Break: An Urban Hero's Journey

by Wes Grant

  Master Chen Lou then said, “I’m sorry for your loss . . . And you’re right, I cannot allow someone of evil intent to taint the name of martial arts. I willbring him to justice.” Platinum then said, “Thank you, I will provide you with everything you need to find him and bring him to justice.” Chen Lou said, “Everything I need to defeat him is already within me.”

  Platinum said, “Of course the legendary “Fist of Eternity” technique. Hopefully I’ll get to see it in action.” Chen Lou turned around than walked toward the door. NEXT SCENE

  Spear was running on the rooftops in Jersey City toward Journal Square when he saw an elderly man with a hooded robe standing near the path station seemingly hunched over in pain. Spear jumped down to the ground to see if the old man was OK.

  When he got to the old man he said, “Hey, what are you doing out here so late? You could get hurt or robbed out here by yourself.” The man turned around and said, “By you, I presume.” He then struck at Spear. He then tossed the robe aside revealing himself to be Master Chen Lou.

  Spear dodged the attack and said, “Whoa, listen crazy old man, I know you look like you just fell out of an old-school kung fu flick, but you don’t go swinging at people like that. You might get hurt.”

  Chen Lou grind and said, “I highly doubt that. You dare call yourself a martial artist.” Chen Lou continued to go on the attack. The fight looked like a kung fu fight. Spear dodged his every attack and said, “Come on, old man, I don’t want to hurt you. Just go home and take your meds ’cause I think you missed a few.” Just then he was caught with an elbow to the stomach causing him to stumble back.

  Chen Lou yelled, “You dare disrespect me.” He then stepped back and went into a stance at which time it looked like a ring of air spread out from him.

  Spear asked, “What are you doing. Please don’t tell me you’re wearing a diaper right now and doing number 2.” Chen Lou then swung his fist forward sending a force of energy towards Spear. Luckily, Spear stepped to the side as it flew past, hitting a small tree and sending it toppling over onto a car.

  Spear looked back at the damage and said, “OK, I didn’t want to do this, but now I gotta beat some sense into you, elderly or not. You don’t go punching holes in things like that.”

  Spear went on the attack, and the strange thing was that the old man dodged every attack almost with no effort. At first he thought it was a fluke, but then he really tried to hit the old man. Every one of Spear’s attacks was dodged with ease, and to make things worse, he was doing it with his hands behind his back. Spear figured if he speeds up a little bit, there’s no way the old man can keep up. Spear kicked up the speed, but somehow the old man still eluded him. Spear finally got his hands on the old man’s shoulder, but then the old man changed stance and grabbed Spear by the wrist and sent him flying into a wall. Spear got up and shook his head then said, “OK, I’m getting tired of you kicking my butt,” as he pulled out his two rods.

  Chen Lou then said, “A true warrior needs no weapons other than his fist to win a fight. Unless, the warrior is too weak himself.” Spear said, “What, you think I can’t beat you without these?” Spear then put his rods back in his back and said, “OK, I didn’t want to do this, but you kept pushing me, old man. Spear then dropped to the ground in a sprint stance then bamm! He took off toward the old man.

  The old man went into a stance; then right when Spear got up to him he hit Spear with his palm, stopping him in his tracks. Spear stumbled back and coughed up a little blood.

  Spear then said, “What did you do to me, old man?” Chen Lou answered, “I’m surprised you can still stand, that strike should have shattered at least three ribs.”

  Spear said while wiping the blood from his mouth, “Just who are you anyways?” Chen Lou answers, “The name is Master Chen Lou.” Spear said, “Who?”

  Chen Lou said, “And you call yourself a true martial artist.” He then began to run toward Spear. Spear went on guard, but it seemed as if Chen Lou vanished. Chen Lou then appeared right behind Spear and went for another palm strike. Spear blocked it with his left arm and felt a sensation instantly realizing that he could no longer move his left arm. He then jumped back away from the old man, trying to keep the old man in his sights, but the old man vanished again. Before Spear landed, his instincts told him to attack behind him, so before he even turned around, he kicked, landing a blow to the old man’s chest. The old man slid back twentyfeet while still staying on his feet.

