Chapter 32: I Need a Medic.

Tigress' POV

We had been walking now for almost three hours, covering about 2 miles. For the majority of the time, I was carrying a small bunny who had grown tired during the walk to the unknown. She was currently sleeping in my arms. Monkey, along with Viper and Mantis kept an eye on the villagers up front. Crane was with Mei Ling in the middle of the group and I was keeping point in the back.

Out of the blue, I hear eight faint bangs coming from behind us. I turned to then see this wave of dust coming towards us.

"Everyone get your heads down." I called out.

I was expecting this shockwave to hit us with the force of one hundred bricks. So I wanted to make sure that everyone was prepared for impact. We instead got hit with a gust of wind, greatly shocking all of us.

"What was that?" Viper slithered towards me.

"I don't know, but judging by the bangs it must have-"

"Hey Tigress, look." Monkey cut me off pointing at the mountain.

I turned and saw green smoke. My face lit up.

"He's done it." I said.

I then stopped the villagers from moving on.

"Attention everybody. I need you all to listen very closely!"

As they stopped, some began asking questions.

"Why are we stopping here?"

"Shouldn't we be continuing on? It's still not safe with Tai Lung in the Valley."

"I am aware of your concerns. But I would like for you all to look back at the mountain and see what is bellowing on its face."

They all began to look and see the green smoke covering the stairs that led to the courtyard.

"As you all can see, there is a plume of green smoke. I can gladly report that on behalf of the Dragon Warrior, John Dunn, that the green smoke you all can see marks the end of Tai Lung's reign of terror. It is now safe for all of you to return home." I said.

That sparked a wave of cheers and applause from the villagers.

"What are we waiting for, let's go home!" I heard Roman shout from within the crowd.

As we began to make our way home, I went over to Crane and Mei Ling.

"Crane, I need for you to check and see if there are any injured individuals. Take Mei Ling with you, since she has medical experience."

"Sure thing Tigress." He said.

"Wanna give me a lift?" Mei asked.

"No problem."

With that, Crane picked Mei Ling up and began flying over to the palace. Viper then came over.

"Shouldn't we go as well?" She asked.

"Let's first escort the villagers back to the village. Then we can check on the others."

"Sure thing Tigress."

I then spotted the two naysayers who called John out for not helping us evacuate. I decided to say a little something in return of John proving them wrong.

"I hope you two are willing to eat those words you spoke earlier." I said passing by.

"You tell them Master Tigress." The little bunny in my arms said.

I smiled and gave her a little wink.

John's POV

I had just finished throwing the last of my smoke grenades, six in total, down the mountain. I gave each throw a five second time delay, making sure that the smoke cloud would grow and last for enough time for Tigress to spot.

"AGRH!" I heard Shifu groan in pain.

After Tai Lung had been put in the Wuxi Finger Hold, I carried Shifu over to the entrance and laid him down next to the tree my stuff was in before throwing down my smoke grenades. I had also finally taken off the body armor since it began to feel pretty heavy on my body.

"It's alright Shifu, I'm here. Now, where are you hurting?" I asked him.

"My back for the most part. I'm also having trouble breathing and my head feels like I've been sat on by a panda." He said.

"I may have something to relieve the pain for a bit." I chuckled and reached for my bags.

I brought down both bags, laid them next to me and took a look inside the red one, which was filled with first aid and other essentials I needed for Shifu's injuries. Just as I took out the painkillers, I saw the SOS beacon laying next to the medkit. I decided to activate it knowing that Shifu was in need of medical attention and I just knew where it was located, Marshal.

"Here Shifu, take these painkillers. It should relieve the pain for a while." I said handing him two pills and my canteen.

"Thank you John."

About a couple minutes later, I heard the radio which I turned on after activating the beacon went off.

"Emergency distress beacon, this is Medivac 1 stationed from Marshal Airbase. If you can hear this transmission, please respond on frequency 121.10"

I recognized the voice.

