Kung Fu Panda fanfic6
Conspiracy
Rollo Kio seated himself in front of the screen, as the Web-cam attachment flickered to life and showed the face - well, the mask - of the superior of this operation, Lord Remnant himself. The silhouette folded his arms and kept his motion stiff, he didn't look at all patient with the status report, he was eagerly, commandingly curious of his progress in the last few days. If he could see that face through the shaded hood and mask, Kio was sure he would find a smile.
"Lord Kio, your status report." Remnant urged, not wanting to wait - he seemed in a hurry.
"We are having good progress and much luck on our side, my Lord," the komodo dragon replied, "everything is coming together perfectly, just as you predicted. We have the might of the Great Gorilla Army, the stealth of the Lang Shadow Army, and the numbers of the Xi rebels, we have many territories of our own across the land of China, and we will have the construction of many bases in a matter of days."
"And what of the Imperial council, are they ready for war, do they have an army of their own?"
"According to my agent, the politicians are being rather stubborn, and there is a problem - Master Shifu is there to protest against the request for military options bill."
"That is definitely a problem, he could be a threat to the entire operation. I want you to do whatever means necessary to silence him."
"Are you speaking of an assassination - of the new appointed grand master of kung fu?"
"If that is the only option to ensure that our operation will continue without delay or further complications, so be it," Remnant said, "and I want your - personally - to see it through."
"Why my lord, I am very flattered by your selecting me to dispatch a powerful opponent. It is truly an honor," Kio went on.
"Don't understand him as you are with me, Lord Kio, and I sensing some treachory - an unauthorized act - from you," the silhouette told him, "But in time, after your assignment, I will be present at your base of operations in the abandoned mountains."
"Tonight?"
"Yes, I want to see the progress with my own eyes - that won't be a problem, will it?" His voice darkened a little - speaking almost as grim as death.
"Of course not, my Lord," he replied, "I will make preparations for your arrival before I leave. I look forward to your arrival."
"It would be best if you made preparations through your security, I foresee your fortress will be infiltrated after you leave."
"What? By whom? How many? And what are they coming for?"
"Too many question of my concern, Lord Kio, you'll just have to trust your security forces. Now, I will be present at tonight, late, and when I do - I predict that I will find something I will not like, so pray I will be merciful." Remnant reached forward, and the screen when blank.
Kio's smile disappeared as he sighed with some mutual relief, the conversation with Lord Remnant this time seemed too close to the end of his reign - he seemed suspicious of him, probably enough so to keep him at a distance as to send him on an assassination at the Imperial Palace. Did he not trust him?
He would have to worry about it later, right now it was the matter of the fortress infiltration he was most anxious about. Who in the right mind would try and assault such a heavily armed fortress of mercenaries and gorilla warriors was a mystery to him, but whatever the intruders wanted must be what he has. The interesting questions were what and why, but what he wanted to know - most of all - was who.
"Masquerade," he called her name - aware fully that she had been standing behind her the whole time, "It would seem we will be having some uninvited guests tonight."
"Are you sure of this? Are you sure what he foresees is not misunderstood?" She asked, her mask hanging from her hand.
"Lord Remnant is an overseer, he was never wrong before, which is why I will have security at their ready for these intruders. If they should get past security, I want you to see to them yourself - and be... severe to dispatch them."
"They will be silenced, Master Kio," she replied, donning her mask while he stood up and sauntered away.
"As well as Master Shifu, if its necessary," he seconded under his breath.
As the alarm began to echo all throughout the rebel village, Monkey, Viper and Mantis hurriedly hopped from rooftop to rooftop, all three of them were very much aware of the quicksand they were sinking into of this situation. They were in real trouble now.
They all simultaneously landed on a rooftop and started for a ladder that led to the higher roof, but as soon as the simian laid his hands on the first bar and started up, a gunshot startled him, along with the quick and small bullet wound that marked the wall, as he released and fell back to the ground.
Mantis hopped to the edge and saw a firing line of mercenaries - armed with pistols and AK-47 assault rifles - aiming in their direction. "Duck!" he shouted, hopping out of the way while the others threw themselves to the surface of the rooftop.
Barrages of gunfire flew over their heads, pelting the stone wall behind the ladder, Viper had to wrap her tail around her head to keep herself from going deaf.
