The final arc begins! It's time to see the Wu Sisters actually being the Wu Sisters.

Chapter 21: Adjusting

When the Wu Sisters left Gongmen City with Lord Shen, they were somewhat content. Once the reality of what exactly they would be doing sank in, not so much.

Yet none of them regretted making the deal that got them here. Tai Lung had been the closest thing they ever had to a true friend and they couldn't let him die for their sakes. It was ironic really. They were in this situation because of their morals, and now they had to abandon them.

The first thing Shen did when they set down camp again was to have new uniforms custom-made for them. Sensing their resistance, he assured them that gray and black were appropriate colors already and just made a few small changes to the design. Their new, heavier gray shirts had criss-crossing black stripes that ran down the center and spiked shoulders that jutted outwards. They had two small flaps that hung down over their pants, which were a darker gray and extended down to a pair of thick, black boots. They now had gloves as well, fingerless to allow them full use of their claws. Shen also offered them bandages to wrap around the tops of their heads for added protection. Wing and Wan accepted these, but Su's ear still hurt with physical contact and she turned them down. He was fine with that, saying that the scarred ear would make her look more intimidating anyway.

For a long time, Shen didn't even bring up the topic of assassination and simply ordered them to continue their regular training, using his wolves as sparring partners. He himself frequently observed these sessions, acting as a mentor of sorts. Shen was a disturbing contrast to Master Oogway, encouraging them to attack more ferociously, use their claws more frequently, and take advantage of any opening they could find. Everything that five years of kung fu training had taught them was cowardly and dishonorable was now being pushed to the forefront.

Of course, if they really wanted to be dishonorable, they could back out of their deal at any time and just ditch the bird. But that unfortunately wasn't an option. Word had already spread about their alleged murder of Captain Xun and they were officially wanted criminals.

They had nowhere else to go.

It was roughly two months after their arrival that Shen decided to up the ante.

It seemed like an ordinary sparring session at first. The sisters walked into a makeshift arena set up in the center of their new camp, surrounded by a crowd of wolves. Shen was sitting off to the side in a large chair. The Wolf Boss was next to him, staring down at the ground in obvious grief. That was a red flag right there. The large canine was almost as upbeat as Wan. Looking around, none of the other wolves seemed particularity happy either. Something serious was definitely going on here.

Shen soon noticed their presence and walked up to them. That was another oddity. He usually liked to stay seated during their spars. "Greetings, Wu Sisters. As per usual, I have three wolf warriors ready to fight each of you one-on-one." He gestured to said wolves, standing on the opposite end of the arena. They noticed that these wolves looked much less formidable than their usual opponents and they knew right then what he wanted them to do.

"This time, however, I want you to finish them off."

"You mean...kill them?" Wan gulped.

"Yes, I'm afraid these wolves have recently failed me on a spying mission into Gongmen City." He shook his head in disappointment. "I was going to execute them, but then I thought 'Wait, I have three certain felines that I just hired to do this for me'.

The sisters glared at him. "Oh, don't worry about it. These wolves have barely any combat training at all. It will be a piece of cake." He turned on his heel and headed back to his seat.

Wing sighed. "Looks like it's finally time."

"Maybe we could...fake it?" Wan suggested.

"Oh, and one more thing," Shen stopped to look over his shoulder. "I've told them that they can redeem themselves by killing you, so I don't recommended showing them any mercy. That is all."

"Hmm...so much for that."

Su was the first one up, facing a nervous wolf holding a sword. She knew that killing him would not be hard for her. In fact, she was subconsciously looking forward to it. What she worried about was how her sisters would take it. Even though they all agreed to do this, she knew that they were much less willing.

"Match...begin!" Shen announced.

Su didn't waste any time. The second Shen threw his wing down to signal the start of the fight, she rushed her opponent, claws extended. The wolf didn't even have the time to raise his sword before Su got in range and slashed his throat open. The wolf staggered back for a moment, then collapsed to the ground, dead.

"She is efficient indeed," Shen muttered to himself, then raised his wing back up. "The winner is Su!" There were normally cheers from the wolves whenever a fight ended, but now there was silence. Wolves were pack animals and she had just killed one of their own. There was nothing to celebrate here. And if they were going to get through this, two more would have to die.

Su walked back to her sisters, hiding her claws behind her back to keep them from seeing the blood on them. They were both in a state of shock, much like they were during the Thieves' Guild incident. But this was even worse, because they knew they would have to do this themselves.

"Finish it quickly," Su advised. "Dragging it out will just make it harder."

"Right," Wing said nervously. She had never taken a life before, and while she knew that she could do it, she was more concerned about what it would to do her. If Su was any indication, it wouldn't be pretty.

