Chapter 21: The Great Escape.

In an isolated corner of the wilderness, General Mako's base sat, undisturbed, in the middle of the bamboo forest. The brick wall that surrounded the building on all sides protected it from enemy fire just as it had done for the past two centuries. Only this time, the bad guys were on the other side of the wall, maintaining the barricade.

Fung looked on eagerly as one of his teammates joined him in the general's room. "So what do you see? Are they here yet?", the lead croc asked.

"No, and it's almost midnight, boss. Maybe they're just not coming", the subordinate croc replied, growing a bit nervous.

Fung smirked and turned to leer at his prisoner. "I guess I shouldn't be too surprised. Maybe we should have picked someone Shifu would actually care about", Fung suggested mockingly, looking to drive a knife in Zhong's gut. But beneath his smug exterior, the croc was worried. Very worried. They had risked everything on the slim chance of this plan being a success, including his reputation as a leader. So if it didn't work, he was as good as done for.

"They'll be here", Zhong growled, undeterred.

After another few minutes of waiting, Zhong's determination paid off when a third croc joined them with some news. "Boss, they're coming!", he panted hastily.

Both Fung and Zhong's faces lit up and the two animals breathed a collective sigh of relief (for entirely different reasons). Fung turned towards Zhong, the croc bandit's grin growing even wider. "You stay here and don't move", he ordered, mocking the chained up lupine, before stalking off, pointedly ignoring Zhong's growls of anger behind him.

"I knew it would work. I don't know why I ever doubted myself", Fung thought smugly, patting himself on the back. As he walked down the hallway, Fung beckoned towards his underlings, who rushed to fall in line. "You three guys, come with me. You two, stay here and make sure he doesn't try anything", Fung ordered sternly.

The crocodile joined his men at the front gate of the fort, while Zhong watched with angry eyes (or rather one angry eye). Frustratingly, Fung closed the door to general's officer behind him, blocking Zhong's view of the hallway, leaving only two of his men to guard their prisoner.

((()-()))

Meanwhile, Erdan watched as a few crocs circled the fence, securing the perimeter, guarding all sides of the base in case Po or the Five tried one of their usual surprise tactics. Little did they know that Erdan had anticipated this. The wolf cub was currently monitoring them, hidden in a nearby tree, while his friends faced Fung up front. He knew they could only stall the croc for a few minutes, five if he was lucky, so it was now or never for the plan to play out.

Erdan reached into his backpack, intending to grab his bow and arrow, when his paw came in contact with something soft and squishy. "Ow! Watch it!", a familiar voice exclaimed.

Erdan froze. He recognized that voice. Everybody knew who that voice belonged to. But there was no way Fang could be here with him. It was impossible. He had left the little bunny and his family safe and sound back in his village. Unless, Fang had stowed away in his backpack. "Oh no. Please, god no", Erdan thought, as the cub frantically reached into his backpack and pulled Fang out by the ears.

"What are you doing here?!", the wolf cub snarled, though he was still careful to keep his voice down.

"I'm here to help you save Zhong. Life debt, remember?", Fang reminded him.

"Are you completely crazy?! Your mom will kill you and me if she found out you came along with me on this mission!", Erdan growled, angrier than the rabbit had ever seen him.

Fang flinched, a little hurt that his friend didn't want his help, before he scoffed. "Fine, just take me back to the village then", he said angrily.

"There's no time for that! Just get back in the backpack, and keep quiet until I tell you to come out", Erdan ordered. Before Fang could have time to argue, his friend had already shoved him back inside his backpack and zipped it up.

((()-()))

"Panda, long time, no see", Fung greeted sarcastically, before smirking smugly and cockily to the six or seven croc bandits that surrounded him. Once they were sure Po and all the Five were inside, the crocs closed the front gate, trapping the kung fu warriors inside until they decided to open it again and release them.

"Hi Fung. Has it really been a month since we last kicked your butts?", Po fired back, keeping the conversation going as best as he could with a little trash talk, so he could buy Erdan some time.

Fung opened his snout, and then he closed it contemplatively. After a moment, the burly croc bandit grumbled and huffed, unable to think of a witty reply to Po's insult, before he stomped over towards the panda. "Just have your friends line up, I don't want to see any of you trying to pull something. And that includes the bug too. I wanna see every one of his little feelers", Fung ordered, narrowing his eyes at the Furious Five's smallest member.

Po raised his eyebrows and glanced at Mantis (who only shrugged), but followed out the croc bandit's orders. The Furious Five did the same, and just like how Fung had his eyes on them, the kung fu masters refused to let the croc and his gang out of their eyesights for more than a second, even to blink.

"Are you all here? Panda?", Fung asked.

"Duh", Po replied, grinning at the ridiculousness of the croc's question. However, Fung chose to ignore his attitude and turned towards Tigress.

"Angry cat lady?", Fang questioned.

Tigress only growled in response, which Fung accepted as an affirmative.

"Monkey boy?", Fung moved on.

Just like Tigress, Monkey chose to remain silent, scowling at the bigger crook, but he still nodded his head in reply.

"Bird brain?", Fung asked demeaningly.

"My name's Crane. And yes", Crane answered, frowning.

"Don't care. Snake girl?", Fung shoved on.

