Here's the longest chapter thus far, and what a chapter it is! It's the moment you've all been waiting for! Our two warlords are about to throw down! Place your bets, folks!
Chapter 7: The Battle for Gongmen City
"Okay, clearly we got off on the wrong foot here. I know we've had our differences, but I'm willing to be the bigger man and admit that I might have...overreacted. So if you're willing to let bygones be bygones, I'd like for us to move past this and to just be a little more considerate of each others' feelings in the future. You help me track down your old master and I'll even give you a bone. Femur, rib, spinal cord, your choice. So what do you say, Fido? Can we be friends?"
Kai extended his hoof towards the jade Wolf Boss, who licked it with his jade tongue. Not the most pleasant sensation, but at least that was settled. "Good boy. Now how about the rest of you?"
He looked over the other jaded wolves he had picked up, roughly a dozen. They perked up at his command and saluted in unison. "Alright then, we're good to go. Let's-oh, hold on, you've got a little something..." Kai reached down to the Wolf Boss and ran his hoof over a large crack in his armor, using his chi to smooth it out. He wouldn't have smacked this guy around so much if he realized how much repair work he was going to have to do. Not that shattered ribs or a broken arm were going to actually affect his performance now, but Kai was, among other things, an artist. You wouldn't show off a smudged painting, would you? "See? That's me being considerate. Now let's get going. I have a score to settle."
Kai looked up at the, admittedly impressive, Tower of Sacred Flame looming in the distance. It was fairly close now, but still a bit of a walk. Glancing around, he spotted an easier alternative sitting next to the jail's entrance. "Hmm..."
"I know what he's doing."
Lord Shen looked out at the city as the sun began to set, narrowing his eyes as he searched for any sign of Kai. "He's trying to make me wait. It's a psychological ploy to try and break my will before he even arrives. But it won't work."
The Soothsayer remained silent. Judging by Shen's impatiently tapping talons and twitching wings, she believed it was actually working quite well. From what little she knew of this 'Kai' though, she didn't think him to be the strategic type.
She didn't think that Shen would be the reasonable type either, and that was sadly still proving accurate. If he still wasn't convinced that this opponent was too dangerous to face, even after what they had both just witnessed, he simply could not be helped anymore. And as someone who had taken it upon herself to care for and look after him, that hurt her more than anything else. But she would not leave his side. Not until she was given no choice in the matter.
Sometimes, she wasn't sure she even wanted to be a seer. She had felt guilty enough when she made the prophecy that had resulted in the deaths of hundreds of innocent pandas, but that had always been cushioned by the fact that at least Shen was still alive. Banished, and undoubtedly going through difficult times, but alive. That knowledge made her feel that perhaps it hadn't been a complete waste after all. And even if he had returned to face his destiny, even if his defeat to the 'warrior of black and white' had ended in his demise, it would have brought peace to them both. The thought of it still hurt, but it was an outcome she could accept.
But this! This was not the fulfillment of Shen's destiny. This would not bring him peace. Nothing would be gained from this except more mindless destruction. She just couldn't understand why.
Why had the threads of fate changed so much?
What was the purpose of all of this?
Wouldn't you like to know?
The goat jumped, looking around frantically. What...what was that?!
"He's here," Shen growled.
Suddenly, nothing else mattered.
The first indication of Kai's arrival was the sky, and not just the fact that it was now nighttime, a time appropriately dark and dreary. Something that Kai had come to notice was the way that the sky seemed to become distinctly more greenish whenever he was around. At first, he had thought it to be just another quirk of the Spirit Realm, but he had noticed it happening in this plane as well. Some kind of latent chi ability? If so, then Lord Shen might be more powerful than he thought, as he seemed to be able to turn the sky a crimson red.
One of the first lessons he had learned as a warlord was how effective a good dramatic entrance could be. Gone were the days when he would simply walk up to a city he wanted to conquer and conquer it. Now, he did it with style.
Riding in a large rickshaw that faced backwards, Kai was pulled up to the front of the tower by the Wolf Boss, walking on all fours and holding both of his chains in his mouth. Kai held firmly on to the other end, turning a rickshaw into more of a chariot. Following after him was the rest of the jade wolf posse, marching in two neat rows behind him. Looking up, he saw the peacock prince sitting atop the highest balcony, glaring down at him. Clearly, he also had an appreciation for style. Not that it was going to save him.
"SHEEEEEEEEEEEEN!"
