Arc 12: The Water Panther Plunder
Takes place during Sonic the Hedgehog: Heroes of Mobius Stories 95-97
Part 2: Tangling with Shadowy Cats
The village of Chun-Nan was always a nice place to visit when you visit the country. Its beautiful houses, friendly locals and great market stalls and shops made it a popular tourist attraction for anyone visiting the country. Every day, the village seemed to be bustling with shoppers and friends meeting up with one another but right now, there were two individuals who weren't in the village to do shopping. They were looking for a thief, a thief who's decided to steal all the water panther's aqua-collars and render them unable to use their famous water powers. Those two were (who else?) Ruben and Hydra, the only water panthers alive who still had their collars on. Ruben had returned to Chun-Nan for a little visit and the lone Hailàng clan member ended up getting more then he bargained for on this return. He hadn't expected to end up on a mission to find all the missing aqua-collars but he didn't mind. Ruben was not going home until he knew the water panthers were safe and they all had their aqua-collars back. He was determined to find the thief and make him pay for his crimes against water panther kind. Hydra, one of his friends from the Zhangcháo clan was accompanying him and he was determined to retrieve all the stolen aqua-collars even if it killed him. Even though his mother, the Bride of the Peaceful Earth, had forbidden him to go on this mission, he had blatantly ignored her and run off with Ruben to find the aqua-collar thief. He was the kind of boy who didn't really like listening to his mother and liked to do what he liked. Right now, they were searching through the village to see if they could find anyone suspicious and start questioning them about the thief and if they were the one they were looking for. Even though Ruben knew the village well and knew that seldom bad people resided in the village, it never hurts to look. Especially as the thief could be hiding in the village amongst the crowd somewhere. Ruben and Hydra kept their eyes open and their senses alert for any sign of suspicion amongst the citizens. So far, they found none. None of the citizens seemed out of the ordinary. Everything seemed completely normal.
"It seems that the village is completely normal." said Ruben "Everybody seems innocent."
"I beg to differ Ruben." said Hydra "That guy selling the woks looks a little shifty to me."
Ruben looked in Hydra's direction and noticed that Hydra was pointing at a wok stall and the owner of the stall was a goat who looked very grumpy and very gruff. It seemed that he really hated his job and the only reason he was doing it was because he had nothing better to do and there was no other job for him. Ruben just pulled an "I'm not impressed" face at Hydra and he folded his arms.
"That's only Mr. Niújiǎo*." said Ruben "He's always grumpy but he's not evil so don't suspect him even for a minute Hydra."
"OK Mr. Know-it-all." said Hydra casually "After all, you're the people expert aren't you?"
"No I'm not." said Ruben "I just know Mr. Niújiǎo that's all. I don't know anybody else around here."
"In that case, I take back the "people expert" comment." said Hydra "So ol' goat face is off the suspect list. In fact, I don't think the thief's in the village. Everybody seems innocent."
"Yeah they do." said Ruben as he surveyed the people that walked past him and Hydra "Although that just means either the thief's a master of disguise or he really isn't here."
"I say we should ask somebody and see if they've heard about what's happening to the water panthers." said Hydra "Now let's see, who should we ask?"
The two water panthers began eyeing citizens that walked past them, wondering who they could ask. Then Ruben spotted somebody who was buying a tea kettle from a pottery stall just further down the market. The person was a red female vixen who wore a purple tunic like top, purple baggy trousers, black boots and black armbands on her wrists. Her hair was black and styled in a long, loose ponytail. To Hydra's surprise, Ruben knew the vixen.
"Hey look! It's Li Moon, Princess Matilda's friend!" cried Ruben, pointing at her "Maybe she knows something about the water panthers having their collars stolen."
"OK, how the ruddy hell do you know that girl?" asked Hydra "And how do you know she and Matilda are pals?"
"I've met her before noodle head." said Ruben, giving Hydra a noogie on the head "Even though Li Moon isn't related to loyalty, she and Matilda are close friends and they often see each other when Matilda goes shopping."
"Gosh, I wish I knew this much about the princess!" grumbled Hydra "I envy you Ruben, you get to meet the royals and know a bit about them! What makes you so special then?"
"Hydra, please don't envy me." said Ruben "I don't like it when I make people jealous. That's the only reason I've let Tails keep Cosmo so I don't make him envious towards me, although I'd love it if Cosmo wanted me instead of him as she's so pretty."
"I beg your pardon?" asked Hydra, wondering what the flying monkey nuts Ruben was talking about.
"Nothing." said Ruben quickly, fighting hard to keep the blush off his face "Let's go meet Li Moon and see if she knows anything."
"I wouldn't get too hopeful on that." said Hydra "Just because she's Matilda's friend, it doesn't mean she'll know everything like she and the emperor do."
Ruben and Hydra ran over to the vixen in the tunic like top. Li Moon had bought the tea kettle and was just about to leave the stall until Ruben and Hydra caught up to her and stopped her. Li Moon stopped where she was and she looked at Ruben in surprise. Her eyes widened and her face brightened.
"Why hello there Ruben." she said "I haven't seen you since you were five. Look how you've grown since then, you becoming a big boy already."
"Thank you Li Moon." said Ruben bashfully, his face faintly turning pink with embarrassment "It's nice to see you looking so well too. How's things been going with you?"
"Very well thank you." said Li Moon politely "Me and Matilda are still in touch and we've planned to meet out here anytime soon. Matilda's going to talk to me about her recent kung-fu training and climb to the expert stage of kung-fu. Did you know that she stopped the Yīnyǐng Mao clan from assassinating the emperor during the Five Festivals of Holy Honour last year?"
"No." sad Ruben honestly "I don't live here anymore. I live in Mobotropolis along with Sonic the Hedgehog and friends. Mobotropolis has just recently been rebuilt and its opening ceremony is about to commence back home. In fact, I bet it's…"
"Hey Ruben! I thought we were going to question this chick, not stir up a conversation with her!" yelled Hydra impatiently.
"Hydra! Where are your manners?" snapped Ruben "I was just about to get to the questioning until you interrupted me!"
"Questioning?" piped Li Moon, suddenly looking nervous as if she'd done something bad and was going to be asked about it "You want to question me? Why? Have I done something wrong?"
"No! No, no, no! Not at all!" cried Ruben quickly "It's not that kind of questioning! We just wanna ask you about some recent events and we're interested in seeing if you know anything about it!"
"Oh really?" said Li Moon "What are you going to ask me about then?"
"Have you heard anything about an aqua-collar thief at all sister?" asked Hydra.
"Aqua-collar thief?" echoed Li Moon, thinking for a moment "What do you mean?"
"Every water panther in Chun-Nan sans me and Ruben have had their collars stolen and we're looking for the thief." explained Hydra "You know anything about it moon girl?"
Li Moon thought to herself for a moment and then remembered something Matilda had told her before.