'Humphrey, you son of a bitch.' I thought.

"Medivac 1, this is John Dunn, I hear you 10 by 4. Nice to hear your voice Humphrey." I said.

"John! Never thought we'd speak under these circumstances. How the hell are you?" He said.

"Well, it could be better. I need that medivac ASAP."

"No problem, me and my crew were on a training mission when the beacon was detected. We're on the way. Where are you located."

"Courtyard of the Palace."

"Is the area clear of decors?"

"Affirmative, you have more than enough room to land here."

"Perfect. I will radio when we're flying over the village. By the way, Garth and Lilly are saying hi. They're with me."

"Hey John" They both said.

I laughed.

"Hey guys, I'll see you in a few." I said putting the radio away in my belt pack.

"Help is on the way, Shifu."

"I heard, where will I be taken?"

"To the Marshal Medical Center. My friend Hutch is a doctor there. He should be able to look after you during your time there." I said.

"Excellent."

A couple minutes went by until I got a phone call. It was Commander Davis.

"Hello?"

"Hello John."

"Commander! How are you doing?"

"Very good Captain. I just received your discharge papers for you to sign. If possible, could you be able to drop by and sign them this week?"

"As a matter of fact, I can today. I'm waiting for a medivac to arrive and pick both me and Master Shifu up. I'll explain later more on the matter when I get to Marshal."

"Alrighty then. Hopefully whatever happened ain't too serious. I'll see you later then."

"See you then Commander."

Another few minutes went by as me and Shifu sat and waited for either the Medivac to arrive first or the Five. I was just about to radio Humphrey, when I heard Mei Ling and Crane's voices coming from below the stairs. I looked and saw them flying up to me.

"Crane, Mei Ling! Over here." I waved them in.

They landed next to me.

"You did it John, you actually did it." Crane said.

"Yeah, but I wasn't alone in doing so." I said, pointing out to Shifu.

"Tend to him if you can Mei."

"I'll do my best. Do you need any help too?"

"No, I'm alright."

"Where's Tai Lung?" Crane asked me.

"Judging by him not being physically here. My guess is he's eating dinner with Micheal Jackson at the moment."

Crane was confused, but Mei Ling on the other hand was shocked as hell.

"You killed him?!" She screamed.

"He had to." Crane said in my defense.

As Shifu was being tended to, my radio went off again.

"John, we are just approaching the village now. I do want to warn you that there are 3 individuals running up the mountain." Humphrey said.

I took a peak and saw Tigress and the others running up. They were about halfway up the stairs.

"Roger that Humphrey, it's just the Five."

"Good, is the LZ (LANDING ZONE) clear?"

"She is clear."

"Roger that, we should be landing in two minutes."

"Got it, on the lookout." I said

After a couple minutes looking after Shifu and explaining to both Crane and Mei Ling about what happened, I heard the helicopter fly overhead. I decided to get my bags all repacked up and ready to be brought back up the barracks since I only planned on bringing with me only my phone, wallet and earbuds with me. Eventually, the helicopter landed in the courtyard and we all began making our way with Shifu towards it.

Lilly got out along with Garth as Humphrey stayed inside to shut it down. They both went to work on getting Shifu ready. I went over to Humphrey.

"How long did you plan on staying on the ground?" I asked.

"As long as you need. Why?"

"I have a good feeling that the Five would like to see Shifu before we head off."

"Wait, you're coming with us?" Humphrey asked me.

"Well yeah. Davis has some paperwork for me to sign and I would like to see Zildjian too. Haven't seen her in a week."

"Touché"

"John, could you give us a hand real quick?" Garth asked.

I ran over and helped them place Shifu into the gurney before setting him up in the helicopter. All we then needed to do was wait for the rest of the Five to show up. That didn't take too long though.

"What's all this?" I heard Tigress say.

I turned and saw the Five.

"Just in time." I said.

