Author's Note: Okay…scratch what I said last time. I think this may have been my quickest update ever.

Chapter 10: New Management

Baboon's good mood took only a matter of hours to dissipate.

The Wu Sisters never came back, so it looked like he wasn't going to get the pleasure of telling them they were fired and watching their hopes shatter before him. Now Dragon was going on about some kind of commotion in the Valley that the monkeys were looking in to. And on top of that, he still hadn't been given the okay to plan an attack after almost three weeks of waiting. At this point, there weren't a lot of things that could make his day worse.

But an army of wolves busting down the camp gate and charging in was definitely one of them.

"I assume you all know what this is about?"

Master Panda sat at a round, stone table along with the other three Valley elders, Masters Duck, Crane, and Turtle. This was the same spot in the Valley that the elders used for their tea ceremony, a regular ritual that required perfect coordination and focus, yet was performed flawlessly every time. Well, except for that one Skunk ruined…

Panda mentally scolded himself for thinking ill of his apprentice at a time like this.

"Yes," Turtle said. "It was a wise decision to leave this discussion to the elders. We never would've gotten anywhere with the rest of the Valley causing such a ruckus."

Panda refrained from pointing out that he was part of that ruckus. "So, what do you believe is the best course of action?"

"I stand by my position that surrendering yourself is out of the question."

"But sacrificing Skunk is also out of the question," Duck argued.

Panda nodded in agreement. "Yes, and that means rescuing him is the only real option we have. But Shen will almost certainly be expecting a rescue attempt. It won't be easy. Any ideas?"

The elders all thought for a few moments before Crane spoke up. "Maybe we could try to find Shen's hideout and break Skunk out."

Panda shook his head. "That would take too much time, and if Shen even suspects that we're looking for his hideout, he would probably consider that a refusal to his demands."

"Didn't the scroll tell you where to go?" Turtle asked. "That's probably where his hideout is."

Panda put a paw to his head in frustration. "Actually, the scroll didn't mention that at all."

"Then how are you supposed to know-?"

"Master Panda!" The four heads turned to see a rather frenzied Snake slithering in.

"Snake, this is a private meeting," Panda chastised. "This had better be important."

"It is, Master Panda," said the panic-stricken reptile. "Dragon's Mountain is being invaded!"

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Su Wu asked, watching the wolf army pour into the Ninja Monkey campground through what used to be the gate. "It seems a bit risky to come out here, where the Valley-dwellers know the territory."

Lord Shen gave a shrug. "They couldn't penetrate this place before, and they won't do it now. Besides…" he smirked. "…I don't like the idea of competing with someone else for the panda's head."

"Well, I can't say I'm complaining," Su chuckled. "What about you, kid?"

Skunk's cage was being hoisted by a group of four wolves who looked like they would much rather be getting in on the action. The boy didn't respond, too transfixed by the sight in front of him. He wasn't exactly friends with the Ninja Monkeys, but there was something very frightening about seeing his longtime enemies getting decimated in front of him.

Decimated would be an understatement.

There were two main reasons that the monkeys were faring so poorly. One, the Valley-dwellers had never tried to invade Dragon's Mountain before, and they were now fighting against enemies they were completely unfamiliar with. Two, the enemies they were familiar with, the Wu Sisters, had so terrified them during their first visit that no one was willing to go up against them. The scary-looking peacock next to them didn't help.

Still, the battle wasn't entirely one-sided. Baboon was holding his own pretty well, easily tossing aside every wolf soldier that came near him. Despite what the Wu Sisters (and most of the Valley) thought of him, he was actually a pretty competent fighter. Problem was, he was the only competent fighter in the army, which was the main reason the monkeys never won against the Valley-dwellers despite their far superior numbers.

"Hey, you leave my men alone!" Baboon was suddenly struck in the side with some kind of blunt weapon, knocking the wind out of him and probably breaking a few ribs in the process. But if there was one good thing about getting beaten up a lot, it was that it tended to give you a lot of pain tolerance. He managed to dodge the follow-up swing and whirled around to get a good look at his attacker: a large, one-eyed wolf wielding a war hammer.

The Wolf Boss clearly wasn't expecting him to still be standing, since he took a moment to just gape at him, before swinging the hammer again. This gave Baboon enough time to catch the hammer in mid-swing. It was now a contest of pure strength as each of the two large animals tried to overpower the other, savagely growling at each other as they did so. Baboon broke the stalemate by taking advantage of his opponent's long muzzle and viciously head-butting it. He followed up with a flying kick that knocked the Wolf Boss on his back.

Baboon's mind was taken off of the fight when he saw something out of the corner of his eye. The Wu Sisters and a strange, albino peacock were casually making their way through the center of the battlefield, the monkeys clearly not making any move to stop them. His eyes narrowed. Screw the wolves; he had a score to settle.

"HEY SU!"

