Post by SoCalDrag on Jan 2, 2011 0:30:04 GMT -5
--Canal Street Electronics, Chinatown, 2011 Sept 4, 4PM—
Today was Sunday. Jake once again arrived at Gramp’s shop, ready to train. He had been unconscious Friday night, and all of Saturday. Josh was already there, practicing basic defense moves with a crowbar.
“Hi Jake, are you feeling better?” Josh asked. He himself had been out Friday night.
“Why should I think that you even care for me? You tried to kill me!!!” Jake raged. He wanted to continue ranting, but at that moment, Gramps appeared from the back room and put an end to the brewing conversation.
Training continued as normal, but something was different. Gramps paid more attention to Josh and his powers. Jake merely passed time practicing fire breathing skills. And for the first time ever, there was homework for Dragon Training.
“Josh and I have compiled a list of powers, abilities, and weaknesses.” Gramps explained, when Jake enquired what the assignment was, “Josh is the first fighting phoenix the magical world has ever come across; there are some powers we are not familiar with. You will have to study this list, for knowing your ally’s abilities will enhance your chances of success in battle. Josh will be doing the same assignment from a list I compiled consisting of Dragon powers.”
Both boys stared at their respective lists.
“Oh, now you tell me that dragons can bite through almost everything. Oooo!!! You guys become powerless at the presence of sphinx hair,” Josh read aloud.
“And you can produce clones with your hair like that… monkey legend from China. What is this? You can create mini-nuclear explosions and fly at 750 mph???!!! Gramps, this list should have come earlier!!!”
“Do not question me!!! I will see you all tomorrow.” Gramps dictated. Josh got up to return to his room upstairs, and Jake rose from his seat to return home, but Gramps grabbed Jake’s hand and pulled him down back into his seat. Gramps waited for Josh to be out of sight before he let go.
“I understand the whole ordeal has been hard for you,” Gramps began, “But I don’t think you should be so… hostile. We may not know much about Josh, but we have to be tolerant.”
“Isn’t his character obvious enough? He’s out for himself, and a parasite. He stripped me of status, defeated me in battle, AND furthermore, he tried to kill me! If Fu didn’t get to me in time with the potion, I would have been dead!”
“Without him, you would have been dead!!!” Gramps interrupted,
“He used his… powers, or something… to heal you. He fell unconscious and I had to fly him back here. He drained all his internal energy, for you.”
Jake stared wide-eyed at Gramps; after a moment of silence, he abruptly stood up and sprinted home without another word.
--Century High School, Financial District, 2011 Sept 5, 12:30 PM –
Josh knew that Jake wouldn’t want his help in Mandarin today, so he figured he would sit somewhere isolated. Josh sat on the rooftop of the school building eating lunch, looking over the JFK Airport in Queens. He watched as the planes arrived and departed, and wished that his life was organized and orderly, unlike the one he had now. He dangled his feet over the edge and entered a state of deep thought. Josh knew he would do anything to get a life; even working as an air-traffic controller would be acceptable. At least everything was organized.
Without Josh realizing, Jake had appeared on the roof directly behind him. He sat next to Josh and stared out into the open. Ignoring the sounds of the city below, it was silent on the rooftop. It was five minutes before any words were spoken.
“Why did you do it?”
“What do you mean?” Josh replied robotically, without turning his head around. He drank another sip of his Green Tea.
“You know what I mean.”
Josh gazed out and gave a long sigh. It was a few seconds before
Jake received a reply.
“Do you know what it is like to lose everything?”
The words hit Jake like a whip. Everything?
“I guess not…”
“A year ago, I was almost like you. I had a family, an annoying sister and best of all, magical powers.” There was a slight pause.
“I was part of an order, just like you are part of the Dragon Council, as the first American Phoenix. But you can imagine how I lost it all.”
Jake gave a short gasp. “ACE…”
“ACE captured me while I was flying on the way to a Phoenix Council meeting; they threatened to kill me unless I told them everything… who in my family were phoenixes, and where the Phoenix Council’s headquarters were. So one night, I decided to escape… and I was successful.”
“Well… that’s good right? Isn’t that how you ended up here in the first place?”
“They recaptured me two weeks later, when I met with the newly titled Californian Dragon about the issue. They killed him over an experiment for shields while I was infused with Dark Matter/Energy and trained to become a weapon. They planned to use me against the United States.”
“It’s obvious that you got out a second time…”
“Yes. I gave those b*stards a taste of their own medicine. But by then it was too late. My house was burned down, and when I tried to seek help from other phoenixes, I found out they had all been flushed out of hiding at a world gathering and gassed weeks ago. My family was… gone.” Tears began to form in Josh’s eyes, and he swiftly wiped them away with his jacket sleeve. “I have nothing left in this world; I would give anything to get it back.” Josh choked on his words, struggling to explain the past.
“Oh…” Jake muttered; he was starting to pity his new accomplice. He was starting to understand why Josh used all his inner “chi” (氣) to save him. Josh didn’t want his family to suffer like he did.
“Every time I look back, I see my family smiling at me. My sister sticking her tongue at me… my mom giving me a hug… my dad patting my head and telling me to stop doing homework. All these small things add up. And my girlfriend, I learned from a friend she was gunned down at home. She didn’t even know my true identity. Everyone I know died in vain.” Right then, Josh lost his battle against his emotions; he broke down completely.
Jake was dumbfounded; he had never faced or comforted a crying guy before. He felt obligated to do something… he didn’t have the heart to just skip away pretending that nothing happened. So he did something he did to Rose all the time; he gave Josh an embracing hug.
“We’re your family now. Everyone, me, Gramps, Trixie and Spud, my sister, we’re all here for you.”
