Author's Note: Two chapters left! And this one is a doozy. By far, the longest chapter I've ever written. Enjoy!
Chapter 14: The Final Face-Off
As the Valley animals stared down the Wu Sisters, Skunk took his eyes off of them a moment to look back at Master Panda, who seemed immensely relieved to see him safe. Skunk almost cringed at the state his master was in, covered in cuts with a gaping wound in his chest. He turned back around and glared furiously at the assassin trio.
Su noticed his expression and chuckled at him. "That wasn't us, kid. You can blame the peacock prince for that." She pointed a claw over at the unconscious Lord Shen. "Speaking of which...Wing, would you kindly finish him off?" The middle sister immediately rushed at the fallen warlord, claws raised. But just before she could bring them down, Fox shot a wind gust that pushed her away from Shen and back to her sisters. "You're protecting him? Why?!"
"We don't care who he is. We're not letting you kill anyone."
Su just stared at her blankly. "See, this is why we're not the good guys. Because you're all idiots." She sighed and shook her head. "If that's how you want to be, fine. We'll just have to finish this quickly. Sisters?" Wing and Wan smiled and dropped into fighting stances. Su did the same and the three sisters rushed their opponents.
Unsurprisingly, Su immediately went for Skunk and launched a flying kick at his head. He dodged the attack, but was quickly met with a dozen more like it, forcing him to constantly duck and jump around just to avoid getting hit. He was so out of his league here it wasn't even funny. Nothing had changed from last time, except that Su now actively wanted him dead. Not good.
"Do you really think you can save your master?" Su taunted between attacks. "I saw Shen drive that halberd into his chest. Between you and me, I think he's dead no matter what." Skunk ignored her as he finally found an opening for a punch of his own, but Su quickly blocked it and kicked him hard in the chest. Skunk went flying through the open camp gate and found himself back in the midst of the main battle. Wolf soldiers and his fellow Valley animals fought all around him, not paying him any heed, but also not trying to stay out of his way.
"You can't hide from me, kid!" Su called out and it occurred to Skunk that she couldn't see him in the crowd. He tried to use this to his advantage, keeping an eye on Su while trying to sneak around her for a surprise attack. Unfortunately, he was so focused on Su that he wasn't watching his feet, and he tripped over Snake as he slithered past. Skunk was unhurt, but he had caught the attention of a wolf soldier wielding a sword. The wolf grinned down at him and raised the sword above his head, ready to finish the prone Valley-dweller. "He's mine!" Su's fist slammed into the wolf's cheek and knocked him out.
Skunk gulped as Su turned her attention back to him. For once, he didn't think he would mind his stink kicking in, but despite how scared he felt, it wasn't happening. No matter what, he was never able to make himself skunk on command.
But Su didn't know that.
Right as the assassin was about to strike, Skunk whirled around and lifted his tail, pointing his rear-end straight at her. Su gasped and she instinctively put her paws up in front of her face, giving Skunk enough time to escape back into the crowd. Seconds later, he heard a furious roar from behind him and did the most sensible thing he could think of.
He ran for his life.
As much as he hated running from a fight, he didn't exactly have much choice here. It was either run or get torn to bits by a psychotic leopard that now wanted him dead more than ever. Running through a war zone wasn't making it easy though, with him having to maneuver around friend and foe alike.
He chanced a look over his shoulder and saw Su chasing him on all fours. The instant she saw him, she lunged straight at him. Skunk yelped and ducked into a nearby tent to avoid her. He looked around the tent, noticing that it was large, circular, and mostly empty except for some weapon barrels and a set of three cots. Skunk didn't know that he had just walked into the Wu Sisters' tent, but he did know that he had just cornered himself when Su came in behind him."Nowhere left to run, kid."
With no other option, Skunk got into a fighting stance and awaited his very likely death. But Su had other ideas. "You know what? This is just too easy. Let's make things a little more interesting, shall we?" Skunk watched as Su casually walked over to one of the weapon barrels. He was tempted to rush out of the unguarded exit, but he knew that it probably wouldn't do him any good.
Su reached inside the barrel and threw something to Skunk. He caught the object, seeing that it was a standard bo staff. Su pulled out a staff of her own and twirled it around a bit. "Now this should be fun." As Skunk saw the feline's twisted grin, he realized that this was not the same Su he had fought last time. While that Su had been cold and indifferent towards him, this one was angry, aggressive and wanted to make him suffer. That made her more dangerous...but also more predictable.
Skunk held out his bo staff and readied himself. Maybe, just maybe, he could take her now.
