Opening Theme: Simple and Clean by Utada Hikaru

CHAPTER 49
THE ATTACK

Groggily, Lin opened his eyes seeing the sky covered in grey clouds, an indication that it was going to be pouring soon. He slowly sat up and scratched his head as he looked around. He was still on his mat under Peach Tree Hill. He looked down and saw that the only thing he had on was his LinkStar.

Turning his head to his right, he saw his clothes laid to one side. Looking to his left, he saw Tigress, his future wife, still fast asleep with her back towards him. He gently ran his paw down her arm smiling as he remembered their wonderful time the previous night.

And then the cold, hard, bitter reality slapped him in the face, wiping his grin right off.

"Oh damn..."

Lin started shaking her shoulder hurriedly. "Tigress...Wake up. Wake up. Wake Up!"

"Huh? Wh-what-" she said startled at being awoken so suddenly. She, like him, was wearing nothing but the LinkStar around her neck.

Being in a hurry, Lin cut to the chase. "Any minute now, the gong will sound, and Master Shifu will expect us to be at our rooms."

It took her several seconds to let his words sink in. Then, her eyes widened, and she was suddenly wide awake. Cursing, she threw the blanket covering them off and, they started putting their clothes back on.

"I can't believe this..." Lin muttered frustratingly as he pulled his pants up. "I'm hours away from a Geng Wu attack, and here I am covering up for myself like I'm some-"

He was suddenly interrupted when Tigress grabbed his head, turning it towards her and planted a kiss on his lips. After about three seconds, she pulled away. "Lin, that was the best night of my life, and I have no regrets."

She turned away and started securing her vest in place. Grinning slightly, Lin fixed up his pants and moved on to his shirt.

It took them a minute to go from sleeping naked to fully clothed and wide awake. After gathering up Lin's things, they hurried back to the barracks. They tip-toes back to their respective rooms and slid the doors closed quietly. Exactly one second after that, the gong sounded.

Ina split second, Lin threw his stuff into his room and left it to join the others. His and Tigress's "Good morning master." was a little louder than the others', but no one seemed to notice. As they left the barracks, the two of them caught up with each other.

"No one seems to suspect a thing." Tigress said quietly swelling her eyes around.

"That's good." Lin said. They then made eye contact with each other. Holding her paw, Lin began to smile and laugh slightly, still unable to believe that they were able to get away with that.

"Seriously you two?" The couple turned and saw behind them Viper, a pout on her face. "I mean, I get it that we all might not make it today, but you guys aren't married yet; I don't think Shifu would like it if he found you two fooling around like that."

"I've no idea what you're talking about Viper." Tigress said crossing her arms.

Viper rolled her eyes and stuck her tongue out. At first, Tigress felt a offended by that, but then she realized she was tasting the air. "Please, I can smell you two practically all over each other."

Silently, Tigress and Lin locked eyes with one another before turning to Viper. "You can plan the wedding." Lin said quickly.

"Deal." Viper said slithering away. The two of them followed her not saying anything.

The seven of them ate breakfast quietly, mentally preparing themselves for the ordeal they would have to face. Several times, Lin found himself looking at them, his family, willing to defend each of them with his life.

Po cleared his throat, getting everyone's attention. "So uh listen...If uh...If I don't make it today..." He gave a deep sigh. "I just want you to know that...It was awesome...getting to know all you guys..."

"No one is dying today Po." Tigress told him. "Not if I have anything to say about it." She turned to her food. "I don't plan on losing any of you today."

Lin put an arm around her and squeezed tightly. Just then, a gong sounded several times as if it was an alarm. The seven of them looked at each other wondering if this might be their last meal together. After several more seconds, they all got up and left, ready to fight.

They met with Shifu in the Hall of Warriors. The door was wide open, letting in cold wind that signified an oncoming storm. As they arrived, Zeng flew in, crashed before Shifu and hastily stood up. "M-master! The valley is surrounded! There are catapults loaded and ready to fire any minute!"

The tension in the air increased; this was it. "I see. Zeng, tell the entire valley to go into hiding. Tell them to stay hidden indoors until this is dealt with. And inform the imperial army; tell them to send assistance at once!"

Zeng nodded and hurried flew off. Shifu sighed and turned to his students. "You have all trained well for this moment." he told them. "You seven are among the greatest warriors in China; I have no doubts in your ability to protect the Valley of Peace."

"Geng Wu has threatened to destroy our home as he did to countless others. His terror ends today." He turned and pointed outside. "Go! Make history remember this day to be the day Geng Wu is defeated once and for all!"

With a loud cry, every ran past him, everyone but Lin who hesitated at first. He then ran back to his master, got down and grabbed his shoulder. "Master, should we fail, you're the last hope this valley has." he told him. "Please, Geng Wu must not destroy this palace."

Shifu nodded. "I am aware of my duty. Go Lin; your home needs you..." he said.

Lin took a deep breath and hugged the man who was his master and a father to him before running off. Shifu watched the retreating figures of his students before beginning to lock up the palace.

"Be safe...all of you..."


