Opening Theme: Simple and Clean by Utada Hikaru
CHAPTER 50
THE SIX
"What's wrong? You two look like you've seen a ghost." Mai Li taunted laughing in that same maniacal way.
"You...you can't be alive..." Tigress said taking a step back. Neither she nor Lin could understand how she could be alive all this time. Mai Li continued to laugh at the expression on her face, an expression she hadn't seen on any of them for over 20 years.
"Uh...Tigress...mind telling us what's going on?" Po asked.
Mai Li saw him and approached him. "So this is the great and mighty Dragon Warrior" She surveyed him from head to foot. "For someone who defeated Shen before any of us could...you seem rather...unimpressive." Mai Li shrugged and shook her head. "I honestly didn't see the need of being bothered by you."
"Uh huh...So you know about me..." Po said.
"You bet I do." she replied. "I know about all of you." she spoke to the rest of the five. "Every victory you've had, everyone you've fought, every minute you think you're safe is being watched. There are spies loyal to my master in every village, town and city in China, and they all report to me."
"I am Mai Li, top spy, master assassin, and right hand of Geng Wu." She flashed a wicked smile and took a look at Tigress and Lin taking in again their shock. "And, as far as those two are concerned, a ghost."
"But I assure you, I'm no ghost. In fact, after seeing the looks on your faces..." Mai Li walked over to Lin who continued to stare at her wide-eyed. She grabbed the fur on his head and yanked his face close to her. "I've never felt so alive..."
A growl came from Tigress's throat as she assumed her stance. "Get your paws off him." she warned.
Mai Li walked towards her. "I see you're as protective of him as ever." She then stopped upon seeing it on Tigress's finger, her ring. "No way; you have to be joking me." She looked from Tigress to Lin and back to her letting out a laugh. "This is just too perfect. Looks like there's been so many changes since I was here eh Misha?"
Tigress snarled. "You don't have the right to call me that." Only those close to her did.
"I'll call you what I want when I want." Mai Li said jabbing her finger at her. She walked over and grabbed Lin again. "As long as I've got him, you can't touch me."
"I...I saw you fall into the Devil's Mouth..." Lin said. "How could you have survived?"
Mai Li pulled away from him and laughed maniacaly once more before telling.
Flashback...
"Good-bye Lin..."
"NO!"
She just suddenly slipped through his grip. Lin's arm was still stretched towards her as she plummeted into the Devil's Mouth. After a while, she was enveloped by the fog and was never seen again.
Once she thought that she had fallen long enough to be covered by the fog, Mai Li go to work. She grabbed the front part of her cloak with her paws and the back end with her toes. Taking a deep breath, she spread her arms and legs as far apart as she could.
It took a while for her makeshift parachute to work. Eventually, she felt her fall start to slow down making her grin a bit. But she was still coming down fast and felt herself drift sideways. Gritting her teeth, she tried to steer herself to make sure she came down at an angle.
The strong rain and mist obscured Mai Li's vision. Eventually, she saw large pointed rock spires, indicating that she was nearing the ground. Hoping that she wouldn't fall on any of them, she maneuvered her way past several spires before finally bracing herself for impact.
She hit the ground chin fist. Upon impact she began to roll very quickly across the rocky ground unaware of her surroundings. She soon hit a spire, smashing it to pieces while slowing her movements and making her body ache more than it already it. After that, she slowly came to a stop.
She was cold and wet and wounded and didn't have the strength to do anything. She stared blankly before her, her vision getting darker and dark by the second, until she saw something, two orange lights making their way towards her. Eventually, she was discovered by two boars who carried lanterns and couldn't believe what they were seeing.
"I don't believe it...she actually showed up!" one of them exclaimed.
His companion hit his arm. "Don't just stand there; help her!" his companion shouted. The two of them rushed to her side to give her aid. As one of them neared her, Mai Li suddenly grabbed him by the scruff of his shirt making him give out a startled cry.
"Send a message...to the master..." she said through gritted teeth while her consciousness began to slip ."The back-up plan is to be used and...Give a message to Lin..."
The boar nodded nervously and listened to her message. Mai Li then took one last look upwards at where Lin was still clutching Tigress on the bridge. She manged an evil smile and one last cackle before finally passing out.
Much later...
A knock came upon his door, and one of Geng Wu's warriors entered it. He made his way to his master, seated on his throne making sure to avoid eye contact before kneeling. "Master, I have received word from Mai Li...the back-up plan is to be performed."
Geng Wu sighed; apparently, the job was too much for her to handle. She would obviously be punished, but, being a very faithful servant and excellent spy, he decided not to kill her. Without a single word to the warriors, Geng Wu rose and headed for the back end of the room.
