Finally, I got the flipping review through to Mysterious Master Croc! About flipping time!
In other notes, yep Tigress137, as you said in your latest extremely detailed review, this is a mystery horror of sorts. No SAW style gore though, I promise.
A massive explosion from behind sent Po, Tigress and Colonel Sao flying. The unexpected blast of heat and sound sent them ten feet before sliding to a stop in the snow. The wind was knocked out of them and their ears were ringing. Flaming debris rained down from all sides, the smaller pieces sinking into the snow and disappearing from view.
Tigress was the first to move. Getting to her feet was difficult. She was off balance, and she had hit her head hard on the ground beneath the snow when she fell. Even so, she succeeded in standing up, and turned her attention to Po. When she saw a piece of burning wood on the rear of his pants she kicked it off quickly.
"Po?" She could barely hear her own voice over the ringing. Po made a sound she couldn't hear but knew was a moan before getting up on his hands and knees. "Po? Are you okay?"
Po didn't answer. He wasn't looking at her face, so Tigress knelt back down and lifted his head so his eyes met hers. She repeated her question. Though Po's hearing must have been as badly affected as hers was, he seemed to understand, and nodded in response.
"What happened?" Were the words his lips formed. In her dazed state, it took a few seconds for Tigress to notice that he was looking her up and down, as if looking for any injuries. Nearby, Colonel Sao was shakily getting up.
"I think it was an explosion." Tigress replied, and turned her head in the direction the blast had come from.
The massive storage house was ablaze. Fire lashed at the air through the small windows and smoke rose up into the twilight sky. One upper corner of the building was gone completely, blown outwards by the explosion. Soldiers were rushing to the scene, just as shocked as Po and Tigress were. The ringing in their ears started to subside, and panicked shouts could be heard.
"Good lord!" They heard Sao exclaim, and ignored him.
Tigress pulled Po to his feet and together they staggered over to the burning building, at the same time General Tujiu swooped into view.
"What the hell happened?!" He shouted. Po and Tigress realized he was talking to Sao.
"I don't know!" Sao yelled back, unable to speak normally due to his damaged ears. "The building just exploded!"
"Master Shifu and the emperor are on their way! Find out what happened and fast!" Tujiu shouted and landed on the ground in front of Po and Tigress. "You two! Where are your comrades?"
"I don't know!" Po replied. "They should be here by- hey, there's Crane and Viper!" Po and Tigress rushed over to the two warriors, who were standing right by the collapsed entrance doors of the building.
"Crane! Viper!" Tigress yelled, getting their attention. "What happened?"
"I don't know!" Crane replied. "We were clear on the other side of the camp when it happened!"
"Where are the others?"
"That's why we're trying to get in!" They had to keep shouting over the roar of the blaze. "They went in here to investigate the place because one of the soldiers suspected a break in, and before we knew it the building exploded."
"Oh man, you don't think they're still in there do you?!" Po was horrified.
"If they are, we have to get in and help them!" Viper looked to be on the verge of panic. "I mean, Su's with them!"
It was this bit of information that made Tigress fling herself as the flaming doors with a flying kick. The blockage was completely destroyed.
"Stop! You'll get yourselves killed!" Tujiu shouted.
"Our friends and a little girl are trapped in there!" Po yelled back. "We're going in!"
"Dragon Warrior, there may still be powder kegs that have yet to explode!"
Powder kegs?
"Come on!" Tigress grabbed Po by the arm and dragged him inside before he could think about what Tujiu had said. "Crane, stay outside in case they manage to get out!"
"Master Mantis! Master Mantis, wake up!"
Mantis heard Su's voice calling him from a thousand miles away. Every part of his body hurt, including his thingies, and it took a lot of effort for him to regain consciousness. When he did, he thought for a moment he had died and gone to hell. Where else would you find every inch of your surroundings consumed in flame? But then he saw Su leaning over him, her adorable features stained with soot, and he realized that he was still alive. That and there was some sort of pressure on the lower half of his body.
"Master Mantis, are you okay?" Su asked in terror.
"F-fine." Mantis replied. Su gave a relieved look before picking up a piece of timber and flinging aside. That was what the pressure had been. Mantis checked to make sure his legs weren't injured before standing up. "Su, you're not hurt, are you?"
"No, I'm fine." Su replied. "Master Monkey pushed me behind a crate that protected me from most of the blast!"
The blast. Mantis remembered now.
They had just finished interrogating the fourth to last soldier when another walked up to them and informed them that there may have been a break in at the storage building. Mantis and Monkey had agreed to go and check it out while Crane and Viper remained to finish off the interrogations. Su had gone with them because she needed to pee, and the side of the big building was the best place for someone to relieve themselves discreetly. Once she was done, she had gone inside with them because their was no way they would allow a vulnerable young girl to travel through a big army camp all by herself.
Once inside, they found the evidence of the break in; a side door with the padlock literally torn off. They had been about to head deeper into the building when they heard the sound of a rope snapping from above. They had looked up just in time to see a lantern fall and crash onto a pile of barrels. It had taken a second for them to recognize them for what they were before Monkey grabbed Su and they ran for the front doors. They had only gotten half way before all hell broke loose.
Mantis and Su heard a crash from above and they had to leap out to way to avoid the falling beam.
"Monkey!" Mantis breathed. He didn't know how long he would be able to do this before the smoke reached them. He had to find Monkey and get Su out of here fast. "Where's Monkey?"
