Episode 1
- The
Jade Dragon Meets Boss Crunch - The Jade Dragon is born, emerging as a
crimefighter in
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The
Adventures of the Jade
Dragon
Episode
1
The Jade
Dragon Meets Boss
Crunch
Chapter
1 First
Blood
Before leaping the next gap, she looked into the street below, scanning for
any signs of unusual activity. As
she did so, she briefly though back to her
childhood. A look of sadness
flickered across her high-cheeked face.
She thought of her parents, skilled aerialists who had imparted in
her the skills they had acquired over a lifetime on the high
wire. She deeply regretted having
to part from them, but felt she had been given little
choice. Her parents were
traditionalists, believing the Chinese community in the
And so she and her parents had parted
ways. She had departed at a small
town railroad station so that no one would know exactly where she was going,
and had made her way to the nearest large city and set about looking for
a temporary job that would tide her over while she tried to establish a more
permanent career. It had not
been easy getting established. No
one wanted to give a pretty, but unskilled fifteen-year-old Chinese girl
a job of any sort; at least not any job that she cared to
have. For months she had gone
from business to business looking for
employment. Finally, with her
money running low she found her niche quite by
chance.
She was returning to the flophouse where she spent her nights when she happened
to pass by the entrance to a dark alley.
It was a filthy night, cold and rainy, and she was anxious to get
home after a day of pounding the pavements looking for
work. As she hurried by the alley
she heard a faint cry followed by a scuffling
sound. She almost did not stop,
but something within her made her turn and peer into the
darkness. The light of a single
street lamp threw dark shadows into the gloom of the alley and at first she
could make out nothing. But then
came the sound
again. It was the voice of a
man crying for help in Chinese. The
sound of the voice was so weak that she was not sure that she heard it, but
then it came again. Without thinking
she entered the alley.
She had only gone a few feet before she was confronted by a large man who
could only be described as villainous at
best. He stood at least six feet
tall and had broad powerful shoulders.
He wore a dark trench coat that reached down below his knees, and
his face was obscured by a slouch hat pulled well down over his
eyes. However, the light of the
street lamp caught the left side of his face, revealing an unshaven visage
disfigured by a huge scar that ran across his
cheek.
“Well, what have we here?” growled
scarface.
“Another
victim?”
Looking beyond the menacing figure, Sun Lin could see another
man. This one was smaller, with
a thin rat-like face, heavily pocked with the scars of
smallpox. He too wore a long
trench coat and slouch hat. In
his hand he held a knife that he was pressing against the throat of an elderly
Chinese gentleman. Sun Lin considered
the use of the word “gentleman” to describe the old man to be apt,
due to the elegant oriental robes that he was
wearing.
She did not have any more time to take in the scene, however, as
“Scarface” was advancing menacingly upon
her. In his hand he held a length
of cord. It was clearly his intention
to catch her and either tie her up or wrap the cord
around her neck and throttle her.
Scarface advanced confidently, moving quickly in an attempt to cut
her off. It was obvious that
he did not fear the slender oriental girl he saw before
him. He was much more concerned
with preventing her escape than with any fear that she might offer
resistance.
Sun Lin, however, was not in the least
concerned. Despite the fact that
Scarface towered over her, she did not see him as particularly
dangerous. Part of her training
as a child had been in the ancient Chinese martial art of
Wushu. As a result she was well able to defend
herself against so unskilled an opponent as Scarface appeared to
be.
She allowed Scarface to come within
range. As he lunged clumsily
toward her she sidestepped and leaped high into the
air. Her jump lifted her as high
as her opponent’s head. Her
right leg flashed out, striking like a triphammer, making contact with
Scarface’s head three times in only a fraction of a
second. The force of the blows
caved in his cheekbone and smashed out all of the teeth from the right side
of his jaw. Unconscious before
he hit the ground, he toppled like a falling
tree.
Now she turned to “Ratface.”
For a few seconds he menaced her with his
knife, and then panicking, took to his heels and
ran down the alley. The entire
altercation had lasted less than twenty
seconds.
The elderly Chinese gentleman that Ratface had been menacing had fallen to
his knees. Sun Lin saw that he
was bleeding from a cut on the back of his balding
head. She moved over and helped
him up. “Can you stand,
grandfather?” she asked, using a polite form of
address.