He ripped open the curtain and found a dummy and a cloak lying on top of several barrels of gunpowder. Geng Wu donned the cloak and placed the dummy on the throne where it would fool everyone else, including Lin. As he prepared to leave, he saw the warrior head to the back, a small parchment in his hand.
"What it that?" Geng Wu asked sharply.
"I well...Mai Li said she had a message for Lin when he arrives." His master said nothing, so he guesses that he approved of it. He walked on over to the curtain that concealed the barrels and stuck a message on it, Mai Li's one final insult to the lynx.
You're far too nice for your own good Lin.
End of flashback...
"I still can't believe that actually worked!" Mai Li cried out with glee. Her face suddenly softened. "'Maybe there was a part of me...that fell in love with you...'"
"I can't believe you actually fell for that! You should've seen the look on your face! It was so priceless!" She started laughing at Lin. "I never get tired of that face, of anyone actually believing the crap I say! If you'd just accepted me as your enemy and didn't believe me, you wouldn't be in this mess wouldn't you?! You're just as stupid and weak and pathetically kind as ever Lin!"
"All those times we spent together...they really meant nothing to you didn't they..." Lin dared to ask.
Mai Li pulled back and held her chin in deep thought. "Hmm, does this answer your question?"
She suddenly drew her claws and violently swatted his face leaving several bleeding gashed on his left cheek. As she laughed maniacally, Tigress growled and tensed herself ready to fight.
"Fine then..." Lin said. His eyes showed hurt but not from the wounds on his cheek "Next time...I won't hesitate..." Mai Li just grinned before turning, her face turning into a look of rage.
"And as for you, it took me days to recover from the fight and a month to recover from master's punishment!" Mai Li shouted angrily pointing at Tigress. "You put me through all that crap by showing up and ruining the plan! I had to beg master to let me in on this attack just so I can feel your blood on my paws Misha! And since I'm standing here, I think you know what this means."
Tigress snarled and clenched her fists. "Everyone...get back. This is my fight." Tigress said taking a step forward only to be stopped when Po put his paw on her shoulder.
"Are you kidding? That girl's crazy." Po said tilting his head in Mai Li's direction. "You have to be as crazy as her if you wanna take her all by yourself."
"If she's that determined to kill you, then you'll need all the help you'll get Tigress." Crane said taking a stand as did the others.
Tigress looked at all of them determined to fight by her. "Everyone..."
Unfortunately, the sight only made Mai Li laugh. "Hah! You won't be able to help her. Not when you have your own fights to deal with."
"Hey we beat your thugs before and we can do it again!" Mantis yelled back.
Mai Li laughed once more even harder this time. "Believe me, these 'thugs' are nothing compared to what we have in store for you."
Mai Li took a step forward and spoke with an evil grin. "When we stole those scrolls from the palace half a year ago, we managed to steal the ones containing a certain kind of knowledge...your fighting styles. That, combined with the memory of the one you fought that night, gave us all we needed to train our army against you."
"But my master thought further than that. He search all corners of the world and found Kung Fu masters willing to fight for us. We gathered them together and trained them to do one thing: counter your fighting styles. All of them are now here, ready to kill you."
"Just learning how to fight them through scrolls and memory isn't enough." Lin said confident in their capabilities. "They're the strongest warriors I know; they won't lose no matter what you send at them!"
Mai Li turned to him. "As naive as ever. Why don't I let them demonstrate what they can do?"
Mai Li slowly lifted her paw. "First of all, I'd like to introduce you to whom some of us call...the Anti-Crane." she said before snapping her fingers.
A brown blur suddenly shot from the crowd behind Mai Li and into the sky. Everyone, especially Crane, looked up to see someone stop suddenly in midair wings spread before diving at starling speed. That very same someone landed perfectly in front of Mai Li sending up a cloud of dust in the process.
It was a bald eagle wearing a light brown vest and was apparently female. She looked up and surveyed the surprised faces of the five eventually singling out Crane.
"Oh..." she said liking what she saw. "Mai Li...why didn't you tell me this Crane guy looked so cute?" She fanned herself with her wing, her face slightly flushed.
"Oh uh...thanks?" Crane said awkwardly. For some reason, Viper hissed at her annoyed. This girl was supposed to kill him?
"Oh sorry. Kinda distracted here." she laughed nervously. "Anyway, I'm Master Tria, and I have to say, you got some really things here in China. The scenery's cool, the food's great...the guys are cute..." she said winking at Crane.
Mai Li cleared her throat. "Just do your job." she ordered.