  Chen Lo u then said, “It will take a lot more than that to take down this oldtimer.” He then went to a stance and struck. Some invisible force hit Spear in the shoulder, sending him spinning back off his feet. When he landed the old man disappeared and tried to hit Spear from the other side, but Spear grabbed the old man’s right wrist before it hit him. The old man then hit Spear’s right leg with his left palm, basically making that leg useless along with his left arm. The old man then got away from Spear’s grip and began to hit Spear with an onslaught of strikes without even touching him. Spear dropped to his knees, blood pouring from his mouth, nose, and with a black eye.

  Chen Lou then jumped back and said, “What do you have to say for yourself? Do you still think you’re the best?” Spear says, “Listen here man, I was just out here do my thing and your crazy ass trapped in a 1980’s Kung Fu flick start attacking me.” While talking he slowly took out his smoke bombs and tossed them on the ground in front of him thensaid, “And, Who said I’m the best?”

  Chen Lou said, “What is this, another dishonest trick?” Smoke started coming out the balls and filled the area.

  Chen Lou went on guard and yelled, “It won’t work, and even without my sight, I can still sense your attacks.” He stood there on guard for a couple seconds then said, “I grow tired of this.” He then went into a stance, and a ring of air cleared the smoke away. He looked and saw a trail of blood going down the stairs leading down to the path train. He followed the trail of blood and saw the train taking off. Spear had got away.

  On the train, Spear was sitting down, and everyone moved over to the other side of the car. An elderly woman, an older couple, and a mother and child were on the car, not saying a word. Spear was bleeding all over the chair; he then sat up and wiped the blood from his mouth. The people on the car had nothing but fear in their eyes. Spear turned toward the people and said, “What, you never had a bad day.” He then got up and walked to the section door. He opened the door and stood between the cars until they came out of the tunnel. When the train came out of the tunnel, Spear jumped out and limped his ways through back passage ways to get back to his car. He took a couple of wet wipes and a clean shirt out of his backpack to change before he went to his car. In his trunk he had bottles of water, so he used it to wash off some of the blood and used the wipes to clean his face and arms. He then got in his car to drive home. Luckily he could still move his feet, so he was able to drive. He drove straight to Neil’s house.

  When he got in front of Neil’s house, he called Neil on the phone. He picked up the phone and asked who it was. Nick asked, “Are you awake?”

  Neil was walking from the kitchen back to his room and said, “Yeah, but I’m about to go to sleep.”

  Nick replied, “Put that on hold. Go to your front door, there is something you need to look at.” Neil went to the door and, while opening it, said, “What?” Nick knelt down in front of the door and said, “Everything.”

  Neil yelled, “What happened to you!” He then h elped Nick into the house and onto the couch. He got something for Nick to drink and said, “You get beat up an awful lot for someone that trains as much as you do. Maybe you should sign up to get martial arts lessons again.”

  Nick said, “Two times . . . two times and they had super powers. Cut the commentary, you just need to look at my injuries... And you make it seem like I get my butt kicked every day.”

  Neil asked, “Who did this?” Nick replied, “I don’t know, Bruce Lee’s Great, Great, Grand pa, or something. The dude
looked like he was there when martial arts were invented.”

  Neil looked at Nick’s injuries and told him that the bones were not broken but he had slight fractures on his ribs, arm, and leg. The weird thing was that the fractures wheren’t regular.

  Nick asked, “What you mean not regular?”

  Neil replied, “Most fractures have a point of impact. Your, look like they spread from within out. If it and had it been anybody else, those bones would be toast. Full on shattered.”

  While he’s wrapping bandages around Nick’s injuries, Neil asked, “What was the name of the guy that kicked your butt this time?”

  Nick answered, “Some guy that called himself Master Chen Lu or Lou something like that. He was doin’ some crazy mess with his hands that hit me without him actually hitting me. And when he did hit me, it was with his palm and not fist, but that hurt even more.”

  Neil said, “Wait, that name sounds familiar, wait right here.” Nick replied, “OK, I’ll just finish fixingmyself up seeingas how I go to school forthis.”