Jake fought tears and returned the hug. And silence prevailed.
Today was Sunday. Jake once again arrived at Gramp’s shop, ready to train. He had been unconscious Friday night, and all of Saturday. Josh was already there, practicing basic defense moves with a crowbar.
“Hi Jake, are you feeling better?” Josh asked. He himself had been out Friday night.
“Why should I think that you even care for me? You tried to kill me!!!” Jake raged. He wanted to continue ranting, but at that moment, Gramps appeared from the back room and put an end to the brewing conversation.
Training continued as normal, but something was different. Gramps paid more attention to Josh and his powers. Jake merely passed time practicing fire breathing skills. And for the first time ever, there was homework for Dragon Training.
“Josh and I have compiled a list of powers, abilities, and weaknesses.” Gramps explained, when Jake enquired what the assignment was, “Josh is the first fighting phoenix the magical world has ever come across; there are some powers we are not familiar with. You will have to study this list, for knowing your ally’s abilities will enhance your chances of success in battle. Josh will be doing the same assignment from a list I compiled consisting of Dragon powers.”
Both boys stared at their respective lists.
“Oh, now you tell me that dragons can bite through almost everything. Oooo!!! You guys become powerless at the presence of sphinx hair,” Josh read aloud.
“And you can produce clones with your hair like that… monkey legend from China. What is this? You can create mini-nuclear explosions and fly at 750 mph???!!! Gramps, this list should have come earlier!!!”
“Do not question me!!! I will see you all tomorrow.” Gramps dictated. Josh got up to return to his room upstairs, and Jake rose from his seat to return home, but Gramps grabbed Jake’s hand and pulled him down back into his seat. Gramps waited for Josh to be out of sight before he let go.
“I understand the whole ordeal has been hard for you,” Gramps began, “But I don’t think you should be so… hostile. We may not know much about Josh, but we have to be tolerant.”
“Isn’t his character obvious enough? He’s out for himself, and a parasite. He stripped me of status, defeated me in battle, AND furthermore, he tried to kill me! If Fu didn’t get to me in time with the potion, I would have been dead!”
“Without him, you would have been dead!!!” Gramps interrupted,
“He used his… powers, or something… to heal you. He fell unconscious and I had to fly him back here. He drained all his internal energy, for you.”
Jake stared wide-eyed at Gramps; after a moment of silence, he abruptly stood up and sprinted home without another word.
--Century High School, Financial District, 2011 Sept 5, 12:30 PM –
Josh knew that Jake wouldn’t want his help in Mandarin today, so he figured he would sit somewhere isolated. Josh sat on the rooftop of the school building eating lunch, looking over the JFK Airport in Queens. He watched as the planes arrived and departed, and wished that his life was organized and orderly, unlike the one he had now. He dangled his feet over the edge and entered a state of deep thought. Josh knew he would do anything to get a life; even working as an air-traffic controller would be acceptable. At least everything was organized.
Without Josh realizing, Jake had appeared on the roof directly behind him. He sat next to Josh and stared out into the open. Ignoring the sounds of the city below, it was silent on the rooftop. It was five minutes before any words were spoken.
“Why did you do it?”
“What do you mean?” Josh replied robotically, without turning his head around. He drank another sip of his Green Tea.
“You know what I mean.”
Josh gazed out and gave a long sigh. It was a few seconds before
Jake received a reply.
“Do you know what it is like to lose everything?”
The words hit Jake like a whip. Everything?
“I guess not…”
“A year ago, I was almost like you. I had a family, an annoying sister and best of all, magical powers.” There was a slight pause.
“I was part of an order, just like you are part of the Dragon Council, as the first American Phoenix. But you can imagine how I lost it all.”
Jake gave a short gasp. “ACE…”
“ACE captured me while I was flying on the way to a Phoenix Council meeting; they threatened to kill me unless I told them everything… who in my family were phoenixes, and where the Phoenix Council’s headquarters were. So one night, I decided to escape… and I was successful.”
“Well… that’s good right? Isn’t that how you ended up here in the first place?”
“They recaptured me two weeks later, when I met with the newly titled Californian Dragon about the issue. They killed him over an experiment for shields while I was infused with Dark Matter/Energy and trained to become a weapon. They planned to use me against the United States.”
“It’s obvious that you got out a second time…”
“Yes. I gave those b*stards a taste of their own medicine. But by then it was too late. My house was burned down, and when I tried to seek help from other phoenixes, I found out they had all been flushed out of hiding at a world gathering and gassed weeks ago. My family was… gone.” Tears began to form in Josh’s eyes, and he swiftly wiped them away with his jacket sleeve. “I have nothing left in this world; I would give anything to get it back.” Josh choked on his words, struggling to explain the past.
“Oh…” Jake muttered; he was starting to pity his new accomplice. He was starting to understand why Josh used all his inner “chi” (氣) to save him. Josh didn’t want his family to suffer like he did.
“Every time I look back, I see my family smiling at me. My sister sticking her tongue at me… my mom giving me a hug… my dad patting my head and telling me to stop doing homework. All these small things add up. And my girlfriend, I learned from a friend she was gunned down at home. She didn’t even know my true identity. Everyone I know died in vain.” Right then, Josh lost his battle against his emotions; he broke down completely.
Jake was dumbfounded; he had never faced or comforted a crying guy before. He felt obligated to do something… he didn’t have the heart to just skip away pretending that nothing happened. So he did something he did to Rose all the time; he gave Josh an embracing hug.
“We’re your family now. Everyone, me, Gramps, Trixie and Spud, my sister, we’re all here for you.”
Jake fought tears and returned the hug. And silence prevailed.
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