"Right here", Viper spoke up.

"And the cricket?", Fung questioned.

"I'm a praying mantis! And if you wanna know if I'm here, why don't you come closer and see for yourself?!", Mantis snapped, practically daring the croc to come and taste some of his fury.

"Um…no thanks", Fung decided to pass, obviously a bit disturbed by the little bug's intensity. Once he shook that off, the croc bandit's smug grin returned to his face. His plan was still working perfectly. All six kung fu masters were present, which meant there was no chance of a sneak attack. Even if a fight did break out, it would still be on Fung's turf, on his terms.

"Alright Po, let's get right down to business. Do you have the treasure?", Fung asked, scrutinizing the Dragon Warrior as the moment of truth approached.

The panda gulped and started walking towards Fung with his burlap bag. "Erdan, Shu, I hope you guys know what you're doing", he thought anxiously.

((()-()))

Meanwhile, Erdan grinned opportunistically as one of the croc bandits finally moved into the right position. He had been watching the crocs pace back and forth for three minutes, waiting for one of them to line up with the path of his arrow (plus it hadn't helped he had to deal with Fang's distractions). But now it was finally time for action.

"UNIT Rocks!" by Murray Gold begins.

Erdan released the arrow from his grip, and watched it soar through the air, colliding with the wall only a few inches from one of the croc bandits' head. Alarmed, the croc immediately turned around to see what had almost hit him - which was just what Erdan had wanted him to do. The croc heard the sound of footsteps behind him, approaching him rapidly, before he was clobbered over the head by Shu, striking him straight in the center of his head like she would with a brick. Luckily, the crocs were very hard-headed and the hit didn't cause him anywhere near the same damage it did with a standard brick, only knocking him out for the moment.

His partner turned around, stunned to see the she-wolf had joined them, but before he could shout for help or sound the alarm, he was suddenly knocked down by a second attacker - Erdan, who had leapt out of the tree once the second croc was distracted.

Unfortunately, Erdan hitting the ground caused some of the objects in his backpack to get jostled around a bit, including Fang. "OW!", Fang shouted, as one of his friend's arrows clobbered him over the head.

"What was that?", Shu questioned, as she laid the second croc's unconscious body next to the first's.

"Fang", Erdan replied, dreading her reaction, as he reached into his backpack again.

"Fang?! What's he doing here?", Shu asked, alarmed.

"It's a long story, and I don't have time to explain. So long as he stays in the backpack, he won't complicate things. Now, take this grappling hook and follow my lead. Or I'll follow yours. Whichever one of us figures out how to use these things first", Erdan explained, as he handed the she-wolf her rope and hook.

Erdan spun the rope around his head, like a wild west cowboy, before throwing it as high as he could, while still aiming for the top of the fence. Of course, he missed on his first try, that was to be expected, and the results for Shu's first try was pretty much the same. In fact, it took the wolves several tries before Erdan finally snagged his hook on the top of the fence. Shu's successful try came not long after.

Once he was sure the hook was properly secured, able to support his weight, Erdan tied the twenty-foot long rope (the same one used for his tight-rope test) around his waist and started to scale the wall. "Hang on, Fang. This is when things are gonna start to get bumpy", Erdan ordered, giving his friend some forewarning.

"But they're already bumpy", Fang complained, as everything in the backpack (including the boy) was flipped upside down by the change in gravity.

Erdan laughed as he climbed higher and higher up the wall, every once and awhile looking down to see how well Shu was doing. It was funny, being this high up scared him to death during his test the other day. But now, he barely paid it any attention. Maybe it was for the same reason he was always able to conquer his fears during a crisis. Because his adrenaline rush and his determination to save Zhong was pushing everything else out of his mind at the moment, including silly thoughts like his fear of heights.

After a few more seconds of climbing, Erdan reached the top of the fence (which was mercifully built out of bricks, meaning that he had enough room to plant his feet) and helped Shu finish reaching the top.

"Okay Fang, we're gonna have to jump again now. The arrows in my backpack are sharp, so there's no telling what they'll do when I hit the ground. I want you to grab onto one of them, and hold on like your life depends on it. Got it?", Erdan commanded.

"Got it", Fang replied, the rabbit's voice unusually compliant.

Erdan peered over the edge of the fence and saw that, just like the other side, there were crocs pacing the perimeter, guarding the back door to the fort. If he and Shu timed their jumps just right, they could take out both crocs at once.

Erdan and Shu waited a few moments, knowing all too well that each second wasted on the fence cost them valuable 'saving Zhong' time, before both wolves took the plunge.

Shu landed first, taking the croc bandit by surprise as he was crushed under the she-wolf's weight out of nowhere. Erdan landed a millisecond later, flattening his croc upon impact. Before either bandit had time to realize what was happening, their heads were slammed into the ground, knocking them unconscious like their teammates on the other side of the wall.

Once they were sure the crocs were out cold, Erdan and Shu ran towards the fort's back door to get inside, though they were careful to make sure there wasn't anyone on the other side before they opened it. Luck was on their side that day, as Fung had decided two guards on one side of the door had been more than enough. After all, he only had fifteen to twenty crocs left in his gang, and he didn't want to spread them out too thin. He would want to have as many of his gang at his back as possible when he faced Po. Erdan's plan had worked perfectly. Most of the croc bandits were out front, backing up Fung, making it easier for him and Shu to reach Zhong in the back.