"Lilly?! What are you doing here?" Viper asked

"I think John should tell you." She said

"Where's Shifu?" Tigress asked me.

I sighed.

"He's in the helicopter. He's being airlifted to the Marshal Medical Center."

"You promised to keep him alive." She said, being pretty upset.

"Tai Lung made that task pretty fucking difficult. BUT...he's alive and breathing. However Tai Lung did do a number on him, hence why he needs to go to the ER."

Her ears drooped as she began to get a bit emotional. The others remained silent, knowing that this was a pretty hard thing for Tigress to hear.

"Where is he?" She said.

"Follow me, all of you."

I led them to the helicopter where Garth opened the door, revealing Shifu in the gurney.

"Shifu, they're here." I said.

He turned his head and smiled.

"Hello students. How did it go evacuating the village?"

"We were able to get the villagers on the move in 30 minutes. It went smoothly." Viper said.

"Good, I had a feeling it would. Now before I'm flown out of here, I would like to say that I'm proud of all of you. Your efforts today really helped not only delay Tai Lung from showing up, but they also gave enough time for you to evacuate the village and for John to set up his ambush.

For that, I will say that during the amount of time I am in the hospital, you may take up as much rest as you need. You all deserve it."

"Thank you Master." They all said.

"Tigress, could you please come closer? I need to say this to you."

She walked over. Knowing what Shifu was going to say, I walked over and stood beside her.

"What is it Master?" She kneeled next to the gurney.

Shifu then held her hand in his. Mei and the rest of the five were surprised by this.

"I wanted to say that I am sorry...I'm sorry for not being the father I should have been for you when I adopted you those years ago. I'm sorry for not telling you how much you mean to me because I was too blind in making you the master you are, and I am sorry for not telling you how much I'm proud of who you are. Truth be told, I've always been proud of you, my daughter.

I promise to you that after I'm healed and return from the hospital, I will take all the time in the world to spend it with you as some much needed father/daughter time like I should have done when first adopting you." He said.

Tigress was in tears when hearing this.

"Oh Baba." She said as she hugged him.

"I love you Tigress." Shifu said.

"I love you too Baba."

I rubbed her back as she cried into his chest. I myself had a few tears stream down my face. I could hear some of the others crying too. They all knew that Tigress was beginning to let out her emotions for the first time in 15 years. They broke the hug after about one minute. As she got up, I decided to hug her as well out of comfort since she was still emotional.

"Thank you John for saving him." She said.

"No need to thank me Tigress. Just doing what needed to be done." I said making eye contact with her

"John, we're about to roll out. Are you ready to go?" Lilly asked me.

"Gimme a minute."

Tigress gave me a look of concern.

"I need to. I have some things I need to take care of back in Marshal."

"I'm assuming you don't need me to come with you?" She asked me.

I nodded. She gave a sad look and slumped her head.

"Hey, when I get back later today, you will be the first to get the news on Shifu. I promise." I said lifting her face by her chin.

I then gave her a small kiss on the cheek. I felt my cheeks blush in doing so. As I pulled away, I saw her giving a look of shyness. I then realized my bags were needed to be brought back

"Crane. Could you bring my two bags back to my room? I won't need them for the trip." I asked.

"Sure thing John." He said.

I then made my way to the helicopter as the others were already strapped in. The Five along with Mei Ling moved back as the helicopter began roaring to life. Garth had given me his seat so that he could help Lilly keep an eye on Shifu.

"You all set John?" Humphrey asked me as I was putting on my headset.

"Yes sir."

"Roger that. Next stop, the Marshal Medical Center."

As the helicopter lifted off the ground, I looked down at the others as they began holding their heads down. I then looked over at Tigress as she did to me. We kept eye contact until we zoomed out of the courtyard.

'I'll be back, Tigress. I'll be back' I thought.

"You like her don't you?" Garth teased.

"I'd be lying if I said I didn't." I said looking out the window as we made the trip back to the place I used to call home.