Rabbit flipped over Wing as she came at him with a claw strike. The two turned back around to face each, taking the chance to get some trash-talking in. "I hope you've enjoyed your little trophy, bunny rabbit, because it'll be your last!"
"Oh, I've enjoyed it very much. It makes a great necklace." He neglected to actually bring said necklace with him, not wanting to risk losing it, but he couldn't resist bringing it up.
Wing narrowed her eyes at him. "Cute." The leopard attacked again, bringing both paws together and slamming them down on Rabbit's head. While he was dazed, she lifted him up and threw him directly into the camp wall.
As Rabbit recovered, Wing rushed him and made another thrust with her claws. Getting an idea, Rabbit jumped over the attack, then whirled around and kicked the back of her outstretched paw, driving her claws deep into the wall. Wing attempted to yank her arm back out, but found that it was stuck tight. She roared and swiped at Rabbit with her remaining arm, which he hopped on top of and used as a step to land a kick to her face.
"Aw, what's the matter? Is the pretty kitty stuck?"
"I don't need all of my limbs to beat you!" Wing growled as she struck out with a kick. Rabbit dodged the kick and attempted to use her limb as a step again, but Wing was expecting it this time and grabbed him by the back of his head before he could reach her. She slammed Rabbit's face into the wall then tossed him in the air and punted him away like a hackey sack. With Rabbit gone for the moment, Wing went back to trying to free herself, without success.
"Geez, maybe our claws are too sharp."
Su made the first move, swinging at Skunk in a downward arc. Skunk raised his staff to block it, then pushed back against her. While she stumbled back a bit, Skunk aimed a swing at the side of her head that Su blocked. "Well, well, it seems like you've still got some fight left in you, kid. I look forward to extinguishing it."
Su started viciously attacking him with the staff, pushing him back towards the cots. Skunk frantically blocked every strike until he finally saw an opening. As Su made an overhead swing, Skunk was able to duck under the reach of his taller opponent, and he brought his staff up to hit her in the side. She staggered from the blow, but when Skunk went for another attack, she caught his staff and kicked him in the face. Skunk did a back-flip and landed on one of the cots. Sore jaw aside, he was feeling great. Just as he suspected, Su's anger was throwing off her focus and he had actually manged to hit her. He just had to keep her mad. "Is that all you've got? I've seen Mantis kick harder."
Su growled and jumped up onto one of the cots next to him. The two traded swings with each other, struggling to keep their balance on the narrow cots. Skunk baited her again. "So how does it feel that the greatest assassin in China can't even kill a ten-year-old?" Su snarled in rage, slamming her staff down on where he was standing a second ago. Skunk ran up her staff and hit her across the face with his own. Su let go of her staff and fell over the side of the cot.
After a moment, the feline grabbed onto the edge of the cot and pulled herself up."I don't know where you got this skill from, but I will take great pleasure in watching you d-*WHUMP* ...did you just throw a pillow at me?!" Skunk smiled back innocently.
"That's it!" Su roared and grabbed onto her cot with both paws. Skunk held up both bo staffs and waited, expecting her to hop back up and continue the fight. What he wasn't expecting was for her to lift the entire cot and throw it at him. He quickly rolled off of his own cot and back onto the floor. The thrown one hit the ground behind him with a loud crash. He looked over at Su, who was now on all fours, baring her claws and fangs at him. It was clear that he had succeeded in driving her over the deep end.
He just wasn't sure it was such a good idea anymore.
Fox readied her war fans as Wan charged at her. She remembered their last battle, and hoped that the youngest sister wouldn't be as annoying to fight this time. But as it turned out, she actually managed to be more annoying simply because she would NOT. SHUT. UP.
Wan slashed at Fox with her claws. "Hey, you know that tiger guy, right? What's his name?"
Fox deflected them with her fans. "Tiger."
Wan brought her claws back then struck out with a sweeping kick. "Oh yeah, probably should've guessed that. Anyway, do you know if he's here?"
Fox jumped over the kick and sent a wind gust downwards, rocketing herself further into the air. "No."
Wan jumped up after her, attempting to slash at her in mid-air. "Is that 'no', as in you don't know if he's here, or 'no' as in he's not here?"
Fox used her fans again to propel herself over Wan's claws then flipped around and kicked the feline in the back. "He's not here."
Wan plummeted back to the ground, but (of course) landed on her feet, as did Fox across from her. "Aw, that stinks. Well, if you see him, let him know that I'll come back to visit him again sometime."
Fox thought back to Tiger, huddled up in his cave and shaking in fear over the "crazy leopard girl". "Yeah, I'm sure that will make him feel way better."
"I think so too! You're such a nice girl. Shame I have to do this to you."
