Lord Shen reached his goal at last. He broke Master Viper. The former Kung Fu Master did everything she could to resist him: she denied the pleasure of being treated like a lady, the pleasure of being able to perform her favorite dance every day and even tried to focus on her hard task of cleaning the Tower of Sacred Flames every day. However, the night he chained her to his bed and took away her virginity... everything changed. He finally managed to affect her will. But the reptile held a strong will and still refused to give up after that fateful night. Only after four more 'exciting nights' like this did she end up snapping. She no longer had the will or hope to be free again and submitted herself to the Emperor's will... which filled him with joy.
The peacock's pointing feathers danced over the snake's painted belly in gentle strokes. The latter no longer squirmed in her bonds or tried to pull her body away from her owner; she just accepted her fate as it came. Despite being graced with makeup and with new more elegant lilies decorating her head, one could take the snake for a zombie with the emotionless expression on her face. An expression removed of any will or joy. The total opposite of the peacock who smiled brightly.
"Have you slept well, my dear?" he asked her.
"Yes, Master," Viper mumbled back, her turquoise eyes never looking away from the ceiling.
"Good, good, because this will be a big day of work for you." Shen leaned his head forward to whisper into Viper's ear. "You will clean the tower - as always - then you shall go to our neighborhood town and dance for the Fire Peacock Clan's royal family. It has been a while since I wanted to form an alliance with them, and I also heard that their young princess, Lady Mayuko, is a true beauty. I could make her join my little harem if things go smoothly."
Shen felt amused that his little pet snake did not burst out in indignation and tell him that he is disgusting for treating women like his little toys. His medicine did have its effect on her and he couldn't be happier about it. "Then, you will come back here, help my braids making dinner, and as always, you will dance for me while I eat. After all of this, I will give you your... 'little reward'."
"Yes, Master..."
Shen grinned, retracting his wing and kissed his obedient reptile on the cheek before standing up from his bed. He removed his night robes - Viper did not mind this anymore - and pulled on his traditional silver-white robes. "I'm going to eat my breakfast. I will send two of my braids to untie you and you will follow them to the bathroom to get cleaned and ready for the day. See you later..."
The peacock stepped outside of his bedroom and into the throne room where all of his attendants and guards stood on the edge, ready to execute their Emperor's every desire. Shen always felt a secret amusement over the fact that he could punish anyone of them with either torture or death if they did even the slightest thing to his dislike. Being the Emperor has a lot of advantages, especially for Shen who never got the respect he deserved in his whole life.
However, before he could reach his beautiful throne chair and order his servants to bring him breakfast, his commander in person came running into the room, stopping before his Emperor and bowing before his figure. Shen's beak twisted into an annoyed wince. Has he not been his sole childhood friend and most trusted ally, he would have ordered his execution on the spot. "I hope you have a good reason for bothering me before my breakfast, Wolf Boss."
"I beg your pardon for this intrusion, Sir," the canine replied, his head hanging as low as he could. "But I have very important news that needed to reach you as soon as possible."
"Very well, I listen."
"We received the visit from legendary bounty hunter Deadshot Kajentai this morning, Sir."
This information caused a sudden rise of interest from the peacock. He heard a lot about Deadshot Kajentai during his time in exile - in fact, he even asked to meet him once to get his services to take down a rival gang that wanted to capture him for money. The brown wolf asked for a huge price, but after seeing with how much ease he completed the job... Shen understood why it was smarter to pay him.
"Why did this bounty hunter come here?"
"He came with a prisoner, Sir. A Kung Fu Master."
"He came all the way here just to offer me a Kung Fu Master in exchange for a ransom?" Shen asked, rolling his red eyes in annoyance. "I hope for his well-being that it is an interesting Master that I can do something with..."
After this remark, Wolf Boss rose his head to show his lips twisted into a smirk and his only good eye showing malice. "Oh, I think you are going to love my answer, Sir. This master Deadshot Kajentai brought us...
... Is Master Tigress of the Furious Five."
Shen's red eyes widened. Master Tigress? The powerful feline, leader of the Valley of Peace's Furious Five? One of the strongest Masters in China? The fierce warrior with arms said to be as strong as steel? The same Master Tigress... whom he almost killed during the battle of Gongmen's harbor when she took a shot for the Dragon Warrior?
Yes, Shen could still remember the few times they met: she always kept this stoic, defiant glares on her face. He remembered how she took down some of his wolves and gorillas with raw strength and precision. But most of all... he remembered the look of anger, pain, and sadness she displayed after he 'killed' the Dragon Warrior. He mocked her about it and she replied with a threatening growl. A weak growl that could not hide her pain, Shen could see it. This night, he almost shivered in pleasure at her helplessness.
Shen's black beak twisted into his trademark evil smirk. Having one member of the Furious Five already brought him so much fun... so how could it be to have TWO of them? Master Viper snapped and submitted to the Emperor of China after a few weeks. Her sister would be certain to be harder to break... which meant even more fun for the peacock! His twisted mind already started imagining scenarios of how he could torture the feline on the physical and mental plans until she ended up like her beloved sister...
"Pay the bounty hunter for this master," Shen ordered as soon as he broke out of his thoughts. "I don't care what his price is; just make sure the kitty is taken to my dungeon as soon as possible."