  Neil said, “Shut up, stop being a baby, I finished wrapping you up anyways. I’ll be right back.” Neil came back downstairs a few minutes later with his laptop. He said, “Holy crap dude.” He leans over and shows the laptop to Nick, “Was this the guy?”

  Nick said, “Yeah, that’s him. Only he’s a lot shorter in person. Who is he anyway?” Neil said, “They say he’s the world’s best martial artist.” Nick replied, “So that’s why he kept talking about that.”

  Neil Continues, “They say he knows every style there is. He like, never leaves his temple in Japan. What the hell is he doing here and in Jersey City?” Neil looked at Nick and said, “Dude, this ain’t no coincidence, he had to be there for you.”

  Nick said, “What the hell did I do to him?”

  Neil said, “I don’t know, but you’re lucky you survived. It sounds like he used his legendary technique. They call it the Fist of Eternity. No one outside of his temple has ever witnessed it.”

  Nick replied, “Fist of what? It sounds like an alternative rock group.” as he chuckled.

  Neil said, “Don’t laugh. It’s said that he can split a tree in half without even touching it from just his inner chi.”

  Nick said, “Well, I can vouch for that. He took one of those small trees at the path station out like it was twig along with acar.” Neil said, “Be thankful he held back.”

  Nick coughs as he replies, “Held back, my body doesn’t feel like he held back anything.” Neil said, “Nick, you’re strong, but if Master Chen Lou went at you full force, your arm and leg would be gone. Lucky your body can take a hell of a lot more damage than any other normal person or you’d probably be dead from internal bleeding.”

  Nick said, “OK, Mr. Dramatic, I get it, I’m lucky.” Neil said, “Yeah, dam right . . . By the way, how’s the car running?” NEXT SCENE

  Chen Lou entered the office of Mr. Platinum.

  Mr. Platinum turned his chair around slowly with his fingers interlocked and said, “I’m verydisappointed, Master Chen Lou, you let him get away.”

  Chen Lou said, “Your feelings are of no consequence to me.” Platinum said, “No, you misunderstand, I just want to see Spear brought to justice and I thought you would be the one person able to do that. But I guess I was mistaken.”

  Chen Lou said, “This Spear character is more resourceful and diligent than I initially gave him credit for. Next time, I will not make the same mistake.”

  Platinum said, “It’s a good thing you’ll get another chance because this Spear character has a thing about coming back to finish a fight, very tenacious as you would say. Don’t worry about Spear, I’ll get you your rematch.”

  Chen Lou said, “Very well, I’ll leave the rest in your hands.” He then turned around and walked to the door with his hands behind his back.

  NEXT SCENE The next couple of days, Nick took it easy and just rested after work to heal instead of doing his usual runs in Jersey City. Luckily, it seemed that every time he healed from injuries, his bones got a lot stronger. After only a few days, Spear was back on his routine runs through the city. He still had his bandages on, but he left the weights off so he could heal a little better. He headed over toward the path station where he fought Master Chen Lou but saw something strange in his place. Standing there was a well-dressed gentleman holding up a sign for Spear.

  Spear said to himself, “This has got to be a trap, what do they think, I’m stupid.” He then threw some of his smoke bombs at the man’s feet. When the area filled up with smoke, Spear jumped down and grabbed the man and brought him a block away before the smoke cleared.

  He got the man on top of the roof and said, “Talk quick.” The man handed Spear a card and said, “Master Chen Lou would like to finish the fight gentlemen both began, and here’s a card with the locations.”

  Spear said, “And I’m going to trust you, why?”

  The man said, “Master Chen Lou is a very honorable person, he would just like to finish things.”

  Spear said, “What’s in it for you? Who do you work for?” The man then said, “I’m just the messenger . . . and didn’t you say talk quickly? My associates should be closing in on my position at any moment now.”

  Spear said, “OK, I’ll think about it.” Then he jumped off the roof to another roof and made a run for it. He looked at the card and saw the location and saw the date. He said, “I know where this is.” It was at a lookout point in Hamilton Park. The day on the card was for tomorrow night.

