Kung Fu (2021) s03e02 Episode Script

Risk

1
Nicky, why am I here?
I don't know.
I went somewhere
A realm,
some kind of afterlife
for Warriors and Guardians.
I was there.
My mother, too
And all the other bloodline spirits.
But then, I was here.
The rest
It is blank.
What is that?
I was wearing it when I woke,
here in your world.
It's OK, Shifu.
We don't have to figure
all this out at once.
I'm just
Happy you're here with me.
So I, uh, got your message.
No details, ask to talk in person
can't be good news.
- Have a seat.
- Oh, god.
It could be worse.
I spoke with D.A. Ursillo.
She's offered us a deal.
She's considered that
you turned yourself in,
that the violation of users'
privacy was unintentional.
She's willing to drop
the criminal charges.
- That's good, right?
- There is a condition,
and it's a little unusual.
She's banning you from
the Internet for a year.
- What?
- If we agree to the deal,
you'll be required to hand over
all your Internet-enabled devices
Laptops, tablets,
cellphones, everything
And you'll be monitored to ensure
you don't violate the terms.
If we refuse,
she's gonna proceed
with criminal charges,
and you'll likely face jail time.
Oh.
Look, this business
needs immediate help.
We'll get you funding
fast, while providing you
- a host of other benefits.
- What other benefits?
Digitized bookkeeping,
outsourcing payroll,
take a lot of work off your shoulders.
It'll finally bring your
operation into the 21st century.
We're pretty experienced at
this stuff, with mom-and-pops
with bloated overhead and
- archaic management practices.
- Neil.
We'll reset your
workforce, normalize wages.
Our relationships with large-scale
suppliers will cut costs on everything
- from produce to inventory.
- Hold on a minute.
When you say "reset" my workforce,
do you mean you're going
to be firing my crew?
Well, technically, your staff's
been laid off since the earthquake.
And you're gonna
stop sourcing from the farms
and wholesalers I've
been using for decades,
people who have become
some of my best friends?
This is a business, correct?
- I think we're done.
- Yes, we are.
Well you won't do better.
Without help, you can
kiss this place good-bye.
Keep trying, Shifu.
Just be.
Nicky
I am there.
PEI-LING, VOICE-OVER: I feel you.
You are here, in the realm.
You are not alone. My sister.
She is here, too.
I am trying to find you.
Something is wrong.
The ground is moving.
You are gone.
Zhilan. I must find her.
Zhilan!
Zhil
Zhilan.
Nicky!
What happened to Zhilan?
Watch out!
Mmm!
Wow.
I mean, this is a good thing, right?
However it happened, your Shifu's alive.
Yes, having her back
and just seeing her
again, it it feels
Uh, I feel a "but" coming.
Look, I know it's her,
but when we fought, I saw something,
a glimpse of someone else
The Alchemist.
Somehow, I think Xiao
is connected to all this.
The resurrection,
moving between worlds
It sounds a lot like Xiao.
She was trapped in that realm
for over a thousand years.
What if she's using
Pei-Ling to get back?
What does Pei-Ling say?
She doesn't know how she got
here. We need to know more
How she got back, what she's doing here.
I still have the research we
pulled from Juliette's phone,
Xiao's notebooks. I'll start there.
- What can I do?
- We have another problem.
You two almost got blown up last night.
Whoever set that bomb
is still out there,
and this isn't just
some random gang member.
They're smart, capable. Work with Evan,
- figure out what we're dealing with.
- Got it.
If you need help
hacking, you could ask Bo.
No! Uh, I just Don't
feel like sharing my work today.
- You.
- Zhilan.
If I realized I was saving you
I wouldn't have bothered.
- Can I help you?
- Grant Harrison?
My name's Henry. I'm Danny Yan's son.
I'm looking for something. I, uh
Think you can help me find it.
Come on in.
- Tea?
- Sure.
So, what is it exactly
that you are looking for?
An ancient compass.
It's called Si Nan.
I see.
I worked with Danny for years.
He never mentioned a son.
Yeah, well,
he kept a lot of secrets.
I don't know if you
heard, but he's dead.
He wrote about you, you
know, in his journals,
about how you two teamed up,
looked for Si Nan together.
That's how I found you
So, please,
I really just want to talk.
Door's open.
If you're here to try again,
you're wasting your time.
I came to apologize.
My colleague favors a hard sell.
It works, on some people,
people with nothing to lose.
I know what this place means to you.
You have power, Mei-Li.
What power?
