Monday, June 7, 2010

Lights, Kung Fu, Action...

There he was, standing in front of me...the greatest living kung fu master. I did have a gun with me and started fitting the silencer to it hurriedly, but I knew he was better than that.

I had walked halfway back across a long pathway lit by a continuous tube-light embedded in the centre of the ceiling...  I expected to find my way to the target at the end of this corridor...but there was nothing at the other end of this tunnel - a simple trap. I ran back but realised halfway back that Kao Peng was waiting for me near the entrance.

"Welcome to my humble abode", he said with a smile on his near-plastic face. His coolers were somewhat bigger than normal and like all masters from movies around the world, he was dressed in white. I knew I was done for. I had to avoid him today to have any chances of seeing tomorrow. But how?

He continued with a smile, "Do you know that if I walk out of this room and press that green button on the outside, you will be locked in for ever? No alarms, No signals, No essscape", with a hiss and a stress on the last word, "but of course, I want to talk to you."

Sometimes, I hate this job.

I had to talk to extend my duration of staying alive. "What do you want from me?"

He smiled as if it was a joke. "Do you, by any chance, know Kung Fu?"

I knew what he was thinking. "No. But why would you want to harm me? I just got lost."

"You got lost? Do you mean to say you are not T439?"

Now, did I have cyanide? Simpler way to die, I tell you. He started walking towards me, increasing his stride and speed with every step. He had that evil sadistic grin on his face that added a whole new dimension to the word 'fear'. I kept my finger on the trigger just in case and was waiting for an opportunity that I knew was not coming.

Within seconds, it seemed like Kao Peng was flying towards me. Strange...He did not even take out his sword yet. Did he think I was so bad a fighter or was he really that strong?

I waited without moving till he was about twenty feet away.

'Thud'. I shot at the tube-lights above me. Not only did the lights go out for the whole room but there was also some form of a gas that started filling the room. I dropped to the ground and rolled to a corner. Kao Peng continued flying in his path with his head towards where I stood and his legs behind him in a straight line as if he was swimming through air. When he reached where I stood (a second later), he somersault-ed in mid air and hit the ground with one of his legs. The floor cracked under his strength.

I took this moment as my chance and shot at him. His reaction was faster than the speed of the bullet; he moved forward, put a hand on the ground, swirled in air, kicked the gun out of my hand with one foot and landed his other foot on my hip, enough to send me flying across the room...all this, I guess, before the bullet from my gun reached the place where he was initially standing. I landed, bounced, rolled, hit the wall at both sides once before I finally stopped myself from rolling with great effort. Kao Peng dusted his white shirt and said, "Impressive", as he started walking balk towards me. I was spitting blood already. It hit me when I saw the external orange lighting brightening the floor on which I was vomitting blood... I was near the door!

With all my strength, which wasn't much, I threw myself to my right, fell outside the door, pushed up as much as I could and pressed the green switch. The door closed and in an instant, Kao Peng made a dent on the steel door. This noise would get someone's notice sooner or later, and I didn't want the monster outside till I left this darn place.

'Thud'. I shot the switch into pieces and walked away, wondering why my head ached more than my hip.