The old man staggered to his feet.
His ornate clothes were stained with mud from the filthy
alley. Even his long white beard
had traces of mud in it. He seemed
quite frail and leaned on Sun Lin for
support. “Thank you my
child,” he said. I do not
think I have suffered serious harm.
I was struck from behind by those villains and had no chance to defend
myself.”
Sun Lin wondered what an elderly man could have done to protect himself against
two such brutal thugs, but she did not
comment. “May I help you
home, grandfather?” offered Sun Lin.
“Thank you again. My home
is not far from here. I would
be grateful for your help.”
With the old man leaning on her for support, Sun Lin followed his
directions. As the old
man had stated, he was not far from his
home. A sort walk brought them
to his doorway. Sun Lin noticed
that the ornately carved door of his home spoke of a man of some wealth and
importance, but it did not occur to her to ask for any reward for her help,
despite the fact that she was almost
destitute.
Standing before the door the old man bowed to
her. “Please forgive
me. My altercation with these
ruffians has caused me to forget my
manners. My name is Zhou
Jin. I am eternally in your
debt.”
Sun Lin returned his bow, somewhat embarrassed by Zhou Jin’s
gratitude. “Thank you,
grandfather. I am Sun
Lin. I only did what I thought
was right.”
“You must be rewarded for your unselfish
service. Please come into my
humble home and I will see that you receive what is
just.”
Sun Lin was strongly tempted to accept Zhou Jin’s offer, but pride prevented
her from seeking reward for simply helping someone in
trouble. Zhou
Jin, however was
insistent. Finally, out of politeness
Sun Lin agreed to enter his home.
Zhou pushed a button next to the
door. A bell sounded from
within. A few seconds later the
door was opened by a Chinese manservant.
He bowed low as Zhou entered, and looked curiously at Sun
Lin. Sun Lin suddenly felt very
awkward. Her dirty and tattered
clothes seemed quite out of place in the palace-like interior of Zhou’s
house. It was by far the most
luxurious residence she had ever seen.
Everywhere she looked polished
wood shone in the electric light.
Beautiful marble floors and ornate decorations attested to the wealth
of the home’s owner. She
looked at Zhou, somewhat mystified.
Why had the old man been wandering the streets
alone?
“Please escort Miss Sun to the living area,” said Zhou to the
servant. Then turning to Sun
Lin he added: “I will return in a
minute. I wish to clean
up.” With that he turned
and shuffled off.
With some misgivings Sun Lin allowed herself to be led into a large lavishly
furnished room. The manservant
gestured to a large comfortable leather and mahogany settee and motioned
for her to sit down. Then he
disappeared through a door in the other side of the
room. Sun Lin looked about
her. Obviously Zhou was a man
of great wealth. Everything in
the room was of highest quality.
She sat uncomfortably on the edge of the settee, afraid of soiling
it if she sat in it properly.
The manservant returned. He set
a tray before her on which was a delicate
Sun Lin took one out of politeness, but chewed slowly on
it. She was half-tempted leave,
but did not want to appear ungrateful or impolite. She took another
cake. She suddenly realized that
she was quite hungry, not having eaten that
day. Her limited funds did not
enable her to afford more than one small meal each
day. By the time she finished
her sixth cake a door on the other side of the room
opened. Zhou Jin came through
it. He was dressed in a clean
robe and a small bandage covered the cut on his
head.
“I hope that you have been made comfortable while I was absent”
said Zhou taking a seat across from her.
“It took me little longer than I thought it might to repair this
night’s damage.”
“You have been most kind,” said Sun Lin, “but I really should
be getting home.”
“If I may inquire without being rude,” said
Zhou Jin, “may I ask if anyone awaits you
at home?”
“No, I live alone.”
“Then I see not reason why you should leave my hospitality so
suddenly. I hope that I have
not offended you.”
“In no way,” said Sun Lin,
hurriedly. “You have been
much kinder than I deserve.”
“You saved my life tonight,” said
Zhou. “I am eternally in
your debt. It was careless of
me to go out alone, but I believed that I could defend
myself. And I may have done so
if I had not been attacked from behind.
But, I digress. You have
done me a great service and I would like to find some way of repaying
you.”
“No repayment is necessary,” replied Sun
Lin. “I did not do what
I did with any thought of
reward.”