Power to negotiate.
Our company wants to
do business with you.
They see potential in
your name and brand,
your food.
Quite frankly, they see money.
You have leverage.
Make a deal that you like, or
at least one you can live with.
How?
I wouldn't know where to begin.
Employee wages, produce-sourcing.
It'd cut into our margins, but I've seen
the numbers and I know
what we think you're worth.
There is ground to be made
if you come back to the table.
Why would your bosses
want me to know this?
They wouldn't.
They don't know I'm here.
I've eaten your food.
I've seen you work that kitchen.
I'd just like to do business with you.
The issues facing our district,
the crime, the pace of the rebuild.
I know you're frustrated.
Many of you know me.
I've lived here my whole
life, and I am committed
to getting this district back on track.
Yes, Mr. Shen. Sorry Jin.
- Hmm. Old habit.
- Hello, Anthony.
-
-
Good to know. Good to know.
I have no doubt you mean what you say
and that you care for this city.
But caring and doing
Two different things, right?
- Right, right.
- It's been months
since the earthquake
devastated our city.
Weeks and days after that,
all sorts of promises were made
by the mayor, by you.
You say all this relief
Rent freeze for long-term residents,
bridge loan for small businesses
So help them rebuild.
My family's hurting, man,
and we're not the only ones.
A lot of people here are hurting.
- Yeah, yeah!
- So, with all due respect,
I gotta ask where you been?
And where's the help we were promised?
- Yeah!
- Jin's right.
And it's not just about relief.
What about the real issue?
Theft's gone through
the roof, on your watch.
Who in this room has been
robbed in the last few months?
Who knows someone,
a friend or a family
member, who has been robbed?
When are you going to do something?
Yeah!
All right.
We already knew Xiao was trying to
help the emperor achieve immortality.
She worked on a lot of possible methods,
but he rejected her most
successful experiment.
Unlike Russell Tan, the emperor
refused to kill his own child.
So, Xiao started to find another way.
She decided her best
bet would be to create
a spell she could use after he died
to, uh, "make his spirit flesh"
and resurrect him in the afterlife.
Ok, but how would she
even get to the afterlife?
According to her, she
didn't need to use magic.
Xiao claimed to be a Shen xing zhe,
a traveler, said she had a natural gift,
that she'd been crossing
worlds since she was a child.
Maybe that's how she got to
the realm in the first place,
before source magic, before Jyu Sa.
There's a ton of information
here; I mean, without more
to go off of, I don't
really know where to start.
Well, you can start here.
Pei-Ling was wearing it
when she crossed over.
I think it's connected
to how she came back.
All right. Thanks, bug.
All right, bye.
That was Nadia. It's a pet name.
- Cute.
- All right, "Pebbles."
Serial number.
Cops pulled it off
the bomb's transistor.
Could point back to our guy.
I'll see what I can do.
Have you thought about it, the deal?
Don't have much of a choice.
Haven't had the heart
to tell anyone yet,
- not even Dennis.
- Hmm.
Just trying to make the
most of the next few days,
do what I can while I can
so I can really avoid facing
the fact that I'm about
to lose my superpower
the cornerstone of my identity,
the entire foundation of my career,
the one thing on this planet
that I'm really, really good at.
I'm sorry but, hey,
you're you're good at lots of things.
Not this good.
I linked the serial number to a
black-market sale on the dark web.
Buyer paid through a Swiss bank account,
so I hacked their firewall,
snooped in the account records,
and got a name Max Deveer.
He's the one that bought the explosives.
What?
Althea, what's up?
We think
we've ID'd our mystery man.
- That's great.
- Evan doesn't think so.
Our guy, Max Deveer, came
up in military intelligence,
worked as a mercenary for
hire before going legit.
Now he does business as a
disaster security consultant.
- What kind of business?
- Well, various entities
hire him to move into
places of conflict
Wars, civil unrest, natural disasters
Scoping out opportunities.
- Opportunities for what?
- Profit.
He doesn't just assess
crises he stokes them,
creating instability for maximum profit.
Like forging a gang
alliance and manufacturing
a crime wave in our community?
The security bill will protect us.
Why haven't you voted for it?
I'm sorry. I can't vote for Ordinance 11.
I'll explain if
We are making progress.
SFPD made a huge bust last night,
recovering a large
stash of stolen goods.
Oh, please. That wasn't the cops.
We all know there's only one
person in Chinatown keeping us safe.
Well, that was a waste of time.
And you're right. Bad as things
are, they'd be so much worse.
