The Finale
Part Two
A couple miles from the Valley of Peace, Rik-Zi and his army started the plan.
"Taipan, take the long way around." Rik-Zi ordered. "See if you can take down some of the warriors. We'll attack tomorrow." Taipan's three heads nodded and he slithered off.
Meanwhile, at the palace, Mantis and Tokay were sparring. Tokay was getting to be very good at kung fu, and Mantis was happy to have a sparring partner his size. Then, he noticed a glow out of the corner of his eye, and he turned, staring. Tokay landed a kick and Mantis slammed into a wall.
"Don't lose focus." Tokay teased. Mantis said nothing, but instead pointed inside the Sacred Hall of Warriors, where the glow was coming from. The warrior and the scribe walked in and found the Ki-Rin Scroll activating by itself. The Ki-Rin appeared, standing tall and proud.
"Greetings, warriors." The Ki-Rin said. "I come with a warning. The evil Rik-Zi and his minions are coming with the Tengu Army. Their power is great, and only with the Chimera Armor can you hope to defeat them."
"The Chimera Armor?" Mantis asked.
"It is a legendary armor that can make the wearer nearly unstoppable." The Ki-Rin explained. "But, another warning to the two of you: the person who wears this armor to fight the Tengu Army will most likely die from it. Good luck." The Ki-Rin disappeared, and Mantis stared at the spot he once occupied.
"Well, we're doomed." Mantis said. "Better find a new palace."
"No, we're not." Tokay said. "Ten years ago, I found the Chimera Armor and kept it safe at the Quartz Palace. I grabbed it after we left the ruins when Komodo first came."
"Then there might still be hope!" Mantis cried. The two of them rushed off and gathered the others. Tokay explained what the Ki-Rin had told him and Mantis. He also told them that the runes on Tigress' necklace could take away the powers that Rik-Zi, Komodo, Taipan, and Tai Lung have.
"But it's lost in the Sapphire Palace ruins." Tigress protested.
Tokay thought for a moment. "Alright, here's the plan. Po, you take Tigress, Panther, and Bengal with you and find that necklace. We're gonna need somebody to take the Chimera Armor and fight Rik-Zi and the Tengu Army head on to stall them. Anyone care to volunteer?"
Nobody was that willing. Since the Ki-Rin predicted that the person who did that would most likely die, nobody was up to dying.
Then, Xai stood up. "I'll do it."
"You realized that's suicidal!" Po reminded him.
"I've been the cause of ten years of suffering and death." Xai growled. "This is the only way I'll redeem myself."
"Well, if we're going to do this, we'd better do it now." Monkey said. The group split up, but Tigress grabbed Xai's arm.
"You can't do this." She said. "You could be killed."
"I know." Xai shrugged as he kept walking.
"Please don't do this." Tigress begged.
"Look, remember when I said that I would always have feelings for you, and you said the same thing?" Xai asked. "Remember that; if I live, I'll marry you." Xai gave her a kiss and rushed off.
Po put a comforting paw on her shoulder. "Come on. Let's get that necklace. And don't worry about Xai. He knows how to keep his head in the right place." Tigress sighed and followed him, Panther, and Bengal as they journeyed off at top speeds. Tokay showed Xai the armor, which looked like samurai armor that was fiery red, but no helmet. Xai donned the armor and grabbed the Sword of Heroes. He ran off into the night, only looking back once.
STAR STAR STAR STAR STAR
Soon, Po, Tigress, Bengal, and Panther arrived at the Sapphire Palace ruins. They started to search for the necklace. They had to dig thru at least seven feet of rocks and rubble. Then, Po cried out.
"I found it!" he yelled. He held up the small, square-shaped hunk of ruby that had etchings all over the front. Suddenly, Komodo knocked it out of his hand and attacked, only to be intercepted by Panther and Bengal. Tai Lung attacked Po, Tigress helping the panda. Rik-Zi, having seen the group as they were running off, ordered the komodo dragon and snow leopard to kill them. So the two groups were forced to engage in battle.
As Po and Tai Lung fought, Po could see doubt in Tai Lung's eyes. The panda grabbed Tai Lung's serpent tail and held it tightly. "Tai Lung, why are you doing this?"