“Nevertheless,” said Zhou, “I would like you to humor an old
man. It would give me great pleasure
if you would play a little game with
me.”
“What sort of game?”
Zhou reached into a malachite dish that contained a number of small smooth
stones. He selected a glittering
blue stone from the
dish..
Clenching it in his hand, he placed his fist on the table in front
of Sun Lin. “Remove the
stone from my
hand.”
“But,” Sun Lin protested, “I might hurt you if I do
that. You are…
are…” She hesitated
to finish. Zhou did it for
her.
“Old? Yes I am very
old. But do not worry, you will
not hurt me. Now take the
stone.”
Sun Lin took his ancient gnarled hand in both of
hers. She hoped that by using
both hands she would not hurt the old man too
much. Sun Lin pried at his hands,
gently at first and then with more strength as she found that she could not
force Zhou’s fingers to move.
Sun Lin was very proud of the strength of her
hands. Her years of high wire
training had given her a grip like iron.
But try as she might, she could not budge the old man’s
fingers. Finally after several
minutes of trying, she gave up.
“I cannot get the stone, Grandfather, you are too
strong.”
Zhou opened his hand. “Now
you take the stone and keep it from me.”
Sun Lin picked up the small stone; it fit easily into her
palm. Gripping it tightly she
awaited Zhou’s attempt to remove it from her
hand. “Surely,” she
thought, “he cannot have the strength to take it from
me.” Yet, there was some
doubt in her mind. The old man
was stronger than he appeared. She
had thought that taking the stone from him would be an easy matter, but she
had been unable to do it. Was
it possible that he could now force the stone from her
hand?
Zhou reached out toward her hand.
Sun Lin tensed her muscles, waiting for his
attack. To her complete surprise,
he merely tapped the back of her hand.
“What was this?” she
wondered. “Had Zhou given
up?”
Zhou turned his hand over. There,
lying in the center of his palm was the blue stone, shining brightly in the
electric light. Sun Lin gasped
and unclenched her hand. It was
empty!
Zhou smiled at her. “There
is more to
Wushu
than strength and technique.
There is also the power of the
spirit. Today
when you confronted the hoodlums who waylaid me that you used a very ancient
style of
Wushu. I also observed that your execution
of the style was near perfect. You
have an amazing ability for one so young.”
Sun Lin raised her eyebrows. What
did this old man know of the ancient Chinese martial
arts?
“I see,” continued Zhou, “that you are surprised at my knowledge
of the age-old martial skills of ancient
Sun Lin leaned forward, her interest in what the old man was saying,
growing.
Zhou paused to pour himself a cup of tea and to refill Sun Lin’s
cup. He sipped from his cup and
then continued. “I wish
to further your training. I have
learned much in a lifetime, but have never managed to reach the highest level
of martial skill. I believe,
however, that you possess that potential.
If it pleases you, I would like you to live here, in my humble dwelling
and undertake the type of intense training that will lead you to a level
of martial prowess that is possible only for one person in a generation to
achieve.”
Observing the surprised look on Jin’s face he
paused. “Please do not rush
your decision. I would
like you to stay the night here. If
you decide to stay and undertake training under my guidance, whatever goods
you possess can be sent for.”
Sun Lin said nothing for a full minute.
Zhou did not interrupt her thoughts but sat patiently awaiting her
reply. Finally Sun Lin spoke:
“I am honored to stay here for this
night. Tomorrow morning you will
have my answer.”
Zhou nodded. He clapped his
hands. The manservant entered
the room. “Please escort
Miss Sun to the quest room. She
will stay here tonight.” Zhou
rose and bowed. “Now,”
he said,
“I am an old man and must get my
rest. I will see you in the
morning.”
It was not a difficult decision for Sun
Lin. The next day she agreed
to Zhou Jin’s request. She
would undertake the higher levels of
Wushu
training under his guidance. After
that her entire world changed. She
went from wandering the streets in desperate search of a job to living in
luxury and training incessantly to improve her martial arts
skills.
Her food and lodgings were of the best.
Zhou provided her with a suite in his large oriental mansion, and
her own maidservant. This was
treatment that Sun Lin had never
experienced. However, there was
a price to be paid for such comfort.
Zhou trained her endlessly.
Day after day he worked her until she was ready to drop, and when
he was not pushing her to her physical limits, he subjected her to spiritual
exercises that Sun Lin found every bit as
draining.