Erdan pushed open the door and beckoned for Shu to go through. "Ladies first", he offered, grinning.

"Already a gentleman at such a young age? I don't know why you don't have a girlfriend yet", Shu teased him back, as she walked past the boy.

Erdan shrugged and followed his foster mother inside; he didn't bother closing the door behind him, since they would just be running through it again in a few minutes. But as they were leaving, they didn't notice the two crocs starting to stir on the ground, one of them rubbing his sore head as he watched Erdan and Shu go inside, narrowing his eyes hatefully at the pair.

((()-()))

Po hesitated, his minded racing frantically, as the panda continued to walk towards Fung. He needed to stall Fung for just a little bit longer. The more time he could buy Erdan, the better. But how? "Before I come any closer, how do I know you'll keep your promise. You've lied to me before", Po suggested skeptically, making a valid enough point for Fung not to reason it was just a distraction tactic.

"You have my word that your precious Zhong will go unharmed. Well, mostly unharmed", Fung added, chuckling as he remembered how Gah-Ri had clobbered the wolf over the head before.

"You're a thief, Fung. Thieves lie, so your word means nothing", Po accused, completely unfazed.

Fung sighed and raised a hand to his face, pinching his forehead in exasperation, before he frowned at the Dragon Warrior. "Look Po, you're just gonna have to trust us on this. And even if you don't, it's still the only way you're ever gonna see Zhong again", Fung reasoned, his frown steadily morphing into his smug grin of leverage once again.

"I guess", Po mumbled, feigning uncertainty.

"Besides, how do I know you and friends aren't trying to pull a fast one yourselves? How do I know that you aren't expecting me to hand over Zhong while you give us a bag full of fool's gold or rocks or something else?", Fung fired back, raising his eyebrow with his hands on his hips as he called the Dragon Warrior out.

"Fung, I'm the Dragon Warrior. Do you really think I wouldn't keep my word?", Po asked, laughing at the bandit's audacity.

"Yes", Fung answered flatly. "Show me what's in the bag", the croc bandit decided, folding his arms.

Po frowned himself this time, feeling rather offended, but he did as Fung said and opened the burlap sack. Shuffling through it's contents for a moment, he pulled out an artifact that Fung recognized as the Dragon Chalice - the sacred vase that was stolen by the Ladies of the Shade only a few years ago.

"Show it to me. I wanna know if it's real, in case you're trying to pull my leg", Fung beckoned, sizing up the treasure from a distance.

"What, so you can just run off with it? I don't think so", Po replied, still trying to stall the croc bandit by leading him around in circles.

"Why would I want to run off with one vase, when there's a whole sack full of treasure in your hand? Seriously, and people say we're dumb", Fung commented, grinning back at his boys again, who all smirked at the panda's stupidity.

Po frowned for the third time, but once again he did as Fung said, reluctantly handing over one of the Jade Palace's most prized artifacts into the hands of his greatest frenemy. It was funny how Fung could make the panda want to noogie him, and make him want to punch him in the face on any given day.

Fung held the vase up to the moonlight, studying it intently like he actually knew what he was doing (although in reality, he had no way of knowing whether or not the vase was actually authentic, and he only wanted to make it seem that way to impress his men. The croc would take any sort of edge he could get over Ling). "Looks real. Feels real. Smells real. Gary, come here and help me check something", Fung examined, calling for one of his boys to come and join him.

Gah-Ri obliged and jogged over to his leader's side, both confused and intrigued.

"Bite it", Fung ordered out of nowhere.

"What?! But why?", Gah-Ri recoiled, reacting with shock.

"Just do it Gary, we're burning moonlight. Oh, and don't hold back", Fung insisted, feeling exasperated again.

Gah-Ri frowned, unsure about it, but then he took a deep breath, steeling himself, and bit down on the Dragon Chalice as hard as he could.

Half expecting the priceless artifact to be broken in half, Po looked away, he didn't want to see what happened next and he wasn't the only one. Everyone else either flinched or closed their eyes as they heard the almost comedic sound of teeth breaking.

When Gah-Ri finally let go of the vase, one of his incisors fell out of his mouth and landed in the grass, lost in the dark.

Fung grinned triumphantly and stepped up his subordinate, throwing a rough arm around the bandit and patting him on the back to console him and congratulate him at the same time. "Good work, Gary, it's real!", the croc boss said excitedly.

When he was boosting Gah-Ri's morale, Fung turned back towards Po and the Five, whose mouths were still hanging open in shock. "Don't worry, I'm almost sure it'll grow back", Fung said reassuringly to his lieutenant, misquoting Gah-Ri's words to him after their last failed raid.

Po rolled his eyebrows and turned back towards his friends, all of them were thinking the same thing: that Fung and his gang were idiots. "This stalling thing is easier than I thought it would be", Po considered, his anxiety fading away.

((()-()))

Zhong sighed, feeling restless again, while he listened to the sounds of the crocs talking outside the door. They were obviously talking about Fung and how well the plan was going in the courtyard. Zhong would know for himself how everything went down whenever the crocs decided to untie him - if that even happened at all. He wouldn't put it past them to go back on their word. Zhong closed his eyes and waited for the negotiations to come to an end. They seemed to be lasting forever for some reason.

