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There is a block in Chinatown, were people get got. Word on the street is, that if you happened to get found on this street, at the wrong hour, someone might get at you. No matter who you are.

Away from the Canal street hustlers, pork dumplings, bootleg DVDs and the gentrifiers, blocks away from everything that felt like Manhattan, this is a street where children don’t venture. This is the place where men and women are carried into tunnels during twilight hours, and never heard from again.

This is the street where silhouetted characters sit in doorways, smoking something other than cigarettes. This is the block without streetlights. Here, even though spring is in the air, there always seems to be men in trench coats, who dip into shadows.

It’s on this very street, at a restaurant that is only open to private customers, that Mr. Lo is expected. As a black luxury sedan turns the corner, Mr. Lo sits with his head on his hand, leaning against the armrest. Mr. Lo is somewhere in his late 50s, with a face that doesn’t really age. You could say it’s an Asian thing, but whatever.

The driver announces that they’re nearing the restaurant. Mr. Lo sighs and runs his hands through his mane, managing a few grey streaks. He brushes some crumbs off his silk shirt. It’s the third time he’s worn this black designer suit. It’s the same color as his armed bodyguard, but his threads are something from Paris and probably the equivalent of your salary.

Mr. Lo’s plane landed two hours ago. Since that time, he’s replayed conversations with family bosses.

“Go here. Do this. Take care of this. Why isn’t this done?”

Truthfully, those conversations have been on repeat for the last several years, ever he realized that he’s plateaued. Despite his efficiency and loyalty, he wasn’t a blood member of the Jai family.

Now he’s is in New York City and he’s here to clean up Tony Jai’s mess — again. This is the same Tony, the spoiled punk, who’s abused his family’s power and was frequently in trouble with the law. Tony’s father, Mr. Lo or other Jai family member was always there to bribe police officers, prosecutors, judges and if that didn’t work, they got real Corleone and made offers that could not be refused.

Three black sedans, full of goons, stop in front of the restaurant that has large dingy tinted windows and a wooden dragon, with a broken tail, hanging over the entrance door.

Mr. Lo’s bodyguards, exit the vehicle first and survey the area. At that very moment, Tony Jai appears at the entrance of the restaurant. Tony smiles.

Despite how much work Mr. Lo has put in, his dedication and the number of family businesses ventures Tony had ruined — Mr. Lo knew he would eventually take orders from him. This plagued Mr. Lo. He was unsure of his future. He had squandered his earnings on side business ventures and expensive clothing. Truthfully, he knew that he was running out of time. Soon he’d be useless. Tony’s smile and his confidence, it was Mr. Lo’s demise.

Mr. Lo and his men frequently speak Cantonese amongst themselves as they did on the streets of Hong Kong and at times, they went back to their Hong Kong Chinglish. For this build, I will provide their conversations in a language that you can understand.

A stocky guard with a bald head pokes his head inside of the car.

“Mr. Lo. We’re ready sir.”

Mr. Lo does not answer. The guard repeats himself.

“Mr. Lo.”

Mr. Lo gets out of his thoughts and exits the vehicle. Tony’s confidence slightly recedes as Mr. Lo emerges and walks towards him. He knows that Mr. Lo still has clout in the family, even though he is not blood. He’s one of the old guard and, more importantly, he’s a friend of his father.

A bad report from Mr. Lo can cause him discomfort. His father always found ways, perhaps withholding his allowance or another form of humiliation. In Tony’s mind, he was going to get this visit over with as soon as possible. He’d escort Mr. Lo around town over the next few days and then make sure that Mr. Lo’s dusty ass was on the first Cathay Pacific to Hong Kong.

Tony extends his hand to shake. He withdraws upon seeing Mr. Lo's scowl.

“Big brother. I’m glad you’re here. Your input will be valuable. I’ve taken the time to—“

“Save it, Tony. You know that I don’t want to be here. I’m here because of your recklessness.

And now, the loss of, Mr. Shi, to this— place. I don’t know what is going on, but it smells.” says Mr. Lo.

“You don’t understand“

Mr. Lo pushes Tony’s shoulder aside. He and his crew enter the dark corridor of the restaurant, which was vaguely illuminated by lamps disguised and lanterns. Mr. Lo is halfway greeted by Mr. Wen, the so-called owner of the establishment, who still wears traditional garb. On other days, even in the rain, Mr. Wen could be seen in front of the restaurant murmuring and talking shit to himself, reminiscing on when the restaurant catered to tourists when he had master plans of getting paid, but whatever.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

Mr. Wen escorts Mr. Lo to the dining area, a fairly spacious and well-lit room, with a bright green stained carpet, and several large round tables — the kind that gangsters like to sit at with their crew, to front and make toasts to their dead homies. Although irritated, Mr. Lo is impressed by the lingering aroma of food. His stomach growls. He reaches into his jacket for his cigarette box and comes to an immediate halt.

At the center table, there is an unrecognizable hooded figure in black, whose back is towards Mr. Lo and his crew. He eats the meal before him with chopsticks, smacking and sucking the scrumptious meat with disrespect.

Tony’s nostril’s flare. He pushes through the men and stands next to Mr. Lo. This is the second time that he had actually seen Masternever. Their first encounter was two months ago when Masternever rushed one of the family’s KTV spots a few blocks away. That incident provoked Tony to reach out to the assassin Mr. Shi — without his father’s knowledge.