"Oh yes. I know what you mean now." said Li Moon in realization "All the water panthers have had their collars stolen and Emperor Dalon Tai is striving to find out who's stealing them. As a matter of facts…I think I saw the thief last night."
"You did?" piped Ruben and Hydra both at once.
"I think I did." said Li Moon "I was in bed sleeping at the time and then I heard a noise outside that woke me up and I peeked through the window of my home to see what it was. I saw something obscured in the shadows and it was carrying a purple collar in its hands. I couldn't make out what it was as it was dark but I think it was vaguely cat like. I don't fully know so you should take my guesses with a grain of rice. I'm sorry I can't be of much help to you both."
Ruben and Hydra both looked at each other and they began thinking hard to themselves. Vaguely cat like? True Li Moon wasn't so sure about what she had seen but if she was right then that meant the thief was either some sort of feline or a Yīnyǐng Mao ninja. But was Li Moon's guesses really going to help them that much as she herself wasn't so sure what the thief looked like? Well this piece of information was the first clue they had received and they had to keep it in mind until they could prove it or disprove it as the information they needed.
"So Li Moon, you think the thief's some sort of cat?" asked Ruben "Is that correct?"
"Yes, I couldn't see too well but the shadow did seem cat like to me." said Li Moon "It didn't look much like anything else."
"Well if the thief's some sort of cat then it must be the Yīnyǐng Mao clan!" declared Ruben, slamming his fist on the palm of his other hand "They're the only evil cats in Chun-Nan who aren't incarcerated right now so it's got to be them!"
"That's preposterous Ruben, why ever would the Yīnyǐng Mao clan steal aqua-collars?" asked Hydra "They're not gems or treasures of any kind and the Yīnyǐng Mao clan wants power. They're not interested in making us water panthers just, you know, panthers without water powers."
"Well we water panthers can get in the Yīnyǐng Mao clan's way." explained Ruben "In fact, we have done several times in the past. We water panthers have foiled their schemes more often then not so they might be stealing the collars in an attempt to leave us unable to use our water powers and then we'd be less of a threat as our water powers made us a nuisance to them and are the reason we overpower them so easily."
"That isn't a bad suggestion Ruben." said Li Moon supportively "But their leader's in prison so you'd think their first option would be to break him out first and then steal the collars. They're not so good without Fong Zarr leading them."
"No they're not." said Ruben "So maybe the Yīnyǐng Mao clan aren't behind all this. They usually do things under Fong Zarr's orders but since he's not here, there's no one to lead them…unless they decided to get a new leader to save having to break Fong Zarr out and their new leader's probably behind the theft of the aqua-collars."
"Well we don't know without proper evidence." said Hydra "Li Moon's info is too vague so we can't base our deductions entirely on that, we need to find some more clues before we jump to conclusions."
"I still strongly think it's the Yīnyǐng Mao clan." said Ruben "But I won't bang the gong yet until I find out it really is them or not. We should keep searching and see…"
Before Ruben could finish his sentence, two black cats in black ninja attire leaped out from behind the pottery shop Li Moon had just bought her kettle from and they pounced on the water panthers. Li Moon screamed in terror and she dropped her kettle. The kettle shattered to pieces on the ground and one of the panthers clasped his paw over her mouth, silencing her and stopping her from screaming.
"Quiet sweetheart, we don't want any of the kung-fu masters coming here and foiling our objectives." purred the cat menacingly, his voice darker then the shadows themselves.
Li Moon struggled in the cat's grasp but being as she was just a perfectly normal person with no martial arts skills whatsoever, she had no chance of escaping this cat's grasp. As for the other cat, he grabbed Ruben and Hydra by their throats and he held them off the ground and to his height. Ruben and Hydra struggled in the grasp of the ninja cat but the cat had a firm grip on them and they couldn't get free.
"You two will come with us peacefully or innocent people are going to get hurt." warned the cat in a threatening tone "We will not hesitate to inflict harm on anyone around, especially the girl."
He motioned to Li Moon who was being held by his partner and had her mouth covered by his paw so she couldn't cry for help. Ruben and Hydra were not going to let themselves get bested by Yīnyǐng Mao ninjas so they both squirted the ninja cat in the face with their water powers. The cat was drenched by them and he let go of them in order to get the water out of his eyes. Ruben and Hydra then tripped up the cat and Ruben squirted the other one in the eyes. The cat screeched in pain and he let go of Li Moon so he could rub his eyes better. Li Moon ran for it and took shelter behind a nearby stall as she did not want to get into this fight. The ninja cats picked themselves up and they bent down in battle ready stances. Ruben prepared to battle whereas Hydra just stood back. Ruben wondered why Hydra was backing off like that.
"Hey Hydra, aren't you gonna help me?" asked Ruben.
"I come from a clan of pacifists Ruben!" retorted Hydra "I don't know how to fight! We don't get trained to do so because of the Zhangcháo clan's soppy nature!"
"Then I guess I'll have to do the dirty work myself then." muttered Ruben "Hey Yīnyǐng! Get ready for some Hailàng style punishment!"
"Only fools take on the Yīnyǐng Mao clan!" snarled one of the cats "You will suffer badly for your defiance little one!"
With that said, Ruben and the two ninja cats leaped into battle. Ruben got the first drop on the cats by split-kicking them both onto their sides but the cats weren't down for long. They both picked themselves up and double-teamed Ruben with a pair of kicks to the legs. Ruben was brought down onto his stomach and he groaned in pain. The ninja cats were about to attack Ruben again but Hydra blasted them with a jet of water each and the two cats were thrown off their feet. Hydra may not be able to fight but he can be a great distraction thanks to his water powers. The cats picked themselves up and one decided to get Hydra while the other fought with Ruben. Ruben and the first ninja cat began punching at each other at rapid speeds that only ninjas, novice or master, could provide. Given how Ruben was a novice though, the ninja cat's attacks were better then his were and he soon began to overpower Ruben with his superior punches. He gut-punched Ruben and then backhanded him into the pottery shop that Li Moon had bought her kettle from. Ruben landed on the stall and he smashed al the pottery, much to the shock of the stall owner who looked like he was about to go mental. Ruben picked himself up and he grabbed a vase that hadn't been broken yet. He threw the vase at the ninja cat but the cat broke the vase with a quick chop and the pieces fell to the ground after that attack. Ruben leaped out of the stall and he pounced on the ninja cat but the cat grabbed Ruben and threw him across the marketplace and he crashed onto the ground further up the market. Ruben groaned and grimaced as pain flooded through his body but he picked himself up just in time to get back into the battle. The cat charged towards Ruben and prepared to punch him but Ruben dodged, leaving the cat to punch the ground instead and leave a crack in it. Ruben roundhouse punched the cat in the legs as he was much smaller then the cat but the cat roundhouse punched him back and sent him spiralling into another stall. He bumped into the stall and made it shudder slightly. The cat tried to attack Ruben again but Ruben launched himself at the cat and kick-slammed him in the gut. Ruben knocked the cat down onto the ground and he grabbed him by the collar of his uniform. He threw the cat into the ground a few feet up from where he was and then he squirted him with water just to add insult to injury.