By the time they reached the village, the villagers were already in full panic mode. Screaming echoing through the air, several villagers were packing their things and running indoors. Several children who were separated from their parents stood sobbing in the middle of the chaos.

But the sight of the Furious Five and the Dragon Warrior rushing through to save the day was enough to give hope to everyone. As the seven of them ran, Crane called their attention and pointed up sky adorned with dark storm clouds and fireballs.

The attack had begun.

"They're attacking the main entrance to the valley!" Lin shouted unsurprised by this. The group made their way to the valleys main entrance as fast as they could. There, they would split up and follow the plan. While Crane and Viper helped the villagers evacuate, Mantis and Monkey would work together to take out the catapults. The would later meet with Lin, Tigress and Po who would clear out a path towards Geng Wu.

About halfway there, they could already see the first signs of destruction. Several houses were already on fire after being hit by a few fireballs. Residents hastily fled the burning buildings carrying loved ones and precious belongings. Knowing their duty, Viper and Crane rushed in to bring as many villagers to safety as they could before rejoining the group.

As they passed by a building, a fireball hit a building setting it instantly ablaze. Tigress was right next to it when it happened, but she jumped away just in time to avoid getting hurt.

She suddenly had a flashback. She found herself back in her old village with the same scene of destruction around her. This caused her to suddenly stop running and stare wide-eyed at the chaos around her. The flames, the screams, they were all too familiar to her.

She felt someone shaking her and calling her name, but they sounded like they were at the end of a tunnel. It was only when she heard her real name did she finally snap out of her trance. She blinked several times and found herself back in the Valley of Peace. Lin was shaking her while they others stayed put.

Tigress shook her head and regained her focus. "I'm sorry I..." she stammered.

Lin sighed and told the group that they needed to get going. With Tigress behind them, they continued on towards the main entrance helping as many villagers on the way as they could.

As they neared their destination, the damage worsened. When they finally saw the main gates, they were barely standing. Then one fireball later, they were completely blasted apart. The group halted and watched as a large group of warriors charged through the gates and headed right for them.


A boar ran past several tents until he reached the largest tent in the camp. He entered it keeping his eyes on the ground and knelt before his master, seated on a large wooden chair. "M-my lord. It's just as you said. The Furious Five and the Dragon Warrior have come to interfere."

Geng Wu gripped his sword without saying anything. This was going as he expected so far. "There is more..." the boar continued. "It seems that...Lin the Great has joined them to protect the valley..."

"Of course he would; this is his home after all." Geng Wu said. He stood up and pointed at his servant. "Execute the plan to be rid of them once and for all."

The boar bowed one last time before leaving to do just that. Geng Wu sat back down on his chair waiting for the news that the Furious Five, the Dragon Warrior and Lin have been defeated.


"Viper, Crane, start getting villagers to safety. Monkey, Mantis, get over those walls and take out those catapults. Po, Lin." Tigress looked to her sides and saw the two of them already in their battle stances. She stared at the group of warriors ahead of them bracing herself for the fight of her life.

"Everyone move!" Crane yelled out suddenly. Everyone didn't have time to check and reacted instinctively as they jumped apart from each other. If they'd been a second later, they would've been hit by the fireball that landed right in their midst. Thanks to Crane's warning, no one seemed t be hurt.

Unfortunately, the group of warriors started getting closer to them. Even if Viper, Crane, Monkey and Mantis tried to do their respective tasks, they would have to go through those warriors first. Pounding the ground angrily with his fist, Lin was the first to get up and rushed at the small army threatening the valley.

The first blow he avoided was an axe that nearly split his head in two. He kicked that warrior aside before being swarmed by several others. He blocked and evaded as many blows and strikes as he could, but started to feel overwhelmed. Plus something was different this time around.

With not much time to think about it, he gave a leopard an uppercut followed by a kick that knocked him into another group of warriors. As he landed, he immediately ducked as a sword came over his head. As he prepared himself to counter attack, Tigress came in and delivered a flying kick to the warrior. Looking around, he saw Po and the rest of the five join the fight.

He then got set to working with Tigress. She kicked a warrior to him, and he caught him and threw him into another group. Lin then moved next to Tigress and started blocking and deflecting blows headed their way while she busied herself with countering them. "Something's wrong about all this." Lin told her as she punched the wolf aside.

"What do you mean?" Tigress said not noticing anything.

"Back when I fought them alone, they were just savage brutes, fighting mainly on instinct without any sense of style." he said as they fought some more. "Fighting them now...it's as if they trained for this fight."

"Could Geng Wu have used the Thousand Scrolls to train his army?" Tigress asked breaking formation. She looked around seeing the others busy with their own battles. The group's numbers dwindled slowly as the fight dragged on into several minutes. It took a long time for the seven of them to mop up the rest of the group.

"And...that's the last of 'em." Po said exhausted as he knocked out the last of Geng Wu's best warriors. All seven of them were really tired.

"I don't see any more villagers around; they must've all gone to safety by now." Viper added checking the area for anyone who could've been left behind.

