Chapter Twenty Nine- Van Chase

The van shook violently as it sped through the forest, bouncing every time the wheels hit tree roots and rocks.

"Anuli!" Siren called from the back. "Can't we make this ride any smoother?"

"Of course not!" Anuli called back. "We're in the forest not on a road!"

"I think I prefer the rickshaw." Shen groaned.

Anuli partially ignored them as she kept her foot on the gas. Shifu looked out the window, searching for Mei. Aurora had joined them up front, directing Anuli towards the river that would take them home.

"Hey, is that her or is it a bird?" Tigress asked, pointing out the window. Everyone who was able to looked out the window to see a black and golden brown figure in the sky.

"It's her." Aurora growled.

"Hang on." Anuli said. "We're gonna catch up with her." She pressed the gas harder and the car sped off. In minutes, they were almost directly beneath the sorceress.

Mei looked down and noticed the van. She launched a lightning bolt towards the vehicle before continuing. Anuli jerked the wheel to one side to avoid the electricity, but managed to keep on the same path to follow the lioness. Shen looked through the window and glared at the lioness. He eyed Oogway's staff in her hand. Then, without warning, he punched out the window of the van and slipped out to the roof.

"Shen!" Junjie shouted. "Have you lost it?"

"Yep!" Shen shouted from the roof. He dug his talons into the roof and pulled one of his knives from his sleeve. He stared at his target and took a breath. Then, he let the knife fly. The silver blade flew swiftly and smoothly until it impaled Mei's hand. She roared in pain and dropped Oogway's staff. Shen reached up and caught the peach wood as it fell. But before he could climb back into the van, Mei landed in front of him, snarling. She lunged for the staff, but Shen used the wood to knock her aside. Mei dug her claws into the van and pulled herself up, attacking Shen once more.

Siren jumped as something or someone was pounded into the roof. "We have to help him."

"Not when the car's going 120 in a forest!" Anuli snapped. "Shen will be fine."

"I'm not leaving him!" Siren insisted.

"Siren's right." Shifu agreed. "We have to help him."

"We're coming up on some trees." Aurora pointed out. "Shen will duck and Mei will get knocked off."

"But we can't—" Junjie started.

"Listen up!" Anuli shouted. "Anyone that set's one foot out of this car will get torched!" She held up a flaming fist to make her point. "Got it?" Everyone nodded, a little afraid of Anuli at that point.

Well, almost everyone.

"Shifu get back here!" Aurora shouted. Too late. The small master had already climbed onto the hood of the car and jumped out of view. "I'm going to kill him."

"I'll help." Junjie offered.

Shifu aimed a kick for Mei's head, but the lioness ducked to avoid Shen's attack and the smaller master went sailing over her head. Shen grabbed Shifu's foot before he could fall off. But that distracted him long enough for Mei to grab a hold of Oogway's staff. Thankfully, Shen wasn't about to let go. He and Mei locked gazes before the battle resumed.

Mei aimed a kick for Shen's skull, which he blocked and retaliated by swinging his sword towards the cat's pretty little face. Mei caught the blade expertly in her claws. Shifu jumped over them and landed behind Mei. Before he could attack, however, Mei managed to kick him in the chest, knocking him off the roof and onto the hood of the car. A sword materialized in Mei's hand and she swung it for Shen. The two of them fought fiercely with their blades, not letting go of the staff for a second.

When Shifu hit the hood, Anuli jumped with a scream, almost veering off course. "Shifu! Get your fluffy ringed tail back in this car!"

"Sorry!" Shifu called, climbing back on the roof. "Can't hear you!"

"Again, I'm going to kill him." Aurora repeated.

"We'll help." Tigress groaned.

Mei skillfully blocked an attack from Shen before swinging her sword behind her. Shifu went to his knees to avoid getting decapitated. Mei swiped the pummel of her sword across Shen's face and spun in around to impale Shifu. The red panda moved at the last second and the blade went up to its hilt into the roof of the van.

"What happened?" Anuli asked, her eyes glued on the forest.

"Junjie almost became a fox kabob." Siren joked.

Junjie's ears flattened and he gulped, Mei's blade inches from his head.

Mei growled and blocked an attack from Shen's sword, redirecting the blade to hit the van. This time, it was Chao who nearly got impaled. Mei kicked Shen in the stomach before back handing him to the ground. Shen quickly got to his feet, but Mei jutted the curved end of the staff into his neck, pushing him dangerously close to the edge of the speeding van. Shifu made a grab for the staff, but Mei spun around and knocked him into Shen. The bird managed to catch the red panda before the two of them could fall off.

Mei smirked, pointing the staff towards them. A ball of energy, crackling with lightning, appeared in the crook of the staff. "Tell me, can peacocks really fly?"

"Duck!" Shifu suddenly said.

"I'm not a duck!" Shen snapped.

"No! Duck!" He went to the ground, pulling Shen with him by the peacock's crest of feathers. Mei turned around and didn't have time to shout before a tree branch hit her in the face. She stayed glued to the branch for a few seconds before she slipped off and fell to the ground.

Shen and Shifu sat up and looked back at the branch.

"Oh, that kind of duck." Shen realized.

"In the words of the Dragon Warrior," Shifu groaned. "No duh." He noticed Oogway's staff on the edge of the van and reached for it.

No sooner had he took a hold of it did a golden brown paw pull the staff and him off the van. Shen ran to the edge and saw Mei, gripping to the van with her claws and holding Oogway's staff out behind her. Shifu was still hanging on, dangling a few feet from the ground. Mei growled and tried to shake him off, to no avail. Shifu somehow got on top of the staff and jumped towards Mei. The lioness grabbed Shifu's skull and slammed him into the back window, cracking it. Dazed, he started to slip off the van.