Tigress groaned as consciousness came back to her bit by bit. The feline's dazed memory recollected itself the more her eyes opened and she remembered how she went to Kujun City in hopes of recruiting criminals for an assault over one of Shen's main bases only for her contact to betray her and take her down. Deadshot Kajentai. She still couldn't believe that she trusted that backstabbing coward for such an important mission. But then again, what other choice did she have? In the end, she could only blame herself for ending like this.
Once the feline went through her memory, she blinked her eyes open to see how bad her current situation would reveal itself to be. Deadshot Kajentai knocked her out with the back of his crossbow after neutralizing her and Tigress did not know much time she passed into unconsciousness. Her attention drifted to a light small enough to be a candlelight hanging from the ceiling, bringing a small source of light into the otherwise dark room. Tigress rose her head up and growled as her arms were held above her head by leather straps wrapped tight around her wrists. She pulled at them, hoping the strength she worked so hard to develop over the years would come in handy... which it did not. Of course.
Looking down, the feline saw her feet pinned to the cold metal floor by metal straps looking even more solid than the leather. Trying to use her feline agility to break out of her bonds did not seem to be an option. She started regretting her dear sister, Viper, who used her tail to break her out of her bonds, the last time she ended in a position like this. Further investigation revealed that the room she was a prisoner of did not hold a lot of light but also of place. She gave a guess that three prisoners could fit in this small place. And outside the candlelight and her bonds, she could not put her gaze on anything but the entrance door which lacked a small window to let the guards see inside. She felt like a rat trapped in a bottle.
Then, as if on cue, a clanking noise resonated from the other side of the metal door, indicating someone was unlocking it. Good thing; Tigress thought she would have to wait hours in there before getting answers. When the door opened, a bright light forced the feline to look away because her gaze still needed to adjust itself. However, that did not prevent her from seeing the figure of the visitor who entered the room. An avian, from the look of it... A peacock... with white feathers...?!
"Shen?!"
The peacock's black beak twisted into a mischievous smirk as the feline recognized him. "Hello, Master Tigress. It has been, what, six months since we last saw each other? From what I recall, it was when you and your pathetic friends attempted to stop me at the harbor." He narrowed his eyes and widened his smirk. "When I took down your precious Dragon Warrior..."
Tigress bared her fangs, a violent growl escaping her throat, and she started fighting against her bonds. The blood boiled in her veins: she wanted nothing than break out of these straps, jump on this damn peacock, and tear this damn bird into shreds! Making him pay for what he did to China, to Kung Fu... to Po.
However, the avian did not feel intimidated by her growls or glare in the slightest. In fact, he even felt amused. She gave him just the reaction he hoped to get out of her. "Who brought me here, you bastard?! Was it Deadshot Kajentai?!"
"Indeed, my dear Tigress. He asked for a huge price, but honestly, it was worth it. This meant I could put my talons on a new Kung Fu Master."
This phrase caught the feline's attention and she stopped struggling. "What do you mean, another one? You have another Kung Fu Master here as your prisoner?"
"Indeed. I captured this master a few weeks ago." The white peacock leaned his head in toward the tiger's ear to whisper into it. "In fact, it's someone you are VERY familiar with..."
Tigress growled again to push him away from her, but this did nothing except enhancing his amusement of the situation. "Stop messing around! Who are you talking about?!"
"Does the name 'Viper' rings a bell to you?"
Tigress' amber eyes widened as far as they could. For a moment, she thought her mind must have been playing tricks on her and made her misheard what the peacock said. Viper could not be his prisoner; she left back to her village. Very few knew of the village's actual position; Shen could not have possibly found it. It's impossible! "Don't mock me! Viper is hiding; there's no way you could find her!"
"Oh, is that so?" Shen asked in a mocking tone. "So, who is that beautiful snake lady from the Viper Village, located on the coast of the Salt Ocean Beach also named Master Viper I captured a few days ago? A perfect reproduction?"
Tigress now looked like a feral beast and seemed about to break out of her holds. "You bastard! What have you done to my sister?! I swear if you have done anything wrong to her-"
"Me? Doing something wrong with one of my own ladies? Do you think I am a monster?" The peacock changed his offended look into a grin. "Because that would not be very far from the truth." After laughing a bit to annoy his new prisoner way further, he marked a pause and stared at her with his malice-filled red eyes. "If I were you, I would worry about what is about to happen to myself instead of worrying for my little sister."
The white peacock then turned around and walked toward the room's exit. "Wait! Come back here! We're not done here!" Tigress yelled. "What have you done to Viper?! Let her go now!"
"Sorry to burst your bubble, but I am done with you... for now at least," Shen said not even louder than a whisper as he closed the door shut, leaving the tiger alone in the dark.
Yes, breaking the legendary Master Tigress will be a lot of fun...
Author's note: Lord Shen first captured Master Viper and managed to break her will. Will he do the same with Master Tigress? This seems very unlikely... but with Shen, you never know; the peacock's crazy.
I want to apologize for not updating in a few days, guys. You see, I recently moved into a new house where Internet is crashing all the time for some reason and, as if that wasn't bad enough, I have a burning pain in my left shoulder that stretches down to my bicep. This is really annoying as it doesn't allow me to write as much as I want and even prevents me from thinking creatively. If anybody has pieces of advice or recommendations as to how I can take care of this, I'd be grateful. Except that, may the gods watch over you all, brothers and sisters.