Wan dug into her shirt pocket and threw several small spheres at Fox that exploded into smoke. She immediately blew the smoke away with her fans, only to see Wan's boot heading towards her face. As she went flying back from the kick, she acknowledged that Wan Wu may have been a chatty ditz, but she knew how to fight. Fox landed on her back and looked back over at her opponent, but saw that Wan had stopped to help Wing pry herself out of the camp wall, giving her a little time to think.
This fight was way too even. At this rate, it could take hours more, and Master Panda seemed like he was about to keel over at any moment. But the Wu Sisters knew their moves too well. There was no way they could get an advantage on them...unless...
As she started to get an idea, Rabbit landed on the ground next to her. He jumped back to his feet wand was about to run back into battle when Fox raised a fan in his way to stop him.
"Yeah? What is it twinkle-toes?"
"The Wu Sisters...they all have pretty much the same fighting style, right?"
Rabbit shrugged. "Wing's a bit more aggro, but yeah, it's pretty much standard leopard style."
"But the two of us have totally different fighting styles, don't we?" Fox smiled mischievously.
"Well duh, but what's that got to do with any-" Rabbit cut himself off as he finally understood what she was getting at. "Ah, I getcha. That must be that fox-like cunning kicking in."
"You could say that."
Wan finally pulled Wing free from the wall and the two closed back in again, ready to continue the fight. Giving one last wink to Rabbit, Fox shot a wind gust behind her and propelled herself directly into...Wing. The middle sister was caught completely off-guard and knocked onto her back. Wan stopped in her tracks and looked back at them, just as shocked. "Hey! You're supposed to be my opponent!" Before she could complain further, she was kicked in the back by Rabbit.
"Yeah, this was definitely a bad idea," Skunk thought as he blocked another frenzied slash. The fact that he was now wielding two bo staffs was doing surprisingly little to help him. Not when he could still just barely defend himself. Su wasn't even fighting like a martial artist anymore. She was fighting like a leopard, and Skunk didn't know how to fight a leopard.
"What's the matter, kid?! You seemed so confident a minute ago!" she cackled, bringing both sets of claws down at him. Skunk held up both staffs in an "X" formation and caught her claws in between them. But Su's feral strength proved to be too much for him as she pushed the staffs away and bit straight through both of them. Now defenseless, Su came back in and slashed Skunk across the chest. He screamed in pain, three bright red claw marks now tainting his white fur. "You're going to look even worse then your master by the time I'm done with you!" Su continued her assault, slashing at him relentlessly and laughing maniacally all the while. She finished with an upward slash that caught him under the chin, and sent him clear across the room.
Skunk got back up, even though his body was screaming at him not to. Su slowly approached him, a predator savoring her kill. Skunk didn't know what to do. He was exhausted, weaponless, and afraid. He doubted that even his stink would slow her down at this point. "Nice knowing you, kid." Su grinned and leaped towards Skunk in a feline pounce, ready to end his life right there. Skunk's first instinct was to get out of the way and make a break for it.
But he didn't.
He was tired of running from this lowlife assassin who had endangered his home, his friends, and his master. Focusing all of his anger and hatred for Su Wu, he jumped straight at her and threw a punch with everything he could muster. He could see Su's eyes widen in fear right before his fist smashed into her face.
Su hit the tent's ceiling, bounced off, and crashed back down onto her own cot, crushing it. As Skunk landed, he noticed the tent starting to shake from the attack and he quickly got himself out of there. Su wasn't so lucky and got back up just in time for the entire tent to collapse on her head.
Skunk peered back at the destroyed tent, relieved that it was finally over. And that's when Su tore open the top of the tent and climbed back out. Skunk's mouth hung open in disbelief. What was it going to take to keep this girl down? Su wasn't acting completely feral anymore, but the glare she was giving him could freeze over Hell itself. "This isn't over..." she seethed. And then she did something that he didn't expect for a second.
She ran away.
Skunk just stood there in shock for a moment, before it finally occurred to him to go after her.
"Hey! Hold still!" Wing shouted. She was trying desperately to hit Fox, but the nimble vulpine was evading every attack she tried. Finally, Fox struck back, smacking Wing in the face with a fan and then kneeing her in the chest. Wing grunted and struck out with both claws. Fox ducked under them and, planting herself right in front of Wing, brought up both fans and swung them. The resulting wind gust blew Wing off her feet and slammed her into the ground.
Wan was having similar problems with Rabbit, who was attacking her so relentlessly that she could barely avoid them all. "Will...you...please...stop...attacking...for...one...second?" Finally, one of Rabbit's kicks got through and nailed her in the stomach. While she doubled over in pain, Rabbit grabbed her by the head and slammed her face into his knee, then delivered a spin-kick that knocked her back several feet.