"Revenge!" Tai Lung snapped. "I was supposed to be the Dragon Warrior, and Shifu shouldn't have denied me it!"
"First off, Oogway denied you it." Po corrected. "Second, Shifu was obeying his master. And besides, he's dead. You've already gotten your revenge." Po let go of the serpent tail, and it didn't strike. "Rik-Zi doesn't care about you; he'll kill you off once he's bored with you." Tai Lung was frozen where he stood for a long time.
He's right. Tai Lung thought. All this time, I just wanted revenge on Shifu. But since he's dead, I've already be avenged. Tai Lung nodded and helped Po up. Then, the snow leopard rushed off and tackled Komodo before the lizard could lay down the final blow on Bengal.
"Komodo, listen to the panda." Tai Lung urged. "He's right."
"Rik-Zi would never betray me." Komodo hissed. "He's my master!"
"You just want to believe that." Tai Lung snarled. "You want to believe that because your parents kicked you out of the house. You spent most of your life on the streets, stealing food and money to live. You came to the Jade Palace hoping to find a family, not to be a good fighter." Komodo hissed menacingly, even though it was all true. "Face it; you're nothing but a big, whiny baby!"
Komodo lunged, and the two of them started to fight viciously. Po, Panther, Tigress, and Bengal stared at them. Komodo flew up high and breathed fire. Tai Lung slashed at the lizard and tore open his flesh.
Then, it was over.
Tai Lung's serpent tail bit into Komodo's throat while Tai Lung's claws were stabbing the lizard's chest.
Komodo's claws sliced open Tai Lung's chest, right over the leopard's heart, and the lizard blew flames into the cat's heart.
In a devastating blow and a bright flash of light, the two villains were killed. Reduced to a cloud of mist, they blew away into the wind.
The four warriors were in complete and utter shocked silence…
…until a piercing scream broke it.
Po jumped at least ten feet in the air. A skeleton hand was sticking out of the rubble. "That hand just grabbed my ankle!"
"Po, it's a skeleton hand!" Tigress said. "It's probably not attached to anything! And even if it was, it's dead!"
"It still grabbed me!" Po whined.
Bengal rolled her eyes as she pulled the hand up. It was revealed to be the skeleton of a gavial. "Well, it is attached to something after all."
"It still grabbed me." Po insisted. "Who do you think this is?"
"It's Gavial!" Tigress cried. She explained to the others that Gavial was a bounty hunter who helped save Master Shifu after he was taken by Rik-Zi. "Then, he sacrificed himself to save our lives."
"Wow." Po breathed. He couldn't believe that this was the same guy that had saved the life of his master.
Suddenly, the skeleton stirred!
"It's haunted!" Po screamed.
"Scatter!" Panther ordered. The group hid behind bits of the ruins and watched the skeleton.
The skeleton of Gavial stirred and slowly stood up. He wobbled a bit once on his feet, but soon gained his balance. He looked around, then at himself. He flexed his fingers, then his jaw, and even his tail. He went on all fours and shook the dust off of him. He stood up straight and sighed.
"Not my first choice for an avatar." Gavial's skeleton said. "But it works."
Po stared at the skeleton. He, Tigress, Bengal, and Panther emerged from their hiding places and confronted the skeleton.
"Master Shifu?" Tigress asked.
"You could say that." Shifu nodded. "I thought I'd come down to help, but didn't know how. Gavial's skeleton seemed to be the only think available at the moment. Tigress, get the necklace. We have to get back to the palace." Tigress nodded and went off to get it.
"Glad to see you." Po said.
"Pretty good to be back for a while." Shifu admitted. Tigress came back with the necklace and the five of them left.
The next day, in the Valley of Peace, everyone was up and alert, waiting for…..well, whatever came at them.
Cobra was at his house, watching over his eggs. After hearing about Rik-Zi, he was starting to get extremely worried about them. When he heard flapping wings, he stood poised to strike, his fangs out and his hood spread. But he relaxed when Crane came flying in thru the window.
"Anything happen?" Crane asked.
"Everything's fine here." Cobra said. "What about the village?"