Shen winced. It was quite telling that, even from this height, he could hear the yak perfectly. He knew his own voice wouldn't come close to carrying that far, so he didn't even bother trying to respond. But it was too much to hope that this would actually made him stop talking. "SO WE FINALLY MEET! AT LONG LAST, I AM GOING TO SHOW YOU WHO IS TRULY THE SUPREME WARLORD! BY THE END OF TODAY-"
Good gods, did this guy ever shut up?!
"-NOT ONLY GOING TO TAKE YOUR CHI, I'M GOING TO TAKE YOUR WHOLE CITY! AND AFTER I DO THAT, I-"
Enough already!
"-GOING TO BE A GLORIOUS DAY IN THE HISTORY OF KAI! THEN I'LL MARCH ON THE JADE PALACE AND-"
Screw this. Shen took a deep breath and cut him off with a piercing peacock's cry. It meant nothing to Kai, aside from a rude interruption, but it meant everything to the legions of troops Shen had prepared. It was the signal to attack.
"Eh?" Kai squinted his eyes as the shutters on every single level of the tower were flung open, revealing numerous armed wolves and gorillas lying in wait. He grinned madly. Fine, if he was so eager to get started...
"CHARGE!"
A rain of arrows flew down from the tower as Kai was pulled forward by the Wolf Boss. He knew they would all be aimed at him rather than the jade soldiers, so he jerked the chains left and right to steer him through the onslaught. A few hit their mark, but that was nothing he couldn't handle. Master Porcupine, and the few jade wolves that happened to be archers fired back, and though they lacked the height and numbers advantage, they had an even better one in the fact that they couldn't be hurt. They fired continuously into Shen's ranks, sending a few wolves falling from the tower.
More importantly, they provided enough of a distraction for Kai to get close enough to bust straight through the front doors. A foolish gorilla had apparently tried to barricade it, and he was the first to be flattened as he and his ride crashed through. Immediately, Kai saw Shen's army rushing down the stairs to welcome him. Lashing his chains, the Wolf Boss took off like the noble steed he was and charged straight up the stairs, followed by the rest of the jade wolves. A few of Shen's wolves hesitated to attack their former packmates, and these were the easiest targets as his soldiers cut them down with no such reluctance. Evidently, old dogs could learn new tricks.
At the top of one flight, he was startled when a gorilla suddenly dropped in from above, grabbing the former alpha wolf and chucking him over the side. Kai growled as the Wolf Boss lost his grip on the chains and fell several stories to the floor below. So much for the free ride. He leapt out of the rickshaw, while kicking it backwards to slide into the troops coming up the stairs behind him, and threw a chi-powered punch into the gorilla's gut. The simian was catapulted up the next flight of stairs, knocking over even more soldiers while Kai followed close behind, swinging his blades to take out anyone who got in his way.
Deflecting a few more arrows with his swords, he realized just how far he still had to climb. Who needed stairs anyway? Throwing his swords upward to stick into the highest points he could reach, Kai launched himself like a slingshot to reach the upper floors. Before he even landed, he spun around and swung his swords out to cut through the lines of archers that had been hassling him this whole time, then finally pulled himself up to the last staircase. Seeing his pursuers coming after him, Kai gave a mocking wave and flung himself up the stairs, intentionally dropping down and stomping on them so hard that they collapsed behind him. They were gonna have a heck of a time chasing after him now.
"I suppose I'm not surprised."
Lord Shen turned around to face the yak now standing in his throne room. "I'm almost glad my underlings failed. I didn't wish to be robbed of the satisfaction of killing you myself."
Kai's body was marred by a few cuts and stray arrows, which disappeared instantly as his stray chi rose up through the floor and floated back into him. All except for one orb, which he stopped and sent back through the floor, just for insurance. Kai walked into the room, looking around slowly. Pursing his lips, he let out an impressed whistle. "Not a bad place you have here, Shen. Sure beats the heck out of the Tower of Triumph. I look forward to owning it."
Shen walked towards him as well, resisting to urge to start throwing knives already. "Over my dead body."
"Well that was the plan, wasn't it?" Kai asked cheerfully. "Though you won't be dead, per se. You'll just be a fashion accessory. Peacocks are known for their sense of glamour, right? I'm sure you'll make a very nice amulet."
By this point, both warlords had stopped within a few feet of each other. Shen didn't show any sign of intimidation, despite how much his adversary towered over him. "And what do we have here?" Shen was surprised, and a little insulted, when Kai suddenly took his eyes off of him and moved to the left. He forced himself to remain calm as Kai walked up the short stairs to the podium in the center of the room, the one where his greatest invention now sat. "This must be the new weapon I've heard so much about," he said admiringly, running a hoof along its surface. "This little trinket may be an even greater prize."