Shen jumped down and simultaneously did two things: kick Mei off the van and grab the windshield wiper in one wing while grabbing the back of Shifu's collar in his talons. Shifu shook his head to clear his vision and was a little scared to see his nose about half a foot from the ground.

"Uh, Shen?" Shifu said.

"Yes?" Shen asked.

"Please pull me up."

"Ok."

Shen pulled Shifu up to the roof of the van. They suddenly felt a rush of wind and looked up to see Mei flying off again with Oogway's staff in hand.

"So close." Shen nearly cursed.

"We should be at the falls soon." Shifu assured. "We'll get it back."

Suddenly, the van screeched to a halt. Shifu and Shen flew forward, hitting the hood of the car before hitting the ground. Everyone climbed out of the van and Anuli walked up to the peacock and red panda. She tapped her foot on the ground with a frown on her face.

"Did I or did I not say 'don't get out of the van'?" She asked.

"You can punish us later." Shen promised as he went to retrieve his sword. "Where's Mei?"

"Went over the falls." Aurora said. "She'll beat us to the palace."

"Then we'll be right behind her." Shifu said. "How do we get home?"

Aurora led them to the edge of the river, twenty feet from the drop over the waterfall. "We jump in here. Get about the center of the river and let the current push you the rest of the way. Don't struggle and don't panic. Trust your instincts. For Siren," she turned to the raven/human hybrid. "Keep your wings tucked in tight. That goes for you too, Shen."

"Are you sure about this?" Tigress asked uncertainly.

"It's how my mother got to your world." Ren said. "It will work."

"Go two at a time so we don't get tangled up or something." Aurora suggested.

"I'll go first." Dong offered. "Tigress, come with me." The tiger master seemed wary, but followed the sorcerer to the water. The two of them took hands and jumped in. they resurfaced two seconds later and swam to the center of the waterway. They kept holding hands until they disappeared over the edge of the falls. Dong whooped and laughed on the way down. Tigress screamed a little.

"Next!" Aurora called.

"We'll go!" Ren said, holding up Chao's hand.

"Uh, I don't—" Chao didn't have time to finish before Ren pulled him into the water with her. "Cold!" he suddenly shouted when he came up. Ren only laughed, pulling her husband close as they went over. Junjie and Shen were chosen to go next; Siren and Anuli pushed them into the water. They shouted in terror as they went over.

Siren glanced over at her friend and noticed the fox girl's troubled look. "Something wrong, Anuli?"

"No." Anuli shook her head. "Just, be careful out there. That Mei chick is crazy."

"You're acting like you're not coming with us." Shifu noted.

"I'm not." Anuli shrugged. "Why would I? My house is that way." She jutted her thumb in the direction behind her.

"But home is that way." Siren said, pointing down the falls.

"Siren, I don't belong there." Anuli protested.

"You don't have much here, do you?" Aurora pointed out. "And don't you want to come with us?"

"Well, yeah, but—"

"But nothing." Siren interrupted.

"I hate to bring this up." Shifu said. "But it's not like you have much to go back to except an empty house."

Anuli opened her mouth to argue, but found she couldn't. He did have a valid point. She was sad that her parents were dead. But that also meant that Shifu was right; all she had to go back to was an empty house and a world she hated to live in.

"Well, though I didn't have much time to pack, I guess I've always wanted to travel." Anuli laughed. Shifu, Siren, and Aurora laughed with her.

"Dong can magically transport your things to our world." Aurora assured.

"Really?" Anuli asked excitedly.

"Of course." Aurora nodded. "I can too once we get my magic back. Now let's go!" She jumped into the water, pulling Shifu after her. He came up sputtering.

"That was not funny!" he snapped, despite Aurora's laughing. They went over the falls, hand in hand. Siren looked back at her friend. The fox girl stared at the river. Her red streaked black hair swished as a breeze blew, as though trying to push her forward. Siren took Anuli's hand in hers and gave it a squeeze.

"Ready to go home?" Siren asked.

Anuli looked towards her raven friend. She smiled. "Home…." They jumped in the water.

When they came up, they held onto each other, looking towards the falls as it got closer and closer. When they finally went over the edge, Siren wrapped her wings around the two of them.

"CANNONBALL!" They screamed.

SPLASH!

The girls were careful to hold their breaths as the force of the waterfall pushed them down. They continued to sink for a second before a current pulled at them. The girls opened their eyes, but only saw pitch blackness. After a second, the darkness lessoned a little as the rocks and sand turned to smooth marble. Siren looked up, expecting to see the golden dragon that once held the Dragon Scroll above her. She imagined jumping from the Moon Pool, wings spread and water flying. But she noticed something odd. The current stopped pulling and the girls were forced to swim the rest of the way. But the darkness wouldn't lesson. Did they take the wrong turn or something? Was it nighttime in the Valley of Peace?

Siren and Anuli burst through the surface with a gasp. Their heads hit something hard and they went under again. They rose slowly this time, forced to turn their heads a little to get their mouths above water.

"What the heck was that?" Anuli sputtered.

"Siren? Anuli?" Ren's voice sounded from next to them. "Is that you?"

"We're here!" Siren said.

"What happened?" Aurora's voice piped up. "Did we take a wrong turn?"

"It was a one way portal." Dong's voice reasoned.

"Hold on." Anuli said. "I'll get us some light." She managed to get her fist above water and made a fireball in her palm. She found herself in the middle of the circle everyone had made. The eight smooth walls that surrounded them gave the clear message that they were in the Moon Pool. But something was wrong. There was a sheet of wood above their heads, leaving only a few feet of space for air.

"Something's blocking the Moon Pool!" Shifu realized. "We're trapped!"

A/N: Thank you those who responded to my Author's Note last chapter. You guys rock! Please keep it up. Anything I need to change or add?