As for poor Hydra, since he couldn't fight, he had to run away from his opponent and play cat-and-mouse with him. Unfortunately, Hydra was the mouse and the cat was, ahem, the cat. The cat launched a punch at Hydra but he missed and punched the ground instead. Hydra squirted him with water in order to knock him backwards and then he ran over to a stall selling woks. He grabbed a wok and threw it at the cat. The cat however, caught the wok before it could hit him and he threw it back at Hydra. Hydra grabbed another wok and he smacked the other wok away before it could hit him. The ninja cat drew out a katana and lunged at Hydra. Hydra freaked and he blocked the katana attack with his wok. The cat slashed at Hydra but Hydra blocked the attack with the wok again. He smacked the cat in the stomach with the wok but the cat remained standing and he swiped at him with the katana. The two clashed weapons again and Hydra tried to whack the ninja with his wok. The cat blocked the attack and he snatched the wok off Hydra. He walloped Hydra with the wok and knocked him clean out in one hit. Hydra collapsed to the ground, unconscious and beaten. The ninja cat grabbed Hydra and draped him over his shoulder.
"That's one." he said to himself "I can't imagine Shang Dao will be having much trouble with the other water panther as his fighting skills barely compare to ours."
The cat was right to think that as his partner was winning his fight against Ruben due to his superior martial arts skills. The cat Ruben was fighting was well into the intermediate stage whereas Ruben was only a novice so the cat was much better at his ninjutsu then he was. The only advantage Ruben had over the cat were his water powers and even then, they weren't that useful as the cat could just dodge his water squirts like the speedy ninja he is. Ruben tried to throw a water ball at the ninja cat but the ninja cat back flipped away from the water ball and then kicked upwards with his leg to destroy the ball and reduce it to drops of water. That attack was more of a distraction really as Ruben leaped into the air and he rapidly kicked the ninja cat in the face, making him stagger backwards as he did so, and Ruben then roundhouse kicked him onto the ground. The ninja cat picked himself up and drew out a pair of nunchakus. He twirled the weapons around and tried to smack Ruben with them but Ruben dodged and pounced on his back. He wrapped his arms around the cat's neck and began to choke him. The cat gagged and spluttered as Ruben began to throttle him and he dropped his nunchakus.
"Say uncle!" yelled Ruben "Go on! Say it! Say uncle you stupid cat!"
There was no way in hell a Yinying Mao ninja was going to say uncle to a water panther who is only ten years of age and the last survivor of his clan, not even if he were being tortured to death by him. The ninja cat had had enough of being throttled so he grabbed Ruben's arms and threw him off of his back and onto the ground with a heavy slam. Ruben grimaced as he his back made sharp contact with the hard ground they stood upon. That attack had hurt him pretty seriously and it pained him just to stand back up. Ruben strained himself as he stood back up but the cat picked up his nunchakus and began to beat him heavily with the vicious weapons. He swung the nunchakus and walloped Ruben in the head, back, behind his knees, the legs and stomach. Ruben cried out in pain as he was whacked by the nunchakus and every hit seemed to get harder and harder as the cat continued his relentless onslaught. The cat kept up the heating of the nunchakus and didn't give Ruben a chance to fight back. He was moving that fast that Ruben didn't even have the time to predict his moves and block them. The cat gave Ruben one final wallop of the nunchakus to the face and Ruben fell down onto his knees and began panting. His eyes were streaming with tears. Not tears as in crying tears, more like pained tears. Those nunchakus hurt and at the novice level of ninjutsu or any other martial arts, you're not that well built to take the blows and the pain they inflict on you is colossal. The nunchakus had hurt Ruben so badly he couldn't even stand back up. He was too weak to even do that. The cat advanced on Ruben and then walloped him in the back of his head with the nunchakus, knocking him clean out and leaving him to lie on the ground in defeat. The cat smiled at his victory and he scooped up the knocked out Ruben. He draped Ruben on his shoulder and wondered over to his partner who had the knocked out Hydra on his shoulder.
"I've got the Hailàng survivor Zhou Kai." said the cat.
"Excellent work Shang Dao." said the other cat who's name was Zhou Kai apparently "These two will make fine hostages for our ransom. The last member of the Hailàng clan and a member of the Zhangcháo clan are just too valuable for the emperor to lose as he cares a lot about water panthers."
Li Moon, who had been watching the whole fight, was horrified to see that the water panthers had been beaten and captured and she ran out of her hiding place to confront the Yīnyǐng Mao ninjas. The cats looked at the vixen with their steely cat eyes and they scowled at her.
"Oh please, let those water panthers go." begged Li Moon "Please don't hurt them. Take me instead, I'll be valuable to you, just please let those panthers go…"
"Shut up!" growled Shang Dao, backhanding the poor vixen into a wok stall as viciously as he could "We have no time to deal with snivelling peasant girls!"
Li Moon crashed into the stall and the woks on display all fell off the stall and onto the ground around her. The fox in the purple tunic like top groaned in pain and she rubbed her head tenderly to ease the pain. Zhou Kai walked up to Li Moon and stared down at her from his height. Li Moon stared back at him fearfully, wondering what the Yīnyǐng Mao cat was going to do to her.
"We shall now flee this village." said Zhou Kai "If you dare try to follow us then we will kill you."
Li Moon nodded understandingly and she remained where she was. Now that that was dealt with, the ninja cats both ran out of the village, hopped onto some roof tops and headed back to their temple which was a good distance away from the village but given their ninja speed, that wasn't going to be a problem for them. Li Moon just watched helplessly as the two cats fled the village with Ruben and Hydra in tow. The moment they were gone though, she picked herself up and ran for it as fast as she could.
"This is terrible!" cried Li Moon "Ruben and Hydra have been kidnapped by the Yīnyǐng Mao clan! I've gotta help them! I know just the person who can save them though! Princess Matilda! She'll save them in no time!"
