Lotus

Debbie Y Yuan uan Debbie Yuan couldn’t believe it. Her father, respected Chinatown businessman William Shiyu Yuan, was actually the secret dragon head of the fearsome Wing Chao tong. The organized crime group had held Chinatown in its iron grip since the Golden Age of heroes, when it was led by the sorcerer known only as T’ien Lung, or Celestial Dragon. Debbie found more papers in her father’s desk, records of money laundered by the tong, when the door suddenly swung open. “Debbie! What are you doing in my office?” demanded her father as he entered the room. In a panic, she tried to stuff the papers back into the desk drawer. Her father nodded, shutting the door. “I see you’ve discovered my secret, little one,” he said, thoughtfully. “I’d hoped to wait until you’d finished college to tell you but destiny has its own design.” “What you’re doing is wrong,” Debbie burst out. “You’re preying on our people.” “No, daughter, we bring order to Chinatown,” he replied. “But order costs, and the people must pay. That’s fair, isn’t it? And with your powers we can eliminate the lesser tongs. When the Wing Chao rules supreme, there will be peace.” “You can’t fool me with words, father,” Debbie said. “I know about the tongs. About how they kill people, extort money—I won’t be part of it.” She ran from the room in tears. Even though she was only 18, just starting college at UC San Angelo, Debbie knew what she had to do. Her family had committed great injustices on the people of Chinatown. As the hero Lotus, she would use her superhuman strength to combat the tongs and atone for her family’s wrongs. Quote: “I know I have the strength to do what’s right.”