Masternever belches. He had heard about Mr. Lo’s arrival a few days ago, while on a rooftop, listening to Tony’s men run their mouths. Masternever understood Cantonese better than Mandarin, but he was able to make out the conversation from the mainlanders. Some shit about a big fish coming into town from Hong Kong.

On some Three Evil Masters shit, Masternever keeps his back to the men, real disrespectful like he says “Well, well, you’re here on time.”

Mr. Lo removes his glasses and places his glasses in his jacket pocket. As Tony steps forward, Mr. Lo places a hand on Tony’s chest to stop him.

“I despise your killings, raping and most importantly I despise your killers, ” says Masternever who reveals a handkerchief from his pocket and tosses it on the floor. The platinum fronts that were the calling card of Mr. Shi came tumbling out onto the rug.

Mr. Lo’s eye's widened. He composes a snarl, which turns into a grin. Mr. Lo had been bedding Mr. Shi’s wife for years. Although he despised Mr. Shi, he respects the bold intruder for having the skill to kill him.

Mr. Lo steps down into the dining area floor. His men try to follow him, but he waves them off. He’s walking cautiously towards the center table where Masternever sits.

“What a shame. A pity actually. Mr. Shi was one of our best men. This was truly a great loss for our family. I’ll have to report this to my superiors. Who should I say is responsible?” asks Mr. Lo, who leans near the table, trying to get a better look at the bold intruder.

Masternever turns around and wipes his mouth on his sleeve.

“You may tell your superiors, and anyone else that asks, that Masternever was in the building.”

Mr. Lo’s eyes widen and mouth drops open.

I’m gonna chop off your arms. So you ready?” asks Masternever.

Mr. Lo did not expect the intruder to have a black face. Tony is enraged. He barks at his men “Kill him!”

Mr. Wen almost pisses himself and takes flight. Tony and his crew pull out their weapons and let the bullets fly. The bullets tear through the air, but they could not make their mark. They were in the presence of a Neverending Master, one who knew how to use the Fury of The Rain technique.

Masternever saw the horizontal raindrops tear past his face. Then his arm. Near his back. his face again. A bullet grazes the surface of a muscle on his thigh. He clenches his fists.

He vanishes and reappears again with speed. He looks at the facial expression of the men who want to end him.

Mr. Lo looks on from behind a column. He’s never seen the intruder before, but as he watches the superhuman movements, the speed, the precision, he’s almost certain that he had seen someone move like him before.

As a bullet pierces Masternever’s thigh, he clenches his fists and then reappears before Tony, striking him in the chest with a palm strike that sends the young gangster crashing into one of his men, causing them both to fall.

He vanishes. He materializes and grabs someone’s gun. He kick smashes an eye socket. He’s punched in the face. He responds by breaking a nose.

The so-called gangsters keep falling.

Mr. Lo watches the intruder who cuts through his men with fury. He is almost certain, that years ago, in Hong Kong, he had seen someone move with similar precision, vanishing and reappearing.

Masternever appears behind the last henchman and snaps the man’s neck. There is a moment of silence, which is disturbed by grunts and grimaces from the men on the floor.

Tony attempts to leave the room and Masternever grabs him by his shirt. He looks into Tony’s eyes. He sees fear, which turns to anger. His concentration is disrupted by the sound of sirens. Masternever looks towards the entrance and then back at Tony.

He pushes Tony to the floor and then looks across the room at Mr. Lo who stands, looking on with a wide-eyed glare. Masternever turns back towards the entrance. He can hear a commotion.

It’s time to leave.

As Masternever runs past Mr. Lo, he grins and pats him on his shoulder. He heads towards a hallway in the rear of the restaurant. A second later, Mr. Wen enters the restaurant with several police officers who have their weapons drawn. The officers look at Mr. Lo with confusion as he stands amidst broken furniture, glass, and men who’ve somehow been incapacitated.

As Mr. Wen follows the officers, he falls to the ground, when he comprehends the damage. He weeps.

A tall pale female officer approaches Mr. Lo with her gun pointed at the ground.

“Are you okay? Hey, are you okay? Which way did the guy go? Do you know?”

Mr. Lo says nothing. The officer sucks her teeth and then heads to the rear of the restaurant.

As he looks at her, his mind is still trying to process what has taken place. The intruder’s movements were reminiscent of something he’d seen years before when he was full of youth, violence, and opium. The officers keep questioning him and but he’s unable to speak. They make calls for medical assistance.

At that moment, Masternever skates down an alleyway. As he thinks about what has just transpired, he laughs. He couldn’t have planned it any better. He veers into a street and swerves past a truck. The driver honks his horn and curses him.

Masternever keeps skating until he reaches another alley. Here, he uses a fence to climb on top of a garage. As he escalates a fire escape, pain in his leg pulsates. The adrenaline is wearing off. He looks at his leg. He isn’t bleeding badly.

He continues until he’s on top of the building. He heads towards a room on the roof that had once been used for elevator maintenance. He opens the combination lock and heads in, closing the door behind him and then using the lock inside. He turns on a utility light with electricity that he hijacked from somewhere in the building. He heads towards a shelf where he has a rice mattress and sleeping bag. He lays down.

Rest will take care of the bullet wound and the other bruises. He thinks again on Mr. Lo’s facial expressions. He grins and pumps his fist. Moments later, he’s in a superhero la-la land.