"Nothing." Crane admitted. "I flew around the entire village and warned everyone, but it's so quiet; Rik-Zi's and his friends are nowhere in sight." Crane cast a glance at the eggs and smiled. "You know, maybe I was wrong about that whole, 'kids are a bunch of trouble' thing." Cobra smiled. He and Crane had a heavy discussion about kids a month previous.
"Glad to hear that." Cobra said. "You know, I told you that Viper and I wanted you to become a godfather to one of our kids. Care to take your pick?"
Crane glanced down at the eggs. "I think I'll put my trust in Vishnu, if he's anything like his dad."
"What's wrong with that?" Cobra demanded.
"Well….." Crane smirked and the boys laughed.
Viper slithered in, smiling. "Aw, how nice to see you two getting along." She smiled down at the eggs, huddled together in the blanket they rested in. "They'll be hatching any minute now."
"I know." Cobra was getting a bit jittery with excitement.
"I'm happy for both of you." Crane said. "I can't wait to-" Suddenly, he froze. "Someone's here." The three of them whipped around just as Taipan appeared, and Crane deflected an attack from the three-headed snake.
Taipan laughed. "So, you two actually married." He gestured towards Viper and Cobra. "How pathetic. You should've stuck with me, Viper. Just look at what Rik-Zi has gotten me!"
"You mean the extra heads and even bigger ego?" Crane mocked.
"You will be silent you insufferable-" Taipan stopped. Everyone listened closely and averted their gazes towards the eggs, which started cracking. Before they knew it, holes appeared in the eggs, and out came little baby snakes. Cobra, Viper, and Crane were so busy staring at them that they never noticed Taipan until the monster rushed forward and grabbed one of the babies. Viper, in fear and rage, rushed to attack him, but Crane held her back. One look and she got the message: attack Taipan and the kid could get hurt.
Taipan smirked triumphantly, but then Monkey, Mantis and Tokay rushed in. Monkey grabbed a knife from the kitchen table and sliced off two of Taipan's heads. Taipan screamed in pain and dropped the snake baby, whom Mantis caught and returned to Cobra. Cobra set the baby down and they all watched with horror as two heads grew from each of the stumps on Taipan, making him have five heads. The snake rushed outside, the warriors right on his tail. It was a bit difficult to fight Taipan, seeing how he had five heads and seemed a bit bigger. One villager, in a fleeting moment of bravery, rushed out and sliced off one of Taipan's heads with a farming axe. But two more heads grew, Taipan grew in size, and one of the new heads grabbed the villager and flung him into a fruit stand.
Somehow, as Taipan and the warriors fought, he kept getting heads chopped off. And every time that happened, two more heads grew and Taipan got bigger. Soon, Taipan had fifty heads and was huge. The villagers had run off, but Crane, Viper, Cobra, Mantis, Monkey, Tokay, and the just appeared Hawk kept fighting. Hawk fought hard, slashing out the eyes of the few heads that were attacking him. Taipan's tail suddenly smashed into the top of the watchtower, and the bell fell down towards the bird. Hawk looked up and could only watch as the bell came towards him, too fast for him to move.
He would've been crushed, but then a cheetah rushed past at top speed, grabbing him along the way. A monitor lizard and a gliding frog followed the girl.
"You alright?" the female cheetah asked.
"Yeah." Hawk nodded.
"Good." The cheetah said. "We'll take it from here." The cheetah started barking orders. "Surnam, help those warriors fight! Jake, find that snake's weak point!"
"You got it, Cheetah!" Surnam and Jake called.
Cheetah joined Surnam as they fought. Jake went into a meditative position. Soon, his eyes snapped open. "His weak point is in his chest! Hey you!"
"Hawk."
"Hawk." Jake nodded. "Grab that bell!" Hawk nodded. Crane, understanding, flew over and helped carry the bell to the top of the broken tower. Jake gave the word, and the three of them pushed the bell off the tower. Everyone scattered as the bell hit Taipan's chest. Not only did it crush his rib cage, but the snake/Naga disappeared in a cloud of mist.
The warriors gathered around, and Crane and Monkey introduced the others to Cheetah, Jake, and Surnam, their old friends from the Ruby Palace.
"Where's Xai?" Surnam asked Crane quickly.