"I don't know!" Su cried, and for the first time Mantis noticed how terrified she was. The heat was nearly unbearable, but Mantis kept a cool expression for her sake. "When those barrels blew up he was thrown behind those crates!"
Mantis looked in the direction Su was pointing, and grimaced. The pile of crates was ablaze, as was the other barrels and crates surrounding it. Unless Monkey was dead, and Mantis cursed himself for thinking that, then he was stuck on the other side. And the only way to reach the other side was to go around the whole mess of wood and fire. Mantis glanced at Su. And then he glanced up at the ceiling, where a think blanket of smoke was beginning to descend. They didn't have much time before it would reach them, and Su was a hell of a lot smaller than Po. It wouldn't take much smoke to do her in.
That settled it. Getting Su out was officially first priority.
"Okay, Su! Let's find a way outta here!"
"But what-" Su started to cough. "W-what about Monkey?"
"He'll be fine! We went through a heck of a lot worse in Gongmen City!" Mantis grabbed Su's paw and dragged down the only visible route through the fire and smoke. He hoped dearly that this route would lead them to the front doors, where he could kick them down and then Su would be safe. Once she was safe, he would head right back in for his friend.
The heat was getting worse, but it was the smoke Mantis was more worried about. Each time he looked up, the smoke was getting closer and closer to their heads. The fire was making it almost impossible to figure out where they were going. Just as he was beginning to think that they were screwed, Mantis heard someone shouting over the flames.
"Guys!"
"Po!" Mantis hollered. "Where are ya?"
"Mantis! Are you okay?!" Mantis heard Viper practically screaming. "Is Su with you?!"
"She's here! Hurry up and find us!"
"Okay, stay where you are!" Tigress could be heard now.
"M-Master Mantis," Su coughed. "My chest h-hurts."
"Guys, hurry!" Mantis yelled.
Su, hang in there. Monkey, where are you?
Ignoring the heat and the smoke to the best of his abilities, Monkey glowered down at the melted candle that sat on one of the support beams that had not yet caught fire. The same beam that the lantern had fallen from. He fingered the robe that had been tied to the one of the smaller beams that held up the roof. It was all coming together.
He was looking at what had once been a simple but very effective timing device, and judging from the height of the beam and the difficulty in getting to it, plus the massive and destroyed padlock, there could only have been one culprit.
After breaking into the storage building and gathering what it needed, it had loosely wrapped the rope holding the lantern around the large beam, and then kept it from falling by looping it around a candle and then securing it to the smaller beam. After a certain amount of time, the candle's flame had reached and burned the string, causing it to snap. The released lantern then fell right onto the powder kegs and triggered the massive explosion.
Since the whole setup had been timed, that meant that the monster hadn't wanted to be around when the building blew up… which meant that it could be anywhere in the mountains by now. Monkey slammed his fist on the beam in frustration. Revenge would have to wait for just a little longer.
He heard shouts down below and spotted Mantis and Su stranded in the middle of the inferno, with Po, Tigress and Viper desperately trying to find a way to breach the large pile of fiery barrels. Monkey leapt down and landed right by Su and Mantis, startling the pair of them.
"Where the-" Mantis paused as he remembered that Su was right beside him. "Where the heck have you been?!"
"I'll explain later!" Monkey replied before turning to Su, who was coughing the worst out of all of them. "Here, pull your coat up over your nose." He helped her pull up the top of her coat up until it was covering half her face.
"Thank you." Came Su's muffled voice. "What are we gonna do?"
Before Monkey could answer they were all surprised by a loud crash coming from the pile of crates that blocked their path to the exit.
"Guys, what are you doing?" Monkey yelled.
"Get back, we're trying to break through these barrels!" Po yelled back.
Crash! Several of the barrels shifted.
"Crane!"
Crane whirled round to see Shifu and Xian rushing toward him, their bodies glowing red in the light of the burning building.
"Master Crane, what happened here?" Xian demanded.
"I don't know! Monkey, Mantis and Su were in there when the explosion happened!" Crane replied. "Tigress and the others are trying to find them!"
Shifu cursed, and then frowned.
"Wait, the crimson color of the flames… I've seen this before…" Shifu turned to General Tujiu. "General, did you have gunpowder in there?"
The general hesitated, and then nodded.
"May I ask why you had gunpowder in there?"
Crane and Shifu glared at Tujiu, waiting for an answer.
It was Xian who gave their answer.
"The army is considering adding the late Lord Shen's cannon to their arsenal."
"What?!" Shifu rounded on the emperor.
"Hey don't look at me like that, I'm against it too!" Xian snapped as Crane looked on in astonishment. "But most of the imperial council likes the idea, so until the cannon proves to cause more problems than it solves then I have to give it a chance!"
"Your highness, that cannon killed Master Thundering Rhino and would have laid waste to China had the Dragon Warrior not stopped it!" Shifu shot a nasty look at Tujiu. "And I seriously doubt that the Sacred Onyx Council and the Masters Council will support the idea."
"I am well aware of that!" Xian scowled and kneeled down to Shifu's level. "But I only received these news recently and I can't speak with them until I return to China! So until whatever is killing these soldiers is dead, complaining about it will not help!"
"Uh, I'd hate to interrupt, but our comrades are still stuck inside a burning building!" Crane exclaimed.
Shifu's heart sank at the reminder.
Su! My students!
He had almost reached the burning entrance when part of the roof came crashing down.