"Good." Lin said, his legs started to ache a little. He looked around seeing signs of destruction from the fireballs; it was almost like every other attack he held back. "With them gone, Geng Wu must already be issuing the order to retrea-"

"Uh...Lin..." Po said pointing at the village entrance. "I don't think he's retreating!"

Everyone else's eyes widened at the sight. Lin turned around and did the same upon seeing hundreds, thousands of warriors rush through the gates and head right for them. His jaw dropped as he took as step forward wondering if he was seeing this right; he had never fought Geng Wu's entire army before.

"How big was his army again Lin?" Monkey asked.

"I'm not exactly sure. Two, maybe three thousand." Lin said not taking his eyes off the horde.

"Ah, we fought more than that once. This'll be cakewalk compared to that." Mantis said cracking his pincers ready for another round.

Lin looked at his companions tired and weary but still eager to fight. He looked at Tigress who gave him a reassuring nod. He turned towards the army which was getting closer and closer to them. Clenching his fists, he entered his stance and charged in at them with the others.

Fighting an entire army was a whole new experience for him. He had only held back large groups, but never ones that numbered to the thousands. It seemed like with every one warrior he took out, ten more took his place. He thought that he was wasting his strength on fighting all of them. Added to the fact that his legs were aching, he thought that taking on Geng Wu in that state would be a very bad idea.

The others were doing much better than him. Viper had resorted to her style of taking control of some of the soldiers and making them fight their allies. Some archers tried raining arrows on them only to be defeated by Crane and Monkey. Many of the warriors underestimated Po and Mantis due to their size, but they were proven wrong when they were knocked unconscious by them.

Tigress, noticing how much trouble Lin was in, moved in to provide support. As he dropped to his knees and clutched his burning legs, she stood before him and took out anyone who dared to hurt him. After resting for a while, he got up and blocked the arm of a wolf that tried to stab his back. He kicked him in the stomach and suddenly felt something long and metallic wrap around his left wrist.

In the split second it took her him to realize that it was a chain, he had already been violently yanked way from Tigress. He looked up at the ox holding the other end of the chain and punched with his free paw only to be blocked. The ox backed up and pulled once more, causing Lin to fall and hit the ground face-first.

"Lin!" Tigress shouted trying to get to him, but warriors came between them, blocking her path. "Someone help Lin!" she shouted as she fought them off.

"Kinda busy here Tigress!" Crane shouted as he held off several warriors at once. Everyone else seemed to be too busy to help Lin who was still struggling to break free.

A knee slammed into his stomach forcing him to hit the ground in pain. After crouching for a few seconds, another warrior tried putting a chain around his other wrist. Lin smashed that fist into his jaw but was once again yanked aside by the other chain. This gave another warrior enough time to secure the chain and force Lin to his knees.

"No!" Tigress yelled barreling past several more warriors to get to him, as she neared him, one of the warriors around Lin drew his sword and held it to his neck.

"Freeze!" he shouted, and the whole battlefield grew still The rest of the defenders saw the situation Lin was in.

"Let him go." Tigress ordered.

"Take one step and I'll slit his neck." the ox said.

"No you won't." Tigress said shaking her head. "Geng Wu wants to kill him himself. Let him go now!"

The ox laughed which only infuriated Tigress. The others stood behind her watching the situation tense and agitated. "You don't scare us; none of you do!" he shouted. "It's you who should be fearing us!"

"Let him go, or I'll give you a reason to fear us." Tigress warned. Clenching his fists, Lin looked around trying to find a way out of this. "I said-"

"He was wrong; if there's anyone you should fear, it's me."

Tigress and Lin both froze upon hearing that hauntingly familiar female voice that seemed to turn their blood into ice. The others looked at them wondering what was wrong with them.

It just couldn't be...

"Oh Lin...you're as pathetic and clueless as ever. You think you're so smart hatching a plan to take out my master, but there are still things you didn't count on."

All the anger within Tigress vanished and was replaced by pure shock and horror. Lin had the very same reaction as her. They were both trying to deny it, that this isn't what they feared it was.

"Think about it Lin. The whole reason you got blown up at Heng Mountain was because my master learned the the mission to kill you failed and that the back-up would be put into action."

"But ask yourself something...How exactly did my master know that the back-up plan was to be used? There were only so few among us that knew about it, so the only logical explanation is that the one who told my master was the very same person who knew everything, from where you live to everyone you care about."

The guards began to part ways as if someone very important was approaching.

"I've faked many things in my line of work...My name...my intentions...my entire identity...But thanks to the opportunity you provided I managed to pull my what I think is my greatest feat to date."

The last of the guards parted and a hooded and cloaked person walked in their midst. Both Lin and Tigress stared wide-eyed as the mouth under the turned into a grin at the sight of the shock and horror on their faces. After several tense seconds, the person ripped the cloak off making it blow away in the wind. This was followed by a sudden flash of lightning that illuminated her face.

She was the same as over twenty years ago. Same amber eyes, same dark green dress with long wide sleeves, same long white pants adorned with rose patterns.

"I have faked death." Mai Li said with that same evil smile.