Li Moon ran out of the village headed for the Pagoda of Prosperity, the home place of the emperor and princess of Chun-Nan. Since Li Moon knew about Matilda's kung-fu abilities, she knew that the princess was going to be able to save Ruben and Hydra. She just hoped that the Yīnyǐng Mao clan weren't planning to do anything to them back at their temple…
Ever since her training with Kai Zen earlier, Princess Matilda couldn't stop thinking about the terrible vision she'd had during the inner peace lesson. Her lessons had finished for the day and Matilda had returned home to the Pagoda of Prosperity and was sitting back on a silk cushion and thinking about the vision she'd had. Even though Master Kai had told her to take this whole thing lightly and that visions seldom did come true, she couldn't help but wonder if her vision was going to be one of the few visions that came true. It really was a terrible vision too, Chun-Nan is ravaged, she chases some unknown assailant and then the assailant's troops get the drop on her and everything becomes darkness. What was the vision trying to tell her? Was it warning her about events that were yet to come? Was it just a silly little nightmare brought on by her anxieties and unsettled mind? Or was it a foreshadowing of her death and the destruction of Chun-Nan? And if that was the case, who could possibly be behind it? Zira the Ruthless was incarcerated so it couldn't be about her. It couldn't be about the Yīnyǐng Mao clan either as their leader Fong Zarr is also incarcerated and the clan itself isn't enough to take over Chun-Nan and the vision certainly wasn't talking about the treacherous Governor Shen because he was dead. And she didn't even dare think the vision was talking about the Raiju clan because they were allies. They had helped defeat Zira so the vision couldn't possibly be about them. Maybe the vision was about a forthcoming new foe that would threaten the lives of everybody in Chun-Nan. If that was the case then could this new foe be stopped? Even by someone as powerful as herself? These questions were all so unsettling and Matilda was driving herself crazy just asking them to herself. She wished dearly that she'd never had that vision in the first place and now she'd had it, it was going to continue haunting her until either the day she died or if it finally happened. And if it did happen, she would make sure that it wouldn't fold out exactly as she'd envisioned it. She was the princess of Chun-Nan and a kung-fu warrior who was almost at the expert stage and Matilda was going to do everything in her power to ensure Chun-Nan's safety. No vision, as bad as it was, is going to cloud her vision of what's important and what's happening now. As Matilda continued to swim in her thoughts, her father, Emperor Dalon Tai, walked in carrying a bowl of wontons, Matilda's most favourite food in all the world and he had a jar of curry sauce for her to put on her wontons. Wontons and curry sauce were one of Matilda's favourite food combos.
"Matilda dearest, lunch is ready." said Tai.
Matilda snapped out of her thoughts and her nose picked up the delicious smell of wontons. Not even a nightmarish vision could distract her from her favourite food. In fact, the smell of wontons had brought her out of her train of thoughts and made her happier already (that's how much she loves them!). Matilda got up from the cushion and knelt down to the table (in old tradition, Chinese people would kneel down at a low table instead of sitting at one like we do). She poured the curry sauce over her wontons, picked up her chopsticks and grabbed one with them. Then she lifted the wonton up and popped it into her mouth. The taste never got old to her, she could eat these things forever they tasted that good. Tai knelt down to the table with Matilda and set down a cup for himself and her and a kettle full of Chinese tea. He then ate his own bowl of wontons with her. The two royals ate their lunches in total silence and once they'd finished, they both gave off a polite belch to one another (in China, it's polite to belch after your meals and the same fact applies in Chun-Nan).
"Mmm, mmm." said Matilda happily "Thanks daddy, your wontons never lose their goodness not matter how many times I eat them."
"Your welcome my treasure." said Tai brightly as he began pouring himself some tea "Want some tea?"
"Yes please daddy." said Matilda, holding her cup out for Tai to fill.
Tai filled Matilda's cup with tea and Matilda sipped it. Chun-Nan made good tea and Matilda always enjoyed drinking it.
"So Matilda, how did your lessons go today?" asked Tai curiously.
Matilda's face fell and she put her cup of tea down. She was hoping her dad wasn't going to bring that up as she was trying to put her nightmarish vision in the back of her mind and this lunch and tea she'd had was helping with that. Matilda just brightened her face up and decided not to bring up the vision.
"They went well dad." said Matilda "I'm getting closer to mastering inner peace and I can almost steal that jade monkey off Master Kai now. I couldn't get close to stealing that thing off him when I was younger."
"That's wonderful to hear." said Tai briskly "You're almost at the expert stage of kung-fu Matilda. I can't begin to tell you how proud I am of you."
"I know daddy." said Matilda "As much as I hate violence and would have much preferred not to learn kung-fu in the first place, I'm actually kinda glad I did learn these lessons. I'll never be helpless, I can defend myself and I can keep you and my people safe from harm. Learning kung-fu was for the best of everybody and not just me."
"You're absolutely right Matilda." said Tai "Just out of interest, how are you and Bladefeather…ahem…getting along since you've revealed your love to one another?"
Matilda blushed slightly before answering her father.
"We're getting along great." said Matilda "Bladefeather's been a proper gentlemen to me on our dates and we're already planning on our future together. I've told him I'd love to be a mother and Bladefeather, despite his hatred of children, has promised me that if we have a kid, he'll try his hardest to grin and bear it."
"That's very nice of him." said Tai "I'm really pleased that you're going out with Bladefeather. He's a good person he is, even if he briefly aided Zira the Ruthless in her goals last year but he had no choice then. It's good that Bladefeather and Mushu are free from Zira so they can continue to defend Chun-Nan from evil much like you Matilda."
"I know." said Matilda "And I really do love Bladefeather. He completely won me over with his kindness and loyalty to us. I love those kind of qualities in a man and Bladefeather excels in both of them."
"Yes he does." said Tai "And Mushu is equally as loyal as Bladefeather is. Just a pity he cannot talk anymore."
"Mushu was a good joke when he was able to talk." said Matilda "Pity he'll never joke again now Zira's broken his voice box. At least he's still the same guy despite…"
Their conversation was interrupted by a knock on the door that startled the two mongooses.
"Whoever could that be?" asked Tai.
Tai picked himself up from the table and he wondered over to the door. He slid the door open and to his surprise, Li Moon was standing there and she looked frantic.
"Oh, Li Moon." said Tai in surprise "This is a surprise. What brings you here then? Matilda was planning on meeting you later."
"Is Matilda home?" asked Li Moon "It's urgent I see her! Something terrible has happened!"
Matilda's ears pricked up and she got up from the table to see Li Moon. What was going on now and what was Li Moon going to tell her about.
"Hello Li Moon." said Matilda "What's happened?"
"Two Yīnyǐng Mao ninjas ambushed Ruben and Hydra the Water Panthers and they've kidnapped them!" cried Li Moon "The Yīnyǐng Mao clan are gonna do something terrible to them, I know they are! You've gotta save them and fast!"
"Oh my goodness!" cried Matilda "Ruben and Hydra have been kidnapped by the Yīnyǐng Mao clan? That's awful! But how did they get Ruben? He doesn't live here anymore."
"If I were to guess, Ruben's come back for a visit and got ambushed while visiting Chun-Nan again." Tai deduced "Regardless, those two water panthers must be saved at all costs! The water panther race is too precious for any villainous fiend in Chun-Nan to keep hold of. Matilda, do you wish to save those two water panthers or would you rather Bladefeather and Mushu do it?"
"I'll save them." said Matilda "Especially little Ruben as he's with Sonic the Hedgehog now and if he doesn't get saved then Sonic and his friends will never see him again. Don't worry about me dad, I'll be fine out there. The Yīnyǐng Mao clan doesn't stand a chance against me."