The foursome stopped in their tracks and turned to him with looks of amusement (the Wu Sisters) and confusion (the peacock). Baboon took up a kung fu stance and readied himself for the fight of his life. "I challenge you to a duel! Right here, right now!"

"No." The group turned back around and continued on their way. Baboon just stood there, stunned into silence, until the Wolf Boss's hammer struck him on the back of the head and knocked him out.

Evidently, pain tolerance could only get you so far.

"Baboon? Baboon! What's going on out there?!" Dragon yelled. From inside his lair, he could hear what sounded like some kind of battle outside, but couldn't see a bit of it from his position. Yet another disadvantage of being stuck in a cave. Finally, he heard someone coming through the entrance to the lair. But it wasn't Baboon or any of the Ninja Monkeys coming to visit him. It was a certain trio of felines he hoped he would never see again.

"You…" he snarled at the Wu Sisters. "What have you done?!"

Su smiled innocently. "Why, what ever do you mean?"

"It sounds like there's a war outside!"

"Oh. That. We're taking over," she said as if it was no big deal.

"WHAT?!" He was struggling to contain the fury he felt at that one statement, which wasn't helped by the taunting looks the sisters were giving him.

Wan wagged a clawed finger at him. "Hey now, you had ten whole years to try and conquer this place. Don't you think it's time you gave someone else a turn?"

"It's only fair," Wing nodded.

"Why?" he asked, managing to reign in his temper for the time being. "Why do you want to take over the Valley? I was already paying you plenty of money for the assassination contract."

"Ugh. I hate having to repeat myself," Su said with a sigh. "Let's just say that money isn't good enough anymore and leave it at that."

His anger quickly returned. "Why, you ungrateful little bi-!"

"Ungrateful?" She placed a paw over her chest as if she was really hurt. "You've got us all wrong, Dragon. We couldn't be more grateful for this wonderful opportunity you've given us. We thought we'd have to settle for being vagabond mercenaries for the rest of lives, but now we're going to have our very own province to rule over. So really, thanks a bunch."

That was the last straw. The Wu Sisters fail his mission, abandon his service, invade his headquarters, and now they were going to come in and mock him about it?! He felt the pure, white-hot rage build up inside of him and released it as a jet of fire, straight at the treacherous felines.

"DIE!"

Dragon watched as the blast hit, creating a large pillar of smoke that covered most of the staircase. He was just starting to smile in triumph when he heard a strange, high-pitched whirring sound. Before he could even wonder what was making it, he felt something fast, powerful, and very, very, sharp slam into his midsection.

The Wu Vortex was not an attack to be taken lightly. Had Dragon not been covered in scales as hard as steel, he would have been cut in half. As it was, the attack flung the large reptile back into the icy waters of his lair and left a large gash on his body. As he clawed his way back to the surface, he paid little mind to the injury, or to the water being slowly colored with his blood. All he cared about was getting even.

But he couldn't even accomplish that. He broke the surface of the water just in time to see the Wu Sisters disappear through the entrance of his lair.

"NOW!" Su yelled as she and her sisters dashed out of the cave.

Shen gave a flick of his metallic talons, lighting a fuse near his feet. The fuse ran along the ground, up the side of the mountain, across the entrance to Dragon's lair, and straight into a barrel of gunpowder.

The resulting explosion caught the attention of almost everyone in the battle. The sound of the cave entrance collapsing caught the rest. The Ninja Monkeys, who had already been losing all hope, panicked at the sight and fled for their lives. The wolf army watched the last of them disappear into the forest and let loose a mighty victory howl that echoed across the land.

"Congratulations, Lord Shen. This mountain is now yours," said Su. The warlord looked less than satisfied.

"That was way too easy. I think the pandas put up more of a fight." He took a look around. "The place doesn't look half-bad, though. Certainly an improvement over that grimy cave."

"Indeed. Though it is a bit too cold for our liking."

Shen raised an eyebrow. "You're clouded leopards."

"Yes, but we normally live in a volcano."

"It gets pretty toasty up there," Wing added.

"That…doesn't really explain…" The sisters just looked at him curiously. "Nevermind."

"What about this guy?" they heard someone ask. They turned to see the Wolf Boss dragging a bruised and unconscious Baboon over to them. "Should we throw him out with the others?"

"No, lock him up with the kid," Su ordered. "He can communicate with the monkeys, so he could potentially lead a counter-attack if left unchecked." The Wolf Boss blinked and looked to Shen for confirmation, making Su growl a little. Shen gave a nod and the lupine dragged Baboon away.

"Now then, let's get the preparations ready for our panda friend. It's time to rewrite my destiny." Shen walked off to oversee the wolves setting up his new headquarters. As he did, a disturbing thought came to his mind.

If the Wu Sisters could turn on Dragon so easily…what was stopping them from doing the same to him?