Suddenly, the sounds of the crocs talking came to an abrupt stop and the room went deathly silent. Zhong's fur stood up again and his ears twitched, as he realized something had to be wrong. "What's going on? What's happening?!", he shouted to the crocs outside. When there was no reply from his guards, worrying him, he jerked his head around to get a full view of the room.

"Shhh", a familiar voice whispered to him.

This time, Zhong's entire mohawk stood up on end, and he turned his head around again, to see something he thought he'd never (and hopefully wouldn't) see: Erdan, grinning at his father, while tugging at the ropes that bound him.

"Erdan?!", the one-eyed wolf exclaimed, caught completely off guard.

"Hi dad", Erdan cheerily replied, before retracting his claws. Sizing up the bigger lupine's predicament, the wolf cub began to slice his way through his father's ropes.

"What are you doing here?", Zhong whispered incredulously.

"Saving you", Erdan informed him, as he started clawing away on the triple knot.

"And I'm helping", Fang added, from inside Erdan's backpack.

Although at first, Zhong looked surprised and grateful that his son had come to his rescue, touched even, he gradually started to look angry, and then he looked downright furious. "You shouldn't be here. And you even brought Fang with you?! I can't believe Shifu let you do something like this. Is he out of his mind?!", Zhong demanded under his breath.

Erdan grinned and glanced at his dad for a moment. "Don't worry, dad, Shifu was a pretty hard guy to convince. Fang, however, snuck into my backpack while I was leaving the village", Erdan explained, frowning at that particular detail.

Zhong looked like he was about to say something else, when Erdan cut him off. "Dad, I'll have you loose in a few seconds, but you have to keep your voice down. Shu's keeping watch outside, but we still can't afford to attract any attention to ourselves. Po's already distracting Fung the best he can, and if he gets just one hint that something's wrong, it's game over", Erdan advised.

Zhong hesitated, but eventually the gray wolf sighed and nodded his head in compliance. What was done was done, and for the moment, he would have to start thinking less like a father and more like the soldier that he was. "Shu's here too?", he asked in a low whisper.

Erdan chuckled. "Of course. As soon as she found out you were in danger, she insisted that she come along, just like I did", the teenager eagerly explained.

"But she doesn't know kung fu. She could get herself killed!", Zhong worried.

"Dad, you'd be surprised by how well she can take care of herself", Erdan retorted as he finished slashing through the last layer of rope. He would have finished sooner if Fung hadn't triple-knotted Zhong's legs. "Okay, you're free. Try shaking them", Erdan advised.

Zhong did as the boy said and kicked his legs around. As he did so, he watched in amazement as the ropes slipped off from around his body, landing softly on the ground. Wasting no time, Zhong sprang to his feet and savored his freedom, stretching his sore, aching body for the first time in hours.

Turning towards his son, Zhong found he had some mixed feelings on the matter. As much as he didn't like the idea of Erdan being in a high danger zone, he was very proud of how clever and loyal the boy had proven to be. So he took Erdan by surprise and swept the teenager up into a one-armed hug, ruffling his fur and noogying him affectionately to make his feelings known. Erdan chuckled, glad to see his dad again as well, before Zhong released him. "Come on, let's go", Zhong beckoned, before he dashed out the door with Erdan right on his heels.

Unsurprisingly, Shu was waiting for them, exactly where Erdan had said she would be.

Zhong glanced down at the croc who laid at Shu's feet, obviously knocked out cold. "You did that?", he asked, surprised.

"Yep", Shu replied, grinning.

Zhong raised his eyebrows, impressed, and for a moment he thought about whistling before his common sense stopped him and reminded the wolf they were still supposed to be keeping quiet.

"Okay, now comes the hard part", Erdan declared, leading his family as they started running again, back in the direction from whence they came.

"Leaping off a fence wasn't the hard part?", Fang demanded from inside Erdan's pack.

"Nope, the hard part is doing it all over again, with a third person", Erdan explained as he and his family sprinted down the corridor.

"Fourth person", Fang corrected him.

"Whatever. You know what I mean", Erdan sighed, as he and his foster parents rounded another corner.

Unfortunately for them, there was one thing Erdan had overlooked in his plan. The crocs were hard-headed, just like he mentioned before. But part of being hard-headed meant being able to bounce back from a head injury a lot faster than other people normally would. When Erdan, Zhong and Shu made it to another corridor, they were greeted by five angry crocs, the same ones they had jumped on before.

"What do we do now?!", Shu asked. The she-wolf was a good fighter, but she knew she wouldn't stand a chance against five croc bandits. Nor would Erdan. Zhong probably would, but a fight would just draw attention to their escape. And right now, their main priority was to get away, not to get caught again.

"Run!", Erdan shouted before dashing around the corner again, with a fearful Shu and a reluctant Zhong right behind him.

Three crocs followed after them immediately, while two stayed behind.

"Find the boss. Tell him the wolf's escaped", the fourth croc gave his comrade an order, before joining the other three in chasing after Erdan's pack.