"I know you can beat them dearest." said Tai, kissing his daughter affectionately on the forehead "You be safe out there and save Ruben and Hydra at all costs."
"I will." said Matilda "See you later."
With that said, Matilda left the Pagoda of Prosperity and she ran off to confront the Yīnyǐng Mao clan. Luckily, she still knew the way to their temple so she would find them without any troubles at all. She ran into the bamboo forest and made her way through it and onto the Yīnyǐng Mao clan's temple. How dare those insidious ninja cats kidnap a pair of water panthers! That was one thought that circled through Matilda's head and she was going to make them pay for daring to kidnap those two water panthers. The Yīnyǐng Mao clan wouldn't know what hit them when she was through with them…
A whole twenty minutes had passed since Ruben and Hydra had been knocked out and kidnapped and now the Yīnyǐng Mao clan had taken them to their temple and chained them up in the dungeons. The two water panthers were dangling off the floor by shackles that were clamped around their wrists and the Yīnyǐng Mao ninjas were standing around watching them, waiting for them to wake up so they could taunt them mercilessly and tell them what they were up to. Shang Dao and Zhou Kai admired the captured water panthers and they grinned maniacally at each other. It gave them great pleasure to see that they had succeeded in capturing two water panthers, especially as one of them was the last of the Hailàng clan, making this catch all the more honouree for them. Emperor Tai would have to answer to their summons now once he found out they had two water panthers in their possession.
"I'm amazed this catch was so easy." said Shang Dao "Although given these water panthers are merely children, it's not that surprising we caught them easily. The one with the purple markings and clothing puts up quite a fight though." he said, glaring at Ruben who was still knocked out.
"He's a member of the Hailàng clan Shang." said Zhou Kai "Those water panthers learned ninjutsu so of course he was going to be able to fight. The one with the green markings though is clearly Zhangcháo material. He cannot fight at all so his capture wasn't so surprising really."
"Makes me wonder why those Zhangcháo idiots formed a clan in the first place if they're not even going to learn martial arts." muttered Shang Dao "It'd make more sense for them to just be a peace gathering group more then anything."
"Hey you two, the water panthers are coming to." said a Yīnyǐng Mao ninja.
The two ninja cats stopped chatting to one another and they looked at their captives. Ruben and Hydra began stirring and waking up. The two water panthers opened their eyes and looked around, wondering where they were. Hydra's vision was a little blurry so he couldn't really see properly and he was in a bit of a funny mood. He had been dreaming and he was somewhat still in it.
"No thanks mother, I'd much rather do more swimming before I go to bed." he slurred stupidly in his sleepy daze.
The Yīnyǐng Mao ninjas began wondering what the sleepy water panther was on about. Ruben however was more awake then Hydra and the moment he saw the Yīnyǐng Mao ninjas, his eyes snapped open and he began to blurt out in surprise.
"Huh?" he cried "Wha…what? Yīnyǐng Mao ninjas? How did you all get here?"
He then tried to move but he realized that he was hanging off the floor by his arms so all he could do was swing himself back and forth and spin around a little more then anything. He suddenly realized where he and Hydra were.
"Oh no! We're prisoners of the Yīnyǐng Mao clan!" shrieked Ruben "Those ninja cats got the best of us!"
"You what?" asked Hydra, waking up properly and snapping out of his sleepy daze "What the bloomin' heck are you talking about Ruben?"
He then looked up at his chained arms and surveyed the dungeon scene he was now in. He also noticed the Yīnyǐng Mao clan glaring at him with cold yellow eyes.
"Oh. That's what." said Hydra.
"You beastly bunch of ninja cats!" yelled Ruben, shaking his chains and raging like mad at the cats "You can't do this to us! Let us down right now or I'll give you all a very cold shower!"
Shang Dao just marched over to Ruben and whacked him in the stomach with his nunchaku. Ruben gasped in pain and he stopped what he was doing. He began panting as he tried to get his breath back and Shang Dao sneered at him.
"Not so mighty now you're a captive aren't you water panther?" sneered Shang Dao "You should had stayed out of Chun-Nan Hailàng survivor and you could have avoided this. But you came back and now you're a captive of ours."
"I can see that." muttered Ruben "I bet you've kidnapped us so you can steal our aqua-collars haven't you? In fact, I bet you feline fiends are the ones who are stealing the aqua-collars of every water panther in Chun-Nan! Go on! Fess up already! I know you're the aqua-collar thieves me and Hydra are looking for!"
Shang Dao and Zhou Kai looked at each other in wonder. What was that crazy water panther prattling on about? The Yīnyǐng Mao clan weren't much of news people so they didn't really keep up to date with current events in Chun-Nan unless they were interesting ones to them and they knew nothing about the aqua-collar thief.
"What in the name of the ancestors are you gibbering about you crazy little panther?" demanded Zhou Kai "We aren't stealing any aqua-collars! If we were, don't you think we would have removed yours already?"
Ruben and Hydra looked at each other and they could see that either one still had their aqua-collars around their necks, meaning they hadn't been stolen by anyone yet. If the Yīnyǐng Mao clan hadn't removed their collars then that meant they weren't the thieves they were looking for.
"We didn't even know that all the water panthers were having their aqua-collars stolen." said Zhou Kai truthfully "And even if it wasn't happening, we wouldn't ever think of stealing something as worthless as an aqua-collar. Aqua-collars are worth nothing and we only steal stuff that's valuable and worth a lot."
"How do we know you're not lying?" asked Hydra.
"If we were stealing aqua-collars, we would have stolen yours already." said Shang Dao "And if you look all over our temple, you won't find a single solitary collar in the place so you can take us off your suspect list."
"OK, you're all innocent." muttered Ruben, not pleased that he couldn't pin the blame on the Yīnyǐng Mao clan "Now let us go!"
"No little boy, we will not let you go." said Zhou Kai with his teeth gritted and his eyes narrowed into evil slits "You two are needed for our plan."
"Oh boy, let's hear it." muttered Hydra sarcastically "This oughta be REALLY good."
"We'll overlook your sarcastic tone you foolish little water fountain." growled Shang Dao "Anyways, we've kidnapped you to use for a ransom we're making. You see, we want our leader back but our attempts to break him out have been futile. The guards are too powerful for us ninjas so we've decided to try and get Fong Zarr out with a little exchange. We're going to exchange your freedom for Fong Zarr's freedom in other words and if Emperor Tai doesn't comply to our ransom then you'll end up becoming the Yīnyǐng Mao clan's next supper."
Ruben and Hydra's jaws dropped in unison and they stared at the Yīnyǐng Mao clan in horror. They were being used in a ransom? The Yīnyǐng Mao clan was going to trade them for Fong Zarr's freedom so they could get him out of prison? Ruben knew the Yīnyǐng Mao clan were vile but he didn't think they were THAT vile! Now he and Hydra had to get out of here!