Shen opened his beak to retort, but he was beaten to the punch. "No amount of trinkets will ever satisfy you," said the Soothsayer, glaring at him. Shen looked at her like she was mad. What was that fool woman doing?!
"Really? And what would you know about that?" Kai asked, starting towards her.
"She has nothing to do with this," Shen said, a little too quickly.
The yak's eyes lit up in understanding. "I see. You must be the Soothsayer. Tell me, oh Great Nanny, did you foresee all of this?"
"She did," Shen answered for her. "Let's just say it's been a point of contention."
"I bet." To his relief, he payed no more attention to the old goat and walked back in front of him, smirking psychotically. "I don't know what she told you, but I have a feeling you really should have listened."
Enough of these games. Shen swung his guandao out to the side and crouched down into his stance, preparing himself for battle. "You don't frighten me, you talk way too much, and frankly, you're not that funny."
That sure wiped the smirk off of his face. "No sense of humor, huh? Then let's see how funny you find THIS!" Kai gripped both swords and swung them down at Shen, who turned his guandao sideways and blocked them both. Shen and Kai leaned in and glared murderously at each other.
Then the battle began.
As the two warlords jumped apart, Kai made the first move, throwing both swords in the bird's direction. Shen twirled his guandao, deflecting the first blade off to the side, then catching the second by its chain and stabbing it into the ground. As he completed this motion, he hurled a flurry of knives out of his sleeve, which all nailed Kai in the chest. Against most opponents, that would have ended the battle right there, but Kai looked more amused than anything. He casually pulled out one of the knives, looked it over curiously, used it to comb down some unruly hairs on his mane, and then chucked it aside.
Shen went on the offensive, charging in and swinging his guandao at Kai's stomach. The yak jumped away to avoid the slash and pulled his thrown blades back towards him. Shen caught sight of them and performed a backflip to avoid being sandwiched. As Kai caught his swords, Shen landed in front of him, but before he could attack again, the peacock abruptly spun around and unfurled his train in his face. He reeled back in surprise and instinctively shielded his face, allowing Shen to stab out behind him and catch Kai in the side. He heard a yell of pain and smiled in satisfaction when his guandao came back covered in bovine blood.
As Shen whirled around again, he was unable to avoid Kai's leg as it connected with his chest, knocking him back across the room. As he got back up, massaging a bruised rib cage, he saw Kai tear out one of the room's decorated columns and toss it at him. As it came close, Shen jumped on top of it, running across its surface and leaping off the other end before it even touched the ground. While in midair, Shen tossed out a rope dart, which snagged one of Kai's large horns and pulled him to the floor. With a grunt of annoyance, he cut the rope with one of his swords and tossed it away.
Completely fed up with this, Kai leapt clear across the room, letting out a loud battle cry as he came down with a flying kick that surged with chi energy. Shen rolled out of the way, and the spot where he once stood became a gaping hole in the floor. Before he could fully process this, Kai came at him again, swinging his swords relentlessly. Shen was slowly forced back, blocking the attacks with his guandao, until Kai finally broke through, knocking the weapon out of his wings and grabbing him by the throat. Kai lifted Shen and slammed him into the ground multiple times, hard enough to leave an indentation. But as he let up for a second to gloat, Shen lashed out with his steel talons and caught him under the chin with a slash that would have torn the jugular out of a mortal being.
It still wasn't very comfortable for Kai as he staggered back and clutched his throat, coughing furiously. Shen quickly recovered his guandao and the two stared off again, slowly moving in circles around each other as they looked for an opening.
"Have you two had enough of this, yet?" the Soothsayer scolded, as if she were talking to a pair of spoiled children instead of two people who could easily kill her if they wanted to. "Don't you see that this battle can have no winner?"
"Shen, please tell your nanny to be quiet," Kai requested darkly. "She is old, and I fear for her health."
Shen glanced over at her, while still keeping his gaze firmly on Kai. "Soothsayer..."
"It's alright, you can just ignore me," she said, somewhat bitterly. "You already do."
"Burn," Kai laughed. "But seriously, can we get back to killing each other now?"
"Certainly." Shen shot forward and stabbed his guandao into the ground, using it to vault over Kai's head as he tried to slash at him. He scored another vertical slice down the yak's back, again not cutting as deeply as he wanted it to, and was caught off-guard when Kai spun around and backhanded him across the face. Shen flew back and hit the wall, falling onto his knees and coughing up blood.
This was not working. He had dealt enough damage to kill at least five able-bodied men, but against an opponent who could soak it up so easily, he knew that he would inevitably wear down long before he could do anything lasting.
He had no choice. He needed the cannon.
