryan wasn’t good enough! No matter. I haven’t finished with Chang yet. By striking at you children I can hurt him badly. And he will know – because he knows the kind of man I am – that my revenge will not stop there!’
Matt had got the Tangshan Tigers into this mess. It was up to him to get them out. He could feel a plan forming in his head.
The wind had risen still higher and the boat was rocking violently.
‘Remember,’ Matt said quietly to the Tigers, ‘balance is the key to everything. Right?’
He saw comprehension dawn in the Tigers’ eyes, as they watched the men stumble about on the heaving deck.
‘Yup,’ said Catarina softly. ‘Got it.’
‘Enough talking!’ said Sang. ‘ To business. Ladies first, I think!’ He pointed at Catarina and rapped out an order in Mandarin.
The man with the stun gun pointed it at Catarina. But the boat was pitching so much that his aim wavered up and down.
‘Now!’ shouted Matt.
He stepped forward and lashed out with a high axe kick, knocking the stun gun from the man’s hands. The man staggered, cursing, scrabbling for the fallen weapon in the bottom of the boat.
The Tangshan Tigers leapt into action simultaneously. Each targeted a man.
Catarina went for the man with the scar on his cheek. He lashed out at her, but she easily dodged his fists. She caught one of his hands and spun him round and, as he staggered, a simple push was enough to send him over the side of the boat.
‘Enjoy your swim!’ she called.
The man with the goatee had grabbed Shawn by the shoulders, stumbling as he did so. Shawn was already turning into the man’s body, bending, pulling on the man’s arm so that he rolled over Shawn’s back. The man flew in an arc and splashed into the water.