Ridley Pearson - Power Play

Within the first few notes of the snake-charming melody, Jafar slapped his ugly hands over his large ears and backed away from her, already beginning to sink to the ground, shrinking away like a snake inside a wicker basket.

Maybeck looked on in amazement. “How did you-?”

“Shut up! Get ready to run.”

“I do not need to get ready. I am so out of here.”

“Come over behind me.”

Maybeck slid over behind Willa and, with her continuing to play the melody, the two backed away from the recoiling Jafar.

She dropped the flute.

They turned and ran.

Finn stood in the front row of the crowd of the hundred or so people surrounding a roped-off area designated for the Chinese acrobats. Fireworks tore holes in the sky, as a coach and a group of twelve girls and eight boys appeared in gymnastics uniforms. The crowd broke into applause.

The girls were mostly all tiny and young, wearing light blue leotards, all with basically the same bob-and-straight-bangs haircut. The somewhat older Chinese boys formed a line behind, hands clasped behind their backs, flexing their arm muscles, and awaiting their turn. It took a moment for Finn to recognize the third-to-last girl in line as Charlene. She wore a wig that matched the other girls’. With the addition of some eye makeup and blush, she blended in surprisingly well. But just seeing her there made Finn think how stupid a plan this was. There had to have been a better way than this to get the spindle. But there was no turning back now.

The coach-a strong looking older guy with a bald head-clapped his hands twice and the show began. Finn looked away, not wanting to see what a fool Charlene was about to make of herself. Despite her claim that she’d seen the routine “enough times to know it by heart,” Finn knew that seeing it and being able to do it were two different things. With his eyes averted and squeezed shut, he cowered from what he expected was going to be a collective gasp as Charlene missed a move and crashed. The show opened with tumbling acts that defied belief: diving through hoops, two girls at a time. Somersaults. Human pyramids.

No collective gasp. Finn squinted one eye open, surprised to see Charlene flying through a hoop and landing in a somersault. The crowd cheered.

Not only did she know the routines, but she executed them flawlessly. Flying bodies, camera flashes, and a cheering crowd occupied the next several minutes.

A roar erupted celebrating a standing pyramid-four girls across on the bottom row, Charlene one of them.

All at once, Finn felt a hand on his right shoulder-a very hard hand. Then another on his left shoulder. He was in the grasp of two mean-looking warriors-Huns-with severe brows and narrow eyes. They wore ancient, decorative armor and were incredibly intimidating to look at.

The spectators around Finn stepped back and took pictures.

Finn glanced toward Charlene, who was no longer in the pyramid. The girls had stood to the side: it was the boys’ turn. More applause.

The two guards hauled Finn out of the crowd, as video and digital cameras captured it all.

There was no messing with these guys; their grip unrelenting as they marched him toward a circular building that looked like a giant hat.

Finn said, “I’m actually more interested in the acrobats than a private tour.”

They said nothing. He wasn’t even sure they spoke English. They tossed him through an open door and then turned their backs, blocking him from leaving.

He was standing in a vast, circular room, the air still. Chinese lute music played. A haze filled the air, streaked by flickering light from projectors. Film footage of Chinese landscapes played on the 360-degree screen. Finn looked for any marked exit signs, and saw only the one being guarded by the two men behind him.

He heard footsteps in spite of the loud music. A cold shiver passed through him as Shan-Yu from Mulan stepped out of the haze.

Leader of the Huns, a barbarian warlord, Shan-Yu’s shoulders were wide, his head large, and his expression fierce. He wore a thin, wispy mustache on an otherwise brutal face.

“You are leader?” he asked, his voice heavily accented.

“Me?” Finn said, putting the sunglasses up onto the cap. “I’m just a Park visitor.”

“The Invisible Ones. You are leader?”

Invisible Ones, Finn thought. That was new.

“Yes. That would be me.”

“Tell your emperor to send his strongest armies. I’m ready,” the warrior said.

“I have no emperor,” Finn said. “We have no army.”

“Only emperor have no emperor. You do not look like emperor.”

“I am not an emperor.”

“Then tell your emperor to send his strongest army.”

“Why would he do that?” Finn asked.

“Leader of Invisible Ones, I am not afraid.”

“Of me? I mean you no harm. What exactly do you want?”

“What does every man want?” Shan-Yu asked.

An Xbox? A PS3? Finn thought. “Immortality,” he answered.

Shan-Yu appeared impressed.

“How is immortality achieved?” he asked.

“By doing greatness. Or,” Finn added, “great evil.”

“By winning wars. By commanding empires. The gods approve of those who do their bidding.”

Finn had studied China in fifth grade. He understood there had been child emperors younger than he was, so he couldn’t play the kid card. Instead, he thought the better idea was to impress Shan-Yu. Or try to.

“But is not the man who builds the bridge for the army more important than the army?” he asked. “The man who makes the bows more important than the archer? The man who trains the horse more important than the rider?”

Shan-Yu answered, “The man who commands the army is more important than all of them, for the army does his bidding.”

“His bidding, or the gods’ bidding?”

Shan-Yu took a step closer. “You are indeed a wise leader. I see that clearly in you.”

“I am a humble servant serving the lord…Disney. My lord is great and powerful. His reach is wide, his army vast.”

“You and the other one enter my kingdom without invitation. This makes you both spies. In my kingdom, spies are put to death.”

“I…” DEATH? he was thinking. And why was Shan-Yu speaking only of his own kingdom? There was no mention of the Overtakers as a group. “If you put me to death, how will I tell my emperor you are ready for him?”

“So you have emperor. This clearly makes you spy.”

“No…no…no! Metaphorically!” Finn tried again. “My army is but five strong.”

“Five battalions? Five legions?”

“Five warriors ,” Finn said. “We present no threat to you, great lord! Our fight is with the Green One.”

Shan-Yu stepped back at the mention of Maleficent. It didn’t give Finn the impression the two were the best of friends.

“When two leaders share a common enemy,” Finn said, “does that not make them brothers? Allies?”

“You are a sorcerer, Invisible One. A confessed spy. Spies are killed, not negotiated with. If you cannot deliver your army…”

He withdrew a curved, gleaming sword from its scabbard, the ring of steel echoing like a bell.

Five of Shan-Yu’s warriors appeared seemingly out of nowhere. They had him surrounded, all five with their hands on their sword hilts. Finn could picture his head lying on the floor.

“Shouldn’t we talk about this?” he asked Shan-Yu.

“Kill the girl,” Shan-Yu called out loudly. “I will take care of this one myself.”

Finn glanced to the door and the backs of the two guards. He had to reach Charlene before the warriors did. She wouldn’t see them coming. Like him, she would think they were part of the show.