The fifth croc nodded his head and started running in the opposite direction. Mako's base contained a mini-labyrinth of corridors, and unless you knew your way around (like Erdan and the crocs did) there was a good chance you could get lost in them. And unfortunately for the wolf pack, the croc bandits knew where all the shortcuts were, including the path to the front gate.

"What's going on?", Fang questioned, as the rabbit was thrown back and forth inside Erdan's pack. When the wolf cub didn't reply, Fang grew impatient and started pushing the pack's zipper upwards, opening it from the inside out. But as soon as he got the zipper halfway up, Fang was thrown backwards again. This time, there was no fabric wall to catch him and he nearly fell to ground, only just managing to hang onto Erdan's flap. "Whoa!", he shouted, as the wolves ran past corner after corner.

Erdan was subconsciously aware of his friend's dilemma, but he knew there was no time to stop and help him now, not now that their cover had been blown. If the crocs were blocking the back entrance, then their only option was to scale the wall on the front side, where Po and the others were currently stalling Fung. As much as he didn't like the idea of facing twenty croc bandits head-on, Erdan knew that escaping in secret was no longer an option, and they would all stand a greater chance of fighting the crocs as a united front. "Just hang on!", Erdan shouted.

"I am!", Fang snarled, scowling at his friend.

((()-()))

Meanwhile, Fung turned towards his second-in-command, Gah-Ri, who now sported a large gap in his teeth. "Okay Gary, they check out. Go fetch the prisoner so we can get the dough", Fung said, grinning.

Just as Gah-Ri turned around to do the deed, the croc was knocked down by one of his teammates. The panicking bandit had just raced outside the fort in the direction of Fung and his gang. "Fung, he's escaped! The wolf escaped!", the croc shouted.

Fung's yellow eyes widened and a few chills went down Po's spine as the panda realized their plan was going wrong, very wrong.

Fung's mouth dropped open and the croc bandit stumbled over his words for a moment, flabbergasted. "How?! We triple-knotted him!", Fung demanded, outraged.

"Someone helped him get loose", the croc replied, reporting what he saw.

Fung growled. If Po and the Five were all there and they hadn't left his line of sight, then that meant that Zhong's helper had to have been someone close to them. Someone they trusted, someone who could handle himself well enough to break into an entire fort filled with croc bandits. "It was Shifu, wasn't it?!", he said exasperatedly.

"No, two other wolves. They climbed the back wall and knocked us out", the croc informed him, scowling.

Fung paused for a moment, trying to make sense of what his comrade was saying. He then turned to glare at Po and the Five. "That girl Zhong was talking to the other day, one of them had to be her", Fung realized. "Zhong said he had a girlfriend. Darnit, she's real!", the bandit leader groaned mentally, before focusing his heated glare on Po. "So much for not trying anything", Fung sneered, calling the Dragon Warrior's character into question once more.

Po quickly slipped into his most familiar and reliable defensive stance, prepared to fight his way out of the base, and his friends followed the panda's lead. "Sorry Fung, we figured it'd be best to double-cross you before you double-crossed us", Po honestly replied.

"Get them! And the treasure!", Fung shouted, pretty pissed-off at that point, before he charged at the Dragon Warrior.

((()-()))

Inside the base, Erdan and his family continued their mad dash, with Zhong insisting that they stop and fight every few seconds. "Don't worry, we're almost there", Erdan insisted, though the cub knew he was only lying just to keep his father from doing something stupid. Finally, the boy's worst nightmare came true when the three wolves reached a dead end.

"This doesn't look the front gate", Fang said sarcastically, using their brief pause as a chance to climb on top of Erdan's shoulder and get some safer footing.

When they heard the sound of someone clearing their voice, Erdan, Zhong, Shu and Fang all turned around to see two crocs join them in the dead end corridor. "Got you", one of them taunted.

Zhong growled and started to approach them, ready to take the thieves out, when Fang leapt off Erdan's shoulders and ran past the wolf. "Don't worry, I've got this", Fang insisted.

"FANG!", Erdan shouted, more than a bit worried, as he watched his friend run right into danger - again.

"A Pressing Need To Save The World" by Murray Gold begins.

However, for once Fang seemed to know what he was doing. Because by the time Fang returned to Erdan's side, both crocs were lying on the ground, bruised and defeated by something as small and unthreatening as a rabbit. Erdan watched as both crocs rubbed their sore groins, which were still bruised from being mercilessly kicked in by Fang.

"Ooh", Zhong winced, since the all too-familiar scene reminded him of his first sparring practice with Tigress.

"Really?", Erdan asked, raising his eyebrows at his friend as he walked back to his side.

"Hey, it worked pretty well on you", Fang shrugged, before hopping back on Erdan's shoulder again.

With that, the three wolves and the rabbit started running again, stepping over the bruised and battered crocs on their way out.

((()-()))

"We're not leaving here without Zhong!", Po demanded, from somewhere in the crowd of feuding warriors.

"And we're not leaving without that treasure!", Fung shot back, though he couldn't really see where his foe was in the throng.

Finally, the croc bandit turned around to face the kung fu master who he feared the most - Master Tigress. The striped tiger growled at him and Fung found himself gulping out of fear. "I'm not scared of you, lady", he insisted, though his quivering, uncertain tone betrayed his cocky, tough-talking intent.