Progress seemed slow, but Zhou never commented on her seeming inability to
grasp a concept or learn a technique.
Instead he always seemed pleased with her
performance. He knew that in
Wushu
the higher skills always took a considerable length of time to
learn. Progress was always
incremental. Gradually, however,
she found that she was developing skill levels that she had never dreamed
possible. By the end of her second
year with Master Zhou, as she now called Zhou Jin, she had matured to a point
where she wanted to try out her newly developed
powers. She had matured physically
as well. She was no longer the
skinny little fifteen-year-old she had been when she first came to Master
Zhou. She had matured into a
beautiful young woman, tall and curved in all the right
places.
Her height was a source of interest to Master
Zhou. She had grown eight inches
in two years. She stood five
foot eight in her bare feet and towered over the diminutive
Zhou. Perhaps her most unusual
features, however, were her brilliant green eyes, most unusual in an oriental,
but most fitting considering her name.
More importantly, Sun Lin was now a confident young
woman. She was only a few months
shy of her eighteenth birthday and she wanted to do more with her life than
train endlessly. However, in
the
She approached Master Zhou with her idea.
He listened politely and patiently in complete silence as she made
her proposal.
“So,” he said, “you wish to become some sort
of vigilante, patrolling the dark streets of this city in search of those
who would harm others.”
“Yes, Master,” she replied.
“I want to do something interesting and
adventurous. And in this society
that is my only outlet. I will
never be accepted by the people of this country as a Chinese girl, except
in a specialized role. Perhaps
I can help our people by showing them that an Asian can make a positive
contribution.”
“More than likely, you will simply be killed or injured,” said
Zhou, “but I will not stop you.
You have always been free to leave here any time you
chose. The role you seek for
yourself is a most admirable one. I
would be pleased to offer you the continued hospitality of my humble home
should you wish to stay.”
And so, she had started a new life as a
crimefighter. She had chosen
for her new identity a costume that she felt was suited to her new
profession. It made entirely
of silk. This material was light
and strong and fitted her tightly enough to give her ease of
movement. She had chosen jade
green and black as suitable colors.
The green symbolized the name she had chosen for herself, and the
black enabled her to blend into the night.
To further conceal her presence
she had created a cape that was black on the underside and green on the
reverse. When danger threatened
or when concealment was necessary she only had to throw the cape over herself,
dark side out to make herself almost completely
disappear. She also fabricated
a cowl that covered most of her head and fit over her face to a level just
above her mouth. This would keep
her identity secret and add an air of mystery to her nighttime
adventures.
So outfitted she had set out on her mission to rid the city of
villains. Her first few missions
were uneventful, and it was just as well.
It took her time to learn the techniques required to move from building
to building in safety and with relative
ease. Now she was quite
accomplished. Few buildings in
the part of town she had chosen to patrol were taller than ten stories and
so she was able to navigate them by using her acrobatic abilities or a variety
of climbing tools that she had created.
She had chosen to name herself
Jade
Dragon based on her own
background. Her name,
“Lin” was Mandarin for jade.
And she had been born in 1904, the year of the dragon, by the Chinese
calendar. Now, equipped with
a new identity, costumed as a crimefighter, and trained (she hoped) for any
eventuality, she patrolled the rooftops of
She preferred to move among the rooftops.
The elevation gave her several
advantages. First, she could
see trouble coming before it saw her.
Second, it gave her the element of surprise when dealing with any
nefarious characters who might be
about. Third, she was able to
travel in relative safety, as criminals seldom bothered to use the rooftops
for any criminal activities.
Finally, it afforded her
anonymity. No one knew from whence
she came or to where she returned.
Lightly, using both her mental talents and her athletic ability she vaulted
across the space separating her from the next building and proceeded across
the rooftop. The distance to
the next building was quite a bit farther, close to the limit of her jumping
ability, and so she hesitated for a
second. As she did so something
in the street below her caught her
attention. Three men were lurking
in the shadow of a doorway. Sun
Lin stopped to observe them. What
were they waiting for?
Farther down the street Sun Lin could see a long shadow thrown by a street-lamp
moving toward them. Someone was
moving down the street in their
direction. The shadow grew longer
eventually revealing its originator as a young
woman. She was dressed conservatively
in a dress and a long dark coat.
