Scion: Rise of the Fallen - Scion [Sun Wukong]: Everybody Was Kung Fu Fighting

[Dave ST]

“HAI!” The students cried out in unison. Their foot kicked straight out in a basic maneuver while Sunny Kay, their instructor looked at the lot of them, some twelve students, with a critiquing glare. Here in this small kwoon on the western side of San Francisco, Sunny Kay, or Sun Wukong as he was once known, had been making ends meet for the better part of a decade as an average martial arts instructor. Sure he could have shot for ‘unparalleled’ but honestly, what would have been the point? Melancholy was his bedfellow now and although he did his best to teach his students well, at the end of the day his Chi still remained out of focus. The fallen God was nothing more than a ageless man who drank deep in the lives of those around him but it never quenched his thirst.

Again and again the children, none barely over the age of fourteen, continued to perform their katas even as the ring of the bell above the door caught their xiansheng’s attention. Three men, two Chinese and one Caucasian entered clad in gray business suits and dark sun glasses. They spend a moment, conversing amongst each other while the students listened to what Sunny had to teach them next.

[Sun Kai]

The students were doing well, to be honest. Performing Tan Tui kicks, even the basic forms like Sunny had his students practicing, was no easy feat. Still, he could sense the improvements others needed. Jeffrey was too slow transitioning from the footwork-based dodge to a counterattack's snap kick, which a foe could easily stop or strike again at the moment where the twelve-year old was off balance. Luci had to get lower in her stance and focus more of her strength.

But all this was usual and easily noticeable only to the best of martial artists, and most would not be so mentally severe. But he... with the scant remains of Wukong inside, had seen the martial arts, not necessarily commonplace in China and the world disappear for the most part, except as a form of exercise.

Guns. Those instruments now formed the be all and end of of weapons in the human mind, no matter what. Sunny had resolved never to defend himself with one, indeed it was a mark of pride.

Of course, the students would never really use the lessons he taught them ever in real life. After all, aside from their interests, the quality of his teaching was good. But yet, the motivating force, his he had long admitted, had been gone from long before these children's grandparents were born.

There was a reason after all, that he had avoided the Internal foci and aspects of of martial arts training. He had barely any worth in his chi left. Just a faint stubborn will to live, though it was futile in the end. An obstinate instinct that was really unnecessary.

"All right," he announced as the visitors briefly met his eyes, "You're doing fine-" something winced inside of him for saying that- "but we have only 15 minutes left. Break up into pairs and begin sparring using the Linking Step Fist."

As the students dutifully obeyed, Sunny Kay took the time to circuit the kids, observing each in turn, scrutinizing them heavily. Yet, the perceptive in the visitors and the students (though those boys and girls would the price with a blow taken) could tell that their teacher was keeping one eye on the vistors with that same critiquing look.

Kay's mind was on alert reflexively, the suits certainly didn't qualify as parents looking for the sensei. Men from the Triads? They were building up in the nearby neighborhood, he'd heard and this could be a protection racket...

And so his mind went, monkey-fast balancing instructions with semi-paranoid deduction.

[Dave ST]

Finally one of the men approached, apparently three men in suits who looked incredibly suspicious entering a kwoon in mid-lesson didn't seem to merit a greeting from the xiansheng. That, or the Monkey King's tactics were on a level so beyond their understanding that it didn't merit the fallen god's attention.

He was Caucasian with the nicest hair cut and the most perfect cheekbones Sunny had seen on a man in a long time, which told him that this guy was not used to getting hit a lot so was probably not the person that was sent if there was going to be trouble. He reminded Sunny of Eric Roberts, before he got old.

"Mr. Kay?" He asked, his sunglasses shimmered and reflected the sparing children all around him. "A moment of your time please? My associates and I won't be very long, if you could spare a moment."

[Sun Kai]

[OOC: You're making a poke at my expense aren't you?]

Sunny nodded neutrally to the man, reassessing what was going on. Time to engage then. "Sorry about making you wait, but I wanted to make sure they are set so I could converse with you gentlemen. The lessons will end shortly anyway." With that Sunny respectfully bowed and proceeded with the spokesman over to his companions.

"So, what can this humble martial arts instructor do for you?" Yet again, those very words and reminder of his position struck to his mind, and the suits could catch a glimpse of eternal and long-lived sorrow in his polite smile and eyes.

[Dave ST]

"Actually, Mr. Kay," The caucasian man begun. His voice deep and confident and his swaggered like a professional business man who feared nothing, least of all a small asian man and a pack of kids. "It's more like 'what can we do for you."