Wing stepped into the arena, along with a wolf wielding a spear. The wolf was clearly unnerved by the death of his pack-mate, but also determined not to suffer the same fate.

"Match...begin!" This wolf had learned from the last one's mistake and charged right for her. Wing stood her ground and as the wolf attempted to impale her on the spear, she leapt on top of the weapon, then over his head. Before he could turn around, she grabbed him from behind and attempted to snap his neck, wanting a quick, but less messy kill.

Unfortunately, the wolf was so surprised by her attack that he dropped his spear and fell backwards, pulling them both to the ground. Wing's arm slipped and as she tried to bring it back up to the wolf's head, his struggling caused her to instead pull it around his neck, strangling him. As the wolf flailed around in panic, instinct took over and Wing just continued to pull tighter and tighter. It felt like hours later when he finally stopped struggling and went limp in her arms.

"The winner is-"

"SHUT UP!" Wing yelled. She shoved the wolf's body off of her and went back to her sisters, near hyperventilating. If this could leave her so shaken, how the hell was Wan going to do it?

The youngest sister was wondering the same thing herself. Unlike Wing, she had killed before and it was an experience she was hoping to never think about again. So ever since this started, she had been constantly anxious and on the verge of a nervous breakdown. It was only the presence of her sisters that kept her somewhat calm, and Wing's reaction was quickly driving that away.

She took a deep breath and stepped into the arena. The last wolf looked as anxious as she did, which only made it worse.

Could she really do this?

"Match...begin!"

Despite his nervousness, the wolf came right at her. He had a sword like the first one and swung it straight at her head. She dodged by jumping backwards, but the wolf kept coming, swinging at her repeatedly. With her agility, she had no problem avoiding every swing, but she couldn't bring herself to strike back. This wolf wasn't like Hao, who she could at least justify by wanting to protect her sisters. Try as she might, she couldn't see him as anything other than a victim.

She was so distracted by this internal conflict that the wolf finally got a lucky hit on her, slicing into her arm. She screamed and clutched the wound, allowing the wolf to follow up with a kick that knocked her onto her back.

"Well, two out of three isn't bad," Shen shrugged.

Lying on her back, Wan looked over at her sisters, both absolutely terrified. "I'm sorry sisters...I couldn't do it..."

Like always, Su knew exactly what to say. "Yes you can, Wan! Remember our vow! Do this for us!"

It took her a moment to understand what she meant. If she died here, what would happen to her sisters? They would be distraught and of much less use to Shen. He might even decide to just kill them too.

She couldn't let that happen.

The wolf was standing over her now, sword raised to deliver the final blow. That one second was all Wan needed to spring back to her feet, grab the wolf's wrist with one arm, and use the other to drive her claws into his throat. The whole thing happened so fast that she barely even realized what she was doing until she saw her claws now dripping with blood. She let out a small shriek and yanked her claws back out, letting the wolf fall to the ground. Shen raised an eyebrow in surprise before bringing his wing up again. "The winner is Wan!"

Wan went back to her sisters much like Wing had, shaking and traumatized. Su offered her a hug that she immediately accepted, falling into her arms and sobbing.

The crowd of wolves dissipated, none of them wanting to be there any longer than they had to. Ignoring the grief-stricken Wolf Boss, Lord Shen got off of his seat and walked over to the sisters, clapping. "Congratulations, Wu Sisters. You have passed your final test."

Wing, who had been silent since her match, snapped. "We don't want your congratulations! Do you even realize what you've done to us?!"

He did and he didn't care. "Good people become criminals. It happens. You can at least take comfort in the fact that you're not the only ones who have changed recently."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

Shen chuckled, in a way that told them that he knew something they didn't. "Silly me, I forgot. You three have been training all this time. You haven't been kept up to date on current events." He called the Wolf Boss over, who silently handed him a piece of parchment. It was the kind that was copied and distributed across the country to inform the citizens of important events.

He tossed the parchment to Su, who awkwardly caught it around the still-sobbing Wan. She looked it over, expecting to see a story about some guy snapping and going on a rampage or something. And that's exactly what it was.

"What is it, Su?" Wing asked, seeing her sister suddenly pale. She peeked over her shoulder and her eyes widened. "Tai Lung is in prison?!"

"WHAT?!" Wan shot up and snatched the parchment from Su's paws. She read it top to bottom, trembling. "No...no way..."

"Yes way," Shen said. "Seems that he got turned down as the Dragon Warrior and didn't take it very well. Makes you wonder if his recent failure might have contributed." He paused a moment in thought. "Oh well, guess we'll never know." He walked away, leaving the sisters alone with the biggest shock of their lives. None of them said anything, but there was one question on all of their minds.

If Tai Lung could fall so far, what was stopping them from doing the same?