"Oh yeah; sorry about that." Tria apologized before turning to Crane. "Alright then cutie; let's dance."
She suddenly rushed at Crane who had to fly back to avoid getting hit. Everyone watched as the two of them took to the sky, exchanging blows as they did. As much as Crane tried to hit her, he kept having his blows blocked by Tria.
She really didn't seem to know his every move. As he swung his wing at her only to be blocked by hers. He narrowly avoided a swipe of her talons and flew away to get some distance between them. Unfortunately, Tria caught up with him talons raised. He swung his wing at her, but was anticipating that.
At the last second, she ducked and slashed his chest with her talons. Everyone on the ground gasped as Crane began to plummet. Eyes watering in pain, he looked and saw Tria fly towards him. She tucked her wings in for a while, and when she spread them, she suddenly transformed into a massive eagle three times her size. Letting out an ear-piercing shriek that only eagles can make, she grabbed him in her huge talons and drove him into an empty house leveling it instantly.
"Crane!" Viper screamed rushing to his aid. She had only gone about a foot when she felt something wrap around her tail and violently yank her back. She turned and gasped along with everyone else at what stood before her.
It was a massive snake, an anaconda, something none of them have ever seen before. He was like, eight times Viper's length and several times thicker as well. His scales were a poisonous dark green, and his eyes were golden.
"Sick her Boa." Mai Li ordered.
Boa obeyed and lunged at Viper who managed to strike his face with her tail. Boa shook his head and hissed at her as if that blow meant nothing to him. He then attempted to coil around her; Viper, being smaller and thinner, managed to avoid getting crushed and slipped right out of his grasp. Moving past him, she looked back to check if he noticed her pass which was a big mistake.
She suddenly felt something large and heavy smack her head knocking her to the ground. Dazed slightly, Viper looked up and saw Boa's tail in a knot acting like a make-shift hammer. He removed them knot and manged to coil around Viper's body. She felt his body constrict around her, and as Boa started to squeeze the air out of her, he looked into her eyes.
"What'sssss wrong girl?" he asked, his voice hissing with malice. Viper felt her surroundings fade, but she could still hear him. "Perhapsssss if you had lived in the wild, you wouldn't be sssso weak..."
His evil eyes were the last things Viper saw before passing out. "That's two out of the five take out. Now which one of you wants to go next?" Mai Li asked them. "Better yet, why don't I just decide that for you!"
Mantis felt something grab his back. The next second, he felt himself suddenly pulled into the sky. After panicking a bit, he slammed his elbow repeatedly into his attacker until he finally let him go. He was relieved but then remembered that he was mid-air. He began to plummet to the ground with no means of controlling himself.
As he did, he got a glimpse of his attacker, a Norfolk Hawker (a kind of dragonfly). He had green eyes and a brown body. Unafraid, Mantis kicked only to be blocked. His opponent swung his tail at him, but Mantis managed to duck. It was then that he noticed just how close he was to the ground.
He managed to land on his feet thought the impact stunned him for a while. He looked up and saw the dragonfly head towards him and instinctively kicked. Using his tail, the dragonfly swatted away the blow and spun around to strike Mantis's face, sending him airborne.
The dragonfly flew in and caught Mantis before slamming him into the wall of a nearby house, toppling it over. Mantis felt his vision turn foggy, but his opponent took time to whisper in his ear.
"Remembered my name you fool. I am Abasi, and I have defeated you." was the last thing Mantis head before passing out.
Another figure came out of the crowd behind Mai Li and darted towards Monkey, a koala wearing dark maroon clothes carrying a thick tree stump with a few leaves. "Destroy him Banjora!" Mai Li ordered.
Monkey performed a flying kick; Banjora used his stump to launch himself over Monkey landing gracefully behind him. Monkey back flipped over him and punched only to be blocked once more by the stump. Monkey followed this by a flurry of jabs and kicks, each one blocked by that annoying stump.
When Monkey tried kicking, Banjora propped himself on his stump before kicking Monkey himself. As the latter staggered back, Banjora launched jumped back and pulled something out of his pocket, a round, dark green object the size of a marble. He threw it at the ground before Monkey where it let out a cloud of green smoke and a few leaves.
"So minty..." Monkey said slightly dazed by the scent. "What is this stuff?"
"Eucalyptus." Banjora replied rushing towards him. Monkey was helpless as Banjora punched his face and struck his chin with his stump. As Monkey hit the ground, Banjora jumped on his chest, raised his stump and struck his forehead knocking him out.
Mai LI smiled at how things were going. "How about you Dragon Warrior? Ready to meet your worst enemy?"