Yup. I don't know what we'd
do without that Shen girl.
Hmm.
"That Shen girl."
So, post-earthquake,
this Deveer guy gets hired
to scope out
"opportunities" in our city.
He goes above and beyond,
fanning the flames,
- making things worse.
- Maximum chaos, maximum profit.
Then, two months ago, he brokers a truce
between Oakland gangs,
gets them working together
as an organized ring. Theft skyrockets.
When Max realized someone was on to him,
he was ready to blow up his
haul just to take us out.
It was never about the stolen goods.
It was about creating a crime wave?
So who stands to
profit? Who's the client?
I think I might have an idea.
What? I'm old-school.
- Check the headline.
-
- Ordinance 11?
- It's currently stalled out
with the board of supervisors;
There are still a couple of holdouts.
It's being presented as
a simple spending package,
but it's actually a massive handout
to private security
contractors, one in particular.
"Delta Security Endeavors."
Their lobbyists basically
wrote the Ordinance.
You think Max is messing
with our city on their behalf?
We won't have much luck going
after Delta Security Endeavors;
they keep their dealings
with Max clean, legal.
Then we go after Max.
We have to stop him and put him away.
- We need hard evidence.
- What about the gangs?
Herding rival gangs into
an alliance, money must have
changed hands, and with street-level
criminals, could have gotten sloppy.
Hmm.
The relief package died in committee.
I tried to get it through, Jin.
I failed.
I didn't know the full story.
Wow.
I lit a match in this room.
Wasn't your fault.
Crime's up. That heat was coming my way.
I can't vote for Ordinance 11.
No, you can't.
- You read it?
- We got enough problems
without giving the city away.
Knew today would be rough.
Didn't expect that.
I thought this job would bring me closer
to the city, to my people.
The reality, the day-to-day
I've never felt more disconnected.
You're a good kid, Anthony.
You'll get through it.
I don't think so.
Getting primaried.
If I don't fix this, they'll win.
I need help,
someone on my team who has
roots in the community,
someone who can help me connect
with my constituents
Someone like you.
That thing what was it?
We call him the harvester.
He hunts us down, one by one.
One nick from his blade, you're gone.
Simon, please.
Before I saw that woman, I
thought that I was alone here.
I thought that I was in hell.
What is this place?
Far as I know
This is our new home now.
After our world collapsed,
we all ended up here,
the Warrior and Guardian spirits.
Don't know why, what this place even is,
but, hey, figure nature abhors a vacuum,
so we had to end up somewhere.
What got you?
I guess I did.
Kind of a self-sacrifice.
Disappointing.
You know, I used to imagine
all the ways you'd go out,
most of them painful, not very heroic.
I'm sorry, Simon.
Yeah? For what?
Go on, say it.
Killing me?
Yes.
All right, I think we've
covered enough distance.
A few of us banded
together, formed a camp.
That's where I'm headed.
Look, I appreciate the apology,
but I have to think of them first,
and I don't trust you.
Look, I'm really sorry
about your father,
but I'm outta the game.
Before he died,
my dad apologized,
said he was sorry for
not telling me who I was.
His last words.
I need to know what he
meant. I have to understand.
Could have
been talking about anything.
Maybe, but I feel
like it's connected to Si Nan.
This is the one mystery I can solve,
the only shot I'll have, otherwise
I'll never know.
We looked all over China.
All we found were dead ends.
I know.
I used dad's journal
to retrace your steps,
all the way to that temple in Shaanxi
Your final dead end,
the place you called it quits.
He said it broke your heart.
Yeah, well, it broke mine, too.
I didn't know where else to look,
thought I'd never get an answer.
Yeah.
But then I remembered something,
something my dad once told me.
China's not the only place with magic.
Different context, but
it it got me thinking.
The Si Nan legend started in China,
but the myths and source texts,
that flowed from the legend;
all the maps and explorations,
all the speculations
about where it could have been hidden.
China interacted with other
civilizations when the legend took root.
We've been looking in the wrong place.
Oh, ok. Uh, remember those messages
Bo and I decrypted off
the Sugar Crash app?
I managed to pull the full thread,
going back weeks. The
messages were fake,
but one of the gang members slipped up.
They asked when they were
getting paid for the job.
Someone else on the thread said
that they were getting
paid the next day.
That "someone else" must have been
running point between
Deveer and the gang.
By going through their
communications, comparing them
to the names of the men that
were arrested at the warehouse,
I narrowed it down and
identified Max's contact
Mark Alonzo.