"Good, that makes this all the more fun", she promised him before leaping towards the croc bandit. All Fung could do was scream and hold up his hands to try to block her, as the scorned woman tackled him.

((()-()))

Meanwhile, one of the croc's teammates was also being tackled by another aggressive creature. The croc bandit and a few of his friends had accidentally stumbled onto Zhong's pack in the hallway, and even though they were just as big and as strong as the wolves, they still seemed to stand no chance in fighting them off.

Currently, one croc was being pinned to the ground by Zhong and was about to be slashed by the war veteran's claws, while another received a kick to the face by Shu. And while the adults were fighting, Erdan and Fung found themselves staring down a full-sized croc, who had somehow backed them into corner. "Nowhere to run now, kid", he chuckled, thinking the two would be the easiest to push around.

Fang raised up his paws to brawl until Erdan stopped him. "Let me handle this. I know what to do. Po taught me", the wolf cub whispered, and Fang reluctantly nodded, wanting to see what his friend had up his sleeve. And then to everyone's surprise, Erdan bent over and started spinning on his head for some reason.

"That's what Po taught you? How to dance?", Fang asked, confused as to how Erdan's breakdancing skills would help them.

"Huh?", the croc bandit paused, tilting his head to side. But before he knew it, Erdan stopped spinning and launched himself straight into the air, striking the croc bandit right in the forehead with his foot. The man rocked back and forth for a few seconds, dazed and confused, before he toppled over backwards, knocking himself out cold on the floor.

As for Erdan, he leaned against the wall, steadying himself, and waited until the room stopped spinning before he answered his friend's question. "Yeah. Po said you'd never know when having mad skills would come in handy. I guess he was right", Erdan remarked, giving his head another good shake to try to clear it, before he grabbed Fang's paw and dragged his friend in the direction of his parents, who had just finished taking care of their own opponents.

"Alright, let's keep moving", Zhong ordered, taking charge of the group. According to Erdan's memories of the blueprints, they only had two more corridors left to go now.

((()-()))

Fung groaned as the croc was thrown backwards by Tigress, landing on top of two of his henchmen and bruising his butt pretty badly. Maybe taking on the psychotic kung fu master wasn't such a good idea. Currently, there were no winners or losers in the fight, since they were all equally matched for once. But the crocs were beginning to show signs of slowing down. And to make matters worse, Fung's rival, Ling, had just showed up out of the fray.

Ling rushed up to his boss' side and indignantly pulled him to his feet. "Fung, why are we wasting time fighting them, when Zhong and his girlfriend are trying to escape?! Since we can't beat Po and the Five, why mess with the plan? Instead of getting our butts kicked again, we should be trying to recapture Zhong, since he's the only leverage we have. And the only chance we have of getting any treasure!", Ling reasoned, spelling out the plan for the croc bandit like hwas slow.

Fung scowled. "I knew that", he lied, before turning back to the warring crocs. "Guys! Forget about them, we've gotta find the wolf and his girl!", Fung shouted, before opening the door to the main building. The crocs all nodded and turned away from their opponents, running across the courtyard towards their eager leader to join his ranks.

"NO!", Tigress shouted, quickly running after the crocs to try to stop them as they disappeared into the base. Her friends weren't far behind her. Unfortunately, Fung had the foresight to close the door to the fort behind him and lock it before continuing on, trapping Po and his friends outside.

"We can't let them reach Erdan", Tigress growled, raising her fist, fully prepared to snap the wooden door in two to gain access. But before she could, the door knob rattled unexpectedly and the door swung wide open again, forcing the masters back. Po and the Five resumed their typical defensive stances, prepared to fight it out with the crocs again in another round, when they realized who it was on the other side.

"Danny boy!", Po grinned happily, as he ran up to hug the boy, and then Shu, before he nearly squeezed all the life out of Zhong.

"Panda, I know you're happy to see me, but we don't have time for this", Zhong groaned, which convinced the panda to finally let him go and allow the poor wolf to breathe again.

"How did you get past Fung's men that fast?", Viper asked Erdan, confused.

"We were almost to the front door when we heard them coming. We hid in one of the corridors until they passed. It'll be a while before they realize we're not in there anymore, but they'll still be back soon. So we've got to move now", Erdan figured.

"We can't open the gate, it would take too long and they'd hear us leaving", Crane reasoned.

"Then we'll just have to get out the same way we got in", Erdan suggested, before pulling his grappling hook out of his backpack.

"But you only packed three of those", Monkey reminded him.

"I did. But I was worried something like this would happen so I packed enough hooks for all of us. I told you waiting two hours would give me time to work out the holes in my plan", Erdan stated, relieved that he had been paranoid and thought ahead, before handing out grappling hooks to each of his friends.

"But I don't have one", Fang fretted as Erdan handed the last hook to Po.

"You'll just have to climb with me. If these ropes are strong enough to hold up the weight of a five hundred pound panda, a fifteen pound bunny shouldn't be a problem", Erdan resolved, as he spun his hook around in the air above his head.