"PEACOCK PUNT!" Shen couldn't get up in time to avoid Kai as he came in and kicked him under the chin, sending him up to hit the ceiling, then falling back down to be kicked again, crashing against another hard surface.
Kai let out a sinister chuckle, slowly advancing on him. But as Shen looked up wearily, he saw that fate had finally smiled down on him. He was now leaning against the polished surface of the cannon.
"Please, stop this!" Both warlords were distracted again by the Soothsayer, who had quickly shifted from angry to frightened. "This will not resolve anything! You have your own destinies to fulfill. Both of you." She looked back and forth between Kai and Shen, lingering on the latter. Shen saw her give him a reassuring smile, just like the ones he had gotten so long ago, when he had been an outcast in the eyes of people and needed someone to cheer him up. Despite the circumstances, Shen smiled back at her.
"I said SHUT UP!"
He had no time to react. Before he could so much as breathe, Kai threw out a blade, swinging the heavy chain into the Soothsayer's chest and throwing her back, through the shutters...and right over the side of the tower.
Shen was frozen in place as the Soothsayer's final screams echoed up into the room. This...this was not how it was supposed to happen.
"Makes you wonder, doesn't it?" Kai pulled his sword back to him, far too casually for his liking. "Do you think she foresaw that?"
Shen had to calm himself again, fighting down the rising fury inside of him. He could mourn later. If he wanted to avenge the Soothsayer, he needed to focus! Climbing up onto the cannon, Shen reached his talons out towards the fuse. The big idiot was standing directly in it's path. All he had to do was light it.
Unfortunately, he wasn't quite focused enough, as he failed to notice Kai's other chain until it wrapped itself around his torso, pinning his wings to his sides. His talons just missed the fuse as he was yanked off of the cannon and into Kai's waiting grasp. Laughing madly, the yak whipped him through the shutters, sending him out into the night sky for just a second before he was yanked back in. Kai kicked him up through the ceiling, punching a hole through the roof, then pulled him down and repeated the process over and over again, turning the tower's roof into swiss cheese.
Finally, the yak suspended the bruised and bloody bird off of the ground like a yo-yo, swinging him gently back and forth. "So that's that," Kai said, grinning triumphantly. "It's been fun, but we all knew how this was going to end. Let me share with you an important lesson I learned a long time ago: No amount of brains will ever stand up to a large enough quantity of pure, unrelenting brawn." Kai raised his other hoof, glowing green with energy. "But if it makes you feel any better, I'll be making very good use of your chi."
Shen held back a squawk of alarm as he suddenly felt a sensation unlike anything he had ever experienced. He felt like he was getting weaker, not just physically or mentally, but as if his entire being was being sucked away. The peacock managed to open his eyes and saw his body slowly turning to jade.
No. This was not how it ended!
Fumbling with his sleeve, Shen managed to withdraw another knife. As his wing turned completely to jade, Shen dropped the knife down into his waiting talons. Knowing he only had one shot at this, Shen took careful aim and then flung the knife away.
Kai watched all of this with a raised eyebrow. "Wow. If that was your desperation ploy, I feel sorry for you. Guess you should've worked on throwing with your feet."
"...Just because I'm the brains...that doesn't mean I don't have any brawn..." Shen gasped out, his long neck becoming encased in jade.
"Hmm?" Kai followed the path of the knife and saw it laying haphazardly on the ground next to Shen's weapon. His eyes then caught something else. A small point at the top of the contraption appeared to be sparking, and the opening on the end was now getting brighter and brighter. He wasn't very familiar with modern weaponry, but that thing was looking very activated.
His eyes widened. "Oh sh-"
*KABOOM*
Shen fell to the ground as Kai was nailed in the face with a cannonball, blowing him straight out of the tower. He saw the chains whiz over his head, perhaps a desperation ploy of his own, but they missed him completely and instead wrapped themselves around the cannon itself. The weapon was yanked off of its podium and dragged across the floor until it was finally pulled out of the tower as well. As Shen listened, the yak's furious screams were cut off by a tremendous thud.
Good riddance.
He got back up weakly, still recovering from nearly being drained of chi. He became aware of his other injuries as well, including several damaged ribs, some possibly broken, a multitude of cuts, torn feathers, a cracked beak, and some slight burn scars from the close proximity of the cannon. In all honestly, that maneuver could have easily blown him up as well, so he was thankful to get away with as much as he did. The cannon itself was likely unsalvageable, but that was no great loss. He had plenty more.