I hacked into his account records
and found a $150,000
deposit into his account.
So all we have
- to do is tie that payment back to Max.
- Already did
Same Swiss bank account
I already hacked.
Is that enough for an arrest?
A large payment to a
recently arrested gang member?
It's enough to snare
him in investigation.
Can you send those files
to me, as well as Nadia?
She'll kick it up to the D.A.
Althea, you are an evil genius,
and we would be nothing
without your skills.
Mmm.
So, Xiao was working on
magic to resurrect the emperor
in the afterlife, but she
discovered a problem
How to get him back. As a
traveler, she could get there,
but she doubted her
ability to bring the emperor
back to earth, so, to solve this,
she looked to create a device
that could resurrect the emperor
and join her to him, a
kind of mystical tether.
Jotted down some early
designs in the margins.
Look.
- The pendant.
- Yeah.
Ok, so worst-case, Xiao
needed a body to get back.
She used this tether to
anchor herself to Pei-Ling,
hitch a ride back to
earth, but if this pendant
is Xiao's connection to Pei-Ling,
can't we just destroy it
- Cut the tether, banish Xiao?
- Maybe,
but if we're right, and this
pendant is the same magic
Xiao was working on, it's also
the reason Pei-Ling's alive.
We destroy the pendant,
Pei-Ling could die.
Hmm.
I'll miss texting you
most of all, Bam Bam.
Buy you a drink?
Oh, no, thank you. I'm
waiting for some one.
Hello, Ms. Shen.
- Nicky.
- Just tell me what happened.
I was supposed to
meet her at apothecary.
I get there, she's nowhere to be seen,
but her bag is just sitting
there, under the bar,
so I tried calling her. No answer.
Took me a whole minute to
realize it's because her phone's
in her bag on silent, so I
begged my manager to let me see
the security footage, and
that's when I saw that.
Who is that guy?
What?
It's Max Deveer, the guy
behind the thefts in Chinatown.
You mean the guy who
tried to blow up my wife?
- He has her?
- Ok.
Dennis, I promise I’m going to find her.
I heard about a Shen girl
A hero, a protector of her community.
I wondered if this was the same girl
who tried to bust up my operation.
Then a member of my team
identified a security breach,
someone poking around
in my bank records.
I discovered she had a sister
A disgraced tech wiz.
Interesting family.
What do you want from me?
Your talent.
I know you stole files linking
me to the Oakland gangs.
You're gonna tell me who you sent it to,
and then, you're gonna
undo the mess you made:
Hack into their computers and then wipe
any trace of those records.
I'm guessing there's
an "or else" coming?
Hey. Sorry to rip you away from work.
No, that's ok.
Um, you said Althea's
got her computer on her?
- She left here with it.
- And it wasn't at the bar.
- Ok, you got her phone?
- Yeah.
If I can get into her
phone, I can use the locator app
to track down her computer.
You know her password?
I tried getting past her lock screen.
- I couldn't remember it.
- Can you crack it?
The security on
these are pretty tight.
- I'm sorry.
- Hey, that was Nadia.
She was about to send
the files to the D.A.,
but they're gone
scrubbed from her email,
her hard drive, disappeared.
Uh, guys.
W-what's happening?
I'm guessing the same thing
that just happened to Nadia.
Somebody's taken
remote control of your system.
- Deveer?
- I don't know. Is he an amazing hacker?
I'll unplug the system, lock him out?
Whoa, whoa, wait. That
that might not be Max.
- Then who?
- Althea.
- How's it coming?
- I can sneak around the override,
backtrace their hack, but
actually getting an IP address,
finding their location
That could take a while.
We don't have a while. Althea's a
genius; She'll run circles past us.
- How's it coming?
- It's coming.
Ok, that's weird.
- Bad weird or
- No, no, good weird.
Someone pulled down their security.
What was that?
Just a quick search of his cache.
You want me to be thorough, right?
IP's unprotected, like
they want to be found.
- Right under Max's nose.
- That's my girl.
Got their location.
Let's go.
Keep running all those programs.
Ok, this is taking way
longer than it should.
It it's not my fault.
The system, it's sludgy.
It's almost like
No, no, Dan, you can't get back to me.
In this instance, I think it needs
a an immediate police response.
Like what, Ms. Shen?
Like the hard drive's overloaded.
Well, I guess you better fix it, then.
- No, no, no. Baby, no.
- What happened?
I'm slowing down our
system, but it's not working anymore.