Deftly he removed the sun glasses off the bridge of his nose in a confident sweep of his arm. "Broder, Auric Broder, pleasure to meet you Mr. Kay." He leaned into the fallen God and whispered into his ear, so the children couldn't hear him. "And I know who you really are, Sun Wu-Kong..."

Click to reveal..

Dun-dun-dunnnnnn! Break for commercial!

[Sun Kai]

It took less than a moment each for Sun Wukong's expression to contort to shock, to hasty deliberation of the fight-or-flight kind, then to quiet, albeit cautious scrutiny of Mr. Broder. Surely low-ranking immortals, he and his company, for the life of Sunny Kay- Sun Wukong, he did not believe this kind of knowledge would be in mortal hands.

"Well, Mr. Broder, that ends my thousand-year streak of being not found." he began, in a similarly quiet voice, "As I said, I'm not much of anything now, and I haven't exactly been feeling motivated to make something of myself."

Here came the kicker, the reason that he was currently willing to entertain the group as non-threats. "You just said that you can do someone for me." Honestly, the only things he wanted, dreamed up when he was especially in a bitter mood, was reclaiming his divinity, storming Tian, and caving in Guan Yu's skull with his magic staff.

Sunny faced the three men with an inquisitive, but warning look that suggested that their next words would affect whether he would entertain a discussion or politely but very, very firmly tell them thank you and goodbye. "I don't find much interests me any more. What do you have to offer me?"

[Dave ST]

"Right to the point," Mr. Broder grinned broadly. "I like that." His features were divine, and this much Sunny could tell. No man was this 'pretty' unless they were god-born.

He adjusted his tie and straightened the lapel on his ten thousand dollar suit and continued. "I know what they did to you Sunny, and you weren't the only one. Things have gotten bad up there," He pointed up to the heavens, the universal gesture of the Godrealms. "Those that remained in the Realms, they've grown twisted, wrong. The Titan's plan for peace had made them complacent and weak, and now the First Ones are making a move. The war is starting again and there's no one left to fight it."

He placed his arm around Sunny and walked him away from everyone, so just the two of them could speak in private. "I'm no warrior Sun, can I call you Sun?" He smirked slightly but didn't really wait for an answer. "I represent a group of immortals, not gods. For over a millenia we've watched those in the realms become weak and squander their power with pointless bickering and fighting with the other realms, and for what? We're no closer than where we began a thousand years ago."

"In a nutshell, Sun," Mr. Broder stared into Sunny's eyes and his look was so serious that it felt like he'd just slapped the Fallen God across the face. "I'm here to offer you your power back. We've found a way, Circe has found a way to shatter the chains that bind your power. Even the Fates are on our side in this," He paused and Sun Wu-Kong knew what came next: the catch. "But there is a price."

[Sun Kai]

Sunny Kay's - nay, the almighty, motherfucking, ultimate warrior, indestructible Monkey King Sun Wukong's - eyes stared back into Broder's eyes for a long moment, and the immortal started worrying about his words. Sun Wukong's eyes were manic, like a lonely, horny male teen just had a genie appear in his room with a bevy of hot porn stars and is informed that the cosmos have given the women to him as his personal harem.

Then that alarming look disappeared as the remainder of Auric Broder's words seeped in, and Sun Wukong's gaze changed rapidly into a rather old, weary and serious visage. The effect was enough to make the lesser immortal ponder what neuroses had developed in the Monkey King during his thousand-year exile.

"I damn well agree, whatever the price is. Fighting the Titans, yes, I smash them to the Underworld. Want me to kick the Jade Emperor off the walls of his palace? I already intend to." And so began a brief, volume-controlled, but fierce rant on the stupidities of the decision of the Celestial Bureaucracy, a few scurrilous rumors about the Five Heavenly Emperors and their secretaries held over from the past millennium, and the unnaturalness felt from lacking a tail.

Fine, so it was more lengthy than 'brief.' Finally, Sunny had to stop for breath, and he recognized the need to stop. "Alright. So bottom line, I'm in, no matter the price. Just two things. One: What is the price? Two: Think you were followed?"

[Dave ST]

"Well, that was easy." Mr. Broder quirked a brow at the eagerness of the Monkey King, but hadn't expected much less. The God's history spoke for itself. "Well, Sun, you see, we're hunters of a sort. Not in the traditional sense of we find and kill out prey, we instead hunt The Fallen, gods like you trapped in a mortal shell."

Mr. Broder continued, straightening his jacket a bit as he spoke. "The price is simply that you vow to set things right. But not just any vow, an oath bound by divine rite so that none, not even the Fates can sever it. We've seen enough of the fighting and the wars. We know that something big is happening soon, and there are but a handful of Scions left to stand against the Titans, and the Gods themselves are too lazy now. We need to find the Fallen, swear to us you will set things right, and we will shatter the bindings of your curse."