  Spear thought to himself, “How the hell they know I’d be there tonight to give me the card for tomorrow? Well, I’d better think of a strategy.” Spear ripped up the card and threw it away because he already knew where to meet him. He then went to his car and headed to Neil’s house to see if everything was healing up OK.

  NEXT SCENE

  Spear was at Neil’s house, and Von was also there.

  Neil said, “OK, you look better, but keep the bandages on just a little longer so you don’t sprain anything.”

  Von said, “You got any ideas on how you gonna beat this Chen Lou guy?”

  Nick replied, “Nope. I’m just gonna go there and hope my training pays off.” Neil said, “Didn’t you try that already . . . and almost get the black beat outta ya?”

  Nick replied, “Last time I didn’t know what I was up against. This time I’ll give it everything I’ve got.”

  Von said, “That’s good, but am I the only one that thinks this is some sort of trap?” Nick said, “Yeah, I thought the same thing. That’s why I went on Google maps to check out the area for different ways out of there. Plus I’ll check out the area around there before I meet him to see if there’s anything strange going down.”

  Von said, “Whatever, man, you’re the one fighting crazies. You know better than me.”

  NEXT SCENE The night of the fight, Spear got to the area early. He surveyed the area around the location where he’s supposed to meet Chen Lou. After he made sure everything was OK, he headed to the location.

  Chen Lou was standing on the wall of the lookout point staring at the New York skyline when Spear got there. Chen Lou then said, while still staring at the skyline, “So you’ve come. Do you plan on using tricks this time to try to beat me?”

  Spearsaid, “There won’t be any tricks this time. When I beat you, I don’t want any excuses.” Chen Lou replies, “It is good you have confidence, but sometimes overconfidence can be the downfall to a great warrior.”

  Spear said, “That’s why I look at us as equals.”

  Chen Lou said, “But you’re wrong. We’re not equals. You’re just a misfit trying to make a name for himself, and I’m here to put an end to it. Now fight!”

  Chen Lou did a backflip off the wall toward Spear and came down with an attack from the air. Spear jumped back and tried to counter. Chen Lou spun out the way and tried to attack Spear with his palm. Spear knocked his hand away; Chen Lou then tried to strike with the other hand, but Spear
grabbed his wrist.

  Chen Lou looked at Spear and said, “Seems like you’ve been training since the last time we fought.”

  Spear replied, “I was always this good, but now I know what I’m up against.” Chen Lou then said, “Silly child, you still think you have a chance.” He then went into a stance with Spear still holding on to his wrist.

  Spear remembered that stance and let go of the guy’s wrist and jumped back just, barely dodging that invisible attack of chi. He then tried to run and get some distance between him and Chen Lou, but Chen Lou moved quickly and got in front of Spear with a palm attack aimed straight at Spear’s gut. Spear fell to his back, sliding right past Chen Lou with a trail of sparks coming from his small backpack with the metal casing. Spear then jumped to his feet sliding a little and said, “OK, no more running.” He then ran straight at Chen Lou and started throwing an onslaught of punches at Chen Lou. Chen Lou dodged them all then went on the attack himself. They’re both throwing a barrage of attacks at one another, but no one seemed to be landing a hit. They both countered each other’s move down to the punch. Spear making sure to not get caught by his palm as well. To them it seemed as if they’re both moving in slow motion. Spear made a hard right- hand swing. Chen Lou dodged it. Spear spun into a backhand. Chen Lou leaned back to dodge it but was caught off guard by a back sweep kick hidden by the backhand. Chen Lou fell to his back but landed on one hand and followed up with a kick to Spear’s face, sending Spear flying back into the wall of the lookout point.

  Chen Lou said, “You’re good but not good enough. Now let’s continue.”

  Spear said, “I gotta ask ya, how the hell are you this good at your age? What are you, one hundred?” Chen Lou said, “One Hundred and eight actually, and I should be asking you the same thing. It took me years of intense training to be able to fight at the level we’re fighting right now. You can’t be more than twenty or so. For someone of your age to be at this level and from the sloppiness of your techniques, I can assume no one istraining you either.”