"How do you know he's alive?" Crane asked. "We watched the city crumble."
"We heard about a clouded leopard named Saber." Cheetah explained. "But after investigating further, we discovered that he was actually Xai. Now where is he?"
"He went to face Rik-Zi and the Tengu Army." Mantis told her. "Alone."
"What?" Cheetah exclaimed. She ran off with her intense speed to stop her friend from being killed.
STAR STAR STAR STAR STAR
Xai stood before the great Tengu Army, Chimera Armor and Sword of Heroes on his side. A great storm was overhead, making rain pour down, thunder crash, and lightning flash.
Rik-Zi stood on a podium in the middle of his army. "Ready for death, I assume?"
"Yeah." Xai said. "Yours."
"You're a foolish boy." Rik-Zi mocked. He turned casually to his army. "Kill him." And he spread his wings and flew off.
The battle began.
The archers of the army launched a volley of arrows. Xai deflected most with his sword and the rest ricocheted off his armor and back at the army, killing a few warriors. Xai rushed forward and slashed the Sword of Heroes right thru some of the surprised warriors, who turned to dust. The rest of the army rushed forward, but once Xai cut thru about another twenty of them, the rest just surrounded the clouded leopard.
"So…..guys…." Xai stood ready with his sword. "Any ideas for a future kid's name?"
The Tengu warriors suddenly relaxed, but they seemed confused. They started muttering out suggestions, Xai nodding with interest.
"YOU IDIOTS!" Rik-Zi screamed from his unseen hiding place. "KILL HIM ALREADY!" The Tengu Army suddenly charged, and Xai kept fighting. One warrior came in with his katana, but Xai sliced thru the blade before decapitating the warrior himself. He sliced another warrior with a yumi bow in half. With every warrior that was killed, that warrior turned to dust. Xai got thru about half of the warriors when he suddenly thought of a name.
"Thylaceo…" he muttered. That was his master's name.
Suddenly, a Tengu warrior grabbed an arrow and stabbed Xai in the leg. Xai screamed in pain and went down to his knees, stabbing the Tengu warrior in the head. The rest came at him, but he was already having an adrenaline rush. Then, Xai was fighting like a madman, cutting and slicing thru what was left of the Tengu Army until at last, he thrust the sword into the final warrior's heart.
Xai stopped, breathing hard. He was covered in small cuts and the larger one from the fallen Tengu. The Sword of Heroes was still intact, with barely any scratches. The Chimera Armor was still stable, but looked like it had been attacked by a demonic cat.
Xai didn't have long to relax. Rik-Zi, furious at Xai for destroying his army, suddenly rushed in and attacked, launching a wave of fire at the leopard. Xai managed to dodge and swung the Sword of Heroes at the villain. Rik-Zi dodged, but grabbed the sword and heated it with his powers. Xai dropped the sword, his paws burning. Rik-Zi launched another wave of fire and, though Xai was able to dodge, his fur was singed. Rik-Zi charged in, using his powers to burn Xai, kicking and punching the leopard, slamming him into trees, and…well, I'm just gonna sum it all up and say that Rik-Zi gave Xai the beating of a lifetime. Even his Chimera Armor couldn't protect him.
Then, Rik-Zi grabbed Xai by the straps of his armor and flew up high into the air. Rik-Zi flew so high that they were as close to space as possible. Then, the salamander dropped the already half-dead clouded leopard down towards earth. Rik-Zi watched with pleasure, waiting for the devastating crash into the ground that would kill Xai.
But, at the last second, a flash of yellow appeared, and Xai was gone from sight.
Rik-Zi flew down and looked around, but saw no one.
"No matter." Rik-Zi mused. He grabbed the Sword of Heroes from the ground. "I'll take care of things myself."
Meanwhile, at the Jade Palace, the warriors had regrouped after the fight with Taipan.
"You think Cheetah's alright?" Jake asked.
"Yeah, she's been gone a while." Surnam agreed.
"She's fine." Crane assured. "I don't know her well, but I'm sure she and Xai are fine."
Suddenly, Cheetah burst into the room, out of breath and supporting Xai's broken form. Everyone was on their feet in an instant.
"Somebody help me." Cheetah gasped. "He's hurt really bad."