[Sun Kai]

"And you think I wasn't aware that I'd have to fix up the stinking World and Overworld?" Sun Wukong shook his head in amusement at how simple the price would be. "Things'll be set to right, and I'll swear the oath to that effect." He paused, as amidst the exultation, a rare warning thought of caution came to him. "I can't carry this alone though, shame as it is. How many other of us poor cast-outs have you found? It's high time I saw some of those old faces again."

[Dave ST]

“Thus far,” Mr. Broder spoke with a rather depressed tone. “Not many. You’re hiding too well, and by now most don’t even care, they’re just waiting to die. It’s rather pathetic, but I suppose it goes with the territory. I don’t pretend to understand them.”

“So far we’ve discovered The Morrigan, Hades, you, Bast…” He seemed hesitant to name the last one, but finally with a shrug he let it out. “And Thor. He’s no tour first choice, considering his temper, but physically, he’s the strongest god there ever was. Don’t tell Hercules I said that. The Morrigan needs… some work, but we have a specialist on it. Hades and Bast aren’t to worse for wear, and Hades is looking particularly good these days.” He smirked impishly.

He motioned for his men to leave and he in turn placed his sunglasses back on. “We’re working on collecting everyone now, meet us at The Bar in a weeks time and we’ll discuss getting things started.”

He walked to the door of the kwoon and stopped turning around to look back at the fallen god. “Oh, and Sun Wu-Kong?”

Three of the Chinese children in the kwoon looked at Sunny Kay in a strange way, with a sense of recognition for a name they knew but a face that meant nothing to them.

“Welcome back.” Broder grinned and let himself out of the kwoon.

[Sun Kai]

"Same to you, Golden Boy!" Sun shouted back in a sudden burst of irate spirit. Could this lesser immortal not realize that the kids could talk, and talk could spread, and the wrong ears could hear? Was Broder that much a numbskull to jeopardize things so quickly? He whirled around to dismiss his class, only to see one of the children, Bei, looking questioningly at him.

At this point, Sunny recalled that Bei had more than a passing interest in mythology- "Did he just call you Sun Wukong?" Yep, that kid knew what Broder was talking about.

"An old name some people I know liked to call me. Mr. Broder was just reminding me of old times." Bei smiled with a child's innocence. "I really liked reading about the Monkey King." Sunny puffed up with a bit of rarely seen nowadays but characteristic pride. "I'm glad you do. He's totally badass."

"Now," switching into the tone that the students knew was the dismissal voice, "head out to your parents and let them know next week is canceled, I'm going to be busy." Dutifully they padded off, and Sunny breathed a sigh of relief. Damn, but it would be good to be back for real.

Later on, he checked out the name he'd been given. The Bar was a popular LA club, meaning he'd have to take a bus, time it right so that he could get their first and watch carefully for everyone who got on... Shit, and plan out a route that would shake pursuit... Well, he had a week, and he would make proper use of it.

[Dave ST]

From where he stood, across from The Bar, he watched as only a few patrons and workers entered or exited at this early hour. He knew the place catered to the L.A. elite for lunch specials but it did seem like today had an awful high volume of traffic.

[Perception: Failure] It had been centuries since any of the Fallen had seen the others but casing the place for possible threats still wasn't a bad idea. While the Fallen King wasn't able to make heads or tails of the few patrons that were coming and going his presence didn't cue any passersby to his either. Silently and unseen, even among the crowd, he continued his vigil, waiting for the opportune moment to accept Broder's invitation.

[Sun Kai]

The coast looked clear, Sunny supposed. He could just simply go in. But that involved walking through the front door. Given the current restrictions he still had on him, in this case his remaining inability to sense Legend, discerning a true ambush would be nigh-impossible. Best not be so obvious until Broder and Circe broke those inner chains.

Therefore, his choice of action was simple. Going around to the other side of the building with every effort to remain unnoticed, he found the employee's entrance, quite usefully unlocked.

Given the low traffic, it stood to reason that the quantity of problematic staff to observe would be equally sparse. Sunny Kay- soon to be Sun Wukong, the Monkey King once more in power as in name- slipped inside.

Click to reveal.. ( Diff 2 Stealth Check)

Jeremy *rolls* 8d10: 10+3+1+8+9+6+10+3 - 4 sux

He passed through the hallways easily without any issues, and then stopped into the bathrooms for a couple seconds. Once he exited, he knew anyone who saw him now would only assume a customer.

Now to find Broder and his fellow Fallen.