She carried a purse slung over her
shoulder. She was moving uncertainly,
as if looking for an address.
Sun Lin moved toward the edge of the
roof. She took out a long silk
line. Attached to it was one
of her grappling hooks. Nearby
was a roof ventilator. Swiftly,
she tied the line around it and used the grappling hook to secure
it. Then she returned to her
observation point. She was now
ready if any action on her part was necessary.
The young woman was now very near to the doorway where the three men were
lurking. Sun Lin noticed that
as she approached the men moved farther back into the
shadows. It was obvious that
they did not want to be seen. Sun
Lin’s pulse quickened with
excitement. This might be her
first adventure!
Sun Lin could see the young
woman quite clearly now. She
had honey blonde hair piled conservatively on her head and she was quite
beautiful. Sun Lin wondered what
an unescorted young woman was doing on the streets so late at
night. Didn’t she understand
how dangerous the streets of
The pretty blonde was almost below her
now. She had walked past the
place where the men were hidden.
She stopped and turned around as the three men emerged from the
shadows. She seemed surprised,
but addressed the men in a clear and steady
voice. Sun Lin could hear her
clearly even eight stories up.
“Oh, should startled me!” she
said. “Are you from the
modeling agency?”
All three men laughed.
“Oh
yeah!
The modeling
agency. Yes, we are from
there.” The three men closed
around her.
By now, the girl seemed to realize that she was in trouble, but she stood
up to the three toughs. “I
don’t understand. Where
is Miss Smith?”
One of the men stepped forward.
“I am Miss Smith, and you are Miss
Stupid.”
“It w… was a t… trick,” the girl
stammered. “There never
was a modeling job.”
“Bingo!” laughed the man who had spoken
before.
“What do you want of me?” the girl asked, her voice beginning to
break.
“Oh, we have plans for you.
You have very wealthy
parents.” The man reached
out and grabbed her by the arms.
Bravely, she young woman kicked him squarely between the
legs. With a yell of pain and
surprise the man released her and she turned and
ran. She didn’t get very
far, the other two men were too close and her high-heeled shoes were not
designed for running. One of
the men reached out and grabbed her by the hair, jerking her off her
feet.
Sun Lin had seen enough. Gripping
the silken line tightly with her gloved hands, she leaped off the roof and
dropped into the street. She
fell straight down for about three stories, then the rope caught and she
swung in a long arc. Twisting
her body as she fell, she guided herself so that she swung like a pendulum
into the thug holding the screaming
blonde. There was an audible
crunch as Sun Lin’s toes shattered several of the man’s
ribs. The force of the blow hurled
the man a good ten feet through the air.
He landed in an unconscious heap.
Sun Lin released the line and dropped to her
feet. The two remaining thugs
turned to face her, frozen in shock.
Sun Lin gave them no time to recover, but launched into them with
a barrage of kicks and punches. It
was all over in seconds. The
two remaining thugs joined their compatriot on the
ground.
Sun Lin turned to the girl.
“Are you
alright?”
“Y…Yes, I guess so. Who
are you? Where did you come
from?
“I am the
Jade Dragon. You
do not need to know any more than that.
I fight crime.”
“You do! How
exciting! I wish I could do
that.”
Sun Lin smiled. She guessed that
the blonde was about sixteen years old.
“Why are you out so late at
night?”
“I… I…” the girl
stammered. “You’ll
think I’m stupid, but I met a woman while I was shopping and she told
me to meet her here for a modeling
job.”
“Do your parents know about
this?”
“No. I guess I was defying
my parents. They have lots of
money, but don’t let me live my life the way I
want. I thought that if I could
get a job I could show them that I was
independent.
Pretty
stupid.”
“Maybe not,” said Sun Lin, thinking of her own flight from her
parents only thirty months earlier.
“But I think you are better off back home for
tonight. They don’t have
to know about this. Tell them
you stayed late at a girlfriend’s.
They might scold you, but won’t hit the
ceiling.”
“That’s a good idea,” agreed the
girl. “By the way,”
she said extending her hand.
“I’m Suzi Kendall.
Glad to meet you,
Jade
Dragon.”
Sun Lin shook her hand and then helped her get to a bus
route. Returning to the site
of the mugging, she retrieved her rope and made her way
home. It had been a successful
night.