The boy turned towards his target - the railing on the wall. Like most military forts, there was a small platform built into the wall, which allowed archers like Erdan to fire upon intruders from above in case the fort was ever invaded. That would be the halfway mark for the boy and his friends as they scaled the brick wall. Erdan threw his hook forward as hard as he could, and watched in excitement as it snagged the edge of the wooden railing.

"Wait, this base is two hundred years old. Won't the wood just break under all our weight?", Mantis asked, uncharacteristically being the voice of reason for once.

"Don't worry, I read the blueprints. Everything here is either reinforced with bricks or ironwood trees, the strongest, hardiest trees in the world. Just ask Tigress", Erdan replied, shooting a quick grin at the striped master, and surprisingly Tigress returned his expression. She followed the boy's lead, snaring her hook on the railing as well. The rest of the Furious Five, after a few tries, followed suit.

However, as the seconds continued to tick by, Erdan threw a cautious glance towards the fort every few moments, waiting for Fung and his gang to reappear once they realized they had been tricked. He knew that Fung and his men were thick, and them realizing the truth obviously wouldn't happen anytime soon, but he knew they'd catch on eventually and he wished his friends would hurry up already.

Once the last hook was snared, Po turned towards his friends. "Okay guys, we can only do this one at a time. Or in Fang's case, two at a time. Since we don't know when the crocs will come back, women and children will go first. Tigress, Viper, Erdan, Shu, and Fang, get going", Po commanded.

Though Tigress hesitated at first, she didn't want to leave her friend and possible crush alone on the ground when she was clearly just as capable of taking care of herself as he was, she eventually obeyed and started climbing.

Fang shimmied up the rope as best as he could, but the rabbit's sweaty hands kept slipping, causing him to misplace his foot and slide back a few times. Each time he did, his heart skipped a beat as he lurched further backwards, towards the harsh, punishing ground.

Finally, the boy's worst nightmare came true, when he accidentally let go of the rope entirely and started free-falling through the air. "AAAHHH!", the adolescent screamed, as he watched the ground come closer and closer, faster and faster…until….

"It's okay, Fang, I've got you", Erdan stated reassuringly.

Fang opened his eyes and realized the wolf cub was right. Before Fang could fall more than a few feet, Erdan had reached out and grabbed the bunny by his tail, saving him from certain death. Everything else, including the part about him hitting the ground, must have all happened in his imagination. "Unless I really did die, and I'm just imagining all this", Fang thought, grimacing.

"And now you owe me a life-debt!", Erdan shouted down to his friend, grinning smugly, much to Fang's annoyance.

After a few seconds of climbing the wall (which was more like running towards the end), Erdan, Fang and the girls reached the platform at last. Once they reached the top, they pulled themselves over the railing and made sure their teammates' hooks were secured. "Okay, the rest of you guys can come up now!", Erdan shouted down.

Though they were at least forty feet up, Erdan could see Po, Zhong, Monkey, Mantis and Crane all nod in agreement. And then, the wolf had to suffer another slow and anxious wait, as his father and his friends started to climb up their own ropes.

They had almost reached the platform, when Erdan noticed something that made his heart skip a few beats since they left the Palace: the sounds of the croc bandits shouting. With his super sensitive ears, Erdan heard Fung's angry voice long before the others did, and he knew his father could hear it too. "RUN!", the boy shouted.

Catching on quickly, the boys started to scale the wall faster, now running up the bricks rather than just walking up them, while still making sure to hold onto their ropes tightly and securely. Once the boys' hands reached the edge of the railing, Erdan, Shu and Tigress all extended their paws towards their friends, while Viper and Fang helped out the best they could.

The door to the fort flew open and the croc bandits stormed out, angrily retracing their steps. "They've gotta be here somewhere!", Fung snarled, officially at his wit's end.

"Face it, Fung, your plan failed, just like all the others", Ling sneered at him, verbally jabbing his boss.

"Well if I'm such a failure, then why did you even join us Ling?! Huh?! Why did you even come here?! No one made you join!", Fung snapped, lashing out towards his teammate even though he already knew the answers to his questions.

"Um, boss", Gah-Ri spoke, his eyes fixed on something in the sky.

"Not now, Gary", Fung growled through clenched teeth, glaring daggers at Ling.

"But I know where the panda and the treasures are", Gah-Ri insisted.

At that, all traces of anger disappeared from Fung's face and he whirled around in the direction Gah-Ri was facing. "Where?!", he asked excitedly.

"Up there", the subordinate croc replied, pointing towards the nearby platform. Sure enough, the wolves and the Furious Five were all standing on top of their platform, all of them pulling on Po's massive arms to try and pull the panda over the railing.

"How did they get up there?", Fung asked, shocked.

"Who cares? The point is, they have Zhong and the treasure, and we'll never be able to reach them. They're won, again", Ling croaked defeatedly.

"Did they?", Fung asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Yes", Ling growled, growing tired of his leader's idiotic questions.

"I don't think so. Cause I still have this", Fung replied, pulling the Dragon Chalice out from behind his back and holding it up in front of his teammates, so they could all get a good look at it.

Ling and the other crocs gasped as they realized Fung had indeed been holding on to the Dragon Chalice the whole time. During all the excitement and fighting, they had forgotten that Po gave it to him earlier and never took it back from him (except for poor Gary, who had to take one for the team to test out it's authenticity).