"You evil beasts of nature!" exclaimed Ruben "You can't do this to us! Use us as ransom just so your scornful leader gets out of prison! The emperor won't agree to it! You're making a big mistake you are, thinking that this plan of yours will work!"
"No Ruben, we are not making a mistake." said Zhou Kai with a vampire-esque grin on his furry face "The emperor considers you water panthers sacred you know and will do anything to make sure you all remain safe! He'll cede to our demands faster then you can say "The Five Festivals of Holy Honour"!"
The Yīnyǐng Mao clan erupted in choruses of echoing laughter at their captives, earning a pair of angry glares from Ruben and Hydra as they laughed. After the Yīnyǐng Mao clan had stopped laughing, Shang Dao and Zhou Kai looked back at Ruben and Hydra and they grinned like a pair of cats that have just caught a mouse each for dinner.
"You two had best get comfortable because you're going to be here a while." crooned Zhou Kai "You'd best hope Tai meets our demands so you can get out of here faster."
The Yīnyǐng Mao clan erupted into mocking evil laughter again and they all left the dungeons, leaving the water panthers to dangle off the floor in the dungeons of their temple. The door slammed shut and locked, trapping the water panthers in the dungeon. Now the two water panthers were alone, Ruben sought to trying to escape from this dark, lonely place. He swung his legs up to his cuffed hands so now he was hanging upside down and he began pulling on his shackles in a desperate attempt to get free.
"I'm not hanging around any longer!" cried Ruben "I'm getting out of here! No one's using me for blackmail! Not even those dirty ninja cats!"
He pulled and pulled on his chains but try as he might, he couldn't break them no matter how hard he pulled. Those chains held Matilda with no effort and she was a million times stronger then Ruben was so he had no chance of escape. All Ruben was doing was wasting his energy and making the chains rattle nosily as he tried to break them. He then tried using his water powers to increase his pulling power and make the strain on the chains harder and harder. He squirted a powerful jet of water at the ceiling and the water pushed on him slightly but not even that was enough to break the chains. All this attempt did was make his wrists feel even sorer then they already were and since the water deflected off the ceiling, he ended up showering Hydra with drops of water. Hydra had had enough of Ruben's futile attempts so he yelled at his friend.
"Oy! Ruben! Give up will ya?" he shouted "You haven't got a chance of getting out of here!"
"No Hydra! I won't give up!" retorted Ruben, still pulling on his chains "I'm not letting us two get used as blackmail so Fong Zarr can get outta prison! He's staying where we belong and we're getting outta here!"
"Ruben, these chains can hold kung-fu masters." muttered Hydra "I should know, mother showed me many kinds of chains and I can recognize the ones that are strong enough to hold a kung-fu master just be feeling them."
Ruben stopped struggling and he lowered himself back down so he was back to dangling off the floor by his arms again. The water panther sighed heavily and he stared down at the floor.
"So we're stuck here then." he murmured "That's just great! We're never getting outta here!"
"I know." sighed Hydra "I should have stayed at home like a good boy and I wouldn't be in this mess."
"Well you had no idea this was going to happen." said Ruben gently "I had no idea this was gonna happen and yet it did. Oh well, it's not all doom and gloom for us."
"Excuse me?" asked Hydra with a funny face on "Am I losing my wick here or are you actually saying "It's not all doom and gloom for us?"?"
"You heard me correctly Hydra." snapped Ruben "I don't think the Yīnyǐng Mao clan did anything to Li Moon and she'll likely have gone to get the kung-fu masters or Matilda. They'll rescue us."
"Well that's wishful thinking Rubes." said Hydra "But it's good to have hope in a gloomy situation. In fact, I think I'll hope with you. It'll make our time here less glum at least."
So Ruben and Hydra decided to remain still and wait to see what was going to happen next. Ruben prayed as hard as he could that someone was going to rescue him and Hydra from the Yīnyǐng Mao clan's evil claws and stop their plan before it can begin…
Meanwhile, Matilda had arrived at the Yīnyǐng Mao clan's temple and the mongoose princess took shelter behind a bunch of rocks not far from the temple. She peeked over the rocks and saw the defences the temple had. The entire clan was out on guard patrol with Shang Dao and Zhou Kai leading them. The ninja cats all stood guard around the temple. Some took position on the roof and kept a close look out for intruders. Security had been extra tight since the festival folly plot and the fact Matilda was their most serious threat and the clan was determined not to let anyone get into the temple and ransack their home. Matilda just made a grim face that looked unusual on the usually happy and kind hearted princess.
"Well it seems my obstacles consist of the entire clan being out on patrol and guarding every door and window of the temple." Matilda analyzed to herself "Fong Zarr is obviously not here as he's in prison and there doesn't seem to be a replacement leader. This won't be so hard. Although it'd be nice if I could settle this peacefully instead of having to beat them up, they deserve what's coming to them. They bring this upon themselves with their dis-honouree ways so for honour and the safety of Ruben and Hydra, I am going to save them and leave the Yīnyǐng Mao clan crying to themselves."
With that said, Matilda decided hiding time was over and she emerged from behind the rock pile. Before beating the tar out of everybody and then saving the water panthers, she decided to see if she could reason with the Yīnyǐng Mao clan first. Given how she had foiled their festival folly plot months ago, there was no reason the Yīnyǐng Mao clan wouldn't be reasonable and wouldn't give into her demands so there was no harm in trying. Matilda took a steady breath and then she marched over to the temple as calmly as she could. The ninja cats all saw her coming and one of the cats on the roof yelled out loud at the top of his voice.
"Intruder alert!" screamed the cat "And it's the princess too!"
The ninja cats all ran over to Matilda and they surrounded her by forming a circle all around her. Matilda stopped in her tracks and she watched the cats all form a ring around her and surrender her on all sides. They all drew out weapons of many kinds including spears, katanas, shuriken, nunchakus, Bo staffs and Sai and the pointed them straight at Matilda. Shang Dao and Zhou Kai stood forward and they both pointed a katana each at Matilda's chest. The princess didn't even flinch at them though, she wasn't scared of those cats at all, especially since she beat them all months ago and was going to do so again now Lord Vharr/Governor Shen, the only one who had a chance against her was gone.
"Raise your hands sweetheart." ordered Shang Dao "And don't try anything foolish or you will feel these katanas through your chest."
Matilda obliged and she raised her hands, pretending to surrender. No way in hell was she going to surrender for real to these jokers. If it was a proper threat then she'd be surrendering for real. Shang Dao grinned wickedly and he lowered his katana. So did Zhou Kai.
"Thank you toots." said Zhou Kai "Now, before we unleash hell on you and throw you in the dungeons, what may I ask is a woman of your stature doing here?"
"I've come here on peaceful terms." lied Matilda "I wish to make a bargain with you."