Wan landed near Wing and the two looked at each other nervously, both knowing that they were about to lose.
"Wing! Wan!"
They turned around to see Su frantically running towards them on all fours. "It's time for the Wu Vortex! Now!"
The younger siblings quickly ran over to Su and the three gathered around each other. Fox and Rabbit flanked the sisters on two sides, while Skunk came in to cover the third side. But despite the fact that the Wu Sisters were weakened and surrounded, they looked more confident than ever. The felines' spotted tails came together and tied themselves into a knot at the tip.
"Oh, you're gonna get it now!" Wan taunted.
"You'll be sorry you screwed with us!" said Wing.
Naturally, the Valley animals were confused as heck. "Oooohhhhh, they tied their widdle tails together. How terrifying," Rabbit mocked.
Su grinned menacingly at the three of them. "It will be." With that, the Wu Sisters leapt high into the air. As they reached the top of their ascent, they started to spin around each other ever so slightly. The spinning quickly intensified until the sisters could barely even be seen anymore, looking more like giant blurs. The end result was a giant spinning wheel accompanied by a high-pitched whirring.
Fox and Skunk looked up at the Wu Vortex with a mixture of awe and fear. Even Panda appeared to be a bit frightened. Rabbit however, remained unimpressed. "Cool party trick, but do you guys wanna go back to fighting now?"
"IF YOU INSIST!" Su's voice shouted above the whirring. Without warning, the Vortex suddenly shot out of the sky and straight for Rabbit. His quick reflexes allowed him to avoid the attack itself, but not the explosion it created when it hit the ground in front of him. Rabbit was thrown hard into a rock, knocking him out instantly.
"Rabbit!" Fox cried.
"ONE DOWN!" The Wu Vortex spun towards Fox next. The vulpine fired a large gust of wind at the Vortex, which blew it slightly off-course, but it quickly rerouted itself and came back at Fox. Right before it could tear her apart, Skunk rushed in tackled Fox to the ground. The Vortex passed overhead, leaving them with a bit less fur, but otherwise unharmed.
"Are you okay?" Skunk asked.
"Yeah," Fox said, a bit shaken up. "I was able to affect them a little, but that was all the wind power I could muster."
Skunk's eyes shot open. "Wind power...that's it!" Before Fox could ask what he was talking about, Skunk shot off towards the camp gate. By the time the Vortex turned itself around, he was already gone.
"THE BRAT'S GETTING AWAY!"
"FORGET ABOUT HIM! HE'S NOT OUR TARGET!"
Fox wasn't sure what they meant until she saw the Vortex spin towards the injured Master Panda. Knowing that her master was in no shape to avoid it, Fox immediately launched another wind gust at the Vortex. Again, it was knocked off-course, just enough for it to miss Panda. But Fox didn't have any time to be relieved.
"YOU WANNA DIE SO BADLY, FINE!" The Vortex came at Fox again and she didn't think she had the energy to dodge it anymore.
Suddenly, the Vortex was hit in the side with a huge volley of wind blasts, hitting it with enough force that is was blown all the way into the forest surrounding the mountain. She couldn't see it anymore, but the sight of multiple trees being knocked over made it clear that it was still there. Fox looked to see who had rescued her and saw not just Skunk, but Masters Duck and Crane as well, all three holding a pair of fans. Instantly, she knew what Skunk was planning. "The Four Winds Attack..." she gasped.
Skunk smiled. "Yep. If it's more wind power we need, then I can't think of anything better. What do you say? Ready to kick the Wu Sisters out of our home for good?"
Right on cue, the Vortex burst out of the treeline and hovered above them. Fox smiled back at Skunk. "Let's do this."
Skunk, Fox, Duck, and Crane all used their fans to launch themselves off the ground and the four hovered around each other in formation. As the Vortex closed in, they all spun around each other in a circle, creating a giant cyclone. The Wu Vortex met the Four Winds Attack head-on, and the two attacks tried to overpower each other. As the Four Winds Attack started to get the upper hand, the Wu Sisters quickly realized that they were completely, utterly screwed.
"WHAT IS THIS?!"
"IT'S TOO STRONG!"
"I...CAN'T...HOLD...ON..."
Seconds later, the Wu Sisters' connection was severed and they were sucked into the cyclone. The three felines were spun around a few times, screaming bloody murder all the while, before finally being spat out. The cyclone dissipated and the four Valley animals landed safely back on the ground. As Skunk gazed off into the distance, he could just make out the Wu Sisters flying over the horizon until they could no longer be seen.
"And stay out!"