Po growled a bit angry at what happened to his friends. "Bring it!" he yelled charging at her. Mai Li turned behind her and yelled out: "Kiho!"
Po slowed down a bit as something really large barreled past the soldiers behind Mai Li, a large polar bear wearing black leggings and gauntlets. Po however continued on and, with a loud cry, punched Kiho's chest. There was a five second pause after which Po pulled his fist back.
"Ow ow ow! Are you made of rock or something?" Po cried out in pain while clutching his aching fist. Despite the situation, Tigress sighed and face palmed.
"You are pathetic; I can't believe I had to train to kill you." Kiho said pulling his fist back. "My turn."
Po turned and was met with a powerful uppercut that knocked him in the air. He soared over Tigress's head and collapsed in an unconscious heap behind her. "Hah! So much for the Dragon Warrior!" Mai Li said with a laugh.
Neither Tigress nor Lin could believe what was happening; there was no way their friends could be beaten so easily. Tigress looked forwards and saw Mai LI glaring evilly at her. "And, as you can probably guess Misha, I trained to fight you."
With a snap of her fingers, the rest of her team assembled by her side. They all looked so powerful; it was almost as if they radiated strength. Being able to stand alongside five powerful Kung Fu masters, Mai Li looked very intimidating.
"My master rewards those loyal to his cause." Mai Li said. "He will destroy this valley but leave enough of it left for us six to rule. We will be the new masters of the Jade Palace, the new greatest warriors in all of China!"
Mai LI spread her arms indicating the group that took out her friends. "Behold...THE SANGUINE SIX!"
Tigress finally had enough and charged at Mai Li. Lin watched in fear as Mai Li flexed her wrists, dropping daggers into her paws, and rushing towards Tigress with murder in her eyes. "Misha!" he shouted fearing the outcome. "Misha don't!"
She didn't listen to him. Instead, she punched at Mai Li who cartwheeled past her to avoid the blow. Irritated, Tigress spun around and charged once more at the smirking Mai Li who blocked her high kick as if it was nothing. Mai Li then dodged Tigress's back hand and deflected another punch before striking her elbow several times.
Mai Li kicked Tigress back and rushed at her. The later backed up to avoid a swipe of her opponents daggers before attempting a low sweep. Mai Li saw this coming and backed up before crouching down and pinning Tigress ankle to the ground while her other paw started cutting into her thigh.
Tigress pulled her leg free and punched only to be blocked again. She delivered a flurry of blow only getting the same result each time. Mai Li then went on the offensive, forcing Tigress to black and evade her daggers. Mai Li then did a drop kick what made Tigress stagger back.
Tigress eventually recovered and pulled her paws back, and Mai Li recognized the move. As Tigress thrust her paws forward, Mai Li simply sidestepped. Tigress's eyes widened as she went right past Mai Li who smirked before smashing her fist into Tigress's right temple.
Lin watched as Mai Li continued the attack by flicking her wrist, sending an arrow into Tigress's thigh .She then punched Tigress right in the face with her left paw before spinning and cutting her chest with her right and finally ending with a kick to her chest sending her flying. Unable to believe his eyes, Lin saw Tigress hit the ground and Mai Li jump on her pinning her arms down with her feet.
Tigress looked up and saw the eyes of a dagger-wielding maniac staring down at grinning like a madman. "Any last words?" she asked tauntingly.
Tigress couldn't think properly. "I..."
"Good enough for me!" Mai Li shouted pulling her paw back ready to deliver the final blow. In a split second, she brought it down.
At that moment, Tigress's mind went blank.
"MISHA!"
There was a loud thud as the arrow made impact. Lin blinked and saw the arrow sticking out of the ground barely an inch away from Tigress's neck. Tigress herself couldn't believe what just happened and just watched as Mai Li bent down to speak to her face-to-face.
"I can't kill you yet. Not until my master says so." she said, her voice practically dripping with malice.
She raised her head and ordered the warriors to tie up the unconscious Po and the rest of the five. As they did Mai LI continued to speak. "You'll be our temporary prisoner, but when the attack comes...I'm gonna make a beeline for you and toy with you a little before finally killing you."
Tigress just stared at that monster unable to say anything. Mai Li got off her and walked back to let the guards tie Tigress up. Mai Li smirked at her again. "Here's a little preview of what kind of pain I'm planning."
She raised her foot and smashed her heel painfully into her tail causing Tigress to scream in pain. The guards finally tied her up in chains and carried her away along with the others. She passed by Lin and saw her own shock and fear mirror in his face. Together with their defeated friends, the two of them were brought out of the valley, Mai Li's maniacal laughter slowly fading in the distance.