"Monkey!" the insect shouted, reluctant that his voice hadn't been completely flooded out by the gunfire, "Do you still have that banana stack of yours?"
The primate pulled out the stack, smiling - if a lightbulb would shine above his head, the insect would know he had the idea. "Understood, I'm on it!" He replied, yelling in order to be heard, as he squeezed the bananas straight out from their peals.
With plenty of banana peals - acceptable weapons - in his hand, he leaped from the rooftop, his tail reached and snatched a nearby pole, and swung around, miraculously evading the hundreds of bullets firing at him. Beginning with a single peal, he carefully aimed at the firing line and tossed it at the end of the line.
The banana peal hit its mark, landing right on the merc wolf's face and curled around him, effectively blinding him. Without releasing the trigger, he turned to the side to try and remove the peal, unknowing and unwillingly firing his rifle towards the line of his comrades. They all immediately scattered, some lucky to dodge while others were injured with a shot limb to bear.
Monkey smiled, amused by the unfortunance of the mercs - frankly, he thought they deserved the humiliation, it showed them who was the better. He turned his head back to the others, only to spot another mercenary wolf poking his head out, climbing a ladder to get to them. Before he could even pull out his gun, the simian easily threw another peal.
The merc, startled by the banana peal that wrapped around his face, let go of the ladder bar and grabbed at the peal, tilting backwards and falling from the building, bringing the ladder and the following troops with him.
"C'mon! Let's go!" Mantis said, hopping up the ladder, with Viper slithering up at his side. The primate leaped back to the ladder and climbed up, meeting the others on the higher roof.
"Well! Any more bright ideas?" Viper asked, scanning over the hundreds and thousands of rebels and mercenaries that now made up the dangerous population.
"Yeah, but it's a little crazy," the insect replied, looking at the tie ropes hanging from their rooftop to the other on the far side, to the river and docks, where the boats were. Their ticket out of here. "It's worth a try. On the ropes!"
With that, they all leaped onto the thin, tight rope and sprinted along it, with balance as their key they were already half way there, over the townsquare of the rebel village. Mantis - in curiosity - looked back to the other rooftop, spotting General Lang at the foot of the edge, just in front of the robe, a sword in his hand.
"Hang on!" He warned, clinging himself to the rope. According the vibrations, a swift, steel blade sliced and disconnected it from one side, and now it was all falling down. Fortunately, the three warriors swung on the rope and continuing towards the river - but their elevation decreased, as they drew closer to the ground.
"Uh oh," Mantis cried, spotting a rhino holding an axe, of which they were unfortunately swinging towards. "Incoming axe man!" He warned. Viper immediately swiped one of the primate's banana peals and hurled it, and to her good fortune it marked the rhino's face. The blind rhino struggled with the peal, but simultaneously swung his weapon - missing his target as they glided past him and landed on the ground.
"After them!" The gruff voice of a mercenary ordered as they hurriedly headed for the river and docks. They glanced behind him, now fully aware of the dozens of mercs after them, all holding AK-47s. They were going to need a plan, and fast.
"Monkey, ditch the banana peals!" Viper shouted, slithering quickly along the ground.
The simian picked and pealed as many as he could, "How many?"
"All of 'em!" Mantis replied.
With that, Monkey complied and tossed all of the peals into the air, as they all landed, scattered all over the ground. He turned his head in time to watch as all of the mercs slip and tumble down into a great big pile of soldiers, and with that short catch of a picture in memory, he smiled. It certainly brought him back to other memories.
After outsmarting the mercenaries and rebels, they finally made it to the river and docks, of which they hopped on the nearest junk and began to operate it. They raised the anchor, set the sails, and in no time at all they were on their way down the river, with angrily, fist waving rebels on the docks, cursing at them.
"Well, I don't mean to tute our own horns, but I'd say we got out of there, Scot free," Mantis said, lying beside the rudder steer, relaxing, "Wouldn't you agree?"
"'Scot free'? They were shooting at us!" Viper complained, "And we could've been captured, or worse killed."
"Well we didn't, didn't we? So just try to relax, we're gonna need to be calm by the time we arrive at the Imperial Palace. Master Shifu is gonna wanna hear all of this."
To Black Raider: Yep, you're right, the show must go on, and the only way for that to happen is if I wrote it.
To Spartan-Guy 88: Big plans for the crossover between Kung Fu Panda and Sly Cooper, you have no idea...