He sighed and looked down at the floor, remembering the great loss he had suffered. The Soothsayer, Ah-Ma, as he had once addressed her, was now gone from his life forever. When he had been in exile, he knew, with great certainly, that he never wanted to see her again. Not after she had caused him so much suffering in the first place. But once he returned, and the two had begun to converse again, he remembered what it was that he appreciated about her. Even if she annoyed him at times, and he didn't always agree with her advice, she was always there for him.
Shen's pride took a backseat for a moment so he could admit to himself that he was going to miss her.
"SHEEEEEEEEEEEN!"
No. That's impossible.
Shen darted over to the balcony that Kai had fallen over, seeing the yak staring up at him once again. Even from this distance, he could see that he was badly injured, his flesh seared by numerous burn scars, especially around his face. He now lacked a good portion of his mane, and his helmet had been blown off completely. He wobbled a bit as he stood, likely the result of several bones being crushed by the weight of the cannon. Nevertheless, by either the power of chi, or just sheer stubbornness, Kai was alive.
As Shen watched him, unsure of what to do next, he saw Kai begin to slowly spin himself around. He noticed too late that his chains were still attached to the cannon as Kai swung it around in a huge circle. "I THINK YOU DROPPED THIS!"
His breath caught in his throat as the cannon came back around, tearing through the foundations of the tower.
He felt the effects instantly as he was thrown to the floor by the sudden rumbling beneath him. Down below, he could hear the panicked cries of his useless soldiers as they fled the tower en masse, either assuming he was dead or simply not caring. Ingrates.
In any case, he knew he had to get out of here NOW. But flying out directly over Kai would not be the safest option, so he slowly limped over to the opposite side of the chamber, only now feeling the full extent of his injures now that he was forced to move. He tried to ignore the irony of the situation. Him, trapped in his own tower, taken down with his own weapon. At least last time, he had the satisfaction of being on the other end, but now it seemed that fate was being doubly cruel and-
...wait, last time? What last time?
He shook his head in frustration. The last thing he needed to do right now was start losing his mind. As he felt the tower shift beneath him and begin to fall, Shen threw himself off of the far balcony and glided as far as he could.
It was not as far as he hoped. Mid-flight, his right wing cramped up and he found himself veering to the left. He tried to balance himself out and overcompensated, losing his remaining altitude and diving into a slanted roof. He bounced off of the surface and fell to the ground, too exhausted to do anything more than crawl.
So crawl he did, urging himself to get out of the city. He was so close now. If he could just escape Gongmen's boundaries, he could rendezvous with his army and plan his counterattack. Kai was not going to get away with this pain and humiliation. He swore to himself that he would not rest until he had the yak's corpse laying at his feet. He didn't even care if he died anymore, just as long as he took that bastard down with him.
But even his drive for revenge couldn't sustain him forever, and he collapsed to the ground just outside the city bounds. Only able to lift his head, Lord Shen looked up, seeing a dim-looking panda staring down at him curiously.
"Huh. Maybe we did miss something important."
He blacked out.
"THE CITY IS MINE!" Kai roared, thrusting his fist into the air. The remnants of Shen's army fled all around him, not even attempting to avenge their master. That right there was the sign of a true victory.
It was marred by only three things:
One, he was hurt. Bad. He needed some serious chi to make up for the injuries he'd sustained. As tempted as he was to try and snatch some from the fleeing wolves and gorillas, that was not a battle he wanted to get into right now. But now he had the perfect stronghold from which to send out his own soldiers.
Okay...not perfect.
Two, he had let his anger get the best of him and destroyed the really cool tower that he had intended to make into his new hideout. That sucked. Now where was he going to hunker down in? At least there were plenty of real estate options.
Three, Lord Shen had escaped his grasp, either dead or fled. As much as he wanted the bird's chi, that posed little problem. Now that he controlled Gongmen City, he could hunt down Shen at his leisure. Besides...
Kai turned around and smirked to himself as the jade gorilla walked up to him, the "insurance" left behind before his fight with Shen. It proved a worthy investment, as he now held the unconscious Soothsayer in his grasp. Talk about a good catch, literally. Now he had bait.
He stared at the ruins of the tower. "Just because I'm the brawn, that doesn't mean I don't have any brains."
Well, I've really outdone myself this time. I gave you not one, but MULTIPLE cliffhangers!
If you want to split this story into the three days, this is the end of the first, so we're roughly one-third of the way through this thing. What awaits you on the second day? In short, Kai in control of Gongmen, Shen in recovery, and the actual heroes finally becoming relevant again. Along with some answers to the numerous questions this chapter just opened up. Keep in mind that I am always open to wild speculation.
By the way...you didn't REALLY think I was going to kill the Soothsayer, did you? :P