"I'd say a lot people would pay a pretty penny for this beauty. It may not be all the treasure in the Jade Palace, but it's still enough to make us rich - more than enough", Fung grinned smugly and sinisterly.

"And we still have a way to escape, while Po and his gang of losers are still trapped up there", Fung commented, speaking mostly to the Dragon Warrior than he was to his men (knowing the panda could surely hear him talking), needling his other greatest rival. The croc bandit looked up and was satisfied to find Po and the Furious Five scowling down at him.

Looking around for a way out, Fung pointed at something that was sitting in the corner, something that had been gathering dust there for the past two centuries. Rickshaws. Lots and lots of rickshaws. Mako and his men had often used these rickshaws to travel long distances. His soldiers had often commented that taking turns pulling each other's weights not only sped up their journeys, but kept the men in tip-top shape.

"Boys, open the gate", Fung ordered. The crocs complied and rushed over to the giant doors, taking at least of ten of them to push the gate to the base open. It was a long and slow process, but Fung was patient for once, knowing that riches beyond his wildest dreams were all waiting for him on the other side. And they certainly weren't going anywhere, just like Shifu's students.

Erdan gasped as he and his friends watched the scene unfold from the safety of their platform. They had no idea what to do at that point. They couldn't reach the crocs from where they were standing, which meant Fung was free to do whatever he wanted with the Chalice. And even if they climbed down to get it back, it would still take too long and the crocs would be long gone before they even reached the gate.

"We've gotta get down from here", Zhong growled, reaching for his rope.

"It's too late", Tigress insisted, putting her paw in front of the wolf's chest to stop him. All ten animals looked down to see Fung and his men taking their positions on the rickshaws. Some, like Fung, were sitting in the seats, resting their legs while their teammates pulled them. Fung's cart wasted no time pulling off, eagerly leading the whole pack to freedom. Once the door was open completely, the last of the crocs got in their rickshaws and followed after their leader.

And just like that, it was over. The crocs were gone and they took the Dragon Chalice with them. The kung fu warriors had finally lost for once and the crocs had emerged victorious. The time of the croc bandits had finally come, just as Fung had predicted it would.

Po turned towards Erdan, who instead of growling and snarling like his father and Tigress had done, remained silent during Fung's escape, deep in thought. "Danny boy, what do we do now?", the panda questioned, wondering aloud.

However, Erdan didn't reply and only continued to stare off into space, as if the Dragon Warrior's words had gone through one ear and fled out the other entirely, without ever meeting anything in the middle. And to Po's shock and disbelief, he realized that for once Erdan, the little man who always had a plan, didn't know what to do that time.

"Come on Erdan, you got us this far. You can't give up now", Po insisted. However, Erdan continued to stay silent as his friends looked at him sympathetically. "Danny?", Po asked, his brow creasing in distress, as he realized there was really nothing they could do. They had all underestimated the crocs, and as a result, they let Fung outsmart them. For the first time since Po became the Dragon Warrior, the bad guys had won.

Author's Note:

Sorry about the shortage on chapters. I had planned to post three today, but there was a kink in the third chapter that needs to be worked out. Don't worry, even though there's only two posted today, you guys still won't be left on another cliffhanger like last week (I like to keep people in suspense, but I'm not evil). Also the joke where Gah-Ri breaks his tooth on the Dragon Chalice is a spoof on classic Looney Tunes cartoons, where characters would try to find out whether a quarter was real or not by bending it with their teeth. Normally, I wouldn't explain a joke in the author's notes, but some things work better in your head than they do on paper, and now that I've reread this chapter, I'm not sure whether or not the gag is clear enough. And then there's poor Fang. First Zhong, then Erdan. It seems he'll be owing people life debts forever.

The music in this chapter is different than all the previous ones. It lives up to both the title and the action-y nature of the plot. Sometimes it can feel a bit over the top, but that's good, because music in action movies are always a bit overblown (take John Williams' epic scores for example). Like "UNIT Rocks!", the variation on "UNIT" from two chapters back. While the music in the two tracks remain basically the same, the tempo doesn't. The original "UNIT" was quieter and more subdued, the perfect music for a scene where a general and his men brainstorm. But "UNIT Rocks!" is much more exciting and has a certain gung-ho to it, like a young soldier rushing into battle for the first time. Which I suppose you could say is what happens here for Erdan, as he takes charge of Po and the Furious Five.

When I wrote "Salvation, Part 1", one of my top ten favorite tracks was "All the Strange, Strange Creatures". What I loved most about it is that even though it was composed in 2007 it's classic adventure music, like something you'd hear in an Indiana Jones movie. I knew I wanted to bring it back for "Erdan 2", but I also knew that the music in this fic has a completely different feel to it than in my Balto fics. So I brought it back in a different form - "A Pressing Need to Save The World", which takes a more electronic approach on the theme, while still keeping it's adventurous vibe. Both tracks succeed in giving you an idea of what it feels like to race against time.

Finally, I'd like to thank Wolflover111 for reviewing the last time I posted. Now that "Erdan 2" is coming to end, having the author of the original fic back for the finale just feels right. Though from your review, it looks like you never left in the first place (computer troubles, we've all been there). So thanks for not forgetting about Erdan.