She got around me.
Well done, Ms. Shen
And thank you for your service.
So this is it, huh?
You'll never get away with this.
Heh!
How's that?
You've been messing with Chinatown,
manipulating us, hurting us,
and you've been doing it for money?
My sister's a warrior.
You're everything she's born to destroy.
I appreciate the warning.
I'll make sure to kill her next.
Find out whoever did this!
Leave her to me.
Aah!
Bo.
Go. Find her!
Hey!
Nicky!
Sorry I took so long.
Ok, ok, ok. A breath, a breath.
I'm sorry. It's just If
anything had happened to you
Mmm. Wish we still
had all that evidence,
but abduction and attempted
murder should do the trick.
There's something I have to tell you.
I heard the D.A.'s offer and
Is it bad?
It's pretty bad
But if I can get through this
I think we'll be ok.
Hmm.
Hey.
Thank you
for dropping everything
and risking your life
to save my family, again.
I don't need thanks.
Anything you need, I'm here.
Why?
Because
I like you.
Heh!
Where are they?
- I'll never tell.
- Do you think you're helping them?
You only delay their salvation.
Huh?
Thank you, both of you, for
coming back. You know, we've put
our entire lives into this place.
As you can imagine, it's
been emotional for us.
Of course. We're just glad
you've come around to the deal.
Actually, we called you
back not to sign the deal.
We called you back to negotiate.
About the redesign,
we are not comfortable with the changes.
We put a lot of thought
into the rebuild,
and we are happy with
the path we've chosen.
Of course. We're always
happy to collaborate on decor.
Hmm.
- What's this?
- More of our demands.
We will maintain operational control
over employee pay and produce-sourcing.
And as for non-perishables, we
will consider your suppliers,
provided they meet our standards.
These are significant concessions,
but I'll bring them to the board.
I think we could sell them on this.
Really?
One last demand.
The 60/40 majority stake
We're not gonna budge
on that. No company on earth
- I understand that.
- We spoke to our lawyer
and found out deals of this nature,
in some cases, certain
exemptions can be made.
- Exemptions?
- Carveouts, if you will.
You maintain your majority stake,
we maintain veto power over
certain important decisions.
We really appreciate
your interest in us,
but we have to protect ourselves.
I'm sure you understand that.
Well, all we can do is take it to the
partners, see what they say, right?
It has been a
pleasure negotiating with you.
Ma'am?
- Lo Por
- Hmm?
You're incredible.
Ah.
Heh heh! You think they'll take it?
We'll see, Lao Gong.
We will see.
Mm-hmm.
I thought you said his blade was fatal,
sudden death.
Yeah, I've seen it many
times every Warrior
and Guardian spirit, gone in an instant.
Maybe you're different.
How did you die?
Uh I was in the cave,
near the Source. Walls came down and
So you were alive when
you entered the realm?
Yes,
but I stayed behind
when the world was ending.
I I thought that
Your sacrifice.
Did you ever consider that
maybe your sacrifice didn't take?
The blade reaps spirits.
Didn't reap you.
Sorry to say it, but I
don't think you're dead.
Sorry.
I had a crisis to deal with.
Is everything ok?
I remembered
My last moments in the realm.
I saw Xiao, wearing my face.
She had the pendant.
She is the reason I am here,
this alchemist.
You already knew?
Not for sure
But yeah.
Far as we know,
Xiao used this pendant to
bring you back to life and to
bring herself back to earth.
You know what we must do.
No.
This might be the only
thing keeping you alive.
Shifu, I can't lose you again.
Ever since I returned,
I have not felt like myself.
Something was not right.
Now I know it is because of Xiao.
What if she chose me
for a reason, hmm?
What if she knew you would protect me
Her vessel at any cost?
I will not be used like that.
I refuse.
We must
take that chance.
Hey. Everything ok with your friend?
Yeah, yeah.
Actually, things are looking up.
She's feeling much better, and so am I.
Great.
Uh, your text sounded kinda urgent.
It was.
You want to talk about something?
Not really.
You sure this lai-taang
bow-raan is our compass?
The lai-taang bow-raan
was discovered decades ago
in what is now modern-day Thailand.
It's special, it's
There it is.
It's mysterious.
I never thought it could be Si Nan
until you opened my eyes.
Let's get a closer look.
Oh
Oh, it's beautiful.
- May I?
- Yeah.
What's happening?
It's reacting, to you.
Grant?
Grant.
Greg, move your head!
Nice shot, mom!
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