White Tiger

loosened his tie and turned away.
    Simon Wong appeared about five metres away. Mr Chen moved forward to meet him, but didn’t take a defensive stance. ‘Don’t worry, Emma,’ he said, ‘this one’s mouth is definitely bigger than its sword.’
    ‘Please stay to one side, dear,’ Wong said. ‘I hear that you’re very good at looking after the little one. You’ll need to come with me when we’re finished and I go to collect her.’
    ‘Get him,’ I said softly.
    Mr Chen moved a couple of steps further away from me, closer to Wong. Then he stopped, relaxed and waited.
    Wong held his hands out and a long curved sword appeared in them. He raised it and it glittered in the harsh neon light of the car park. ‘I don’t think you can do that right now.’
    Mr Chen didn’t move. ‘I don’t need to.’
    Wong made a sweeping swing at Mr Chen’s head.
    I didn’t see Mr Chen move; one minute he was in the path of the sword, the next he was hitting Wong. He struck the demon lightly on the face and moved back, so fast he was a blur.
    ‘Fast,’ Wong said, then grimaced and swung again.
    Mr Chen dodged each blow as Wong swiped the sword at his head. He moved back, leading the demon away from me, easily avoiding each swing of the blade. When they were about three metres further away, he casually threw his hand out and knocked the sword from the demon’s hand. It hit the ground with a sound like breaking glass.
    Wong stopped and concentrated. He held his hand out and the sword flew back into it. He swung fiercely at Mr Chen again, and Mr Chen dodged out of the way. On the third or fourth sweep Mr Chen again knocked the blade out of the demon’s hands.
    Wong raised his arm and the sword flew back into his hand. He poised, ready to strike.
    ‘That is a modified wudang style. Where did you learn it?’ Mr Chen said.
    ‘They do not have you to vet students on the Mountain any more,’ Wong said. ‘Gold will now take anyone.’
    ‘You learned this on the Mountain?’ Mr Chen said with a slight edge of dismay.
    ‘I have spent the past two years on the Mountain,’ the demon said. ‘Gold asked me to instruct.’ He raised the sword and turned it over in his hand. ‘Gold gave me this sword as a parting gift. It is Wudang’s finest.’
    ‘Emma,’ Mr Chen said without looking away from the demon, ‘remind me to have a talk to Jade and Gold later.’
    ‘Sure, Mr Chen,’ I said. ‘Can we hurry this up? These shoes are killing me.’
    ‘Don’t worry, this won’t take long.’
    ‘Gold is extremely good in bed,’ Wong said viciously. ‘But too easy a conquest. Jade…’ He grinned. ‘Surprising how much that one warms up, eh? When you have her going, she doesn’t stop. I never had the chance to hold them together and force them to perform though. That would have been fun.’ He gestured towards me. ‘First Michelle, now this bitch. You like them white. You are becoming predictable.’
    Mr Chen waited quietly, not rising to the bait.
    ‘So Simone is four now? I’ve never had a child before. So small, it must be very good—’
    Mr Chen flew into motion. He attacked before Wong had a chance to move and hit him on the face over and over, snapping his head back with each blow. As he hit the demon, it was forced backwards towards me. I moved to the other side of the car.
    Mr Chen held the demon by the throat against the wall. Wong turned the sword around to stab Mr Chen in the back. Mr Chen’s hand snapped out and again knocked the sword from the demon’s grasp.
    ‘Are you all right, Emma?’ he said.
    ‘Finish this little creep so we can go home.’
    ‘My pleasure.’ He shifted his feet in preparation for the kill.
    The demon grew into something huge with black scales and three eyes. ‘I yield. I am yours.’
    Mr Chen’s face went blank with shock. ‘What?’ ‘Later.’ It disappeared.
    Mr Chen shook his head. ‘It surrendered then ran. What a coward.’
    He hurried back to me. ‘That one is strong. I think we should go home.’ He took his jacket from me and pulled the parking ticket out of the pocket. ‘Damn.’
    ‘What?’
    ‘I’ve passed the fifteen-minute limit for getting the car out after paying. I need to go back and pay again.’
    He put the parking ticket into the pocket of his trousers and threw the jacket into the back seat of the car. He slammed the door shut and hurried back to the Shroff Office with me trailing.
    ‘You can wait at the car,’ he said over his