This just prompted the Yīnyǐng Mao clan to laugh mockingly at her, earning an annoyed glare from the kung-fu princess.
"The high and mighty princess of kung-fu wishes to make a bargain with us?" sneered Zhou Kai "Do you really think we're going to meet any demands of yours after what you've done to us you royal brat?"
"Please, I mean it." said Matilda calmly "I know I've done things to you in the past but, that was in the past and this is now. Now please, hear my bargain."
"Go ahead doll face, we're listening." said Zhou Kai with a maniac grin on his face.
"Please don't call me doll face!" snapped Matilda.
"Whatever you say…babe." snickered Zhou Kai.
He then proceeded to laugh at his bad joke and that just made Matilda groan exasperatedly. She was beginning to lose her patience with these cats. Shang Dao bopped Zhou Kai on the head and made him shut up.
"Don't taunt the stupid princess!" snarled Shang Dao "Do you want her to use us all for stress relief?"
"Oh come on, she's surrounded and out numbered and has hundreds of weapons pointing at her." said Zhou Kai, rubbing his head and grumbling in annoyance "She ain't going anywhere without being skewered or beaten."
Shang Dao just sniffed at his companion and he turned back to Matilda. He pointed his katana at Matilda's throat. The princess gulped slightly but she didn't show much signs of fear.
"Speak your peace already princess." he ordered "And be quick about it, we haven't got all day."
"Please release the water panthers you have in your custody and I won't have to kick all your butts." said Matilda "If you oblige then you can save yourselves an unnecessary beating and I can save myself having to resort to senseless violence."
The Yīnyǐng Mao clan just scoffed at that offer and Shang Dao pointed the katana even closer to Matilda's throat, so close that Matilda could feel the cold steel of the blade under her chin.
"Do you really think we're going to accept that lousy offer?" snickered Shang Dao "We need those water panthers for our plan and if you don't meet our demands then they never get to see daylight again!"
"What are your demands?" asked Matilda curiously.
"Release Fong Zarr from prison and the water panthers go free without a scratch on their bodies." said Zhou Kai "We give you our word of honour."
"No you don't." said Matilda coldly "You Yīnyǐng Mao scum don't even know what the word "honour" means. The only honouree thing to you is power, misery to others and priceless artefacts. I do not accept your proposal."
"Very well then." said Shang Dao "You will join the water panthers in the dungeons and make our ransom EVEN bigger! If those two panthers don't get Tai to cave in to us then his precious daughter will! Shadow Cats! Seize her!"
The Yīnyǐng Mao cats all put their weapons away and they advanced on Matilda menacingly, ready to pounce on her and tie her up so they could deliver her to the dungeons. Matilda just took a deep breath and lowered her arms.
"Don't say I didn't give you a chance to settle this peacefully." she said "After all, you're bringing this on yourselves."
She wasn't pleased her peaceful proposal had failed but she should have expected this to happen as the Yīnyǐng Mao clan are hard to reason with. The Yīnyǐng Mao clan all lunged at Matilda but the kung-fu princess leaped out of their way, causing them all to crash into each other. Matilda landed outside the circle and the ninja cats all charged towards her. Shang Dao and Zhou Kai launched the first attacks by trying to slice Matilda to ribbons with their katanas. Matilda dodged their attacks and Shang Dao lunged at her with a katana stab but Matilda blocked the blow with her wristbands. She then gut-kicked Shang Dao and made him drop his katana. Matilda grabbed it and ended up having a sword fight with Zhou Kai. She and Zhou Kai clashed weapons and they swiped furiously at each other, trying to slice one another to pieces. Their katanas clashed and Zhou Kai raised his katana high above his head. He tried a downwards chop but Matilda blocked the attack and then, with an amazing katana twirl, actually ended up wrestling the sword out of Zhou Kai's grasp. Zhou Kai looked nervous and he tried to pick his sword up but Matilda pointed the katana at him and made him stop as if to say "Leave it where it is" to him. Zhou Kai surrendered and knelt down on the ground. Matilda picked up his katana and then proceeded to slam the katanas on her thigh and break them both so neither cats could use them. Matilda then got down on one knee, grabbed Zhou Kai by the scruff of his uniform and jammed her face into his face.
"Where are the panthers?" she demanded furiously.
Zhou Kai just stared into Matilda's steely eyes, unable to believe the princess could be so hardcore when in kung-fu mode. Matilda raised her fist menacingly and Zhou Kai squealed like a girl.
"Answer me!" shouted Matilda.
"They're in the dungeons!" squealed Zhou Kai "You'll know they way as you've been in there before! I swear it!"
"Thank you." said Matilda, punching Zhou Kai so hard he knocked the ninja cat clean out.
She got up from her knees and was about to run off to the temple until Shang Dao leaped up and tackled her from the side. He wrestled the princess down onto the ground and tried to keep her though but Matilda was much, much too strong for him. Matilda effortlessly pushed the ninja cat off of herself and she leaped back onto her feet, swinging her head forwards and walloping him in the face with it. Matilda's head was like a steel ball thanks to her kung-fu training. Shang Dao screamed in pain and he staggered backwards. Matilda then gave him an uppercut that sent him hurling backwards about thirty feet and he landed painfully on his back. The blow seemed to have knocked Shang Dao clean out as after he landed, he just lay there and didn't do anything else. Now those two cats were down for the count, Matilda could rescue the water panthers. First she had to get through the other Yīnyǐng Mao ninjas who were ready and willing to make sure the princess got nowhere near the temple. Not that that was going to be much a problem for her. The group of ninja cats all charged towards Matilda with their weapons at the ready. One ninja cat tried to whack Matilda in the belly with his Bo staff but Matilda leaped over the swinging staff and dropkicked the cat in the face as she came back down. The cat was brought down on his back and Matilda grabbed his Bo staff. Six ninja cats all wielding nunchakus all came running towards Matilda, spinning their nunchakus around and getting ready to beat the living tar out of her. Matilda stuck the Bo staff in the ground, ran around in a circle and began to spin herself around and around on the Bo staff. The ninja cats were stupid enough to get close to her and they all felt the sheer power of Matilda's legs as she swung around and walloped them all the way to Kingdom Valley. The cats all hurled backwards and they landed a very long distance away from Matilda after that attack. Matilda stopped spinning herself around and she stood back up on her feet. A ninja cat wielding a Sai was up next and the cat tried to stab Matilda with it. Matilda prodded the cat sharply in the gut with the Bo staff and the cat doubled over in excruciating pain. Matilda then whacked the cat in the face with the Bo and finished him off with a kung-fu kick to the gut. The cat was down and out for now. However, it seemed Matilda's good luck was going to end there as a ninja cat pounced on her from behind and wrapped his arms around her neck. He had a katana in his hand and he held the bald close to Matilda's throat. But Matilda had been trained to get out of things like this so this was no problem for her. Matilda grabbed the cat's arm and pushed the katana away from her throat. She then slipped out of that cat's grip and elbowed him in the gut. The cat doubled over and gasped and Matilda fist-slammed him on the back of his head, knocking him out in one blow. One cat wielding shuriken threw some shuriken at Matilda but Matilda just caught the shuriken and threw them away and gave the shuriken cat an uppercut to the chin. Another cat pounced on her from behind and dropkicked the princess in the back. Matilda was brought down on her stomach and the cats all ran towards her. They jumped on top of Matilda and began pinning her down so she couldn't get back up. The ninja cats formed a pile on top of the kung-fu mongoose but not even that was enough to keep our brave little princess down. Matilda managed to wrestle everybody off of her self and the cats were sent sprawling everywhere. Matilda got back to her feet and dusted herself off. One cat tried to get the drop on her from behind but she just raised her arm and punched it without even turning around. The cat was knocked out and it fell down onto its back. All the other cats in the Yīnyǐng Mao clan knew too well that Matilda was too powerful for them so they retreated back into the temple. Matilda smiled brightly to herself, pleased that she'd gotten through the enemy yet again.
