.҉
.҉
.҉
Madeline Liu moved with her mother to San Francisco at a very young age after her father died. When she was grown and after the death of her mother, which left her all alone, she got a job as a valet parking cars where she made friends with...
"Three days from now, we will rescue my wife from her prison and bring her home" he addressed the crowd of men that had gathered in front of the house and they cheered loudly, following their leader "This is why you're here. To help me bring her back to us"
"And what happens if they don't let you open the gate and you can't get her?" Madeline asked the man, a bit afraid of the answer.
"Well burn the village to the ground" yep, she was expecting an answer similar of the sort.
"What? You can't just march into our moms village with this bullshit. I mean, do you have any idea how insane..." Shang tried to retort.
.҉
.҉
.҉
Shang Chi grunts as he is forced down with the others into the 'dungeons' of the house.
"So, um, pretty confused right now, because, uh, initially I thought your dad should definitely see a therapist for his delusions..." Katy confessed t the sibling "...but then that dragon vomited a magical water map, and now I have no idea what's real. Is what he said about your moms village true?"
Shang and Xialing shared a look as the other two women looked upon them in curiosity.
"She used to tell us stories about Ta Lo when we were kids. A village in another dimension full of magical creatures. I thought it was just a fairy tale" Shang admitted.
"What if Dad's right?" Xialing asked.
"About Mom being locked behind a gate by her own people?" Madeline and Katy stayed silent as this was more of a family matter.
"Crazier things have turned out to be true"
"Look, I don't know what the hell is going on, but if we don't find a way to get to Ta Lo before him, he's gonna destroy everything that's left of our family" Shang defended back.
"This family was destroyed a long time ago" Xialing responded, her arms crossing over each other on her chest.
"Alright let's just take this easy okay?" Madeline knew that her butting in wouldn't be any better but she really could not stand the tension between the brother and sister.
A loud groan interrupted Shang's next words making them all turn to face the deepest part of the dungeon.
"The hell was that?" Shang asked.
"You're going toward that noise?" Katy asked Xialing and Shang but still trailed behind them as they did so.
"And then people say it's the white people the ones that got towards danger instead of away in scary movies" Madeline grumbled to herself.
"Quick question dear brother, are you and pretty girl back there...together?" Xialing asked her brother in a low whisper despite Madeline being the last of the group to join them.
"No, no we're just friends" he said in spite of his face and the tips of his ears dusting with a light blush.
"Huh" his sister scoffed and they came around the corner.
"Wake Duncan with thy knocking. Oh, I wouldst though couldst. My deed twere best not Oh, hello, loves. What year is it?" the man that had been addressing the makeup mirror turned around to face them, the long clothes he had on polling at his feet.
"Who are you?" Katy asked him.
"Trevor? Slattery?" the name rang a bell in Madeline's mind "The actor from Liverpool? Wait. Are you the governor's kids? I've been preparing a monologue for your homecoming dinner" he stared as Xialing walked away from them "Oh. Where's she going?"
"Why are you down here?" Madeline asked him.
"Well, some time ago, I was offered the role of a terrorist. I know, facile, trite, I couldn't agree more. But times were lean, you know what I mean? Anyway, the producer told me he worked for the BBC. But, ironic twist, it turns out he, in fact, was a terrorist, and I wasn't playing a character at all, but what I now recognise to be a rather unflattering portrait of your father. We all got our just deserts. The producer got blown up by Iron Man, and I served time in federal prison, which turned out to be the best thing for me. I got clean; I rediscovered my passion" the man resumed his life story in a quick count of recent events.
"Then my dad broke you out?" Shang asked him.
"Exactly"
"To kill you" Madeline said shortly.
"Exactly. But just as his men were tying me up for my execution, I launched into a performance of my Macbeth. Whence is that knocking? Wake Duncan with thy knocking. I wouldst though couldst" he acted out dramatically "They couldn't get enough of it. I've been doing weekly gigs for the lads ever since"
"So you're like his jester?"
"I can give you a quick preview if you like. Nuncle, nuncle, nuncle..." the man began to vocalise.
"Uh, thank you, Trevor. I think were okay. Right now, we really just need to find a way to..."
Shang was cut off as a small grey furred creature jumped out and started purring. It had six legs and three sets of rather colorful wings, but no face.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
"What the hell?" Madeline shouted.
"What the...? Oh!" Katy recoiled back behind her friend.
"Whoa! What is that?" Shang backed up until his back hit Maeline's front and she had to place her hands on his shoulders to keep him from stepping on her.
"Whats what?" the man asked in pure confusion.
"That! What is that?" Katy pointed to the faceless creature as she and Shang moved behind Madeline when the 'Dijiang' walked forward.
"That! That! That!" Shang pointed at it as well.
Madeline, now getting over the initial shock, knelt down and placed a hesitant hand on top of its back, cooing at the same time as it did.
Then it jumped up onto Trevor's lap and the man began to gingerly pet it.
"You can see Morris?" he asked them.
"Morris?" Katy asked while she and Shang cleared their throats and came out from behind their friend.
"Oh, Morris! They can see you! You're real! All this time I thought I was hallucinating him. Oh, this is such fab news" the man on the chair cheered.
"Where's his face?" Katy's question received a growl from Morris.
"He's a bit sensitive about that" Trevor shushed the creature "And he says he knows who you are"