"Yīnyǐng Mao scum, they maybe devious but they're not very bright." she said to herself "You'd think that after I foiled their festival folly and assassination plot that I'm too powerful for them and should be avoided at all costs. Oh well, hopefully I've knocked some sense into these insidious shadow cats and now they're beaten, I can rescue the water panthers."
With that said, Matilda walked on into the Yīnyǐng Mao clan's temple, leaving the defeated ninja cats to lie around and wonder which parts of them to rub better. Now Matilda was in the temple, she ran through the corridors and headed for the dungeons. As she had been a prisoner of the Yīnyǐng Mao clan briefly, she knew where the dungeons were so she had no trouble finding them. In no time at all, Matilda found the dungeons and she skidded to a halt straight in front of the door which had been repaired from the time she broke it. Now she was going to break it again. Matilda cracked her knuckles and prepared to bust the door down.
"And to think I was in there breaking out at some point last year and now I'm out here breaking in." said Matilda "I think I prefer the latter as I'm saving prisoners instead of being one and having to save myself."
Matilda drew her arms back as far as she could and then she busted the doors down with one mighty punch. Ruben and Hydra were so surprised at the fact the doors just got busted down that they almost jumped out of their fur. They quickly changed from surprised to excited when they realized that the person breaking the doors down was none other then Princess Matilda. Matilda strolled into the dungeon and the water panthers almost lost their minds with relief.
"Matilda!" cried Ruben "You've come to get us outta here! I knew someone was going to save us!"
"Of all the people to come and save us, I wasn't expecting the princess though." said Hydra happily "But I'm glad it is! We're outta here now!"
Matilda beamed with pride and she marched over to the chained up water panthers. She then give their shackles and swift chop and the shackles were sliced open, freeing Ruben and Hydra from their grasps and the two water panthers fell down to the floor. Hydra rubbed his sore wrists tenderly whereas Ruben was too overwhelmed with happiness to feel sore anywhere on his body. He ran over to Matilda and threw his arms around her. Matilda giggled and she hugged him back.
"Oh it's so good to see you again princess!" said Ruben happily.
"Welcome back to Chun-Nan Ruben." said Matilda "Pity this had to happen to you."
"It doesn't matter now you've come to rescue us." said Ruben "Now we're free, let's break for it before those ninja cats get grumpy with us."
"Don't expect anything from those shadow cats Ruben." said Matilda, breaking up the hug "They're all battered and beaten and lying outside their temple wondering what hit them."
"Core!" exclaimed Hydra "You're a beast you are Matilda! You beat up all those Yīnyǐng Mao cats and made it out with hardly a scratch on ya! You are officially the most awesome woman in Chun-Nan!"
"Ha, ha, ha! Oh stop it Hydra, you're making me blush." giggled Matilda, a small blush actually appearing on her cheeks.
"I mean it though!" laughed Hydra "No woman in Chun-Nan compares to your skill princess! Mother could learn a thing or two from you she could!"
"Hydra, the Bride of the Peaceful Earth is entitled to her way of life and I will not interfere with it for your pleasure." said Matilda sternly "It's dis-honouree to interfere with people's lives and try to force them to endorse your way of life instead of letting them choose their own path."
"OK." sighed Hydra in annoyance "Killjoy!" he muttered under his breath.
Matilda just promptly smacked Hydra on the cheek for that cheeky remark of his.
"Come on you two, let's get going already." said Matilda "I can't stand to be in this hideous temple a minute longer."
With that said, Matilda, Ruben and Hydra ran out of the dungeons and they headed to the temple entrance. They ran out of the temple as fast as they could and they left the battered and beaten Yīnyǐng Mao clan behind and ran off into the distance. The moment they left though, Shang Dao and Zhou Kai had come to and they got back to their feet. They began rubbing themselves all over and they grumbled to themselves.
"Stupid kung-fu princess." murmured Shang Dao "She beat us all."
"I'll say she has, look at our troops." said Zhou Kai, motioning to the battered and beaten Yīnyǐng Mao ninjas that lay on the ground all around the temple ground "They've all been beaten to a pulp by her!"
"I bet she's gone and saved the water panthers too." muttered Shang Dao "I guess we'll have to change our plan then. If a ransom won't work then we will have to try and break Fong Zarr out yet again."
"But Shang, we've tried that a good few times already." noted Zhou Kai "And we've failed every time. How can this plan possibly work now?"
"We'll try and be sneakier then the other times we've tried and we'll have distractions to keep the guards busy." explained Shang Dao "Our troops will be the distractions and we'll get Fong Zarr out ourselves. If we die trying to get him out then so be it. I'm not resting until our leader is back in our clan where he belongs."
"Well I'm with you all the way old friend." said Zhou Kai "Fong Zarr will taste freedom and the Yīnyǐng Mao clan can get ever closer to power at last!"
With that said, the two shadow cats began laughing to themselves as they pictured themselves breaking Fong Zarr out of prison and getting him back in the Yīnyǐng Mao clan at long last…
Footnotes:
* Niújiǎo means "horns" in Chinese
Well looks like those shadowy ninja cats are gonna have to try something different if they want to get their leader out! Will they succeed? And will Ruben, Hydra and Matilda find the aqua-collar thief? Maybe they will as the thief is revealed next time! Stay tuned! Reviews are welcome.
Ha PROJECT 1-21-18-9-1-19 ! You thought the thief was obvious didn't you? Well it isn't! The thief is someone you'll NEVER guess! Ha, ha, ha!
To TailslovesCosmo: I HAVE seen Sonic X (and I love it!) and I love Cosmo the Seedrian as much as any Cosmo fan does. I think me and you just have a different understanding of the character that's all. I apologize for my harsh review by the way, I didn't mean it to turn out like that. Next time I'll be a bit more civil in my reviews.